"Razor blade fingertips
Name engraved on my lips
You're so mine
But I'm holding onto nothing"
Cowboys - Charlotte Lawrence

"So Eden, welcome to Ir'naith—the planet with many moons. And a lot of fucking dust."

His throat stuttered, like he was trying to make a noise he couldn't produce when speaking its title. I found the name to be pretty, fitting. It wasn't like I had anything against this planet. Contrary to the easy way Eden left his mouth. I could get used to my new name if he was going to keep saying it like that.

A name for the planet. It wasn't much information, but now I had something to use against my captors. If he was an ally and a human, the stranger would give me more to work with.

"How far are we from Earth?"

"The Grays haven't told me. I know we are in the same solar system, but they aren't willing to share all that they have. They know better, despite being clones."

Clones? Somewhere else in the solar system? This had little room to get more crazy.

"They aren't the primary species here? They are the ones that kidnapped me. They were going to put me to sleep. I want to-"

The man, Taehyung, interrupted her rant.
"Save your anger for those that matter. The Grays are the lackeys of their masters. They are clones programmed with particular task to enact the wishes of a far more intelligent, and less empathetic species. The Grays do not ever act needlessly cruel, they only do as they are told. And if you're lucky, you'll never meet their boss."

Curiosity piqued in the middle of my panic. I was not deluded enough to believe I could leave this planet at this very moment. Any precious time I had to escape was now gone.

I am stuck. I am lost. I let it settle into my bones, the sheer terror of it. I remind myself to ask him the follow up question, to know who I was truly fighting against.

"Have you?"

He sent her a serious look, making his face even more structured. "Once. Ir'Kons. They are native to this planet. Much more technologically and socially more advanced than we are, as you can see. They rarely visit unless something goes awry. And you never want it to."

Ir'kons. I kept their name close, as they had stolen mine from me.

"What is their purpose? What do they want with us mere humans if they are so much better than us?" That is what I want to know. Why me? Why him? "To torture us? To use us as lab rats?"

I could not think of anything else, as I stared at the pink, fading light of the planet. Violet blues and purples began to stretch across the sky, illuminated by the strange lights emanating from their moons.

Taehyung shook his head, placing his hands on the top of his weathered pants. "You're thinking about this from a human perspective, and I understand. But you're wrong. Cruelty, sympathy, hatred, and whatever other reasoning that motivates humans for their immorality are simply an inconvenience to the Ir'Kons. They are practical, and when they have an issue they use the most logical means for their purpose. Humans are the most efficient option for their goals."

Huh. And that means stealing us from our homes? Our lives? What could possibly justify that? From what Taehyung was saying, justice did not exist to them.

"Goals meaning—"

"This is their home planet, and it's been overrun by several invasive species planted by ambassadors from other warring planets who feared of Ir'Kon power. And they simply cannot be inconvenienced to get rid of the problem species themselves, so they camp out in space in their city sized ships." His voice droned on, like he has explained this one too many times. His dark eyes were empty, "They sent the Grays first. And if had worked, we would still be at home. But there was one glaring problem they found out by mistake." Then, his lips pursed. Gone was the indifference, now replaced with reluctance as he glanced up at her, "A Gray studying human life brought a vial of blood into the open desert here. And somehow, it fell, spilling its contents. You can guess what came running. They are attracted to the scent of human blood. Internally and Externally. After that they started sending ships out to Earth and picking up unlucky souls like us to fix their problems for them."

Oh?

This is so much worse than I ever anticipated.

"So we are bait for the predators on this planet?" My voice rose on its own accord, in time with my wrath. How dare they?

How could he explain this so simply? Why was he even standing here, taking time to tell her anything. They should be fighting! They should be taking over the base, destroying their ships until they were forced to leave. We should set the whole planet on fire, if it means escaping.

"Not bait Eden. Hunters. They didn't start sending us out without weapons. And we humans don't give up easily." Taehyung corrected, that wry smile making it back onto his good-looking face. "We call ourselves cowboys. It makes us feel better. More connected to home."

