Fear and Love (UC/CC/Adult) AN 04/19/08[WIP]

[Flamehair]

"Disclaimer: “Michael”, “Isabel”, “Max” and “Diane and Philip Evans” as well as “Alex Withman” belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN. They are not mine and no infringement is intended." Amarela and her world, as long as all the other characters are only mine.

Pairings: Michael/Amarela – later Alex/Isabel

Rating: Adult only

Warning: There will be rape and more bad stuff, so you read on your own risk

Summary: Don’t want to give away too much – so only this: A girl from another planet crashes on earth. What will happen to her?




Fear and love


Place: Space; Earth time: Thursday 2nd may 2019, around midnight

Amarela was sitting in the lounge, cuddled in one of the corners of the couch, her long and slender legs crossed. Her journey would still take almost two weeks , even with a short stop on a planet called earth for they had to refill their water tank.

Because of that she was wearing something comfy and rather informal. A gown in tunic-style in iridescent blue and green with lightly puff-out sleeves, a pair of patterned stockings in the same colours, feet in olive –green slippers. Her hip long tizianred curls were twisted into a very loose braid, some stubborn wild locks were framing her soft features.

On the table before her lay a multicoloured cubed-octahedron, showing the hologram of a female musician who drew melodies from a multilateral instrument. Besides it various shining boards lay.

At present one such board with information about the world she was going to, Naborêon, sat on her lap as she looked at it, her forehead furrowed in concentration Actually she already knew all the important facts about Naborêon, but this was her first independently undertaken diplomatic journey. She was therefore understandably nervous and wanted to avoid making any errors.

Her mission wasn’t something really important – just delivering some gifts as the high House of Ahirduk finally had an heir to the throne; her thoughts deviated when the musician started playing the song to which she had danced with Kjetil Jarrakalor for the first time.

The charming black haired duke had kindled a fire in her inexperienced heart fast. After the dance he had kissed her palms and had whispered that he would gladly meet her again, as soon as she would reach her age of mating. She should have reprimanded him for his insolence, but instead had only laughed and thrown him a deep seductive look under her lowered lashes, an easy redness in her cheeks

Unfortunately her mother had already arranged another arrangement for her first meeting and Amarelas' pleas for a change fell on deaf ears. Admittedly, Torîn Ladrobal was very attractive, with his bright hair and flashing blue eyes and the son of high standing parents, the dream of many young girls growing up however in Amarelas' eyes Torîn in comparison to Kjetil appeared like a young boy.

The young princess hoped that in her palms soon the spiral ornament would be seen which would show that she had reached her mating maturity… after all, she had seen already 17 blooming times, most of her friends had made the first connection already and she awaited it nervously and was curious about the occasion which would mark her entrance in to the next phase of her life.

Surrounded by secrets was this holy ritual, it wasn’t till after the ornament showed in the hands that the girls were prepared on what would happen in their first night. Her friends whispered behind her back with one another about“ their“ special evening and broke off if she came nearby to them. She had been feeling terribly left out of late…
-

[Flamehair]

Here a bit more

@Trude
Thanks for the compliment



***********

Sighing Amarela took up her reading once more and remembered for the tenth time the rules of behaviour dominant on Naborêon. But after a short while she put the board enervated on the table, rose and stretched herself briefly, because by the long seat she was nevertheless somewhat strutted.

With light feet she danced to the music across the room to the area where the beverage machine was and helped herself to a hot cup of Andromel from the machine.

She had hardly drunk a sip when the ship shook dangerously nearly causing her to lose her balance. Her cup slipped out of her fingers and smashed on the floor.

“Why are the shields not active?“ She heard Lardey Awerâ in the control unit cry agitatedly.“ According to our instruments they are functioning perfectly" answered Todrin Jelbâgo, the navigator "There must be a malfunction in the system somewhere else.“

„We will examine everything after the landing,” meant Lardey. “We’re not far from earth anymore and we can't possibly do a repair out here in space.“

Amarela pushed the door of the control unit open. “Do we have the ability to land at all, Lardey?“ She asked curiously.

„We have to, heiress Amarela. Our stores of water aren’t big enough to let us reach Naborêon. But you please go in to the rescue module before the landing," he instructed her politely but firmly. Royal family or not, on board the pilot had the last say in any matter.

"How much longer till we land?" she dared to ask him

"We’ll land in an hour and I would like you in the module in half an hour." answered Lardey in a worried tone as he looked over the latest data showing up on his screen

********

Amarela went back into the lounge, vacated the boards and the octahedron together and stowed everything away below her sleeping niche in the area beside it. On the way to the shelter she stopped by the small ship altar and said a short prayer for a safe landing to the Gods

The protective module was apart from the even floor a round area with smooth resplendent walls - only near the likewise round entrance, where you had to bend a bit in order to arrive at all inside,there was attached a board with various symbols

Amarela climbed inside, pressed a certain combination of symbols and sat down cautiously in the middle of the floor with crossed legs. The door behind her slid shut without a noise. Slowly coloured and somewhat heavy light filled the room, until Amarela was enveloped in it. She could hardly move now, unless she made a great effort, as long as the module was not switched off. And this would be only the case, if it was switched off either from the outside or as soon as they had landed. In this case the protective function would turn off automatically.

Amarela tried to breathe calmly and deeply, as she had learnt during the practice drills, and tried not to panic.

Lardey and Todrin would do their best to land the craft safely and she was in the safest place possible yet she was a bit concerned as was only natural given the situation. A landing on earth had been planned anyway even if only for a very short time and the shields of camouflage would be switched on. She hoped that the small meteorite hadn't damaged those too and that they were still functioning

Enclosed in the protective light, the young woman didn't feel the strong jolts which shook the craft as it dived through the Earth's atmosphere; she didn't see the two men in the control unit become pale when they couldn't reduce the speed at which they were approaching the surface

Todrin and Lardey regarded each other briefly and then with their mouths set in a line of grim determination they returned their attention to the controls, their hands firmly grabbing the control sticks, beads of sweat forming on their foreheads. The small spaceship roared over an ocean and then over a desert and then it landed with some bumps like a pebble which was thrown over a calm water surface before it finally stood still, half broken apart, the solarsail between the tails torn up.

tbc

Andromel - a beverage a bit similar to cacao

[Flamehair]

@Trude
well - seems the craft was a bit more damaged than they thought. But I know what you mean Thanks for the feedback

@Kara
Thank you very much




AN: Translation of the Adrascian Words is at the end of this part


***********

Scarcely ten years had passed since mankind had been afflicted by a terrible epidemic. By carelessness a deadly virus had escaped from one of the top-secret military laboratories.

Very infectious and spreading fast, the terrestrial population had been reduced down to 20% by the flu within half a year. Although it wasn’t cultivated particularly to do so, the illness took away the lives of the majority of the adults, except the people who were able to escape in time to protective zones like military personnel, or those living on isolated farms or those who were immune to the virus.

The majority of the survivors, children and young adults, banded together into groups in order to forge a future. One such group was the ‘Coyotes’; the youngest member was fifteen while the oldest twenty-three. On this night, four of the group were out looking for ways to increase their small herd of cattle.


„What was that?“ Dorian proclaimed when a sharp blinding light followed y a deafening noise moved across the sky with a speed he had never seen. The four young men had trouble preventing their frightened horses from bolting, as they were as unaccustomed as the humans were to such a noise. Few seconds later cracking from the direction, in which the flying object had disappeared, rang out. Afterwards the prairie was quiet again, apart from the snorting of their riding animals and the easy chirping of the crickets.

“I don’t have the faintest idea,” said now Randy, their leader. “But we’ll go and check it out. Perhaps we find something useful.“

Momentary the cattle had disappeared from their thoughts, the curiosity to the unknown stronger. Randy turned his piebald eastward and let him fall into an easy trot. They didn’t have to ride far; soon they saw strange lights flickering over the meagre soil. Eddy’s own piebald shrank from this unnatural light and the boy was nearly thrown from the saddle.

“Better we leave the horses here.” Aidan’s suggestion sounded reasonable, particularly since thus they knew that the animals wouldn’t take off on their own and blow their cover. It was better to approach carefully and not expose themselves too early, as they didn’t know what to expect.

Thus they tied the horses to a dry tree and walked the short distance by foot.

“We’ll wait here,“ blond Randy instructed when they reached the camouflage of some large rocks, from which they could observe the wreck well. “If we see nobody within half an hour we can approach.”

******************

Despite the protection of the module the jolts the craft received had shaken Amarela up and some parts of her body were hurting when the lights in the shelter changed and she could finally move again freely.
“I hope everything went well,” she was thinking when the round door opened slowly.

She climbed out carefully and noticed in shock that she could see above her the star covered night sky and the pale light of earth’s only moon

A broad cleft went through the ship exactly before the module and she was lucky not to have stepped in it, as the metal at the edge of the break was very sharp. Carefully and slowly she moved over the cleft and cleared her way through rubble to the control unit

„Lardey! Todrin! “she called nervously. Flickering lights made uncanny shadows dance over the walls and the torn apart and bent metal creaked like a living creature

The windows in the control unit were completely splintered, the pieces of broken glass crunching under her hesitant steps

A groan full of pain made the young woman become faster.

Pilot and navigator still sat in their seats, Lardey had sunken forward, his clothes discoloured darkly, Todrin leaned to the rear, struggling panting for breath, his legs jammed between deformed and curved metal parts of the ship. A metallic smell of blood filled the air.

With trembling hands Amarela untied Todrins belts. „Must… Assistance call… Camouflage,” groaned the dark haired man barely coherently. "Leave me… has no purpose. You.. important."

The heiress to the throne swallowed and held back the tears. "What must I do?” Amarela asked quietly and gently dabbed away some drops of blood, which ran from Todrins mouth.

He breathed deeply and whispered, "The symbol board in the protective module - the combination enters as follows.” He closed his eyes and enumerated the correct order. The girl repeated the combination silently, in order to remember it better. "Then you go… into the module and ... restart the camouflage, for this ... you have to press ... the lowest two symbols right outside at the same time.”

A cramp went through Todrins body and he reared up, tried then with a rattling noise to get oxygen into his lungs again. But then he gave up the fight, relaxed and discharged a sigh, with which the last remainder of his breath escaped.

A tear flowed down Amarelas cheek and she tried to suppress a sob. The two had belonged to her group of friends - since she had been a small girl, the two men had protected her - even if on Adrasc this was actually not necessary and more a formality - and had flown her everywhere, where her legs or her Brishtîl could not take her.

But there would be time to mourn later, if she were to get back to her home world - at their grave she would sing both souls to the stars. She put her hand gently, in a gesture of parting, on Todrins chest, went then around the seats to Lardey and repeated the gesture there, then she started her way back to the module. In the entrance of the control unit the young woman turned again. "Bîtaywëro, Gwâloi," was she whispering softly.

Half blind because of the tears, Amarela groped the way back. A part of the passage had however collapsed completely in the meantime, so that she had to climb from the small spaceship, in order to find the way back to the protective room. She let herself fall carefully on the somewhat flexible ground. Thus now most of her curls had really freed themselves out of the braid, so she dissolved it unceremoniously and tied the copper fullness together at the back of her neck.

The terrestrial moon was nearly full and the sky rather cloudless, so that at least she did not have to grope in the dark, in order to find the protective module

******************************************

“Do you see that too?” Aidan asked his comrades quietly who were crouched beside him "Down there besides the trunk something is moving.”

Randy lifted his binoculars to his eyes. Moon light fell on long red curls and the outfit was shimmering blue and green

“A girl,“ he determined dryly.

"May I?” asked the youngster Eddy and the leader passed him the binoculars. The small fair-haired boy's breath caught in his throat when he saw through it. “Randy, she’s beautiful."

His leader had to agree. Although all of their girls were pretty, nevertheless he had still never seen such a beauty. He rubbed his chin absently minded and was brooding over something, which was just haunting the edge of his memory.

"You know," he murmured shortly thereafter and scratched his blonde mane. "I believe I read some years ago in a book that once upon a time there existed a kind of ceremony for groups like ours. If the men shared all the same woman, they stood thereafter nearer as brothers. Lately we've had some tensions amongst ourselves. Such an alliance could not harm us."

Young Eddy, who only recently had reached the age of 15 and who had never been intimate with a woman, began to stammer, "You m-mean, she there…?"

Aidan sneered and he tapped Randy’s shoulder. "Great idea. Thus, I participate. Dorian?” With questioning look he regarded the fourth man in their small group.

Dorian was squinting his bluish green eyes in order to see the girl and nodded now confirming. "What a kind of a question is that?“ he meant, "which normal man could resist if you offer such a trophy, Randy?”

The leader had his binoculars now again in the hand and took one more look at the wreck. "She seems to be looking for something, best we seize her as fast as possible." He quickly decided their next move, the reason why he had started his own group.

****************

The howling of a strange animal rang out in the darkness of the night. It seemed very close and Amarela got goose-bumps on her skin when it was answered from another direction. She stopped briefly and rubbed her arms. She didn’t only shiver because of the noise for her transparent spin silk sleeves did not offer much protection against the cool air of the night. The quiet cracking of a breaking branch behind her back caused her to throw a glance over her shoulder.

"Get a hold of yourself," she thought annoyed with herself. “Those are only harmless animals, which are daring themselves to leave the hiding places, in to which they fled during the crash.” Nevertheless she accelerated her steps, having evidence that she was no longer far away to the protecting room.

Suddenly a large shape stepped out from the shade of the flier, so fast that she ran into the figure. She let out a loud cry, when muscular arms were put around her like the pliers of a large Leïwoyo-cancer and she was pressed to a broad chest. A strange smell penetrated her nose and she had to sneeze.

"Humans?"

Her thought was confirmed, when the single cloud, which had covered the light of the moon for a short time moved past the satellite. Pale light shone on a face which seemed to have been carved by the hands of the gods.

