The Nature of Predators - Star Crossed (10/13) (Patreon)

First | Prev | Next

Memory Transcription Subject: Chloe de Vries, United Nations Consultant

Date [standardized human time]: January 6, 2150

At several moments during my journey on foot, it had crossed my mind that this was a terrible idea. This was a nightmare for my agoraphobia: it was an unfamiliar, open place from which I couldn’t escape for at least a day. Perry had accompanied me down to the surface, but was unwilling to leave the shuttle grounded for an indefinite amount of time; he promised that I could contact him via holopad about complications, but that he wasn’t coming back until the same time tomorrow. Nobody was here to help me, in a place everyone told me was perilous. I was trapped on Aafa, just like the Kolshians who’d been here for years. Speaking of the natives, there were so many of them—unlike Kelvanis, they still looked foreign and frightening.

The lump in my throat and the wave of panic threatening to suppress my faculties were constants. This wasn’t irrational anxiety that I could try to dismiss. My present environment was fraught with danger, and I could see hostility in many gazes. I swore there were Kolshians tailing me, with the crowd growing larger. The last thing I needed was to slip into a full on panic attack and lose my mind. I tried to train my eyes on my holopad’s GPS directions to ground myself, jogging in a hurry to reach Kelvanis. This was everything I avoided, packed into one experience; I wished I could click my heels twice, and return to my quiet home in the Netherlands.

I hope Kelvan likes being a homebody on Earth, now that I think about it. There’s a million things that could go wrong for anybody, but with the attitudes toward Kolshians, it’d be dangerous for him to come across the wrong human.

I would’ve loved to have asked questions about Aafa’s layout, if Kelvanis were present with me; he was the only one who might’ve calmed my stressed mind. Seeing how close I was to his place of residence gave me strength, just knowing I could reunite with him and fall into his arms. I wanted to be strong for his sake, because he was trapped on this street for the rest of his life if I didn’t pull myself together. This wasn’t the permanent fate he deserved, and I’d do anything not to look down at the globe, worrying for his safety. As I sucked in a deep breath to center myself, that was when the Kolshians blindsided me; my belongings were wrestled away from me, and I was thrown to the ground with immediate pain.

Panicked instincts kicked in, as I screamed—howling the name of the one I wanted—and shielded my head as best as I could. There was a crack, along with a dull pain that seared into the core of arm; one of my shoes was pulled from my feet, all while I begged them to stop in a blubbering flurry. My bag was dumped onto the street, as they swiped anything of value; the holopad that was my hotline to Perry and the station, and the marriage papers I’d brought for Kelvanis to sign. With my nightmares manifesting, I stopped registering a stretch of time, only cognizant of the pulsating agony. All I could think was how much I wanted this to end, and that I had no control over my ghastly demise—I never should’ve left the station, or Earth at all!

The next thing I knew, Kelvanis was kneeling beside me, with the mob having vanished; he was here, really here with me. My longing for the comfort of home vanished in an instant. Instead, I craved for him to hold me and ease my pain. Everything had gone wrong, and I’d lost all of the tools, food, and documents I’d stashed in hasty preparation for my visit. The pain from multiple injury sites was blinding, making it difficult to think as the fear and adrenaline faded. It was difficult to breathe or to move my arm away, which I managed to tell him through teary eyes. The world turned to a blur as he carried me into his home, though I thought we held a brief conversation. I was set down on some hard tarp, which barely extended the length of my body.

I strained my ears, and focused on what the unfamiliar Kolshian—Volani—was saying to my love. “The human can’t stay here! I live here too.”

“Vola, look at her. I agree she shouldn’t stay here; Aafa is no place for a human. Chloe got robbed and beaten to a pulp by our people. You told me she wouldn’t give me a second thought, but she risked her life to find me!”

“This is a wounded predator, Kelvan! Have you lost your mind? This is when Chloe is most likely to attack, out of aggression. Whatever control…the human will have trouble thinking.”

“She is not a fucking animal. Look at her; she’s terrified! She’s as afraid of you as you are of her.”