Crazy, and good-looking face. I had to have misheard him. Uh huh. If he was any less hot I would've started laughing in his face. Because surely, no one could cope this hard. We were literally cattle sent for the slaughter, and their was nothing he could say to make me feel any less degraded.

I will humor him though. He hadn't introduced her to the 'others', so I had little choice other than to fuel his Wild West delusions.

"Okay, cowboy, if that's the case why did they kidnap me then? Some random girl when they could've grabbed, I don't know, someone from the military? A criminal? A body builder? I am useless here."

"I'm not sure. No one truly knows why but," He stepped back into his stance, his eyes appraising her in a sterile manner, "I'm much more glad it's you and not some ugly meathead."

Was he...flirting with me?

No, he was probably just being nice. Not that I would've minded. He had always been good looking, but the more I looked at him the more I really started to notice just how handsome he was.

"Eden? Your—" He started, stopping suddenly. His eyes remained on her own, narrowing as he inspected her.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry." My face heated from getting caught staring. He was probably used to that. Especially since he mentioned that there were others.

She wanted to slap herself for the pang she felt in her stomach at the thought of another girl being his. Which was frankly, insane, considering she knew him for one minute.

She was light years away from home so who is to say anything is normal anymore. Still, it was a stupid distraction she could not afford.

"No your eyes. They are—" The brunette male licked his lips, his eyebrows raising, "Maybe you should see for yourself later."

If he wanted to say my eyes were pretty, he could've just said it.

"Okay." I drew the word out for a long time. "Why were you taken? Do you remember everything from your life before?"

He nodded, losing some of his warmth once again at the question. Crossing his arms, he stood taller as he looked off into the distance.
"Yeah I am like the rest here. I lived on Earth, and was in foster care. I have no family. I had no money, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do after school. But that's boring."

No one else here had family.

Is that why they erased mine?

I kept my lack of memory and my family to myself. It could be a weakness that others try to exploit.

I didn't want to think about it too hard, it made my head and my heart hurt. And clearly, Taehyung wanted to change the subject. For a surprisingly open person so far, he seemed to want to avoid it at all costs.

The man looked down, sighing.

"You'll meet the crew soon, and you can ask them all the questions in the world. We live, party, drink, hangout in all the human encampments to the far left of the camp. I will give you a tour of everything, and where you will be sleeping after." He said casually, as if he didn't just try to normalize life here for her.

Nothing about this was right.

"After what?"

"After we go hunting."

A mechanical laugh left my lips, and he offered no reaction back. Which meant the hot guy was serious.

I stomped my foot into the ground, my medical dress loosening, "What? I just got here! I don't even know how or why I can even understand their language, how a ship disappeared before my eyes, how the hell am I—"

"They put a translater chip inside of everyone's skin. A special cloaking device is used every single time the alarm is sent out." He gave concise rebuttal to each of her excuses. Then, a disapproving glance, "We don't train here. We just go. And if you do everything that I say when I say it...you should stay alive."

"Should? Fuck this shit. Look, it's about to be dark. I am not setting foot outside this camp, and into the clutches of alien creatures that feast on human blood to live out your lasso-throwing fantasies. Let me at least sleep before I risk my life again."

Taehyung stepped closer to me, but I refused to step down. Through the eyes of someone used to leading others, he fixed me with a glare. His voice blunt, but not cruel.

"And you would of, if you didn't run. But this is protocol if someone tries to escape."

He stared at her a few more seconds before turning on his heel. Walking towards the rocks and the horizon, instead of the camp.

Not even looking back, since he expected me to follow.

I looked down at my state of little dress. At my weaponless hands. The general shake of my body from the shock and trauma of what had occurred. And I am expected to kill monsters?

"What, are you the Gray's bitch?" I yelled at him, refusing to take another step.

He didn't look back at her, just started to mess with the weapons he had along his belt.

"No, I'm the man whose going to keep you alive. You're lucky I worked towards becoming the leader for months before your arrival. Before they sent out new humans, alone. Whoever came back was deemed fit. Now, consider your ass lucky you get an orientation and learn to be a little grateful. Being the Gray's bitch has its perks."