The human male looked into her wide eyes, then he looked over her head and spoke with a deep voice, in his language. She felt the draft of air caused by movement behind, but before she could react again, something struck her on the left temple and pain seared through her head like a flooding red wave, before a black curtain went down before her eyes.

Dorian withdrew a step, when the girl in the arms of Randy sagged.

"And you are sure that she will wake up again?“ His leader asked him half anxiously when he looked down upon the petite girl who was still only barely standing because he had his arms around her. For a very short moment he had felt a twinge of compassion for her, when she had looked at him with those frightened yet beautiful eyes.

"Sure,” answered the man, who belonged to the best trained fighters of the Coyotes. "You can take for granted that I will take care of our precious prize. She will have a pretty bad headache, when she wakes up again, but no permanent damage."

Randy raised the girl in his arms and her head rolled a bit on the side, so that her face rested on his chest. Eddy shyly stepped closer and brushed the curls from her face. Being awed by her beauty his fingers caressed her cheek.

"Her skin is tender like a flower,” he whispered enraptured. “She is beautiful.”

Randy and Dorian grinned, both amused by the astonished boy

"Are you coming or what?! “ Aidan called to them; he had gotten the horses and now waited impatiently, already sitting in the saddle.

“Of course,” rumbled Randy and ran with his sweet load to his stallion. Dorian followed him and for some moments he guarded their treasure, while Randy ascended. Then the girl was handed up to him like a doll.

He held her in front of himself in the saddle, an arm around her waist, the other hand on the reins. In no hurry the men let their horses fall into a light trot and rode back to their home.

tbc


Brishtîl – a riding animal of Adrasc
Bîtaywëro - Farewell
Gwâloi - Friends
Leïwoyo-cancer – really big cancer that lives in the deepest parts of the Fiteriêd-ocean

[Flamehair]

Finally the next part - thanks to Karen, my wonderful Beta

@Trude
well, not all the youth - there are some adults who survived too and the military too gathered some of the orphaned kids and youngster to raise them in camps.

@Kara
well - here it is

Thank you both for the feedback - it is much appreciated


AN: Translation of the Adrascian words as well as special explanation is at the end of each part.

I was in the mood to write a bit more about Adrasc, so this update starts with some sort of flashback to the time when Amarela was still on her home planet.



Some weeks previous on Adrasc


“Amarela?! Amarela?!" The calls sounded through the garden, disturbing the silence and drowning the soft ripple of the fountains. The young heiress lifted her head, not stopping to pet the tiger-striped Nirshêla that lay cuddled on her lap and that only twitched his big ears when he heard the voice.

She was sitting on a bench at the edge of one of the large ponds, had slipped out of her sandals some time ago and was sweeping her toes across the surface of the water. A precious looking book lay beside her with open pages, but she was somehow not in the mood to read anymore and had her eyes half closed, just enjoying the purring of the animal and the smell of the blooming flowers around the bench.

Amarela, here you are.” Breathless a young woman stopped and held her hand to her waist, catching her breath. Her light-blond curls, pinned up high at her head in two ponytails, were still moving because she had come to an abrupt halt. Amarelas laughter rang through the garden at the sight and the pet opened his eyes.

“Ah Adahleï, my dear friend.” She raised the animal out of her lap and set it on the cushion beside her and stood up, resting her hand apologetically on the other girl’s shoulder. “You should know where to find me after all. Especially at this hour of the day. Why were you searching for me?” With a questioning look she regarded her best friend since childhood

“Your mother wishes to see you. She’s waiting in the crystal chamber.”

“Why did she not come by herself?” Amarela wondered and furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Adhîldar was with her, so she asked me to do her the favour and search for you,” The blond girl blushed when she mentioned Amarelas younger brother. Amarela rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you at least talk to him? He can’t read your thoughts, you know.”

Adahleï blushed even more about her comment. “Sure I know. But each time I see him I don’t know what to say to him. It’s horrible.” She lowered her view and brushed some imaginary dust from her gown. Then she lifted her eyes again, lips pouting. “Why do our lives have to change? When we were younger everything was much easier. But then he goes and grows into such a handsome young man.”

The other girl shrugged her shoulders. “If it comforts you – I don't think that he has a crush on any particular girl. So you may try your luck. Why don’t you ask him if he would like to dance with you at the ball of the festival of Tirbït?”

A smile lit up the face of the fair-haired girl “You think he would?”

Amarela smiled softly back, trying to encourage the other girl. “Well – we all will be there. I think he would feel more comfortable if he knows that he can have at least some dances with an old friend of his. You know he doesn’t like dancing too much but it’s expected that he dances.”

She took a deep breath. “Well, I think I should go then. No need to let mother wait any longer.” Amarela slid her feet into her sandals, then grabbed the book and closed it, held it out to her friend. “Would you be so kind as to take this back to the library?”

“Sure Amarela.”

The girls parted – Adahleï going in the opposite direction where the library was and Amarela walked down the small path towards the throne room of the ruler of Adrasc. The glassy door towards the garden was open to let fresh air in to the chamber and the girl peeked inside.

At first her mother was nowhere to see but then she saw the older woman sitting at the other end of the room on one of the comfortable chairs, studying some documents, her chin resting on her left hand. When her daughter entered Daieâke raised her eyes and a smile stole across her lips.

“My dear child, here you are.” The documents rustled when she laid them back on the table and gestured to Amarela that she should step closer to her. The copper-haired young woman didn’t hesitate and when she stood before her mother Daieâke said. “Please, sit down. I'd like to discuss something with you.”

“Something interesting?" Amarela asked while sitting down opposite Daieâke. Her mother wore a rather ceremonial gown in a dark blue with silver sparkles on it and a high standing collar that framed her face like a fan. Her hair - some tones darker than that of her eldest daughter - was put up in a complicate hairstyle. "Did you have guests today?"

Daieâke gave a dismissive gesture. "No, not at all. But I had a holographic meeting with the ruler of Naborêon and you know how formal they are." She rolled her eyes and chuckled then, looking for a moment almost the same age as her daughter, not like a mother of five children. "Well, it seams, Zhysk and Ytet finally have a heir to their throne and I'm really happy for both of them." She made a little pause and stretched her hand out to seize her daughter's hand. "And that's why I thought about you."

Amarela raised an eyebrow. "About me? Why? You already want to become a grandmother?" asked she in a teasing way.

"Gods beware!" exclaimed Adrascs Ruler almost shocked and pulled her hand back. "Besides that you haven't yet had your Sacred Ritual, you're way too young to become pregnant."

She furrowed her forehead in concentration. "But, back to the topic now. I want to send presents to Naborêon for the occasion of the birth and I think this will be a good opportunity for you to test your skill in diplomacy. Sure it will be only be a courtesy call but considering Naborêons formality you will need all your knowledge."

Amarela had poured herself a glass of water while her mother talked and now she choked on the beverage. "You believe I'm capable of doing this?" She managed to say after her coughs had stopped.

Daieâke smiled at her daughter. "Sure. Your teachers told me that your articulacy in Naborêons language is near to perfection and your manners can't be criticized." She grinned. "Well, that's an exaggeration maybe. But if you make an effort and really want it, your manners are really exquisite."

The girl clapped her hand together and jumped up. "That's so great, Mother." She wrapped her arms around the older woman and pressed a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you."

Amarela really was exited and almost burst with pride. "When will I start the journey? And how long will I stay?"

Her mother tried to stay serious. "Not until the harvest of the Tirbït and the festivities are over. And about your stay there - that's up to you to decide."

******

The next few weeks went fast, full of preparations for the journey and deciding what to take as gifts. Amarela was full of eagerness and studied harder than ever to master the finesses of the naborêon tongue.

And then the blossoms were ripe… and this meant a lot of work.

The lady of the land had showered her children with a generous harvest. After all – even the nobles – had helped to gather the blossoms, the people celebrated, full of joy. The common folk danced around bonfires, while the aristocrats met at the ball that was held in the grand park beside the ruler’s palace. But the borders weren’t that firm – there were nobles that slipped away after some hours from the formal ball to the bonfires and vice versa.

Amarelas anticipation for her journey was so great that she wasn’t even disappointed or jealous when Kjetil didn’t dance once with her, but was seen flirting with a raven-haired beauty of the tree-folk under the branches of a high-grown Gor-Hîm.

Instead the young princess danced with all the other noblemen, with her lanky brothers and even with Torîn. The fair-haired young man was very gracefully and showed interest in her journey, told her he would miss her and that she was looking more gorgeous than ever that evening. Amarela flirted shyly with him. Later she couldn’t remember a lot of what they had talked about – all had mixed with the various impressions of the ball. Scents, colours, music, songs, drums… She couldn’t even recall how and when she had fallen in her bed, exhausted and with sore feet.

Three days later her journey began. Amarela braced herself when saying goodbye to her mother and her siblings, swallowing down the lump that had formed in her throat. After all – it was the first time that she would be away from her planet on her own, only in the company of her two bodyguards. But she forced herself to a smile and cried later, when she was on board, lying in her sleep niche




Nirshêla = a catlike creature
Gor-Hîm = a kind of tree on Adrasc, very high and with very thin fingerlike branches


*******


Place: Old Manor at the earlier west Bland Street in Roswell, 3rd of May in the evening, Residence of the“ Coyotes”


Slowly Amarela opened her eyes and suppressed a sob. She'd seen the crash again in her dream and the deaths of her friends was still fresh in her mind. Her head pounded painfully. Where was she here? She lay on a wide bed, naked, her arms tied together above her head. Someone had loosened her ponytail so that the long curls framed her body.

The space itself was sombre and cold. Desperately she tugged on the steady tapes, which held her and made her wrists sore. When a door was suddenly opened, she winced.

Some younger women came in, bearing torches which bathed the room in a flickering light and stood near the walls, to the left and right. After them some men stepped by the door, every single one of them naked except for a band of leather around the left upper arm. She recognized the first one as the one who had grabbed her by the wreck.

The blonde lay down beside her. Admiringly Randy looked at the well-shaped naked body, which lay so defenceless before him. The girl twitched back when he touched her hair and let it slid through the fine locks. His fingers went over the contours of her face and then wandered in search lower and lower in a slow motion, while his mouth approached her softly curved lips. She had stiffed before; but as she felt his lips she tried to bite him.

“Hey, such a wild cat?!" he laughed quietly and almost affectionately. "Relax, then you will also like it." Randy really wanted that his victim liked what was going to happen. It was inconceivable to the young man that his touches were completely unwelcome - that a female being wouldn't get addicted to his perfect appearance. His fingers pawed her breasts, which elongate against him due to the chains and kneaded them easily. His kisses moved down her body, until his mouth reached one of her buds, licked around it and sucked at it teasingly, circled it with his tongue, while his hand moved further down.

"Stop, please, you're not allowed to do that," Amarela begged completely distraughtly. "I do not want this!" Sobbing she tried to push him away – a difficult venture with tied arms and his superior strength.

After some minutes of the one-sided petting, he pressed her slim legs apart with his own and penetrated her fast and violently. The young woman screamed out of pain, a flaming sword seemed to cut through her body and flickering stars began to dance before her eyes. But the benevolent embrace of a faint spell was not granted to her. Her cries did not find an end, even as the man laid both of his hands over her mouth to bring her to silence. However, sometime her voice broke and when the young leader was finished with her, she only whimpered pitifully, even as the other men forced her.

Pat and Andrew were the only ones that refused pale-faced, when it was their turn. "We know that we are men, we don't need this," said both unanimously.

After their act the men, except the two deniers, met in the secondary room to feed and drink, in order to celebrate their "fraternization".

**************

Amarela noticed vaguely that someone released her arms from the chains. She rolled herself on the side and pulled together, sobbing mournfully, pressing the hands on her abdomen that hurt so terribly. "Why had they done that? She had said no - and had they not seen that she was not yet mature enough to do the mating?" Pain burned like glowing fire in each individual nerve of her body and she wished herself to have died in the crash like her friends.

Laura gently pressed a warm damp cloth between the legs of the girl. "Here, this will take the pain away a bit and hopefully will stop the bleeding," she said softly. She had had to serve like the other young women of the Coyotes as a torch-holder and was still shocked from the brutality of her comrades.

Amarela briefly opened her large tear filled eyes and mumbled something. Laura stroked her forehead and the long curls comforting. "I'm so sorry," said she pitifully. "I would have offered myself voluntarily for the ceremony, if I had known of it before. But Randy apparently had the idea, when you fell into their hands…." She broke off not knowing what she should say to her; she could offer her no real comfort.

"Andy, I should change the bed sheets; I don't want her to have to sleep in this smell and on the blood stains - could you raise her up for an instant?" she asked the brown haired young man, who had remained with her in the room

"Why, yes, of course." Andrew put a blanket around the girl's shoulders and heaved her up carefully. Her sobbing became louder again, but he tried to calm her down.

"Hush, small one. I won't do anything to you – didn't touched you before either. Don't be afraid of me." He put her gently back on the freshly made bed.

Laura held the blood-smeared bed linen under his nose. “Those scumbags. Look at all the blood. She was still a virgin, that’s certain.“

Furious she left the room, only to return shortly afterwards with a steaming cup and sat herself down on the bed. “Come, drink that- it will help you to sleep.“

Together with Andrew she made Amarela to drink some sips of the strong herb drink before they covered the girl with the blankets and left her alone then. Amarela cried mutely into her cushion, rolled up in the foetal position, until she finally fell asleep exhausted.

**************

Some hours later Randy returned from the celebration and lay down, his arm possessively over her, to sleep beside her, pressing his chest to her back.

Amarela woke up because of this. She felt his virile member at her bottom and bit herself in the hand, in order not to cry; kept her eyes open till it was morning, trying not to move if possible, not wanting the man to be reminded of the fact that she was there.