“Why would an apex hunter be afraid of me?”

“I…never talked to an alien before this week.” I blinked several times, finding it weird that Volani looked at me like some dangerous creature—like I was an animal that’d claw out her eyes the second I was under distress. “I couldn’t d-defend myself today. I don’t do well with people in general; anxiety is a bitch, and that was before I got beaten up. God, it just hurts so fucking bad.”

Kelvanis scurried over to my side, dabbing at my open wounds with rubbing alcohol. “Shh. I put some hot water on the stove, and I’m brewing some blava seed tea for you. I…I’m sorry that I don’t have proper medicine, and I can’t take you to a proper doctor as a human.”

”Don’t worry. What is blava seed tea?”

“It’s, um, a natural painkiller with sedative effects. I was able to collect enough to crush it into a powder. I can’t give it to you for very long because it’s…addictive. Blava was a controlled substance before the war.”

“It’s a drug. This sounds a lot like opium…”

“I don’t know what that is, but most likely. It’s all I have, and I want to ease your pain long enough to get you back to the UN. I cross-referenced the Species Toxicity database, and no simulated results show it would hurt you. They do suggest it might have…invigorating psychoactive effects on human neurochemistry.”

Volani raised her arms to her head. “We’re making the predator high? Mess with the human’s brain, how could that affect mood or control at all?”

“Vola, she’s not restraining an impulse to eat me! Why don’t you just treat her like a damn person?”

“Because they’re not like us. You have no idea what you’re dealing with. Ask the creature what’s the worst thing she’s ever done. Go on.”

I paused for a moment, considering the question. “I flunked out of my engineering courses, and I was frustrated with the professor who put the nail in the coffin. Real hardass, and you had to take his class for that degree. So the day I knew it was over, I visited a neighbor’s farm—loaded as much manure into a bucket as I could, and left it under his desk for the morning. Very mature, I know, but I can imagine the look on his face.”

“That is disgusting,” Volani murmured. “I’m surprised humans would also be repulsed by the smell of excrement. You kept cattle pens, so wouldn’t you evolve to…”

“Heavens no. That’s fucking gross. I want to picture old Mr. Abspoel gagging on the stench. I still feel vindictive toward that guy.”

Kelvanis snickered. “I wouldn’t have thought you had it in you.”

“I guess I’m full of surprises.”

“Yes, you are, Chloe. Hold still. I’m going put your arm at an angle, like I read on the internet, then wrap the forearm tight with this roll of gauze. That might hurt, but after that, I’ll use a spare towel to tie a sling.”

I braced myself for the inevitable pain, as Kelvan gingerly accepted my mangled limb. He flinched every time I winced, so I attempted to bite down on my pained exclamations. The cerulean Kolshian tucked the broken arm over my chest with care, and locked eyes with me to assure I was ready. I offered a nod, encouraging him to get it over with. From Volani’s mortified expression, you would’ve thought that she was about to watch her brother be run over by a semi. Any further consideration of the matter was cut off by white-hot pain, drowning out the steady throbbing in an overload of internal fire. I couldn’t help but scream as Kelvan bound my arm, picking up the pace to shorten my agony. The pressure against the broken bone made me wanted to stop him with my good hand, or writhe away.

It’ll be over soon. This has to be done. Gah, make it stop!

Kelvan wrapped the last of it, further away from the fracture site, and scrambled to get a towel. He tied the fabric around my neck, before securing the makeshift sling around the gauze bindings. I panted in pain, feeling sticky moisture flowing down my cheeks. The xenobotanist wiped away my tears, apologizing several times, as Volani seemed mystified that I hadn’t taken his head off. He scurried over to the kitchen, returning with a cup filled with a steaming liquid and a bag of frozen vegetables. I pressed the ice-cold foodstuff to my side, recognizing it was meant to soothe my cracked ribs. The sky blue Kolshian lifted my skull with a free hand, while pressing the mug to my lips.

