Chapter Two

Ten years later,

"Holy shit, I'm really home." Ray whispered, disembarking the plane.

It had been ten years now since she left. A long time, indeed. Despite her family had frequently visited her overseas, this was the first time she came back to the place where she was born and grew up. She was exhausted and jet-legged when she and her family had finally got home, it took her a few days to adjust.

Once settled back in, Ray took a long, hard look of her room.

Her bedroom hadn't changed much since the day she left, everything was in the exact spot where she'd left them, including her silly posters. Now the childish decor just cracked her up.

Her gaze then shifted to the bedroom window, looking out to the greenery outside and past childhood memories resurfaced to the forefront of her mind again, all at once. Everything about her was so foolish back then, she couldn't help but to shake her head in amusement.

Walking down stairs, Ray began to retrace her steps to her used-to-be hideout place. She took a leisure walk this time, letting her eyes taking in every familiar plant and rock around her, until she came to a small, clear field.

Nothing was changed here, except her. She was a full-grown woman now. Time really flies.

"Hey big guy. I'm back." Ray said in a low whisper, a smile crept across her beautiful face.

Subconsciously, she lifted her slender fingers to touch the ring around her neck as she looked around this old place. She was lost in her trance. Ray didn't know why she was still talking to the empty space after all these years. He was long gone, or maybe he never existed. But that tiny spark kindled a bit in her mind as if refused to be denied.

Eyes shut, she inhaled the crisp air deeply. This place still relaxes me, she noticed.

After a few hours of peaceful relaxation, Ray headed back. But she ran into Chris and his buddies when she was almost home. That rich kid used to bully her all the time still hadn't changed much, she could tell from the usual grin on his face.

They were surprised to see her at first after all those years, Ray tried to avoid them but he caught up with her.

"Ray?! Is that you?" Chris knew it was her, but still asked.

"Hey Chris, it's been a long time." She replied casually and politely, kept on walking to show she wasn't interested in a catch-up talk.

"I heard you were coming back. It's good to see you," He said. "Wow! You really turned out stunning!" He didn't even try to hide his advancement on her.

"Bye Chris." Fucker. She rolled her eyes at him, went inside the house to end the conversation and shut the door in his face.

After that day, Chris had been snooping around her house for days now, trying to get her on a date, he just didn't know what "NO" means, spoiled rich kid. Her parents thought he was not bad looking, but Ray disliked him very much.

She went back to the woods for some alone time again, lying here admiring the view gives her mind great relaxation. This place had that kind of affect on her. She stopped talking to the empty space though, it was too damn stupid.

"This place is hard to find," Chris's voice suddenly broke the tranquility. "Beautiful and discreet..."

"Chris? What are you doing here?" Ray gasped and frowned at him. Was he following me?

"Well, just trying to see you." He sat down next to her. "You've been gone for so long, I thought about you a lot since you got back." His finger abruptly brushed her face.

"Don't do that." She pulled her head back in disgust. He followed me.

"I can't help it. You look quite sexy today." He looked at her from head to toe offensively.

Sexy my ass, it's only denim shorts and tank top. She stood up to leave, but felt his grip on her arm pulling her close, she suddenly staggered into his chest. She was really losing it now, no matter how many times she had told him, he wouldn't back down. That's it! She broke free of him.

"Touch me again, I will break your fucking hand!" Ray threatened him in pure fury, pushing him hard to the ground.

Finally, he seemed to take the hint. She quickly walked away from him.

She hadn't seen Chris around her house for a week after her outburst, she was actually feeling content not have to see his face again. But she was wrong.

A week later, she was enjoying the gentle breeze at her favorite place, the scenic views made her mind feel peaceful, she missed this place a lot since she got back, and she'd been coming here almost daily. Strangely, she had this feeling that she was being watched, it made her feel uneasy, as she stood up she saw Chris and his friend Kent, were behind her. They both got to her before Ray could react. She instantly knew what they were up to. She cursed. But mostly scared.

"Got you!" Chris gloated while Kent's strong arms locking her in like a vise.

"You fucking coward! Scared to face me alone?!" Ray cursed him in anger and contempt, spat on him.