**************

A sunbeam searched it’s way hesitating through the window and fell on Randy who woke up slowly because of it and moved. His head throbbed because of the self made booze that he had drunk the previous evening, but when he saw the naked slender body of his beautiful prisoner so close before him, new desire overcame him. The girl winced when his lips touched first her shoulder and then moved up to her neck. His right hand began to stroke her upper body, and then he forced her on the back.

"Nay, dîtero. Dîtero." Crying Amarela tried to repel him and was beating her fists against his chest, until he grabbed and brutally held her wrists with one hand. He was already half over her, had parted her legs with his knees, when fortunately Laura came in with a small choice of food for breakfast, pushing the door with her shoulder.

"No Randy, cut it out. Please!" She begged immediately, when she saw the scene before her. "If you're in absolute need of a woman then take me - but she already went through enough."

Randy let go of Amarela and flared up furiously; agitated over the fact that his girlfriend interfered in something that after his judgement shouldn't concern her after all. "If you're shouting around like this, each desire goes by for sure. But okay, if you wish this so much, I will leave her in peace - nevertheless she must be available for the other men."

He jumped out of the bed naked and stormed out the room like that. - Laura followed him, after she had put down the tray.

**************

After Amarela had again calmed down somewhat and her body had stopped trembling, she rose carefully. Each movement was hurting her and between her legs there was terrible burning. The stone floor under her naked feet was extremely cold. She carefully opened the second door in the room. A rather dark deserted passage lay before her. As soundless as possible she crept by the corridors of the old house in search for an exit, occasionally bracing herself against the wall, when the pain became too bad. When she found the main entrance by coincidence, it was however locked. In despair she rattled the door and hit the wood, until her hands were bloody. "Please, please…. let me out. Somebody…" she whimpered desperately. "Anybody."

Then she leaned her back against the door and let herself slide down exhausted; pulled her legs up to her chest and pressed her forehead to her knees, bursting into tears.

After some time shadows fell on her - some of the men had discovered the girl.

"Whom do we have there?" Dennis scoffed.

“You want to leave us already? Don’t like it here?“ Meant another one laughing.
"
Amarela rose intimidated and tried to cover her bareness with both hands. Lecherous looks moved up and down her body. They actually wanted nothing more from her, feeling even a little guilty over the events of the previous evening but nevertheless it was fun for them to make her jump.

The three of them shooed the young woman back and forth between them, playing with her like a cat with a mouse. Close to panic she was saved by Pat, who came around a corner with a whistle on the lips and found her in this situation. He hesitated only a second, took his shirt off and covered Amarela with it, while he threw his colleagues an evil eye. Afterwards he took her in his arms and carried her away from the others. She clasped her arms firmly around him and burrowed her face crying at his neck.

When Randy crossed his way, Pat said to him. "Is there a possibility we can accommodate her upstairs, perhaps in the small room in the corner? There we could guard her more easily, otherwise she'll wander around again."

"Great idea, Pat. I agree." commented his leader

In the room Pat set the girl down on the old bed. He'd hardly let go of her when Amarela fled into the rear corner of the chamber, where she made herself as small as possible and swayed to and fro, still weeping.

"Hush girl," the young man tried to calm her down. "I won't lay my hands on you."

He looked around the small area, which was intended more as a junk room rather then a bedroom. "A little paltry," he finally determined. "I'll have a look to see if I can find some more covers for you."



Nay = No
Dîtero = please


tbc

[Flamehair]

@trude and Kara
thank you very much for your feedback

@Karen
thanks for your work, sweetheart

@all
finally the new part




**********

Only when he returned did Pat notice that her hands were bleeding. Again he left the young woman alone and went to search for Laura, whom he found outside, in the garden, together with some of the other young women cutting the weeds.

“Could you give me some dressing material?“ He asked the brunette, who lifted her head, when the young man remained standing in front of her.

“Sure, come with me.“ Laura rose, wiping her hands on the front of her dress, then she went ahead of him into the storage room beside the kitchen, where she gave him some strips of cloth as well a small pot with ointment. “Marigold,“ she explained when she noticed his questioning look.

Loaded like this Pat hurried back to the small chamber. Dull thuds were to be heard, before he opened the door. Before him stood Steve and Clark, refusing him entrance. The sight that he saw over their shoulders almost turned his stomach. Aidan had taken advantage of his absence and had pressed the girl with his body to the coarse wall. Each of his movements pressed her back brutally against the wall, so that Pat expected at any moment to hear something break. Her shirt was torn apart and the blond kneaded one of her breasts roughly.

“Defend yourself.” Aidan hissed into her face. “I want you to scream.“ But Amarela had closed her eyes, had become unconscious after the first impacts to the back of her head. The man pressed one last rough kiss on her slightly parted lips, before he withdrew himself from her and she fell to the hard floor like a rag doll.

Aidan zipped up his trousers, then he turned around and saw Pat standing at the door behind his colleagues, white in the face, his hands balled to fists. He laughed malicious. “Were you thinking that you could have your way with her? Too bad, Pat,” he said tauntingly as he passed by him and said to his friends, turning his head to them. “For you there will be another time, boys. Now it wouldn’t be any fun.”

Pat stared daggers in to the backs of the three laughing men strolling away, before he ran to the groaning girl, who was coming to consciousness again very slowly. Hesitatingly her right hand moved to her forehead, then to her mouth, carefully feeling the swollen lower lip. The young woman winced at her own touch, when her fingers moved over the injury there.

A yelp of pain escaped Amarela's lips at the sudden movement. She touched the back of her head which was pounding and then she brought her hand again to her face, opening her eyes carefully and stared bewilderedly at her bloody fingers.

When Pat sat himself down beside her on the dusty floor, she regarded him enquiringly. “Aleh?“ She was asking confused and tried to rise, although the world seemed to falter around her. But her left arm did hurt in such a way that she sagged together again whimpering, when she wanted to prop herself with it.

The red-haired man wanted to help her and put his hands on her shoulders. But now the young woman seemed to remember what had happened before and where she was. A half suffocated sob rang out and she tried desperately to crawl away from him, holding together the tattered shirt in front of her breasts with one of her bloody hands.

“Little one.” He pleaded in a gentle voice. “Please, I have to look at what kind of injuries you have. I don’t want to do anything bad to you. Let me help you“

Amarela had moved not far from him because the pain was almost unbearable in her left arm. She wept silently while regarding him fearfully, when he covered the short distance in two steps and kneeled down beside her.

“Nay nay, dîtero,” she begged crying and curled up as much as she could, making a helpless effort to disappear. He ran both of his hands through his hair, helpless in view of the situation. He felt obligated to take care of her, but didn’t want to do that on the floor. Somehow he had to move her on to the bed.

He touched her cheek tenderly with his hand, then he pushed his arms under her body and was lifting her up, gritting his teeth together, ignoring her sounds of pain. Robbed of the possibility to escape, her body was now rigid out of fear, equal to a deer, which remains standing frozen in front of headlights. Carefully he laid her down on the bed.

“I’ll be back in an instant,“ he whispered and went in the small bathroom between her room and the next, where he moistened a cloth, before he came back and sat down beside her on the bed. Very gently he wiped the dried blood on her chin away– leaving the hurt lip in peace since that wound wasn't bleeding anymore- and then dabbed carefully at the wound at the back of her head.

She had closed her eyes, kept still, quietly whimpering, but feeling his good intentions.

“Comfrey or consound,“ he murmured to himself. “Laura has surely one of these ointments that we need for your arm. But I do not dare to leave you alone again.“ At the same time he wished for the presence of Laura or even one of the other girls. Someone needed to take care of her intimate injuries, but he didn’t dare to touch her there.

Thus Pat sat at her side, hoping that soon someone would go past, whom he could trust and listened to the noises in the corridor. He chatted quietly with her, knowing that probably she would hardly understand his words. But he hoped to soothe her fear at least somewhat with his intonation and win her confidence.

“I would long to know how you were before this night. With what did you spend your days? Do you like books? Do you know something like this at all at your home? Do you like to sing? Dance? Do you have a friend? And where at all is your home world?” With his first words Amarela had opened the eyelids, resting her dark-green eyes on his face searchingly and her body seemed to relax a bit while she listened to him.

After what seemed like endless minutes, heavy boot footsteps were to be heard, which came nearer with each second, coming to a stop before the room and then Andrew peeked inside, in search of a book that he missed.

“Pat,“ he asked the older one surprised. “What are you doing in here?“ Then his view fell on the girl and his eyes widened. “And she?”

"Andrew, thank God,“ said his friend relieved. “Aidan attacked her - I don't dare leave her alone. Please, would you go and ask Laura whether she has a salve made out of comfrey or consound?“ Without further questions the twenty-one year old disappeared again.

When he came back after a short time, Laura followed him upset.

“Pat,” she grumbled already before she entered the room. “How many supplies do you think I still have in this season? What do you want wi… ?“ She broke off, as soon as she was in the small chamber and caught a glimpse of the red-haired girl, who was whimpering quietly. She opened her mouth, but before she could say something, Pat cut her words off.

“Aidan,” He said briefly. “Something seems to be wrong with her left arm and I don’t know in what condition her back is in.”

"First the arm,“ answered the young woman without hesitation. “Is it possible to turn her on to her back?”

Pat shrugged his shoulders. “There is no other way,“ he said determined. “I’m sorry, sweet one,” he said to the girl, when he put his hands around her shoulders and on the small of her back and brought her very carefully into the correct position. She twitched out of the pain and tears swam in her eyes again when her back came into contact with the mattress. She wanted to turn to the side immediately, but Pat held her gently though firmly down.

Laura sat down now beside her and raised the sleeve of the girl’s shirt. The slim arm had swollen easily and exhibited some blue-violet spots because of the fall. Quickly the young woman examined the limb. After she had stated the fact that nothing was broken Laura carefully rubbed a bit of healing ointment in to the skin and bandaged the arm carefully, dedicated herself equivalently to the left hand, carefully pulled some splinters of wood from the small side and then salved the scratches.

She nodded towards Pat, as she finished with her work and he took his hand away, with which he had held the girl in that position. Released, Amarela instantly curled up again, legs drawn up to her chest.

This made the next task simpler for Laura. She rose and went around the bed, sat herself down there again. “I hope you two don’t mind doing without your shirts" she said to the two young men. “This one here will be no longer useful.“

As the young woman still held together the tattered shirt in front of her breasts, Laura had no choice but to cut open the cloth at the back. Amarela trembled when a light draft of air met her bare skin. The young red-haired human man held her left hand comforting, his right hand rested on her hair.

Amarela pressed her teeth together, when the woman touched her back and she sobbed. Carefully Laura dabbed the scrapes with a damp rag, then she very carefully rubbed some ointment over the spots grazed by the wall. For the numerous bruises, which showed up already slowly by their violet colouring, she took some salve of marigold. Content with her work, she locked the pots that lay beside her on the bed. When she looked up, Andrew held out one of his shirts to her, which he had gotten from his room in the meantime. “Turn around, you two,“ instructed Laura authoritatively.

It took some time to get the young woman to take off the destroyed shirt and into the fresh piece of clothing. In between Laura also treated the other hand, so that Amarela's wounds were well tended to.

The two men stood next to each other and stared at the wall. After some minutes Andrew lowered his view and Pat noticed that something burdened the other.

“What are you thinking?“ He asked hesitatingly, knowing only too well that the younger one shared his sorrows rarely.

Andrew shrugged his shoulders, looking at a spot on the floor that suddenly seemed very interesting. “Nothing at all,” he murmured finally, hardly audible.

“Sounds but like a big nothing,” noticed his friend slightly amused.

Now Andrew lifted his head and looked with an annoyed expression at Pat, eyebrows thoughtfully pinched together. "It is only ... we believe to be better than the others, because we did not do anything to her…But are we really? Better I mean? After all we didn’t protect her… didn’t stopped them."

Pat turned now to him and put his hands on Andrew's shoulders. “I do understand your feelings… but I do not believe that we could have prevented it. Not after Randy already brought her here. And the military has now certainly found the wreck of her spaceship, thus bringing her back there is no alternative. We can only try to protect her from now on.“

From the rear now Laura announced. “You two sit with her? Seems she's hungry, her stomach did growl and I want to get her something to eat.“

They turned again to the women and Pat nodded confirming. “We'll stay here, don’t worry.“

Laura left the room and the two men sat down on the floor. Amarela observed each of their movements carefully, not yet sure whether she could really trust these humans.

*************

On the way to the kitchen Laura made a trip to her boyfriend. She found him exceptionally busy in his office room, working at his kind of book keeping. Hands resting on her hips, she positioned herself before his desk, which was swamped with documents, and he looked at her, regarding her in an enquiring way.

“What’s up?“ He asked not unfriendly, putting his pencil down and sat back comfortably in his armchair.

“Aidan almost killed her this afternoon!“ The words broke furiously from his girlfriend. “You really want that?“

Randy sighed. “Again this topic.“ He bent forwards and put his chin on his entwined hands. “I said to you this morning that I'm going to leave her in peace. But I will not forbid her to the other men. And Aidan – well, he has but a preference for rougher plays. I can't and won’t bar him from this.“ His brows pulled together annoyed and the blue of his eyes became cold. “Surely you did not assume that we'd leave her free again? She belongs now to us whether it pleases you or not.“

Outraged Laura shook her head. “When did you become so cold? You were never like this before. I hardly know you anymore.” She left and let the door slam shut with a bang behind, tears in her velvet-soft brown eyes.

On the way to the kitchen she rubbed the tears furiously away with the back of her hand. None of the other women were to see her to upset.