Eager for any type of painkiller, I sipped down the alien tea gluttonously. It was bitter, enough that I gagged for the first few mouthfuls. Kelvanis’ eyes never left me, reminding me of why I had to get him out of here. The place he shared with Volani was destitute; even if it was only out of my periphery, I’d seen how empty his refrigerator was. This frozen vegetable bag was one of the few items available for nourishment. My sweetheart was fit, with muscles built into the shape of his arms and abdomen, but I was pretty sure he was a bit too slim. We should’ve sent food back from the station—there was excess we were wasting. Surely I could have given him something better than this rickety cot, or the collapsing couch by the window.

“Why are you here, Chloe?” Kelvan asked, after watching me rest for several minutes in silence. The blava seeds hadn’t kicked in yet, as far as I could tell. “This isn’t what I wanted for you. You deserve so much better: a real bed, medicine, safety. I can’t give you any of it. I won’t let you throw your life away.”

I adjusted the frozen vegetables; my inflamed ribcage was numbed a bit. “I’ve failed at everything I’ve ever tried to do, and anything that’s ever mattered to me. It’s a pattern that goes way beyond engineering courses. But I won’t fail you. You’re the one who deserves much better, and I can’t stomach the injustice of your entire situation.”

“You didn’t fail me, sweet flower. The United Nations and their entire system failed me, but not you. You can’t free me without getting hurt in the process; I’d deal with heartbreak a thousand times over before I’d stand for that. Please, let go. We aren’t meant to be.”

“That’s the first thing you’ve said that made sense today,” Volani grumbled. “You two don’t belong together.”

My pupils snapped over to her. “That’s what everyone tells us. When I’m with Kelvanis, that’s the only person I’ve ever felt I belonged with. He makes me happy, just because of his personality and his vibrancy. Who he is matters way more than what he is, and I think he feels the same in reverse. That’s love. That’s belonging together.”

“Love, love, love. What a meaningless word. I know what you see in my brother. What does he see in a flesh-eater like you?!”

“I don’t know. And I’m sorry that you feel that love is meaningless. A day ago, I would’ve agreed with you. Kelvan has told me about you, Volani—how you like to feel alive, and that drives you to make your perfumes. The summer breeze and all the flowers in the galaxy are dead compared to the fire of love.”

“That’s quite poetic,” Kelvan said. “Volani doesn’t know what she’s saying, but maybe she can give humans a fair chance someday. ‘Fire of love’ is a nice expression.”

“It would’ve made a nice song name. I used to write music—terrible music, mind you.” In his presence and with my arm in a sling, my mood had done a 180. A rush of elation was sweeping me off my feet, emotional gratification that was more mind-altering than anything I’d felt before. “The world feels so good right now. I must’ve really missed you, because I’m intensely happy right now. Wow. Fire of love.”

My sweetheart chittered with laughter. “I’m glad you missed me, but I think that’s the blava seed sweeping you off your feet. It’s nice to see you smile.”

“The drugs are making Chloe snarl,” Volani grumbled. “I told you this was a bad idea.”

“Enough from you! For fuck’s sake, leave us!”

The female Kolshian stalked out the sliding door, as my pain vanished behind an exhilarating rush of chemicals. There was finally peace from the usual back burner of anxiety, and I struggled to concentrate on why I came here. It would be so nice just to relax into his arms, to ride the wave of pleasure that being with him was instilling now. A dreamy smile crossed my face, before Kelvanis’ sorrowful expression jolted me from my reverie. He looked like he couldn’t bear this moment now; the xenobotanist was going to double down on the fact that I couldn’t stay here. 

Now that Volani won’t interrupt with negative thoughts, I should tell him about my marriage plot. It sucks that I lost the papers I printed in my bag, but we can get new ones back at the shuttle. The idea is sound.

Kelvanis cleared his throat, eyes watering. “Chloe, I want to spend more time with you. The selfish part of me wants you to stay, and to pretend that I could keep you safe…but even then, I couldn’t provide for you. Go home. You must. I can’t bear to send you off, but I can’t bear to see you beaten like this even more.”