"That's not nice, Ray." He wiped his face and sneered as she resisted. "Just yell all you want, no one can hear you, sweetheart. Soon, you will be my play toy. I just need you to be quiet for me for a while. I have a big plan for us today." He grinned, holding out a syringe, some sort of tranquilizer, she believed.

"I will kill you I swear! Get off me!" She protested in fear, struggling to free herself.

"Not after I'm done with you." He came to her, injected the fluid into her neck.

Ray fell to the ground hard, she tried to steady herself but her body wouldn't listen and her vision began to blur. She could hear their crude laughters ringing in her ears.

"Someone... please, help me." Ray whispered as her strength weakened.

How can I be so fucking stupid! She cursed herself. Her limbs were slowly giving out as she crawled away from them. Twice! Her beauty brought nothing but trouble! Her mind thought of the big guy on that night, and she realized how lucky she was thirteen years ago.

Not so lucky this time. Ray cried, touching the ring at her neck and looked up to the sky, the air before her seemed distorted, a visible silhouette like a heat shimmer was moving towards her. At that moment, she wished it was him, but she knew it was the drug that was making her delirious.

Then, she blacked out.

Ray snapped her eyes open to a strange room with dim light. First, she felt thick, soft furs beneath her and her mind was in a haze. The last thing she remembered was her being drugged by...realization dawned on her, hard.

"No, no, no, no, no, no..." Ray sat up in terror, her voice shaken, her hands patting on her body frantically.

Luckily, she was still fully clothed, and she felt normal between her thighs. Did Chris...she dared not to think about it and shook her head in denial. Where am I? Did he lock me in here?

She moved out of bed to check the place. It was a weird room - smooth, metallic walls embedded with dim light, no decorations, nothing but a bed with pelts on it, the bed was ridiculously huge, she noticed. She tried to open the door, but there was no lock or door knob. Very odd. She raised both of her hands, just as she was about to shout and bang on the door, it slid open with a cheerful swoosh. She startled and jumped back, someone stood at the door.

"It's you!" Ray froze, mouth hung open in disbelief.

She would never forget his body, his skin color, his hair or everything else about him. It was the big guy!

—————————————

"Why did you choose here?" Bau'jah asked his hunting brother with displeasure.

"Because it's fun," Gahtan clicked his tusks. "Hoomans are cunning, that makes the hunt more interesting, don't you agree, brother?" He replied him with a question.

"I was expecting a more challenged hunt." Bau'jah grumbled his disappointment.

"Well brother...you will never know." Gahtan trilled with excitement.

Bau'jah had been on earth once, it was for his chiva (trial) centuries ago. He and Gahtan were both on the same group, they watched each other's back during trial, it was quite intense as a young blood, and their brotherhood bonded when they both passed the chiva successfully. Bau'jah had honed his skills to his satisfaction over the centuries after he was blooded, he had stalked and hunted preys galore, a look at his trophy room was a proven fact. As a proud hunter, Bau'jah had earned his Elite title with great honor. He and Gahtan would often hunt together as brothers. They had been to countless game preserve planets, hunting grounds, and fought many battles, but this was the first time Gahtan took him back to earth. He didn't enjoy hunting hooman preys no more, he deemed them too weak for his taste.

"We shall see...Let's hope you are right." Bau'jah shook his dreads, went along with his brother.

They landed both of their ships near a rocky mountain in the dense woods, secluded and cloaked, not far from the air base. Surveillance sensors had been deployed around their landing area, in case of an emergency, now they are completely secured.

Taken the high ground, Bau'jah and Gahtan perched on a thick branch overlooking the air base, they observed the hooman preys below intently, they had been scouting the base for a few days now, Bau'jah was starting to get impatient, he could feel his thirst for the hunt and it set his blood on fire, the urge for his first kill was evident. Soon...I shall have my trophy, he calmed himself.

They returned to their respective ships when the soldiers were dismissed from their routine training. Bau'jah did a quick diagnostic check on his ship's system, a good habit he had kept for many years, one last thing he needed was a malfunctioning ship. As he was about to retire to his bed chamber, his ship signaled one of the sensors was triggered. His hand fiddled on his wrist computer, bringing the enlarged view onto a wall. A hooman appeared into his view, a female - upon closer look, he could hear the loud noises she made from here clearly, it seemed she was crying, the wailing sound from the female was unbearable, Bau'jah frowned at the sight and turned it off.