“And now I must think practically,” thought she, when she entered the kitchen which was empty around this time of day. “What can I offer the girl? At best a selection of different things - as long as we don't know what she can eat of our food. Hopefully anything at all.“

The young woman got a wooden tray from a cabinet and put it on the large table in the middle of the area; then she looked for food. Bread, cheese and a bit of dried meat were placed on the tray, a remaining piece of fruit cake from the previous evening, a little bowl of oats with milk and a small dish with preserved fruit compote. She considered briefly, whether she should go in the garden to gather the ingredients for a fresh salad, but decided against it when she found some young carrots and green asparagus in the vegetable cooler of the refrigerator which she added after she had washed the vegetable under cold water. Then she filled a jug with a mix of water and apple juice and went back to the chamber.

**************

The two young men had slipped nearer to the bed and tried to hold a conversation with the young woman. “But, we can’t call you all the times just girl or small one,“ admitted Andrew gently, “How are you called?“

Amarela regarded him without understanding. “… you called?“ She imitated whispering, confused by the foreign language.

Pat shook his head. “Andrew, she does not understand you,“ meant he and pointed then to himself. “My name is Pat,“ he explained slowly and then pointed to his brown-haired friend. “His name is Andrew.“

Understanding showed up now in the gaze of the girl and she lifted her hand and pointed first to the one of them then to the other. “P. Patt. Enndru.“ The names sounded strange by her lips, but they were content with her effort. Then she pointed to herself. “Amarela,“ she whispered shyly. “Ioi stëste Amarela.“

Just as those hushed words were spoken, Laura entered the room. A small smile stole itself on her lips. That was so typical for Andrew and Pat - their affectionate character had made the young woman speak to them, despite everything that she had to go through before.

Laura placed her tray on the bed beside Amarela, who regarded the selection of food with a critical view. “Help yourself, take something,“ Encouraged the brunette. “I hope you like something out of it.“

After some minutes Amarela decided on the fruitcake and tried a small piece of it. She wasn't quite sure whether she liked the food, but her stomach was grateful for the meal, so that she ate the entire piece. The sweet refreshing beverage tasted good to her and she drank two glasses of it thirstily.

“Indêrem.“ Hesitating she regarded the other woman and underlined her thank you with the appropriate gesture.

This answered her view with a questioning look. “Sorry, I don’t understand you.“

"It looks as if she would like to thank you, Laura,“ Andrew said

Laura swallowed down a lump, “Thank me? What for? I’d wish I could help differently,” she wiped a tear from her eye.

Then she looked at Pat. “I’m afraid I have to go back to my chores. Can you two stay with her?”

Pat shook his head. “I only had the morning off today; Randy wants me to repair some fences in the afternoon, so I have to start on them soon.” His gaze moved to Andrew.

“I had to work this morning, so I’m free now,” said the younger man. “Sure I’ll stay with her.”

******

Pat and Andrew tried their best to protect Amarela against new abuse. But Randy refused to free the two men from their usual tasks, or to always give them different work shifts, so that they could not stand guard continuously in the room of the young woman.

Sure, Aidan and his friends too had their obligations which were to be fulfilled and which led them often away from the manor so the girl wasn’t always in danger to be raped. But still all too frequently her appointed protectors could not help her and could only try to comfort her or take care of her injuries, when the brutal trio had visited her.

Each horrible day seemed to pass all to slowly for the imprisoned young woman who wasn’t allowed to leave her small room. The only things she could do was sleeping, pacing up and down or looking out of the small window, leaning her face to the wall beside the opening and dreaming of rescue and home.


aleh = what?
Ioi stëste = I'm called/my name is
Indêrem = thank you

[Flamehair]

@kittens
welcome and thanks for your feedback. Actually she isn't yet missed at home, but since she should have arrived now on Naborêon I think they will start to look for her soon

@Trude
thanks for being my new beta


AN: here now the new part (already) - but it was already written and since the next part isn't complete yet I wanted to give you something to read


********

About two weeks later, someone hammered wildly on the gate from the outside. When Eddy opened it slightly, he was pushed to the side and a group of men rushed past him into the house.

“Is Randy here?“ The first, a tall young man with darkbrown curls named Raoul, barked at the teenager. “I heard rumours and hope for him that these are not true.“

„Eddy, what is going on?" The searched one called annoyed from inside the house.

“Play up, small one, just run and announce us.“ Raoul gave Eddy a light kick in the back.

He ran as fast as he could to his leader. “Randy, your brother and his men are here - and he seems to be sour,” Eddy burst out as soon as he got a glimpse of his leader.

Before Randy could give him an answer, Raoul had already pushed Eddy to the side, his green-blue eyes flashing. “That’s right, actually I’m very pissed off if these rumours are correct. Round up your people.”

“But….”

“No but, this concerns all of your folk.”

Raoul paced around discontinuous before his younger brother until his gang members, men as women, stood around Randy. 10 men and 6 women counted his group, a bit less than Raoul’s group, while Raoul had only his men with him. 13 was their number, including Raoul and they faced now the coyotes.

Raoul eyed his brother and brushed with his hand through his curls. “Now little brother, this rumour…. God, I really hope this is not true. Or are you really so sick to rape a woman together, only in order to fraternize? Did you really need such a thing?!“

Successively he saw in the eyes of every man and some of them were really so ashamed that they could not return his look. For Raoul this was confession enough. “That can’t be your earnest! That can’t be true! Where is she?“ He shouted enraged.

Randy shrugged his shoulders - he did not intend to let their toy go. Previous – when summoning together his group - he had given a code word for Aidan to Eddy. The man should ensure that their prisoner didn’t attract attention to herself.

Pat let his view move over his comrades and stated suddenly that Aidan was not among them. He threw an asking, anxious view to Andrew before he whispered quietly to him: ”Where is Aidan?“„ Shi…“ The look of the two moved itself slowly to the ceiling.

Raoul and Randy stared each other meanwhile so violently in the eyes that the didn’t seem to notice what went on around them.

Therefore Andrew crept slowly out the room toward the stairs. Hardly anymore was he in the range of vision of the others, when he began to run, up the stages, down the corridor up to Amarelas room, where he fell nearly with the door into the chamber. Her loud sobbing said enough to him, although he was today in the right time to avert a new rape. But apparently Aidan had again struck her, because she lay on the floor writhed, holding her arms over her head in an effort to protect herself, Aidan towering over her.

Old blue marks defaced her arms and her back and as her skin looked in some places, still more would be added. “Get out!!“ Andrew shouted at Aidan outraged and pulled him away from the girl. “Leave her in peace! Don’t bother her anymore!” He pushed the other one out of the room and stroke him a blow in the bottom.

******

Raoul had seen from the corner of his eyes that Andrew had crept away. When he heard the furious cries from above now, he did not hesitate a second to follow the noises, half of his men behind him.

When he entered the room, Andrew sat on the floor, wrapping Amarela protecting in his arms. The Girl pressed her head to his chest. Andrew had put a blanket around her shoulders and rubbed now gently over her back while whispering comforting words to her. Raoul saw only a glut of red curls, twisted together into a loose braid slightly beyond her shoulders, a part of her calves and a pair of delicate dirty feet.

“Is she okay?“ He asked quietly. The voice of an unknown man let Amarela wince and she pressed herself in search of protection still more firmly to Andrew’s chest.

He looked up and regarded Raoul sinister. “After what your brother and the others did to her? How should she be okay after this?“

Raoul was ashamed for his relationship with Randy. “We’ll take her to us,” offered he the only help that he could offer.

“Only if I can come along with her,“ answered Andrew resolute

“And me too,“ said Pat, which showed up behind the other men of the cougars. “We won’t leave her alone any longer and she has trust in both of us. If you would take her away with you alone she would certainly be scared even more and that is truly not necessary. She already had to abide more than enough fear.“

Raoul considered only for a short time. In no case he wanted to leave the young woman in the shank of his brother. “Okay, if you really want to change the group consider yourself welcome. Let us leave this unfriendly house as soon as possible.“

Pat seized himself an additional blanket and kneeled down in front of Andrew on the floor, so that Amarela was shielded nearly completely from the other men's view. Gently his hand touched her hair.

“Little one?” She turned her head a bit towards him, so that she could see him out from the corner of her eye. “I have here one more blanket for you,“ he lifted it a bit to show it to her and plugged it then carefully between Andrew and Amarela, endeavoured to touch her as little as possible. “Lift your arms a bit, please… no fear… you know that I won’t look at you in this way.”

Raoul was astonished how gently the heavily built Pat dealt with the young woman.

“Now – we need your aid – can you wrap your arms around Andrew’s neck and hold tight?” Carefully Pat pushed his hand under her left elbow and pressed it a little into the direction that was desired. “You’re doing this very well, Sweetie,” Andrew whispered to Amarela, when she put first the left then the right arm around his neck and then burrowed her face there. He slid his right arm carefully – prudent that her blankets did not slip – under her knees and rose with caution.

The group took Andrew with the girl protecting into the centre. “Pat! Andrew! Wait!“ Laura came running breathlessly while carrying two heavy bags. “ Somehow I imagined that you two will leave us and therefore I have packed some of your stuff.”

Pat took the bags out of her hands. “That’s very nice of you, Laura. Don’t you want to come with us too?”

Her lips warped a bit. “I have to admit that I was thinking about it. But – it’s just that I love Randy, can’t change the fact. And I didn’t yet have given up hope that some day he’ll change into a man like you or Andrew. Farewell.” She embraced him briefly to say goodbye and pressed a small kiss on Andrew’s cheek in a gesture of parting. “Take care of her.“

“Can you carry her the whole distance?“ Raoul asked Andrew. “After all our home is around five miles from here.”

“She isn’t that heavy and otherwise Pat can replace me. I just hope that not to many strangers will see us,” was the other man’s answer.

The brown-haired leader of the cougars was somewhat surprised and confused at this remark but didn’t demand an answer. They started to march but were stopped on the stairs by Randy and his group.

“She stays here.“ The blond shouted angrily. Amarela clasped herself more closely at Andrew and nearly squeezed the air out of his lungs in fear.

“Hardly,” answered Raoul his brother, “Or do you really want to fight with us?” Raoul’s group was first of all older and secondly more trained than the group of Randy.

“You won’t take much pleasure in her.”

“Pleasure?“ Raoul voice was getting louder too now. “Do you really believe that we enjoy it if a woman resists and cries? That we enjoy hitting someone?!!“ He pushed his brother roughly out of the way and left the old manor house with his people.

[Flamehair]

@Karen
yes, he's sure the better guy of the siblings

@Kara
Glad you enjoyed

@Trude
thanks for your help and in answer to your question - you'll see

@all
here for you the new part


*****



Outside the sun was almost vanishing behind the distant mountains, colouring the sky in different shades of red. But Amarela had no eye for the splendid dusk. She didn’t loose her head from Andrew’s neck and gave no sound during the whole march. She seemed to have completely retreated into herself.

The place where the cougars lived was also an old abandoned manor-house, generously framed by imbruted hedges of berry bushes, and in the protection of this hedges a large vegetable garden had been set, in which now already the first fresh green sprouted.

Raoul pushed the solid door open and led his fellowship into a large dwelling, in whose fireplace a fire flickered. Some of the female members of the group had made themselves cosy in there. But when Raoul entered, they rose immediately.

“Where are Doreen, Daphne and Emily?“ He asked a tall beauty with long blond curls that where held back from her forehead by a blue ribbon, after he had overlooked the room.

“It’s their turn to work in the kitchen,” Kristin explained.

“Would you please fetch them? I don’t want to repeat what I have to say.“

After the twins and Emily had entered Raoul presented the two strangers to the assembled women. “This tall red-hair is Pat and the brown-haired beside him is Andrew. They have joined now the cougars.”

The women gave the two new men a warm welcome but eyed somewhat distrustfully the copper-haired girl in Andrew's arms. A further woman brought often only annoyance.

The dark-blond Fiona asked somewhat shy: “Then the rumours were true and you have found what you have feared, Raoul?”

“Sadly the rumours were true,” growled he frustrated, “this is … “ He regarded Andrew questioning.

“Her name is Amarela,” answered his new gang member. “And I’m asking for protection and shelter for her.” He added the ritual request for someone not belonging to a group.

“And the cougars grant it to her,“ answered Raoul just as ritually.

“The soup for supper is almost done,” determined Doreen. “But maybe you would like something to eat immediately? Bread and cheese? We have some remaining salad from lunch too."

“Thanks for the nice welcome,” Pat said grateful. “Later we would very much like to eat something.” He threw a view down on Amarelas Head. “Perhaps the request is too impudent – but I think a warm bath would do good to her. She hardly could wash herself during the whole time…“ He swallowed a bit nervous.

“But certainly,” was Emily’s immediate answer. “Poor girl. I just go and prepare a bath for her. Do you come along and help me, Daphne?” she asked her best friend and turned around to the door, not waiting for the answer. “Come Andrew.” He followed the two women into the upper floor up to a large bathroom with a freestanding tub.

Nevertheless having become a bit tired now due to the continuous carrying of the girl, he sat down on a bench right underneath the window. Amarela murmured something at his neck.
“An… drew?“ She mumbled, “Yes dear?” She lifted slowly her head and regarded him with confused and at the same time frightened eyes. “No hurt?”

As gently as he could, he touched her right cheek where a bruise stood out violet-blue against her shimmering brown-golden skin. “No. Nobody will hurt you here. We are here with friends.” “Friends,” she whispered repeating his word and dared a shy short view to the two young other women whom were busy with the tub.

But when Daphne turned to them she pressed her face quickly back at Andrew’s neck. Daphne stepped to the young man. She was a pretty chubby woman with shining long black hair and almost black warm eyes, had a merry charisma and one couldn’t deny the fact that she was pregnant. “Bath is ready,” said she. “Would you please leave Amarela alone with us?”

Andrew regarded her shocked. “But she only trusts me and Pat!”

“I know and that is understandable. But sooner or later she must learn to trust other people again. And I hope she makes a new beginning with Emily and me if you entrust her to our care.” Explained Daphne calmly. “And to be honest – even if you never did something to her it is surely not too pleasant for her if you see her naked.”