This is officially the worst orientation ever.

I groaned, crossing my arms. Watching as the man's figure went further, and further away. I should run. I should have the aliens kill me now, instead of suffering.

I follow him anyways, begrudgingly. Though I forget my mom, I know she didn't raise a bitch. And I would prove that to him, to everyone, to myself.

And to the aliens that captured me, for stealing with the wrong one.

🪐

"Here. This is a blaster." Taehyung said, handing me the supposed weapon. I dangled it in my hand limply, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do with it. He saw her curled lip, and decided to be more helpful. "You point and shoot, like a gun. Got it?"

We stood at the bottom of the large plateau that had stood a formidable monstrosity from their previous point of view. They were not far from the camp. I could still see the silver line of lights in the short distance away. Night settled around the rest of the world, the three moons blighting a strange glow against the deep purple. This world was silent at night, the little buzzing and filter of creatures of Earth nowhere to be found.

There was just the wind, and them.

I played dumb, "Hmm, at anyone?"

The man sighed, playing with the weapon. Blasters were made of the same strange metal that littered this planet, to shiny to be silver. It wasn't completely solid, more like a matrix of lines and wires, which made her wonder where the ammunition was, or what it was made out of. The blaster was light in her hands, and there was only one glowing green button along the handle, which acted as the trigger.

He understood my insinuation very well.

"I could take that out of hands, and have you on your knees before me before you could even blink."

I smiled coyly, "Ooh, does this little trick involve me blindfolded and in your bedroom too?"

One thing I loved to do was make people regret ever trying to mess with me. The flush along his neck still visible in the dark and the narrowing of his eyes told me I succeeded.

"Stop talking and pay attention."

I lifted my hand out, attempting to take in my surroundings. It looked like we were in an even more barren Arizona desert. The stars appeared more blue here than they did at home, dotting the deep purple sky like ornaments.

"I can barely even see. What are we even looking for? Where is it hiding? Everything is flat."

"There are a couple things to look for. We've already successfully gotten rid of the crawlers, this shouldn't be any more difficult." He lifted his blaster, squinting his eyes as he pointed it at something in the far distance. "Let's go up."

I followed his gaze to see he meant at the top of the plateau. Now he was definitely crazy. Before she could protest, he rolled his eyes. Pointing to the flat platform close to them, flat and circular. I followed after him, stepping on the metal. Closing my eyes as it plunged upwards, taking us to the top.

He got off the platform first, stepping onto the rock.

Taehyung held out a hand, expecting me to grab onto him. I got off the platform myself, brushing past his shoulder.

"I don't need your help."

I peered out into the night, amazed. If I hadn't been kidnapped, this place would be beautiful. Violet stretched on for miles, the dirt glittering and mirroring the stars above. Thousands of separate plateaus in various colors and heights stood like trees across the landscape.

"You're lucky I'm offering it." Taehyung snapped back, settling himself to the edge of the cliff. He surveyed the area, his head moving slowly sliding from left to right.

"You think very highly of yourself, don't you."

"I do. Because if we can't find a way to escape in the meantime, that is our backup plan. To actually rid the planet of the invasives. Then we can go home."

I wanted to ask the man what the first plan was, where they escape. But from his hardened countenance, I knew I would be getting nowhere within that line of questioning. Since he seemed to be the self-appointed human leader here, he probably expected me to prove myself loyal before divulging all of his strategy.

Stepping to the edge of the rust colored rock, I held out my blaster. Pointing at a single bright light, wondering if I was looking at Earth. "And you really believe that? That they will just let us go after all this?"

Taehyung's eyes flickered from his job, catching her instead. "I have to believe in something." I stared back, unable to figure the man out. Was he brave, intelligent? Or someone who had lost all hope. My thoughts were cut short when the man's eyes widened, his blaster pointing towards her head. "Fuck, Eden look out!"

"What? Is an alien going to come and snatch me up? That already happened."