"Did you see what I see, brother?" Gahtan's voice chimed in through the intercom.

"Yes, a weak female crying pathetically." He replied half-heartedly.

"Are you sure? You better check again." Gahtan said amusingly.

Bau'jah brought the view back to his attention, this time he saw two more hoomans - male - were provoking the female. He heard the female shouting desperately in a defiant effort, she tried to defend herself but failed miserably. Seeing two males went after the weak, the urge he had been holding back for his first kill was unleashed.

"Guess the hunt begins now." Bau'jah cutoff the comms before Gahtan could muster a reply, he twitched his mandibles and engaged the cloaking.

The female's cries got louder when he approached stealthy, the high pitched, ear-piercing sound she made was sending him on edge, it made him want to stifle that voice of hers. It amazed him that how different hooman females were compared to his own kind, hooman females were even weaker than their males. She was feisty, he admired her fighting spirit, but clearly she was too weak to keep them off of her. Bau'jah could smell both males were in heat, they wanted to mate the female, but did not have her consent. Dishonored. That fact made him furious, he lashed out at both males, grabbing by their necks, he yanked them both away with his strong hands, and threw them onto the ground, he quickened his strides, drove his extended wrist blades into one's stomach and the other hand clawed the second assailant on the neck, then it snapped like a twig. A quick and swift kill. "Unworthy preys." He grumbled with great disdain.

Uncloaked, he turned around to face the female, but he was shocked to see she was only a child as the bio-mask scanned her, no way he would kill an unarmed female child, he remained still to think. Her heart rate was erratic, she was frightened as he could scent the stench of her fear, but she didn't ran away from him like other hoomans did, quite opposite, she thanked him. Interesting or stupid. He huffed, decided to deal with the dead bodies first, he piled the bodies and crouched down, reaching for the blue dissolving liquid, his action was interrupted when he suddenly felt his dreadlocks were being gently stroked, he purred instinctively, the sensuality only increased when he felt his dreadlocks were being pulled, he snarled, it almost caused him to release his musk. He turned around to see it was the hooman child, his mandibles tightened but he held back, trying to keep his composure under control. Apparently - he scared her, she finally ran away, crying hysterically. Good, stupid hooman child. He watched her as she ran but scowled when she waved to him saying thank you. Strange hooman. He said to himself. Back to his task, he poured the blue liquid onto the bodies.

"You didn't even save one kill for me?!" His brother Gahtan spoke behind him. Displeased.

"My apology. You were too slow, they are unworthy preys anyway." Bau'jah teased him while they both watched the bodies dissolving into a puddle of goo.

"Slow? I saw how that hooman female tried to claim you." Gahtan retorted, chuckled loudly at him.

"She's only a foolish child, a prey." Bau'jah snorted with disgust and walked away.

He didn't expect to see her again, given how scared she was yesterday. In his ship - he saw her holding a piece of paper in her hand. She was babbling. A drawing of... me? He frowned.

"You look cute and soft in that picture, brother." Gahtan guffawed through the intercom.

Inhaling, Bau'jah remained silent, he knew his brother wouldn't let this go easily. He then lost his calm and clenched his hands in shock when the female held out his dreadlock ring on her thumb. Pauk! His punch dented a spot on the wall.

"Cjit! (shit), I think the female child claimed you, regardless. Interesting hooman." Gahtan burst into gales of laughter, clicking his tusks wildly.

"Shut the pauk up, brother." Bau'jah gritted his inner teeth and hissed.

"It's hers now, you know, you're lucky she's only a hooman child and doesn't know what that means to our kind." Gahtan stated the fact.

Bau'jah wanted to get down there and retrieve his dreadlock ring, but his brother was right, it was hers now, an immutable fact, he was really mad at himself for being careless. None of this would have happened if he didn't agree to come here at all. He suddenly lost all moods for hunting here.

"I am done with weak hoomans, I'm leaving this planet." Bau'jah decided.

"So soon?" Gahtan teased him again but went along with him.

Bau'jah collected all his sensors except one for that particular spot, he convinced himself it was for spying on the hooman child, making sure the child wouldn't do anything stupid again.