Andrew furrowed his brows. “Your words make sense. Maybe we can try,” he meant half-hearted – not sounding convinced at all. “But I don’t know if she will understand it.”

He let Amarela slide out of his lap onto the place beside him and loosened gently the grasp of her arms around his neck. Pressing the covers at her body she regarded him disturbed. “Amarela, I leave you now here with Daphne and Emily. They are friends,” underlined he again. “I will take a look if I find something for you to wear in this house.”

Briefly he stroked her cheek and rose then. “And-drew?” Immediately a muted sob was to be heard behind his back. Without looking back to her he opened the door with heavy heart and stepped outside.

Amarela sat fearfully and confused on the bench, view directed towards the floor, so that those curls that had escaped the loose braid covered her face like a veil.

Gently Daphne put her right hand on the girls shoulder. “You’d like to bathe now? The water is nice and warm.”

The girl lifted slowly her eyes up to the other woman. “Oh no, small one!” Daphne could not suppress the pitiful call, when she saw the large blue bruise on her cheek

Thus diverted she noticed only after some seconds that these green eyes, into which she looked, were much too large to be human eyes.

“Bathe? Fr..iends?“ Amarela whispered and noticed suddenly the curved belly of the woman that stood before her. Hesitating she stretched her right arm thereafter and affected it with the fingertips. “Asïdelo?“ She asked shyly.

Daphne guessed her question somehow. “Yes, a baby,“ said she with a warm smile. “Lûmi?“

„Still two months.“ Gently she seized the stretched hand of the girl. “But come now, we want to take care of you.“ She led her to the bathtub and dipped her own hand into the water, in order to show that it was not too hot. Carefully Amarela copied Daphne’s gesture. A small smile illuminated her face and she let fall the blankets that she still had pressed to her body till now.

Daphne would have loved best if she could have run to Randy and declare war to him when she saw the mauled body of her protégé and Emily was close to tears.

Amarela rose into the warm water that smelled of roses and exhaled a hushed sigh, when she relaxed her body therein.

Emily pressed a small piece of soap in her hand. “Would you like to wash your hair?“ She asked and affected explaining her own hair. Amarela nodded and loosened her braid that was afflicted with dirt. Daphne seized herself a jug and poured carefully some warm water over the girl’s hair. Emily took a bit of soap into the hands and rubbed it gently into the red curls. Dirt and filth of the last weeks separated in the cleaning water and soon the young extraterrestrial woman was at least outwardly pure again.

When Andrew knocked carefully a good half hour later, Amarela sat wrapped into preheated soft flannel towels on the bench, a majority of her wounds rubbed in with mullein ointment. Emily and Daphne had used therefore a lot of patience and many tears had been shed. Andrew opened the door and peeked carefully into the bathroom.

“I found her something to wear,“ said he and delayed a blue dress to Daphne, somehow intimidated by her angry look.

“Very well,” meant the young woman and took the garb from his hand. “Would you please ask Doreen if she would bring something to eat in the fireplace room? In one quarter of an hour?“

He felt the fact that he wasn’t so much welcomed at this place in the moment and agreed therefore immediate do to this messenger service. Amarela seemed to be well under the care of the young women.


*************************

Some time later all female members of the cougars – apart from Jennifer and Bridget that worked in the kitchen together with Floris and Hugh – were united in the fireplace room. Daphne had shooed away the men, even Pat and Andrew, since she wanted to spare the girl from their sight. Like hens around a fledgling they gathered around Amarela. A bit intimidated because of this attention by people that she didn’t know, the girl sat before a small bowl of soup and stirred carefully and at the same time a bit distrustfully in the hot brew.

Daphne drew the attention of Audrey to herself by plucking at her sleeve. “How much money do we have?“ She asked the oldest one and as Raoul's girlfriend automatically also leader, at least in their group.

“Why are you asking?“ meant Audrey and looked a bit confused at the younger woman.

“It seems to me that she has light fever – and these injuries... I think it would be best if Diane would have a look at her when it’s time for my next check-up.”

“Don’t worry about the payment, darling. Just lead Diane to Amarela when she’ll be here for your examination. You know that if necessary Diane will take food as payment or herbs for her self made medicine.”

The babbling of the other women got on her nerves now and Audrey turned to the table and said reproachfully. “Will you give her place to breathe – the poor girl is completely scared. Don’t you have other fish to fry?“

Shrugging their shoulders some of the women removed from Amarela and turned their attention towards other occupations.

Audrey sat down opposite of Amarela at the table. “Don't you like the soup?” she asked friendly. “You don’t have to be afraid. It’s the same what we all eat for dinner.”

She seized herself a spoon from the earthen pot that stood on the table, lolled over and dipped it in Amarelas plate. Then she blew briefly over the content of the spoon and led it to her mouth, smacking her lips.

Now the girl dared to try also a mouthful. She grimaced a bit due to the unusual taste of this meal. But back home she had already eaten odder meals with guest from other planets.
Besides she was really hungry and so further ones followed the first spoon until the plate was empty.

And with each sip the vegetable soup tasted better to Amarela, called the memory of a course awake that she had eaten once as a small child during a guest attendance on Trebon. With a shy view under the lashes to Audrey she seized a piece of freshly baked bread out of the basket on the table and dabbed up with it the last drops of the liquid.

“Would you like some more?” Audrey asked and rose, lifting the full scoop from the pot.

“Please?” With this quiet word Amarela held the empty small bowl to the other woman.

Fully she pushed the still half-full bowl later away, could not possibly force herself to eat one spoon more, even if she had a bad conscience because of in such a way wasted food.

She didn’t yet know that with the cougars all was recycled in one way or another if possible. The leftovers would land in the stomachs of the young pigs that were destined to be slaughtered in October.

“Enough?” Audrey asked, worried about the well-being of the alien girl.

Amarela nodded slightly and regarded then the plate. Then she lifted her gaze up to Audrey.

“Sorry,” she floundered, confusing the Auburn-haired a bit with this comment.

“About what, Sweetheart?” asked Audrey therefore. .Amarela stretched her arm a bit and placed two fingers on the edge on the plate.

Audrey couldn’t help but laugh when she understood about what the other girl wanted to apologise. She pushed her chair back, stood up, went around the table to Amarela, and wrapped her arm around the Copper-haired. The girl winced back but Audrey released her quickly and seized her hand. Amarela looked up at her inquiringly. “Come, Amarela. I want to show you something.”

Leading Amarela at one hand and holding with the other hand the pot with the leftovers of the supper, the tall and willowy twenty-six-years-old went outside to the hog-house and poured the soup into the hod. Grunting the pigs that weren’t yet asleep jumped at the food and gorged it.

The girl had hid behind Audrey’s back at the first sight of the animals but curious she had peeked over her shoulder. Audrey turned around to her. “Do you understand? Nothing is wasted here. You really don’t have to apologise” Amarela nodded and yawned then, trying to hide the yawn behind one of her delicate hands.

“Oh, I’m sorry, honey,” exclaimed Audrey softly, only now noticing how tired the girl looked. Gently she touched her back and led her back into the house.

Christine and Jennifer, two of the other cougar-women, had cleaned up one of the guestrooms for Amarela when they had finished supper.

Up to this room on the second floor Amarela was now being led. Audrey showed her on the way quickly where one of the bathrooms was and guided her then to her chamber.

“You can sleep here, dear. The room on the right side belongs to Daphne and Floris, I and Raoul share the room on the other side of the bathroom.”

It was really just a small room – the young humans had to modify quite a lot in the manor in the last years, making some rooms bigger so there was enough place for a couple to live and making other rooms that weren’t used smaller. But it had a bed inside and a cupboard and even a small table with a chair.

"It seems the others had rummaged through their cupboards to arrange a basic outfit for Amarela. How sweet of them." That's what Audrey was thinking when the two of them entered the room and she noticed the clothes that lay in the cupboard.

Regardless she would tell Raoul in the morning that some of them should go to the storehouse in town where the survivors of the epidemic had gathered all the clothes that they had found in the shops or in the empty houses. After all she should have some clothing of her own that would fit her. And maybe they could even bring back a nice fabric so that one of the woman could sew a clothing after Amarela's fancy?

Amarela leaned on her shoulder and was almost falling asleep while still standing. Quickly Audrey helped her out of the blue gown and slipped a nightshirt over her head. After she had put the young woman to bed she pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Sleep well, dear. You're safe now."




Asïdelo = Baby
Lûmi = How long

[Flamehair]

Finally the promised new part

@all
thanks again for all your feedback, I really appreciate it

and thanks a lot to my beta Trude *hug*






Meanwhile on Adrasc


"And then the butterfly tried to hide in my hair, because he was afraid of the dragon." Girlish giggling followed this babbled words and the small dark-haired boy squeaked, "'fraid of the dragon," and made a very serious face.

"I fight dragon," he exclaimed then and straightened his small body, holding an imaginative sword in his hand and waving it around. “Me too!” His older sister joined him immediately in the battle.

Laughing, Daieâke pulled her two youngest children into a hug. She had given up the fight of trying to follow the story that Aderï and Diaêdo were telling.

"That was very generous of you that you gave this butterfly a place to hide. And you," she ruffled Diaêdo's untamed hair. "I'm sure you'll be the greatest dragonfighter Adrasc has ever seen."

There was a knock and then the door was opened. "Your Majesty?" A young guardsman bowed his head and straightened then, shifting a bit nervous from one foot to the other because he had to disturb his ruler.

Daieâke stood up with a little sigh about the distraction. "Yes, Tarill? What's the matter?"

"A holographic call is waiting in the line," was his reply.

"Thank you, Tarill. I'll answer it here." The guard nodded and stepped back discreetly, closing the door again.

The tall slender woman stepped to the little table where the transmitter stood and passed her hand softly over the surface of the crystal to activate it.

Amarela was expected to call as soon as she had arrived and her mother abided the call this day. So she was rather astonished when the flickering picture - the reception wasn't too good in the children's playroom - showed the face of Zhysk.

Quickly Daieâke gestured to the children’s nursemaid, who sat in a chair and was mending one of Aderïs’ gowns. Immediately Kimana put the gown to the side and stood up. “My sweethearts, how do you feel about going to the kitchen and looking if the cook has some honeybread for you?”

Both kids squealed with glee about this idea and after some seconds Daieâke was alone in the room.

“May the stars bless you and your family, Zhysk,” she started the talk with the other ruler. “I hope you don’t mind my look. It’s just that I really didn’t expect a call from you. I hope everything is all right?”

“Blessings to you, Daieâke.” Zhysk regarded her worried. “I’m afraid my message will bring no joy to your heart.”

Five minutes later the woman paced in front of the hologram, fingers entwined behind her back. “And there was really no message? Not even a fragment?” She stopped abruptly and lifted her gaze again to the man. “But why wasn’t there at least a call for help, if they really had problems?”

Daieâke started her pacing again. “Is it possible that they had an encounter with pirates?”

Zhysk shook his head. “I really don’t know. These pirates had always shown up and then again disappeared so suddenly that one never knew where the dangerous zones were. But no sightings have been reported to me since years, so I always assumed that they were gone for good.”

“We have to scour all the space they came through. Will you help us?” Pleadingly Daieâke stretched her hands out to Zhysk.

The man almost seamed hurt by her assumption that he wouldn’t help. “Of course, Daieâke. How can you doubt about my help for a second? Our offspring is precious. But you’re well aware that the search can take a long time?”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.” The woman’s voice was hushed. “Thank you for your call and your help, Zhysk. My greetings to your wife and your heir.”

After Zhysk had said his own good-bye, she switched off the transmitter and sank down in one of the soft chairs, barely holding it together anymore and closed her eyes.

Her eldest daughter. Her beautiful firstborn. Daieâke could recall the day of Amarela’s birth in mind like it had only been yesterday since the tiny infant, wrapped in a cloth of dark-blue Tirbïtfabric, had been laid in her arms. She had been astonished that someone so small could be so perfect and when the baby had opened it’s eyes and had looked at her with glistening green eyes her heart had melted with love. Sîriol – her always taciturn bonded partner – had crouched beside her and caressed the red curls of their daughter. “She’s lovely, my love. Just like you.” He whispered to her and kissed her then.

Daieâke shook her head. She didn’t have the time now to dwell in memories. She braced herself and left the room.

The young guard sprang to attention when his ruler showed up in the corridor. “Tarill, have you seen my sons somewhere? And do you know if General Kjetil is still in town?” she addressed him.

“My Lady,” he stammered nervously. “I daresay the princes are out in the park to practise archery. And General Kjetil - I’ve seen him just an hour ago in the tavern named “Dragon Claw” and it didn’t look like he wanted to leave soon.”

“Thank you, my dear. I’ll go to the park to fetch my sons. Please send an errant boy to the General. He shall come to the palace immediately.” The queen rushed past him with her words and he could only nod to her back.

Daieâke got a glimpse of her older sons immediately when she left her home – the palace stood in the middle of the generous park.

Adhîldar and Beîfedo were standing side by side, wearing only their track pants, competing their skill with the longbow. A small group of young girls had assembled and were standing in safe distance of the young men, making goo-goo eyes at them. In their fluttering colourful gowns the maidens looked like butterflies.

The younger of the boys, Beîfedo, slender built and still lanky, blushed when a soft breeze carried a frivolous word from the group to his ear and his hands slightly started to tremble.

"Ignore them," hissed his brown-haired brother whose figure showed that he would be broad-shouldered when grown-up, just like his grandfather. "They don't know what they are talking about." With grim determination Adhîldar let his arrow fly and it found its aim in the distance.

Beîfedo’s arrow followed shortly behind, but missed the black mark in the middle of the aim. He laughed out loud about his unhandiness and tapped his brother’s shoulder. “Looks like you win today, brother. Well, I knew before that you’re better than me in archery. But let’s see who of us is the better windrider – do you have time tomorrow for a game in the gorge of the whispered songs?”

