Excerpt: Restless Nights

Raechel awoke suddenly and she couldn't move. She was tied onto one of those big metal beds like she was in a hospital, but she obviously wasn't. She was somewhere very cold, and the room looked like some kind of laboratory. Just seconds after she realized where she was, both a calm and a panic swept through her. She knew instantly where she was. She was on a spaceship with aliens who were going to perform painful tests on her.

The aliens entered the room, large blue creatures with slimy skin and webbed fingers and toes, and immediately got to work. They started speaking a language that definitely wasn't English, wasn't even any kind of human language, and yet Raechel understood every word, because she had been coming on this spaceship periodically throughout her life, and she gradually picked up on the language just like any other.

"It looks like it has finally happened," one of the aliens said. Raechel recognized that voice, but she couldn't see very well because she was tied down so tightly, so she couldn't quite pinpoint whose voice it was.

"Finally," another one said. That voice Raechel instantly recognized as one belonging to an alien called Mellie, who had always been nice to her when she was younger. "I'll never understand why these humans wait so long to procreate."

"Mellie?" Raechel called weakly.

"Yes, Raechel, it's me," Mellie said quickly. She walked over to Raechel's head and held it comfortingly. Her familiar touch felt wonderful to Raechel. It always did. "Raechel, just relax, and this will all be over before you know it."

"Can you hold my hand?" Raechel asked, even though she knew what the answer would be.

"Last time I held your hand for you, you squeezed too hard," Mellie said.

"I won't, I promise." Raechel didn't want to have to go through this alone. Knowing Mellie was right there wasn't going to be good enough. Even though Mellie may never understand how painful these examinations were for Raechel, she at least tried to, which was something.