CHAPTER THREE
ALEXANDRA
Okay, so maybe it was a very stupid idea to steal a boat in the middle of the night while we were drinking. Now, we were stuck at sea. We had run out of gas, and there was no help in sight. I regretted the decision to allow Camilla to talk me into doing this.
“What now?” Camilla asked.
“The radio. I will try to radio for help,” I said, searching the ceiling and shells around me. “There,” I said, grabbing the radio receiver. I pressed the button. “Mayday, mayday. This is a distress call. We are lost at sea and out of fuel.”
“Did it work?”
“I don't hear any static,” I said, fiddling with the knobs. “I don't think it is working.” I slapped the side of the radio. “There is no power to it. I have never seen a radio like this. It is very old. I don't think it is working.”
“Great. So what do we do? Just sit here?”
“I guess. But we could drift further and further away from the shore.”
“Well, we can't swim for it. Look how far the beach is,” Camilla said.
“No, we definitely can't swim for it. This is your fault, by the way,” I said feeling angry.
“What? Not entirely. You are the one that knows how to drive the boat. I didn't drive it out here myself,” she said lunging toward me but stumbling a bit. She was drunker than I was, but we were both still intoxicated.
“Yes, I suppose you are right about that,” I said. I did drive the boat. Without me, she would just be at the pier.
“Well, I suppose we can try to drop anchor. I assume this ship has one. At least it will keep us from drifting too far.”
“Okay, how do we do that?”
“There should be a switch here. I don't see one. Look on the deck for an anchor for a heavyweight. I'll look in the front,” I said. We searched the deck but could not find one.
“We are really screwed, aren't we?” Camilla said sitting down on a bench.
“Yes, for now. Maybe when the sun comes up, there will be more ships around that we can flag down. For now, we just need to sit here.”
“This is not what I had planned when I thought about a vacation getaway in paradise.” Camilla crossed her arms and pouted.
“Well, neither did I. Let's just hope that things don't get worse,” I said, moving to the bench and sitting beside her.
Then something bumped the ship.
“What was that?” Camilla said scared.
“I don't know,” I said grabbing her arm.
“It's a shark, isn't it? We are going to be eaten alive,” she said hysterically.
“Calm down. This boat is way too big to be destroyed by a shark, no matter how big it is. If it is a shark, it's just bumping it out of curiosity and will go away. Just don't stand up and fall in.”
“Oh, that is reassuring. I am never standing up again,” Camilla said.
Whoosh! Splash!
“Oh my God! What the hell?” Camilla shouted.
“I don't know. Whatever it is, it is big. Maybe it is a whale splashing around that we can't see in the dark,” I said as we squeezed together frantically. Then something caught my vision, but it wasn't in the sea; it was in the sky. I pointed up. “Oh my God!” Camilla followed my finger and we saw two large figures, like men, flying above the boat. We both screamed. “Aah!”
We ran inside the small cabin wheelhouse.
“What the hell? Did you see that?” Camilla yelled.
“Yes, I did. Are we hallucinating?” I asked.
“You saw winged men out there, didn't you?” she said.
“Yes, that is exactly what I saw. Two of them. But that can't be right. There is no such thing. We have to be imagining it. Maybe it was massive stingrays. They fly out of the water, like leap a bit.
“Leap yes, but that was not leaping. That was full-on flying and hovering above us. That was no damn stingray.”
“Do not be scared. We will not hurt you!”
A thick and deep voice. Camilla and I looked at each other with wide eyes. We were both trembling in fear.
“Oh my God,” Camilla whispered.
“It talks. It is talking to us,” I said.
“What do we say?” Camilla whispered.
“I don't know. How am I supposed to know?” I said.
“Do we go out there?” she asked, trying to get a better look at the sky through the glass.
“No, don't go out there. Are you crazy? What if they want to kill us?”
“I think they would have killed us instantly. They came out of nowhere. They did not have to warn us. We should say something back,” Camilla said in an optimistic way.
“Are you listening to yourself? This is insane. This cannot be happening. This is not normal. This is not something that happens on an everyday basis, men flying around with wings.”
“Maybe it is not wings. Maybe it is some new wind sport, like hang-gliding, that we have never heard of but that they do here in Mexico. Like kiteboarding or something. They could be trying to help us.”
“No, that was definitely not kiteboarding,” I said.
“Whatever, you know what I mean. It was dark out there, and we didn't really get a good look.”
Boom. Boom. We felt the vibration of something heavy landing on the deck. We looked at each other and swallowed hard before turning our attention out to the deck.
“Come out. We will not hurt you. We want to talk to you, human females,” the deep voice said.
“Human females?” I whispered to Camilla. She shrugged her shoulders. Clearly, this did not strike her the way it did me. Why would they call us humans? Humans do not refer to other people as humans. Which meant what was out there was not human at all.
“I think they are on the boat,” I whispered to her.
“Yes, I think you are right,” I said.
“Go check it out and let me know if it is safe,” she pushed me toward the door.
“No. If I am going out there, then you are going out there with me.” I grabbed her hand.
“Fine, we will go out there together,” she said, taking a deep breath. We held hands and slowly peeked out the doorway onto the boat of the deck. It was dimly lit, with only the boat lights as our source of light.
“Oh my,” Camilla whispered.
There were two very large men standing on the deck, but they did not look like complete men. They were something else. Wings were folded behind their backs, and there was a light pattern down one side of the body, like a tattoo of scales perhaps. They were shirtless and wore only loincloths and strange boots that went up to their knees. They were very tall, about nine feet. One had black hair and the other had blonde hair. I looked at Camilla with wide eyes and then back at the creatures.