“And you think you can beat me therein, little one?” smirked Adhîldar and started to saunter towards the aim to gather the arrows.

Neither of the young men had noticed that the girls had become silent but had fallen in deep curtseys when Daieâke had shown up beside them.

Now their mother’s clear voice crossed the distance. “I don’t think I will allow you to go windriding tomorrow, my sons.”

Beîfedo and Adhîldar stopped and turned towards her. “But mother…,” started the older making a long face, quickly stopping his words when he noticed the trouble in her blue eyes.

She gave them a weak smile, feeling sorry that she had to forbid them one of their favourite leisure activities, although she knew that the younglings wouldn’t be in any danger at all when wind-riding – born to fly with the wind like all the children of the Im’ri. But still – she couldn’t stand the thought of even the slightest risk for them, not with one of her children missing.

“Temporarily you will forgo all the sports that could be regarded just a bit as dangerous,” Daieâke told them.

Beîfedo – not yet too proud to show his feelings in public – wrapped his arms around her. “Mum – what’s wrong? Something is troubling you. Please tell us?” He looked up, tenderness in his brown-green eyes.

Daieâke shook her head. “Not here, Beîfedo. I’ll tell you back at home. Kjetil should join us there shortly.”

Adhîldar left the arrows where they were, following his mother and his younger brother back to the palace.

Shortly afterwards the three of them were sitting in the crystal chamber and waited for the General to show up. Daieâke had informed her sons about their sisters’ disappearance and – impulsive as young men were in that age – they wanted to accompany and help Kjetil on his extensive search.

“I will allow Beîfedo to go,” said she begging for appreciation to her oldest son. “But you know, Adhîldar, that if something happens to me or to Amarela, you will be steward to the throne till Aderï is grown up and can rule by herself.”

He clenched his hands while furrowing his brows, but nodded then. “I know, mother. It’s just that I don’t like to feel so useless,” whispered he hoarsely.

She stretched her hand out, tenderly pushing back one of his brown curls behind his ear and locked her eyes with his blue ones. “I know, Sweetheart.”

When the first lanterns were lit by a silent servant, Kjetil finally showed up, sauntering slowly into the room. He looked exhausted, his eyes were hooded, his clothes crumpled and Daieâke wrinkled her nose when she was smelling his perspiration of too many cheap drinks, mingled with a faint aroma of cheap perfume.

She hid her irritation about the General’s appearance and asked him to sit down, started to tell him the awful news. With each of the woman’s words he became more prick-eared and seemed to be sober when Daieâke finished.

He jumped up, brushed with his hand through his raven-black straight hair. “I’ll take our newest ship,” exclaimed he all of a dither. “With everyone working during the night it should be ready to start in the first light of day. You give me free hand?”

“Yes, Kjetil,” was the ruler’s nodded answer. “But Beîfedo wants to come along with you. I’ll inform Zhysk where and when he can meet you with his own ships.”

Reassuring the man put his hand on the woman’s shoulder. “We’ll find her, Daieâke. We’ll find her, I promise.” She bit her lower lip, nodded again and lifted her gaze up to his austere face, eyes shining of yet unshed tears but showing trust in his words.

“May the stars blessings be with you on your mission,” whispered she clawing for hope before turning away from him, starting to give orders to the gathered guards and servants.


*****

Cougar’s mansion, 19th of May


Late in the night, the young humans awakened by a fearful scream. Without thinking- used to situations like this, as he often had to comfort the younger ones in the previous years when they were mourning about their parent’s death – Raoul shoot out of the bed he was sharing with Audrey and dashed to the room where the yelp had come from.

Amarela was sitting in her bed shivering, pressing the sheets closely to her body, tears running down her cheeks. The young leader wrapped his arms around her.

At first, she seemed comforted by his embrace but then she started to wail again and tried to push him away.

Only then did he realize how she must feel. Waking up from a nightmare or bad memories of the past days in a room she didn’t recognize and then to be held by a man she didn’t know. No wonder she went to pieces.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered and let her out of his arms. She looked at him terrified, her green eyes glistening in the dark thanks to the little light that enlightened the room from the corridor.

“Pat?” Amarela’s voice was shaky under her sobs.

“I go and get him,” Raoul promised with husky voice and stood up to leave the room.

But the wanted one was already standing in the room, took a seat now on the edge of her bed, and while giving a loud sob the young woman noosed her arms around his neck. He held her tight and rubbed her back up and down in a comforting way.

Barely understandable hushed words were spoken under still more tears. “Scared” was to be heard as well as “hurt” and “no”.

The cougar’s leader let hang his head and clenched his hands to fists.

The other man turned a bit towards him while still pressing Amarela’s delicate figure at his chest. “A nightmare,” mumbled he. “She will soon calm down.”

Pat pressed a soft kiss on the crown of her head – a kiss alike the one a mother would give her child or like an older brother comforting a sister - and whispered gently to her. In fact, the young man once had a younger sister – just a shade of a memory these days to him, having died in a car accident along with their mother when he was five years old. He couldn’t even recall her name.

After a short time, he lifted his view again up to Raoul, who stood silently watching beside the bed.

“Maybe better when either I or Andrew sleep in here too. At least for the first days until she knows all of you. She’s used to one of us sleeping on her floor,” Pat added with a little soft smile, regret in his gaze that Amarela was so distressed.

Raoul nodded in agreement. “I go and get a mattress along with Andrew.”

The younger one had just entered the room a minute ago. He and Raoul swivelled and disappeared into the corridor.

Amarela had loosened the grip of her arms around Pat’s neck and her sobbing had ebbed when the two men returned. Gently Pat released himself of her embrace but rested his hands still on her back to support her till she braced herself. He cupped her cheek with his right hand, brushing away the last tears with his thumb. “Okay again?”

She sniffed once more, but nodded and lay down again. The young man pulled the blanket over her shoulders. “If you need me – I’ll sleep just right beside you on the floor.”

Standing up, Pat turned to the cougar’s leader. “Thank you for your understanding, Raoul. I think you can all go now back to sleep.”

“You’re welcome, Pat. I’m really glad you and Andrew joined us. I don’t want to imagine how agitated she would be now if you weren’t here. Amarela really seems to trust you.”

Raoul walked out of the room, followed by the younger brown-haired man, but leaving the door ajar.

Pat lay down on his own mattress, turning on the side so that he faced the young woman. She was already sleeping again, peaceful for now and he hoped that her sleep would stay like this for the rest of the night.

“Pleasant dreams, sweetheart,” he whispered quietly.


******

Holloman Base, Alamogordo, morning of the 20th May


“Thanks for the ride, man!” The young brown-haired man put his sunglasses on and jumped out of the old vehicle, turned then and heaved his heavy-laden backpack down from the car. He was tall and lanky, looking more like a musician than a soldier. But despite his appearance, he was well-trained and had never been fitter in his 23 years of life.

Alex sighed, glad that he at last had reached the end of his journey. His way had led him down from Boston, where he had grown up after the epidemic in a military orphan camp, to this base in New Mexico.

Since three months the young man was on the way –in no hurry he had wanted to see as much of the states he crossed as possible. Who knew when this would be possible for him the next time?

So he had either hitchhiked or walked and really had enjoyed the journey, absorbing all the various impressions that his country could give him, starting with the almost abandoned New York City, where he walked to the top of the Empire State Building.

Alas he couldn’t climb up too to the statue of liberty. There had been too much ice in the water around Liberty Island and the ferry couldn’t cross the floods. So he had just made some charcoal drawing from afar.

In Pennsylvania Alex had lived two weeks with the Amish people and was stunned at their style of living although he knew of it before. But to see it with his own eyes was something completely different and he really admired them.

He had walked beneath the natural bridge of Virginia, had paid visit to the Great Falls National park and had been flabbergasted in the caverns of Luray.

In the Land of waterfalls in North Carolina he had made many sketches, but the young man was the most impressed by the Connestee Falls that looked like out of a fairy tale.

He had visited two more National parks, the Great Smoky in Tennessee and the one with the hot springs in Arkansas.

But Alex’ portfolio had been really filled in Colorado with the impressive monuments in the Garden of the gods and in the canyon of the ancients monuments. He regretted it that there weren’t any helicopters left so that he could have taken a flight over the canyon.

For food he had either hunted or helped now and then the people on a lonesome farm or in a little village with their work in exchange for food and a bed. Some of them had begged him to stay with them, but he had to refuse each time. Alex couldn’t just quit his job this easily.

And now he was here, ready to accede his new job. He had no idea what he would have to do exactly – but it was an offer he had gotten because of an old friend and sure it was a great job.

The vehicle had driven off in a cloud of dust, left him standing alone with his baggage outside the base that stood in a fenced area. A gate opened now in front of him and the soldier standing guard behind gestured him to come in.

Introducing himself Alex said while pulling out the letter with the offer out of his jacket, “Hey, I’m Alex Whitman.”

“Welcome on Holloman Base, Whitman,” answered the other, shaking his hand. “Good to have you here. Please register at the best room – you’ll find it just behind the main door of the building in the middle.”

While Alex walked to path to the main building – a huge complex – the door opened and an older man with a huge grin on his face hurried towards him.

“Alex, I’m so glad you finally arrived! How was your journey? You have to tell me everything.” The man pulled Alex into a bear-hug.

“Jeffrey, it’s really good to see you again,” said Alex’ with a chuckle while patting the other’s back. “And thanks that you pulled strings for me – I really look forward to this job.”

Jeffrey released him. “Come, you have to register and then I show you your room. It will be just small but at least something on your own. The government wants to jolly their soldiers along out here.” He laughed hearty.

“Seems like,” responded the younger man. “But tell me – why all this secrecy? What are we doing here?”

Jeffrey took on an official tone. “I shouldn’t tell you before you have been sworn to secrecy. But we know each other since your childhood, so I can tell you this. Extraterrestrials -and their spaceships. No kidding.”

“Oh please, Jeffrey – Aliens? Are you serious?” Alex laughed a bit nervously.

The other man stopped and turned to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Yes, Alex. I’m deadly serious. Here you will see things that you never have dreamt about before. But remember – a violation of the secrecy will be punished hard.”


*************************


Old manor house to the earlier North Atkinson Avenue, Roswell, residence of the cougars 23rd of May


„Everything is all right with your baby, Daphne.” Diane Evans was smiling contently.
“And I have rarely seen a pregnant woman as healthy as you.“ She patted the arm of the young cougar women. “You can dress yourself again.“

Daphne slipped into her slip and buttoned up her dress. The doctor began packing up her equipments, supported by her taciturn fair-haired tall daughter Isabel who always accompanied her mother on her home visits.

“Diane?“ The normally so self-confident black-haired young woman seemed suddenly very shy.

The older blonde woman turned to her and Daphne swallowed nervously.

“We have a protégé since four days and… she is rather ill. Please – do you have the time to take a look at her?” She stammered.

“Certainly, Daphne.“ Diane swivelled to the door that was kept open by Isabel. “Lead me forthwith to her.”

The young woman walked in front of the doctor and her daughter to the half opened door just beside her own room. Diane wanted to step inside but was held back again.

“Please,” Daphne had grabbed the arm of the older woman and regarded her begging. “Don’t’ tell anybody of her.“

Diane exchanged a surprised look with her daughter, who reflected the look just as uncomprehending and shrugged her shoulders. Well, this mystery would surely be solved in an instant.

“Daphne,” said Diane then gently and tried to pass by her, “if your guest really is so ill, you shouldn’t obstruct the passage but rather let me through.”

Somewhat unwilling the young woman stepped to the side and gave to the doctor the precedence.

Inside the chamber, Audrey was sitting at the bedside of a very pale delicate young woman and placed evenly a new damp compress on her forehead.

Audrey lifted her head and regarded Diane with a look for help. “I don’t know further,” said she with tired voice and almost crying. “Whatever I try, her fever continues to rise.“

The doctor hurried at the side of the young woman. “What did you give her up till now?”

„Elder bloom tea as well as chamomile and lady’s mantle. And we even gave her a cold bath, but it was of no use.“

“Lady’s mantle?“ The older woman thought surprised and furrowed then her brows. “Why Lady’s mantle if she has fever?“

She seized the thermometer that Isabel stretched to her and took the temperature of the girl. A part of her registered the size of the closed eyes and the tapered ears. But for questions there would be time enough later.

After a minute the thermometer gave a beep and Diane read the indication.

“43 degrees?! Isabel, please give me the stethoscope.“ Explaining she was turning to Daphne and Audrey. “I want to eavesdrop her heart and the lungs.“

Daphne nodded and opened the top buttons at Amarela’s flannel nightgown that was again wet of sweat. The girl’s heartbeat was fast but strong and no suspicious noise was to be heard on her lungs.

Diane shook her head uncomprehending. Just why did the girl have such a high fever? “Do you have an explanation for her illness? Was she infected by someone?” asked she the two young women.

Daphne and Audrey regarded each other silently.

“I am not certain,“ murmured finally the younger one of them. “She was raped… several times… so far we know along some days. But if this can be the reason?”

With pinched lips the doctor brushed aside the blanket and pushed up the seam of the young woman’s nightgown. Her face became even more serious, the more blue marks her eyes were seeing. .

Hardly a piece of her golden brown skin was visible anymore on Amarela's inner thighs and the area of the hips as well as the rest of the abdomen was in no better condition.

Diane removed the damp - slightly turned red with blood – compress on Amarela’s shame and searched with her eyes then Daphne’s view. “I must examine her – But I fear that it will rankle her.“

The pregnant woman understood - she kneeled down at the top of the bed, held with her left hand comforting Amarela’s left one and wrapped her right arm becalming around the girl, whispering quietly to her.

