"Last night I wrote my own eulogy
Here lies the girl who never let herself be free
Ain't it ironic
The first time I was honest
I was gone, gone, gone, gone, gone"

Eulogy for Nobody - Debbii Dawson

🛸

I am a freak.

A beautiful one, but a freak nonetheless.

I stared at myself in the mirror for hours, my fingers trembling as I touched my eyes. Lifting my lids, I inspected them, looking for some kind of explanation.

Purple? Why? How?

They weren't even a rare but possible violet shade, like the old Hollywood actress I couldn't recall. My irises looked like twinkling amethyst, lit from within.

Though I couldn't remember much, I knew my eyes were supposed to be the color of dark chocolate.

Or they used to be. It was just another thing the aliens took from me.

Shocked and afraid, I was able to calm myself down after repeating the simple fact nothing was wrong with my eye sight. I wouldn't worry myself into submission by what could possibly happen to me.

When I got the chance, I would heckle the grays until they told me exactly what experiments they did on me.

I had only just finished a body shower and was hiking up the plain white uniform left for me when I heard a knock on the door.

Groaning internally, I prepared to face Taehyung after making an ass out of myself the day before.

"Hey-" I started, before stalling mid sentence.

It wasn't Taehyung.

The intimidatingly pretty girl gave me a big smile and waved as I secretly assessed her threat level.

Wearing the same exact type of white shirt and pants I wore, I observed that she was shorter than me, with tanned skin and long wavy brown hair, she was definitely from somewhere in the Mediterranean. Next to her heart shaped face, angled brows, and her slightly hilled nose, her almond shaped hazel eyes stood out.

Her overall vibe was kind but they spoke a clear warning. She was not the be messed with.

"What's your zodiac sign?" I asked, testing her. No alien would know their zodiac sign.

She didn't even flinch, "Aries. Your MBIT?"

My vibrato faltered, "I wish I remembered."

I saw the understanding reach her eyes. "So you thought you would test to see if I was one of the aliens by asking me a question you can't even answer yourself?"

"Yes?"

The pretty girl laughed, breaking the tension. It made me feel at ease, "You're definitely a Scorpio, I can feel your paranoia from here." She eyed me, placing one hand out towards me, "It's nice to meet you too Eden. I'm Stella."

I took her hand, my smile breaking through. "Nice to meet you." Then I realized she must know who I am because Taehyung talked about me. "How much of an impulsive crybaby idiot coward deserter does everyone think I am?"

Stella blinked quickly, pulling back. "I don't even know what that means, but I can tell you that no one blames you for your reaction. We all very much want to go home."

My throat grew tight, "And how likely is that?"

Stella sighed again, this time sounding actually exhausted. "Let me show you around and I'll explain."

I closed the door to my makeshift bedroom, forgetting I was no longer on earth. The sky was bright pink, the sun reflecting of the many colored moons.

It made everything rose colored, which was highly ironic considering my pessimistic view of this world.

Stella walked, taking me closer to the other metal cabins. "I've been here for three years. I was a freshman in college when they took me, I was studying to become a doctor."

"I'm sorry." I quickly answered, walking in time with her.

The girl smiled, once again ridding the air of tension. "Don't be. At first I was happy to be taken. I grew up in the foster care system, I had no family to help me, and my student loans were growing. I felt free for once." Her hazel eyes narrowed, "Until I realized just how caged we are here."

That sounded less than promising. I took note that it was true what Taehyung told me, that everyone else had been orphaned and had no kin.

So once again, why did they take me? I filed that thought for later.

"Yeah. I would say fighting scary monster aliens that are attracted to our blood isn't exactly freedom."

"No it isn't." Stella acknowledged, right as we walked up to the main cabin. "Everyone is at a meeting with the grays right now, but here is where we all sleep."

She pressed a button, revealing the inside of the sleeping quarters.

There was a long, sterile hallway with metal doors on either side. Stella led me in, and used her handprint on the fifth door to the right.

On the inside were three beds pressed up against one of the walls. Each corner had their own flair and makeshift decorations.

Everything looked pretty clean and nice. Cozy, almost depending on how well you added touches to the weird metallic walls. I was waiting for the catch.

"There are three to four in each room, separated by sex. I'm not sure what the Grays would do if there were human babies running around everywhere." She laughed, rolling her eyes. "I room with Lani and Dakota. But you'll meet everyone later."

"And just how much is everyone?"

Stella calculated, taking us out of the room. "Hmm. About 105?"

My jaw dropped, "Holy shit."

"Well, you don't have to really meet everyone. Just the people that I like, and whoever else catches your eye. There are a lot of us humans though. You're the first new shipment in the last 6 months."