They stopped on another backwater planet to continue the hunt, a few light years away from earth, well-known for its feral and ferocious beasts, this time he completely devoted to his hunt and vented all the frustration simmering within him.

That stupid hooman child kept coming back to that place almost everyday now, he wondered why, her kind was always terrified of him, but not her, this made him even more frustrated. Every time, his wrist computer alerted him about the hooman's return, he grunted with irritation, mostly because she never ceased talking.

One day she came back crying, curiously - he turned up the audio. Her sobs chimed in immediately, she was saying something hysterically, but he only made out the part that she was leaving. He saw his ring - correction, her ring - on her neck, noticed she had grown bigger over the past hooman cycles. He shut it off when the hooman departed and let out a sigh of relief - What a nuisance!

The hooman child hadn't been back once since that day. Bau'jah found himself checking the wrist computer occasionally, and every time he persuaded himself that it was out of a habit - after all those years of being alerted about her. The moment he accepted the fact that she was not coming back, he hesitated and sighed. Why the sigh? He shook his thoughts away and carried on. And that sensor had been dormant ever since.

As a fierce hunter among his kind, his life was finally back to normal, and all thoughts of that hooman child faded. Hunting among stars, collecting trophies, wooing Yautja females to sire more pups, training, and repeat, he had achieved his life goals with great pride.

He was on the way to meet his brother, Gahtan, for their joint hunt on a remote class M planet, and was excited to collect more impressive trophies as mating season was near, his eyes stared at the planet on his hologram screen and purred, he enjoyed the smell of jungle. Soon...the hunt would begin.

A beeping sound came through his wrist computer, that particular sound, for that particular place. His body stiffened, eyes snapped open from his meditation, Bau'jah hesitated before transferring the view onto a large wall with a wave of his hand. There she was, like he had expected. She looked different now - taller, more curves, a mature female, and it'd only been....ten hooman years? Such a short lifespan. Bau'jah said with pity. The female returned again, and he didn't like this at all...he headed for his training room in annoyance.

Bau'jah was not surprised when she showed up again, but he was surprised to see her threatening the hooman male, barking command at him and kept him at bay. Still feisty. He rumbled with pleasure, but his temper returned upon hearing the hooman male's plan, he was communicating thru the primitive device next to his ear. The female wouldn't know and would be at disadvantage or even worse. He was torn between the idea of going back and keeping his original course. He had plenty of time before arriving his destination, maybe he could make a detour. Pauk! He cursed as he changed course for earth.

Where the pauk is the female!? He had been waiting here for days now, and was getting impatient, he would be late for his annual hunt with his brother. Bau'jah cursed himself again. If she didn't show up soon, his last resort would be to go in to search for her and grab her, he decided. As if hearing his complaint, the female came back to the place next day. He stepped out of his ship immediately, the plan was to tell her what the hooman male had in mind, and he would be on his way. If only it were that simple - he heard her screams and began to sprint, by the time he was close, he saw her body collapsing onto the ground, unconsciously.

Still cloaked, he looked down at her after knocking out two hooman males, Pondering. Pauk! He had never cursed these many times in a single day, ever. He should have waited for her here, instead of in his ship! He didn't kill the males as he did not have enough time to dispose their bodies and cover his tracks, and leaving her like this wasn't an option either, the males could wake up at any time, but he had to go now. He grumbled with annoyance.

Running out of options, he swept her up and collected his last sensor with displeasure, then headed back to his ship.

His personal ship was equipped with intergalactic travel capability, he could make it in time if he departed right now. He did a thorough scan on the female lying in bed, she was still unconscious, but not injured, it amazed him to feel how small and soft she was in his arms. The pelts on his bed almost swallowed her whole frame. Heading for the control console, Bau'jah engaged the course for his destination.

The female is awake, he raised from his chair at the helm and set it on autopilot mode, two more days, he would arrive at his destination, a class M planet called Estea. His eyes glanced at the ship's console again, his stomach churned at the view of the female in the miniature hologram and the dilemma he was faced with, putting on his face mask, he moved towards his bed chamber.

The door slid open as it registered his bio-signature, she was only inches away from his mask and jumped back in fear when he appeared. It's you was all she said.

She remembered him.