“You can come out. I am called Captain Ineq Shun,” the dark haired one said. I was immediately drawn to him. His hair was long and wet and clung to him. The water was beading off of his strong, toned chest and thick arms.
“Hello,” Camilla said. I yanked on her arm to quiet her.
“Hello,” the blonde haired one stepped forward a step and smiled a dashing grin. He was looking directly at Camilla. I looked at Camilla, and she was smiling back. Was she crazy?
“I am called Commander Vrerkin Roan.”
“I am called Camilla,” she said.
“Camilla!” I yanked her hand again.
“What? I am just being friendly,” she whispered to me.
“Yes, friendly. That is what we are here for. To be friendly to you human females,” the captain said.
“Why do you keep saying that? Why are you referring to us as humans?” I asked him.
“Because that is what you are, are you not?” he said.
“Yes, we are. But what are you?” I asked. “Are you human?”
“Partly. We are hybrid. We are part human and part Draqua,” he said.
“What? Draqua? What is that?” I asked in complete shock of what I was hearing. Had we discovered some strange, isolated tribe in Mexico?
“Draqua; we are water dragons from the planet Kelon,” the captain said.
“Planet?” I said.
“Wait, so you are…” Camilla said.
“You are not from Earth?” I asked.
“No, we are from our planet Kelon. It is far from Earth,” the commander said.
Camilla began to breathe heavily. “Okay, Alexandra, I’m freaking out. This isn’t real. You were right. We are hallucinating. Maybe we were drugged back at the club. Those guys slipped us some psychedelics or mushrooms or Spanish fly! I don’t know! But this is not real. Those are not aliens!” she shouted.
“Look at me. Breathe. Just calm down,” I said grabbing her face. Then the two creatures flew straight up off the deck. Camilla and I looked up and watched as they flew in circles around the boat.
“Oh my God, are they going to kill us?” Camilla whispered to me.
“I honestly don’t know. Just stay calm,” I said. We moved further out onto the deck where they once stood to get a better look at them. We were looking up at them, and I was mesmerized. They were swooping and flying fast and were magnificent to look at. My marine biologist side wanted to know more. How were they flying? What did he mean by water dragons? Did he mean a real dragon? Or was it just a term, like a seahorse was not a real horse?
I had so many questions, and as we watched, we let go of each other. Then the dark-haired creature swooped down toward me. I moved back to give him space to land on the deck, but he was not landing at all. Out of nowhere, he wrapped his arms around me and scooped me up off the deck. One arm went under my knees and the other around my back. My side was flat against his body.
“Ah! Let go! What are you doing? Camilla!” I shouted. But it was too late. I was hovering high above the boat as he carried me. I looked down to see Camilla getting scooped up by the other. The height made me dizzy, and perhaps I was still a little drunk, but it frightened me. I did not want to fall from this height, and I instinctively threw my arms around his neck and held on tight. But I did not stay quiet.
“What are you doing? Put me back on the boat!” I shouted.
“You want to stay on a stranded boat? You will die,” he said.
“No, I guess… wait, how do you know we are stranded?” I said.
“We heard you say you ran out of fuel,” he said.
“What? How long were you watching?”
“Ready, Captain?” The commander was now hovering at our side. I looked at Camilla. She had fright in her eyes as she held on to the commander, just as I did.
“Yes, to the ship,” he said. Then they began to fly.
“Ship? What? Like a boat?” I said frantically. I looked to see the lights of the beach getting smaller and smaller. “Wait, you are going the wrong way. We need to go back to the beach, not out to sea,” I said.
“We are going the right way; now stop squirming, or I might accidentally drop you,” he said in a monotone voice. I quickly went rigid. I did not want to be dropped. At this height, it would not be a good fall. The ocean would be like concrete.
I did not know what was going on or why they were taking us to their boat. I was terrified and confused. But as I lay against his strong chest, I felt safe for some reason. It had been a long time since I’d felt a man’s touch. His scent was so masculine, and it overwhelmed me. I felt my body growing aroused. What the hell? I thought.
Then he stopped and hovered in place.
“Bring her up, Commander,” his thick voice said. I looked up into his face. His jaw was square, and I could see a bit of black stubble. His black hair was dry, and thick pieces of it were across his face. His lips were full, and his nose was long and narrow. His eyes looked brown; I could not tell in the darkness, but I could make out the thick black brows above them. He was a perfect specimen, and if he were a human man, I would guess his age to be around thirty or so.
“Bringing her up,” the commander responded.
“What? Where’s your boat?” I said.
“Alexandra…” Camilla said.
There was a loud sound of rushing water. Just in front of us in the dark, I could make out something coming out of the water. It looked like a whale surfacing, but it kept going until it was out of the water in full. Then I couldn’t see anything at all.
“What the hell?” I whispered.
“Oh my God,” I heard Camilla say.
“Open the door,” the captain said.
“Yes, Captain,” the commander said.
Then out of thin air, something slid open. It was incredible. It was like a floating door, and inside of it, there was a bright light.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“Our ship,” the captain said.
“Ship?” I said as he flew toward it with me in his arms. It was then that I realized he did not mean a boat. He meant a damn spaceship.
“Oh my… do you mean a freaking spaceship? Oh my God!” I shouted as he flew inside. Camilla and the commander followed and then the door was closed. He set me on my feet. My eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light. I could see blinking wall panels and gadgets. It was obviously a damn spaceship.
“Alexandra, what’s happening?” Camilla said with a shaky voice.
“I think we are being abducted by aliens, Camilla.”