Diane made the necessary examinations so fast she could, nevertheless pain-fulfilled cries shrilled through the whole house.

******

Downstairs, Andrew shrugged together in his armchair and the book that he had skimmed through dropped out of his hand. Raoul put reassuring his hand on the other man’s shoulder.

“Calmly man,“ the cougar’s leader said appeasing. “Diane knows what she does. Have confidence in her.“

Andrew shook Raoul’s hand off and jumped up. He ran with both hands through his hair, a desperate expression on his face. “You don't understand, Raoul. I promised her that here nobody would hurt her. I must go to her.“ He took the way in long steps and stood shortly thereafter in the door of the sickroom.

One of Diane's sons had accompanied mother and sister and hung out in the fireplace room with those of the cougars, who had nothing else to do in the moment. With the first cry that was heard he took up contact with his sister. “Isabel? What’s the matter? Do you need me up there?”

She shooed the handsome black-haired out of her thoughts. “I have no time for you now, Max.“

Yet he got a glimpse of the screaming girl through his sister’s eyes and whistled low through his teeth. Such a beauty, even if not his fancy. But his small brother could like her. Maybe she was the one who would tear Michael out of his brooding about his broken relationship?

***************

„Her womb as well as the vagina are infected– not a miracle with these injuries,“ determined Diane after she had covered Amarela again. “The fever seems to be a reaction of her body to it. But I do not dare to give her antibiotics when I don't know how she would react to them.
At least she is not pregnant.“

She threw an asking look to her daughter. Isabel nodded hardly noticeably, a gesture only meant for her mother.

Diane cleared her throat with a little cough. “My older son is sitting downstairs. Promise me you won’t tell that to anybody – but he could heal her.“

„Heal her?“ Audrey asked surprised, raising up an eyebrow.

"But he would have to touch her in addition near the spot where she’s hurt,” explained Dian more precisely.

„No,“ snapped Daphne, narrowing her brown eyes. “I do not permit that a man touches her again.“

„But then she can possibly never have children, if she survives the fever at all,” argued the doctor.

“I can’t imagine that she wants to be touched again by a man sometime. And it’s well possible that the physicians of her folk can heal her some day – if she will ever be found by them. Certainly they search their lost daughter.” Daphne fondled Amarela’s curls. The sick girl had closed her lids, exhausted by her own cries.

„Then we must try to fight her fever and the infections with natural medications,” declared Diane. “Daphne, please prepare some cold packs for her calves and her wrists,” ordered she then busy. “Audrey, do you have thyme in the kitchen? Tea made of t fights the fever – and loosens cramps at the same time. Mix it a bit with elderberry blossom, meadowsweet and peppermint. And for the internal curing as well as the infects still more Lady’s mantle, mixed with chamomile and goose finger herb. Do you have all those herbs in the house?” .

Audrey considered briefly the list of the desired herbs and the existing supplies, comparing them silently and nodded then.

She rose but Diane was holding her back still one moment more. “I’ll go home for a short time and will make some suppositories. But after this I will return as fast as I can and will stay here for some days. Our priority at first is to break her fever.”

The doctor rose now too and noticed Andrew, who was leaning with hanging shoulders at the doorframe, looking lost.

“May I enter?“ He asked the women shyly, his eyes fixed on the young woman lying on the bed.

Daphne snorted, but Audrey smiled at him in an effort to cheer him up. “I do not know, whether she recognizes you, Andrew. But perhaps your voice will reach her and give her some comfort.”

Raoul’s girlfriend left the room towards the kitchen, while Diane walked to the main door, followed by her daughter, who called softly the name of her brother. Max appeared a second later and followed the two women out of the house.

Andrew entered the room and sat down beside Amarela on the bed. He seized her right hand that had freed itself from the covers and bedded it between his own rough hands. The young man swallowed empty – she was so terribly pale, looked almost translucent.

“I am so sorry,” he whispered with throaty voice. “I’m so sorry that we didn’t bring you to security much earlier. Please, get well again. Stay with us, small one.” A tiny movement of her hand let him look up, tears shimmering in his brown eyes.

She had opened her eyes a bit and regarded him. A faint smile stole itself toilsome on her lips. “Andrew,“ whispered she weakly, “not… cry…“ She tried to lift her hand to touch his face, but had not the strength to do it so she let if fall back on the blanket again. She distorted her face when a pain attack flooded her body.

The young man felt perfectly helpless. He stroked her hand, until Audrey returned with two jugs of freshly brewed teas on a tablet, putting them down on the small table.

“Can you help me, please?” she asked and tore him in such a way from his cloudy intimateness. He put his arm around Amarela and straightened her up at bit so that Audrey could hold one of the filled cups at her lips.

The maiden swallowed automatically when she felt the hot liquid in her mouth. Raoul’s girlfriend had sweetened the tea strongly with honey, so that the beverage tasted better and would supply Amarela besides with some calories, that were badly needed.

Two hours later Diane was back, again accompanied by Isabel and Max. Isabel wished to help her mother and Max wanted to be present for the case that someone suddenly would wish for his talent.

***************

Nobody in the house of the cougars slept in this night, because Amarela’s fever rose even more in the evening and at the beginning of the night, so that Diane already feared that they would lose the fight for her life. The young woman suffered from hallucinations, whispering incomprehensible words in her language and struggled her blankets repeatedly away in the attempt to resist against the ghosts that tormented her in her mind.

Again and again her nurses covered her determined, for her whole body was shivering although she was bathed in sweat because of the fever.

Doreen took the nightshift from Daphne and when Floris fetched his black-haired darling, the young woman threw herself into his arms and burst into tears. Gently the blond young man led his girlfriend to their room. Audrey too had been replaced, by Floris likewise blond sister Fiona. Like Daphne, the dark-haired leader was fetched from her companion.

Raoul put affectionately his arm around Audrey's shoulders, when they went downstairs together to join the other young people; where they waited the next hours, drinking acorn-coffee and playing cards and discussing low-voiced.

Towards noon, Amarela was relaxing finally and slid slowly in a restorative sleep. Diane took her temperature once more and sighed relieved when the thermometer stopped still at the temperature of 39 degrees.

“I think she rode the fever out,“ said she to the two youngsters, who were with her in the room. “Go to rest, I will stay with her.”

The doctor took place on the armchair in the room and leaned back, sipping at the cup of tea, which she had poured for herself an instant before, and could finally brood over the girl.

She hadn’t believed the stories back at the beginning of May that told of strange lights and of thunder-like noise in a night that was free of any thunderstorm - although she knew some of the eye-witnesses actually for a long time and particularly as credent people.

And although her foster children themselves did not came from this earth. She closed her eyes and called herself in memory this particular day almost 16 years before.

**********************

Philip and she had moved not long ago into their inherited house, turning their backs to the life in the city and were beginning to develop a new lifestyle here just a bit outside of the little town of Roswell.

Philip had accepted the post of the Sheriff and she hade made - only some years out of the university - a name as a doctor for everything.

One morning in July, on a Sunday, she was standing in the kitchen and prepared an extensive breakfast. She held the frying pan in the hand and was just turning a pancake, when suddenly a small dark shock of hair appeared outside on the Veranda and a little boy tried to see through the window. Out of fright she let the pan fall on the floor and this caused a considerable noise. The dark hairs disappeared out of sight and she heard the sound of fast departing running feet.

“Neighbour kids,“ was her first thought – but then it crossed her mind that the Winters, their next neighbours, lived two miles away and that their children were already grown up and had moved away.

Thus she went to the front door and stepped outside on the veranda. Yet there wasn’t anything so see anymore. From the barn she heard now a slight rattle. Carefully she crossed the yard and peeked into the building, in which a strange twilight prevailed at his time of day.

“Hello? Are you here?“ She called gently.

A quiet rustling noise sounded and she moved further into the barn. In the back of the building hay was piled up and from there had come the noise before. A part of the heap of hay trembled slightly. Diane approached it slowly.

“Why don’t you come out of there? I see that you are in there,” said she gently and squat a little bit, stretching out her hand. Hay swished anew and a small black-haired boy emerged from it and regarded her with eyes opened wide and fearfully, yet with hope, dried grass stuck in the uncombed curls.

“Come,“ She lured with soft voice.“ I won’t do anything to you. But I have fresh made pancakes in the kitchen. Would you like some of them?“

A quiet sneezing was to be heard from under the hay. The boy twitched and furrowed his brows distrustfully.

“Do you have company there with you?” Diane asked curious.

He plunged again in his soft hiding place and when he reappeared just seconds later, his right arm was wrapped around a small girl with blond angelic curls which snuffled sniffling.

The woman opened her arms inviting for the two children. The girl regarded her first shyly and looked then questioning at the boy beside her. He tilted his head a bit to the side, eying the woman in front of them considering and nodded then slowly, a gesture that conjured a radiating smile on the face of the small girl.

She climbed from the hay mountain and threw herself into the arms of the woman, who embraced the child affectionately.

Diane threw a look over the blond curls of the girl to the boy. He watched the scene happening in front of him a bit puzzled and still seemed to be irresolute. But then he shrugged his tiny shoulders, reached into the hay and protracted a smaller boy, who was putting instantly a thumb in his mouth to suck on it.

Diane rose, holding the girl that had wrapped her arms around her neck, on her arms. “Come,“ said she inviting and signed the boys gesticulating to her. The older one helped the small one down of the heap of hay and they followed the woman, who carried their sister, inside the house.

Shortly thereafter, the three small children, still naked, sat at the kitchen table and plugged by hand and with pure pleasure pancakes with maple syrup in their mouths.

When she had entered the house with them, she had wanted to shoo them first to the guestroom so she could search them something to wear.

But when the children had smelled the delicious scents that emerged from the kitchen, they had started to cry, hungry as they were and Diane couldn’t refuse them to enter the room.

She estimated their age on three to five years and was slightly bewildered that they were so quiet. Up to now, they still had said not a word.

Now she was standing at the stove for a further load of pancakes. She heard a step creak when Philip came down the stairs. Surprised he stopped in the door of the kitchen.

“What?“

As fast she could she went to her husband and put a finger on his lips.

“Shhh, not so loud,“ said she gently. “They are a bit frightful.“

When she turned again to the table, Diane had to suppress a laughter. The sight was really somewhat weird, three small naked dirty children at the kitchen table, their faces smeared with maple syrup and the smallest one – well, he had even managed to lubricate himself the syrup into he chestnut-brown hair. The three stared curiously to the man who held the attention of the fair-haired woman in the moment.

“Where do they come from?“ Philip asked quietly, trying not to frighten the kids.

“They must have slept outside on the swing,“ answered his wife.“ I fear they were suspended – how else could three small children emerge out of nowhere in such a way.“ She regarded him pleadingly, placing a hand on his arm. “Can they stay here?“

Philip knew how much his woman wished for children of her own – a whish he could never fulfil because of an illness that he had had as a child.

“Dear, first I must inquire whether they are missed by anybody, you know that.” He lifted a hand and caressed her cheek. “But if they really have no family I’ll look that they will stay with us. Promised.”

He entered the room and went to the coffee machine, pouring in a cup of the strong beverage and took a deep breath, already feeling how he became more awake just by the tasty smell of it. Then Philip pulled back a chair and sat down at the table too, putting a pancake on his plate.

“May I have the syrup please?“ He asked the dark-haired and pointed at the jug.

The boy lifted it up carefully and handed it to him. “Thanks.“ „ hanks,“ mimicked him the small one.

The three-year one reached a bit too hastily for his frosted glass and knocked it over. It fell from the table and smashed on the floor. Frightened the boy began to cry but the blond girl put gently her hand on his shoulder.

Diane crouched and started to collect the pieces of broken glass.

“Ouch.“ A particular sharp fragment had bored itself into her hand. She pulled it carefully out of there. The older boy widened his amber-coloured eyes when he saw the blood.

Before Diane could reach for a cloth, he was at her side and put, the forehead wrinkled in concentration, his small hand on the wound. She watched disbelieving how the bleeding stopped and the cut disappeared. Her view met that of her man, who looked just as incredulously.

“I don’t think that I must look for their family,“ stated Philip. “If they are missed by someone, then surely not here.“ He left open what he meant exactly with “here” but to Diane is was rather clear.

Overjoyed that they would keep the children, she disposed the pieces of broken glass and poured a fresh glass of milk for the small boy, this time in a plastic cup to be on the safe side.

After the breakfast, Diane put the children into the bathtub and washed off them the dust of the desert – examining them during the bath in a jiffy for injuries. But except slight sunburn and a bit sore feet they seemed to be in rude health. The small ones splashed diverted in the water and laughed merrily, chattering now in an incomprehensible language with one another.

Philip had climbed meanwhile on the attic and rummaged it to look for kids clothing. His uncle, to whom they owed the house, had led in former times a jumble sale in the city and had collected therefore all kinds of things. And really Philip found some crates with clothing. It wasn’t fitting the children accurately but would suffice for the first days till Diane could go to the next bigger town to buy them new clothes.

They called the oldest Max, after Philip’s uncle, the girl Isabel, after Diane's grandmother and the small Michael, after Philip’s father. The children could speak the English language within short time and understood very fast that they were allowed to use their abilities only if nobody was in the proximity - only when their parents permitted it.

The three had nearly no memories of their time before the Evans, could only tell the fact that they had woken up in a cave together and then had run by the desert, until they discovered the house of the Evans.

Diane and Philip told their neighbours and the public authorities that Philip’s sister and her husband had died in an accident, leaving their children in the welfare of their only relatives. Philip had some colleague that owed him a favour and forged the documents to proof this story, along with birth certificates for the kids. Since the couple didn’t yet live for a long time in this area, nobody knew that Philip had neither brothers nor sisters.