I did not move fast enough, so the man acted for me. I was swatted out of the way by a wide sweeping motion, and knocked into the dirt. My blaster went off as I fell, dust making its way into my eyes as a shot of neon green lit of the sky. Similar to a laser in appearance, but small and spherical like a bullet, rocketing forward until it hit some far away object.

I turned my head, my knees and hands bloodied, "What the fuck was that for?"

My words were cut short when I saw the beast that Taehyung stood before him.

The thing was not a gray. No, it was something worse.

Over ten feet tall, the thing was a mixture of reptile and insect. It's body half like a centipedes, from it's legs to its abdomen. Covered in a black exo-skeleton, and slick looking. From it's torso up, its body was slick with scales, hexagonal in shape. It's head was diamond shaped, and spiked around it's large coal black eyes. It's mouth opened wide, unhinging down it's slick body until rows and rows of teeth were revealed.

"What the fuck is that?" I screamed, crawling further away. I quickly grabbed for my fallen blaster, my hands shaking violently as the thing waited silently. It's eyes fixed on Taehyung.

"Scux'eds, the suckers." The man winced, keeling over slightly. "He found us before we found him."

Taehyung was holding his side with one hand, blood seeping through his fingers. He got injured when he pushed me out of the way.

And the sucker was staring right at him. As much as the stranger confused me, and I knew little of how to survive here, I could not just leave him to deal with this by himself. If he died, I would be unlikely to get back by myself alive either way.

Taehyung kept his good hand with the weapon on the beast. It was smart, as it made no movement towards him yet. I took the time their standstill provided, slowly forcing my body up from the ground. My breath could not find me, and my heart throbbed in my throat as a sick feeling formed within my stomach.

Still, I lifted my blaster and shot at the insect-like reptile. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the neon laser make contact.

"No!" Taehyung shouted, forcing me to open my eyes.

The Scux'ed had started to crawl over to me at a speed I could barely track. It's thousand layered teeth lifted in a smile of death, as it glided over the rock. I realized numbly that the bullet had ricocheted off the exo-skeleton and gave it time to attack. It's new target being me, the idiot who tried to shoot it.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed in horror, as it's slimy body neared me. I turned to run, but a single sharp leg reached out, piercing the fabric I wore into the ground.

It's reptilian head neared me, sniffing curiously. It's breath lifted my curls, rotten and sulfuric. I turned to see it's jaw collapse and widen, a dark hole leading down the long path of its throat. I fumbled with my blaster, attempting to aim it correctly so I did not end up harming myself. The thing's tongue flicked forward, slicking the middle of my chest, causing my throat to fille with bile.

This is it.

This is the end.

The world flashed a bright green, and a horrifying shriek left the monsters mouth. The small hairs of my body felt singed, as the blaster fire neared me. All ten feet of the sucker collapsed, as the bright light cleared and a large gaping hole was left where it's mid-section used to be. It's pointed leg stick remained in the dirt, and I ripped the material of my dressings violently from it.

"Oh, oh my god." I said aloud, shaking. Feeling like my soul had been stolen from my body, and shattered into pieces. "That-that thing almost-" I could no longer speak. Taehyung stood over the body, kicking at its carcass.

He had done in seconds what I could not. Skilled in killing, after his time on this planet.

How would it change me?

"It's only vulnerable in it's throat. The rest of it is protected. Most of them have some sort of defense." He said, too calmly for a man that just killed something out of a sci-fi movie. More blood poured down from his wound, covering the left side of his body. He did not complain, nor let out another sound of pain.

It was my fault. I decided to to make a joke instead of taking hunting seriously.

I should have listened.

"Let me help you." I said, out of guilt and concern. I neared closer to him, trying to avoid the long body that now turned the dust putrid with it's burgundy blood.

Taehyung held out a hand, stopping me in my tracks. "You've done enough."

My hands fell to my side, a deep chasm of mortification forming a well within me. I had made a fool out of myself. Even if I planned on escaping, I needed to listen to the people who had been smart enough to survive this long. I had been shortsighted, and it resulted in a mistake that I could not take back. I would not blame him if he hated me, or at least, if he lost what little respect he had for me.