“Neither of us belong on Aafa. Come back to the station with me,” I said. “I have a plan. One that doesn’t involve SR. Marry me.”

“I beg your pardon? I guess those drugs really did have an impact on your impulsivity.”

“I came up with this long before I got down here. If we get married, you’re granted Terran residency pretty much by default. Forget the asylum process. You can come to Earth with no strings attached, no hoops to jump through. I’d most likely go back with you, since I doubt Kenzo will keep me on after we elope on Aafa.”

“I…I see. That seems a little fast to get married. It’s not a decision to make lightly; I don’t know if either of us is ready to pledge the rest of our lives. If that isn’t our intent, I would feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”

“You’re not, Kelvan. This is the only way we can be together, and for you to follow your dreams. Maybe one day we’ll both be ready, but this is just using a loophole in the law. What it means to society doesn’t matter. I trust the two of us to handle this like adults.”

“You came all the way here just to share your plan with me?”

I squeezed his arm with my good hand. “Well, you left without saying goodbye. I brought the papers, but they kind of got whisked away by an angry mob. As well as the holopad that we could’ve tried to e-sign on.”

“Hang on a minute. Those kinds of documents might be available on our internet, if they’re on the UN website. Are you absolutely sure this is what you want? This will make it impossible to distance yourself from me in any legal capacity, and at least in my culture, it has symbolic importance.”

“Whatever happens between us long term, I want more time—and I want you to have a better life. We sign those documents and they can’t ignore you based on your species anymore.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Kelvanis swiped his holopad off the couch, surfing through webpages in a frenzy. “Ah, Volani is going to be so disappointed in me. Getting married to the predator I met yesterday.”

“My parents will think much the same, though I doubt they’ll be as direct as Volani. You’ll probably meet them, if I return back to Earth with you.”

“They might not like me at first, but I’ll charm them. ‘Kelvanis the Chair’ might get a sequel; that one went over very well with its original human audience.”

“Your target demographic might be late-twenties humans with crippling anxiety, not strict, constantly disappointed empty nesters. Anyhow, there’s no need to rush too much with your website searching. Perry’s bringing the shuttle back tomorrow morning, so we have to hunker down here for at least the night.”

Kelvan planted a kiss on my forehead. “Volani will have to get over herself then. I’m really happy that I don’t have to say goodbye to you again. You and I are going to sit here, and finally have time to talk again.”

“Well, while I’m in a spectacularly good mood, courtesy of the blava seed: why don’t we talk about exes?”

“Ouch. Going straight there?”

“I’m afraid so. A girl’s gotta know if there’s anyone to be jealous of out of the gate.”

“I’m really glad Volani left the premises. She’s been giving me shit about my first girlfriend for years…ugh, and that boy I asked to the school dance who ghosted me. That was humiliating, and of course, my sister won’t let it die.”

A smile crossed my face at his words, and I turned my expectant gaze toward the flummoxed Kolshian. It was worth every wound I incurred to spend the rest of the day chatting with the apple of my eye, and to know that tomorrow, we’d board a shuttle to return to Earth together. While this marriage would be for legal purposes, I hoped our relationship would blossom into one that could withstand the test of time. I also hoped that together, we could weather whatever biases were thrown Kelvan’s way by other humans.

First | Prev | Next

A/N - Chapter 10! Kelvan helps mend Chloe’s wounds, while Volani is quite worked up about having a wounded predator in her home; her derisive comments about their relationship and the “human threat” earn Kelvan’s ire, as he recognizes that she is every bit as afraid of Vola in actuality. Kelvan gets Chloe high on alien drugs to numb the pain, and eventually agrees to her plan to sign the marriage documents.

Will the two be able to leave for Earth together now? What do you think of how Chloe handled Volani, and what she’ll think of her brother’s sudden departure? Will humans be equally unfriendly if Kelvan does get to Earth?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting! The next chapter of Star Crossed will drop on Tuesday, then the final two dropping on the two subsequent Tuesdays.