Gradually the children forgot their own language when they acclimatized themselves into their new life.



tbc

[Flamehair]

@Trude
Glad you liked the scene yes, Alex as a soldier might cause some trouble, but who knows? (Well, I do but I won't tell )

@ñusta
thank you. Yes, the three could stay together

@JRose
awwww - thank you very much, dear *blushes*

@Karan
thank you very much *hug*

AN:
Well - I'm back with a small part Sorry that it isn't longer - but real life was really busy over the last weeks. Hopefully I will have more time to write comes january and particularly finish the three parts I started already that come after this part

For now I wish you a merry midwinter/christmas time and a happy new year



********

A soft sound fetched Diane back from her memories and she looked to the bed.

“Mummy?“ A weak voice whispered and that word was followed by some asking sentences in the young woman’s alien language.

Diane pushed a strand of her blond hair behind her ear, rose up from her chair and established herself on the edge of bed, gently caressing the girls head, feeling the hair soft like silk gliding between her fingers.

“I’m sorry, dear one. I’m not your mummy,“ she said comfortingly. „Strange,“ crossed then the woman’s mind, “that she knows this word. It seems to be universal.”

Tears stood in Amarela’s eyes, when she became aware again that she was not at home on Adrasc. She made an attempt to sit up.

“Please,“ she whispered and called herself then a word in the terrestrial language in memory. “Th.....ii...rst.“

Diane pressed her gently but authoritative back into the cushions.

“Do not rise, young lady. I give you something to drink immediately.”

She poured tea into one of the made available cups and supported Amarela then slightly, when the girl led the mug to her mouth with out-of-weakness trembling hands, swallowing down the tepid liquid greedily.

“More?” Diane asked, but the girl shook her head in negotiation.

“I…. I must…“ whispered she ashamed and lowered her lashes, while in the meantime her cheeks blushed out of embarrassment.

“Child, I am a doctor,” smiled the older woman friendly. “You surely mustn’t be ashamed for anything around me.”

She got a bedpan out under the bed but Amarela made a face at the sight of it and tried to rise again. “I don’t want this,” said she restively.

Diane sighed. “If you insist then I try to help you to the bathroom.”

The young woman struggled up, shifted her body so she could heave her legs out of the bed. Feeling the floor beneath her feet she stood up, but had to sit down again immediately because her legs were far to wobbly to carry her. Crying frustrated, Amarela lay down again and let it happen that Diane pushed the bedpan under her bottom.

“I leave you alone for an instant.” Diane fetched the tray with the jugs and the empty cups, in order to bring them back to the kitchen and to make some more tea, giving her young patient in such a way some time to herself.

Some tears ran over Amarela’s cheeks, when the blonde woman returned and removed the vessel, and she had turned her head away looking at the other side of the room, avoiding the eyes of the doctor out of shame.

Diane sighed and sat down on the bed, rubbing the arm of the girl comforting.

“Amarela,” said she then affectionately. “Please regard me.” Hesitating the responded turned her head and sniffed quietly, swallowing down the last tears, before she dared to look in the eyes of the older woman.

Diane had seized Amarela’s left hand and held it now between her two. “There’s something I have to talk about with you,” stated she gently. ”Your fever is broken now – but your abdomen is still infected and I can’t give you any strong medicament against this cause you’re not human and I don’t know how you would react to them.”

She hoped that the girl would understand some of the things that she tried to explain. “You see – my two sons have healing powers. One of them is here – he could heal you completely.” Gently she placed one of her hands on the girl’s abdomen. “But he would have to touch you here, on the bare skin.”

Fear flickered in Amarela’s green eyes. Although she hadn’t understood a lot of the words that the human woman had spoken, she could make the connection still.

“Noo, not touching,” she spoke under her breath and started to whine again, trying to push the woman’s hands away with her own weak hands.

The blond tried to calm her down. “Shhh, Sweetheart. It was just a suggestion. If you don’t want the healing, it’s okay.” To be true, Diane was a bit disappointed. She really had hoped that Amarela would agree to her own healing. But certainly she wouldn’t force the young woman to do something she didn’t want.

Amarela peered at the doctor through the veil of her loose curls and lifted her hand to brush the hair out of her face. She opened her mouth, wanted to explain to the motherly woman why she didn’t want to be touched. But then she just let out a deep-drown sigh, frustrated over the fact that she didn’t know yet enough of the human language to really talk with them.

Even without words Diane understood the girl’s confusion. Amarela would need time to settle down on earth. Diane didn’t know if she knew something about the momentary situation down here on this planet or not – but as long as they didn’t understand each other it didn’t make sense to ask her about.

A movement by the door let both of them look there. Pat was standing there with a huge grin on his face. “Amarela, you’re awake.” He entered and came to her bedside, bending down to her and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “How are you today? Feeling better?” His cheerful mood laid one of her shy sweet smiles on her lips. The red-haired man threw an asking view to Diane.

She noticed that his light-heartedness seemed to be forced; he looked weary, had dark shades under his eyes and they were reddened. He too was one of the youngsters who hadn’t gone to sleep that night, too worried about Amarela. Diane had seen him sit on the settee of the tiled stove in the library when she had passed the room once in the past hours. Jaw tightened, he was holding a book in his left hand, the letters seeing and yet not seeing while his right hand had rested on the shoulder of a cougar woman with honey-coloured slightly waved hairs who had fallen asleep, using the lap of the young man as a cushion.

“She’s still not strong enough to stand up. But I think she’d like some company more her age,” explained the doctor.

“Well – and I’ve this intention for sure,” he laughed softly. “I found an old photo-album of Raoul. Did you know that this house belonged to his family before the epidemic?”

“Yes, I know,” answered Diane, pouring tea for each of them into cups. “His parents were very nice people, generous and intelligent. Raoul is exactly like them, he always tried to do his best and to please his parents, although he too had his rebellious times.” She laughed at the memory. “I remember Maura coming for a cup of coffee and complaining about him when he was …I think he was about thirteen then. She was completely overextended because she didn’t expect it from him.” Diane took a sip of her tea. “It’s almost good she never had to see Randy’s character as a grown-up.”

Amarela winced when she heard Randy’s name and whimpered hushed. Quickly Diane put her cup down to the table and seized one of the girl’s hands. “I’m sorry, Amarela. I shouldn’t mention him in your presence.”

Pat’s face fell and a guilty expression stole across it. “I didn’t think of that when I took the album out of the library.” “You can jump over the pictures of him that were taken when he was older,” Diane calmed him down.

Amarela’s eyes moved from Diane to the young man and back. She hated feeling so helpless. Normally she was a fast student, she should be able to understand more due to the time she was already on this planet. Unintended the memory of the first days came back to her mind and she tried to shoo them away. But she started to shiver and felt tears sting behind her lids.

“Please?” She opened her eyes and looked at Pat. “Talk?”

“Talk? You mean you want to learn English?” he asked, delighted that she had the itch to do something.

“Talk Inglish, ayîe,” Amarela nodded slightly and her glance wandered to Diane, feeling that the older woman was in charge to allow or disallow her plea.

Diane smiled softly and nodded. “Just be careful that she isn’t overstraining herself. She will still need a lot of recovery-time over the next days.” She stood up then. “Well, I’ll go and look if I can organize something to eat for you, Amarela.”

She stopped at the door, looking back at the two young people. Pat was already sitting beside Amarela now, holding one arm around her back, the album open in front of them and his right hand moved explaining over the first pictures. Smiling the blonde woman left the room.




tbc

[Flamehair]

@Trude
thanks . And about the revenge - we will see.... but not yet

@Kara and Karen
Thank girls

@ñusta
wow - I never thought that my bad guys will be so hated. You still have to be patient - it's not yet time for the two to meet each other

@JRose
thank you very much for your kind words *hug*

A/N: I'm not too happy with that part, but still it needed to be written for the story to continue. It's only a short part - I hope that I can update more often now, but maybe with smaller parts. I'd like to finish the story before my baby is born in august
I use a song at the beginning of that part - but that will be the only time that I'll do that


******

30th May, House of the Evans' Family



All that is, was and will be
Universe much too big to see

Time and space never ending
Disturbing thoughts, questions pending
Limitations of human understanding
Too quick to criticize
Obligation to survive
We hunger to be alive

All that is, ever
Ever was
Will be ever
Twisting
Turning
Through the never

In the dark, see past our eyes
Pursuit of truth no matter where it lies

Gazing up to the breeze of the heavens
On a quest, meaning, reason
Came to be, how it begun
All alone in the family of the sun
Curiosity teasing everyone
On our home, third stone from the sun

All that is, ever
Ever was
Will be ever
Twisting
Turning
Through the never

On through the never
We must go
On through the never
Out to the
Edge of forever
We must go
On through the never
Then never comes

All that is, ever
Ever was
Will be ever
Twisting
Turning
Who we are
Ask forever
Twisting
Turning
Through the never

Never

(THROUGH THE NEVER -Metallica)



“Michael?! Please open up the door!” Max had to shout while knocking at the door to his brother’s room, because the music in there was so loud.

The youngest of the siblings was laying on his bed, his arms crossed behind his head, his eyes closed and his lips were moving silently to the song. Once again he was brooding over his ex-girlfriend. He felt completely frustrated. Why – just why did Courtney have to break up with him? They had been together more or less two years and although the two of them had had their fights – he still was thinking that she and him were the perfect couple. For heaven’s sake - She had even accepted that he was an Alien when she had found out accidentally.

Michael heard his brother’s voice over the music, but decided to ignore him. Sure he would soon give up und leave him in peace.

“What are you doing, Max?” Isabel had just left her room; ready to go for a ride and while pulling back her golden hair in the neck to make a ponytail she stepped to his side.

The black-haired young man lifted up his hand and brushed through his hair.

“I wanted to speak with Michael,” he said angrily. “Because of the girl at the cougars.”

Isabel placed her hand on his shoulder. “Do you really think that’s a good idea? I don’t think she wants a boyfriend right now.”

“Who’s talking about boyfriends? Surely not I!” Max exclaimed. “Sure she’s the kind of girl he likes – but I just wanted to tell him about her. She needs people who care for her, besides the cougars. And he needs someone to care for, otherwise he will be in a bad mood forever.”

The young blonde woman shook her head, not totally agreeing with her older brother’s opinion. “Well – I stay with you when you talk to him. But I won’t support you.”

“That’s okay, Izzy,” he said more friendlier now and gave her a small smile.

He placed his right hand firmly on the doorknob and Isabel placed her hand on his. Simultaneously they closed their eyes and concentrated to open the lock.

Michael almost fell off his bed when the door swung open so suddenly and his siblings entered. Max stopped the CD with a small movement of his hand.

“Don’t bother me!” Michael sat up, really angry. But as soon as his beautiful sister sat down beside him and seized his hand he calmed down.

The oldest of them had taken the chair in front of the desk, turned it around and made himself comfortable there. Propping his arms on the back of the chair he studied his brother, his amber eyes pinched together thoughtfully.

“We don’t want to bug you for long, Michael,” he then said chattily. “We know you’re sad because of Courtney.”

Michael’s eyes wandered without wanting it to the picture of the mentioned girl that was still standing on his desk. The sweet girl with the honey-coloured hair had given it to him as a present to their first anniversary.

“Then say what you have to say, Max.” He sounded annoyed. And yet – he became curious why his siblings had disturbed his privacy just like that. That wasn’t normal in their family.

Isabel smiled when she heard him talk. She just knew that he was curious. So she nodded encouraging to Max. “It’s your turn now.”

Max coughed, not knowing at all where to start. “Well,” he began finally. “You know mom, Isabel and I were at the cougar’s place short time ago and mom even stayed there for some days.”

Michel shrugged with his shoulders. “And? What’s so special about that? Was Daphne’s child born – were there problems with that?” He had been in the same grade of school as she before the epidemic. And although they didn’t have contact anymore he still was interested from afar in the life of his former sandpit-friend.

“No,” Max shook his head and dispelled his worries. “Daphne is okay and it doesn’t look like the baby would come before July.” He stopped again, throwing a helpless look at Isabel, but she just smiled playfully, not intending to help him.

“Is someone of the other’s ill? Has the epidemic flickered up again?” Michael started to get nervous. Why couldn’t Max finally showed his colours?

“I’m sorry, I really should come to the point.” The other man was standing now. “It’s just a bit difficult.” Max started to pace through the room. But when he was the next time in front of Michael, he sat down again.

“Okay, there’s a new girl with the Cougar’s. And she’s an Alien. And because she’s having a bit of a hard time and can use friends I was thinking it would be nice when you go and make her acquaintance.” He babbled without taking a breath.

“An Alien?“ asked Michael incredulously. “Really? Like us?”

“No, small brother,” said Isabel gently, knowing what hopes that news had awoken in him and shook her head.

“Then why tell me that at all?” His voice was gruffly and he frowned. “Why don’t you two become her friends? You don’t need me. And you have my blessings.”

Suddenly it dawned in him. “You want to set me up with her! Do you really think I will forget Courtney that easily?”

Isabel tried to calm him down. “Max thinks that you would like her, that’s true. But he just would like you to meet her. And I myself think that it’s too early,” she added with a glare to Max. “First she should have the time to get to know all the Cougar’s and adapt to the life here.”

She noticed that Michael almost was crying now. Sometimes Max was really insensitive, considering that he had an empathic gift besides the healing. Courtney had broken the relationship just three days ago – sure her little brother needed more time to tide over with the separation.

Max looked disappointed about Michael’s stubbornness but saw that he couldn’t get through to him this time. Well, maybe in one week or two. He would try again.

He stood up and turned to the door. “I let you brood again now. You come too, Izzy?”

“Just one more moment, Max,” was her reply. She placed her hands on Michael’s shoulders and he looked up, his green-brown eyes meeting her chocolate-browns.

“Take your time. I know you still love Courtney and that it must be hard for you.”

He smiled weakly. “Thanks Izzy.” With a wave of his hand the music banged once more through his room and his sister took a flight out of the door, not liking his favourite music at all.