Instead of being someone to conspire with, I earned myself rookie status.

Does he hate me now?

He seemed to, as his face contorted with frustration. Sucking in a breath, as he adjusted his hand over his wound, pretending like she was not right beside him. He started walking to the platform, and made no attempt to ask her along.

The walk back to camp was silent. No grays or humans to be found.

The cowboy took me to one of the smallest metal buildings. Far enough away from the building I had been held captive in, that it alleviated just a pinch of her anxiety. He placed a bloody hand on the doorless wall, until a thin seam opened to the inside.

"I will give you a tour of the facilities tomorrow." He said, his voice finally straining as he started to limp into the room behind me. "There is a button on the wall for water, and flushing."

It was simple. Sleet gray walls. A metal cot in the corner. A closet full of scrubs close to what he was wearing, and a sink, shower, and toilet in the other corner. The floors seemed to be illuminated within, covered in a glass-like material.

"You'll sleep by yourself tonight before they place you. Here are some pillows and a blanket." The man said, pressing an inconspicuous spot on the wall, which allowed shelving to pop out. He grabbed strange gray pillows and blankets, fashioned from a material I could not quite describe. It felt soft when he threw it, and I caught it in my fatigued embrace.

The man turned to leave, placing his hand on the wall once again, lighting up under his touch.

"Taehyung—" I said awkwardly, unsure of what to say. I could not tell him that I was not like the others. That I had people I had to go back to. "I'm sorry."

The man stopped, his hand reaching further above him as he leaned against the wall. The large expanse of it spread against the gray, his entire body tensed as he probably considered all the ways best to lecture me for my stupidity. His wound had finally stopped bleeding, and I could see reddened stripes of skin underneath his damaged shirt. My heart twinged at the wound, and the man who risked his life for mine.

"I know." His voice was muffled by the wall before him. And still he did not leave.

Emotion filled my chest, and I felt the urge to speak more. The whole day finally settled within me, and I could barely handle it's overwhelming surge. I felt tears prick at my eyes, and pull the chords of my throat taut, "You barely know me. You should have left me and saved yourself."

Taehyung turned slightly, the edges of pained smile visible. "You could have run away before I killed it. But you stayed, and you fought."

My mouth opened, only for silence to capture me. The man turned away from me, and walked out into the night.

Leaving me alone to process what chaos had taken over my life.

He called me brave, in his own way. Even after I injured him.

My heart twinged again, in a way I found unfamiliar and concerning. So I focused on washing up, and getting out of the clothes that the alien had ruined.

I walked over to the sink, and the strange mirror that was mounted to the wall. I noticed in the human spaces, the grays had attempt to mimic our habits and likes. In their own, unfamiliar way.

I started to wash my hands, flicking off the water that felt lighter than at home. A small bar of soap that they had probably stolen from some Earth store sat in the corner, unused. And would probably have to suffice for my shower. I would have to figure out if they had conditioner somewhere within this building, so that I could wash and braid my hair. My hands clung to the sides of the sink, and I was unwilling to meet my reflection, afraid of what I would find.

Come on Eden.

Maybe if you look, you will recognized yourself. You will remember your name. Your family.

I lifted my head.

My hands slipped from their hold, and my lungs collapsed.

I still had the same dark, curly hair. Umber and smooth skin. A sloped nose, and plush lips. Rounded and heart shaped face, high and prominent cheekbones, that tapered to a small chin. Wide set eyes, surrounded by curled and dark lashes. Something was wrong, as I looked into my reflection with amazement.

Enlightened, as I could see what Taehyung had been staring at earlier.

My eyes.

They are fucking purple.

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(A/N: Sorry it has been a while, I have been superrrr busy.

I had to make a sequel to solace, I just had to. But I will work on prioritizing this book alongside of Damned.

I love this chapter because I love backstory! But it will pick up after this. Had to world build tho, considering they aren't on Earth.