My mind reeled as Stella showed me around the rest of the camp.

The food hall was pretty generic with long tables. She mentioned the food was alright, when they allowed humans to cook.

There was a recreation room with stolen gym equipment to make sure we didn't lose strength with slightly adjusted gravity.

She pointed to the building where I ran from the day before.

"That is the lab, and also the main control center. They help ships get in and out through there. That is also where they keep our weapons and training gear."

She pressed in a code and opened the door, just to show me where I would need to stand before if a Gray called for me.

That's where I would eventually need access if I was ever going to escape. I wondered what stopped Stella from doing so?

"How do you know this?" I asked, suspicious.

"I help the Grays." Stella said casually, before putting in her fingerprint. The door locked tight once again.

"What?" I couldn't wrap my head around what she was telling me.

I stepped away, nearly falling over my feet into the foreign dust.

She saw my expression and held up her hands, "Not like that. I told you, I was studying to become a doctor, but I knew a lot about research from my own interests and studies. I offered myself to volunteer in their lab and it paid off. I am working with them to develop a spray that mimics human blood and pheromones to attract the invasive species, that way they won't need to steal more humans."

I nodded my head, moving on with her again. That was pretty awesome that she could work with them, considering they cared little about using humans or not.

It would probably take years more to develop.

We came to another silver box, which she led me into.

It was all open format, except a thin wall down the middle. To either side were small holes on the floor, the walls made of that super shiny metal, though more golden in tone than the rooms.

"Cool." I said, thinking quite the opposite. What even was this?

Stella eyed me, treading carefully. "These are the showers."

I laughed. She remained straight faced.

"Oh!" I leaned back, clapping my hands together. "You weren't joking?"

"No Eden. We have shared showers. The Grays and most other aliens have no understanding of our social distaste for public nudity."

The short girl walked over and pressed her palm into the wall. Water sprouted from the ceiling without pouring from a spout.

"You don't necessarily need soap here. The water is sanitizing. But we humans have our needs."

"Please lord." Clasping my hands together, pleading to the girl. "Please just tell me you have conditioner."

"I have conditioners, hair masks, hair oils and hair gel." Stella listed off casually, not realizing she was about to become my best friend. "Need anything else?"

"I love you!" Without thinking I hugged her. Stella laughed, patting my arms. "How did you get all of that?"

Stella blushed. "I'll tell you later. For now, we have to get you ready."

Ooh I definitely wanted to know the tea. Eventually I would learn it. If I was going to be here for a little, I might as well be entertained.

"For what?" I asked, pulling back.

My new friend smiled devilishly, "For your welcome party, of course."

***

"You've gotta be fucking with me." I said, holding up the cream colored lace dress in my hands.

Stella laughed behind her hand, "I know. I know, it seems kind of crazy at first, but it's really fun."

I slid into the dress, and Stella helped to tie me in. To be fair, it did an amazing job at snatching my waist and showing off my curved hips. I felt dainty and pretty.

"Seriously I thought Taehyung got his outfit from some Old Time Photo shop. Now you show me this? Do you guys cosplay as Katarina from The Vampire Diaries all day long?"

She tilted her head, "I was thinking more Eve from the Mummy. Either way you'll look gorgeous in it."

So Taehyung hadn't been lying. Apparently the Grays raided several towns for clothing when they went to gather humans.

They collected Wild West reenactment garments.

Stella also said they recreated some of the buildings in the far corner of camp to create an oasis for the humans.

"They let you party in a ghost town? Will there be a pistol duel at midnight?" I asked sarcastically.

Stella rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh as she sat me down on a chair. We were now in her room and I observed as she offered to apply my makeup and fix up my hair.

"You'll find it even more hilarious when we get to the Saturn Saloon."

My head fell back, "Hah! How original."

I was surprised by the array of makeup Stella pulled out from her desk. Her side of the room was very neat, with not too much personalization.

She just had a trunk of overflowing clothes, which is what she lent me.

"So..." She asked slowly, mixing two shades to match my skin. I didn't mind that she applied it with her fingers, "What did Taehyung tell you?"

"Well, I know this planet is called Ir'naith."

I listed out the species that caged us, the species that used to live here, and the ones that were a  threat to the planet. I knew why they chose the humans they did, except me. And, that we were forced as live bait to hunt.

Stella nodded, confirming it all to be true.

"And?" I could see the girl smirking. "What did you think of Taehyung?"

I groaned, looking at her face for any hidden emotions. I panicked, "Well at first he pissed me off. I didn't understand and here he rolls in like John Wayne and crushing my dreams." I continued to ramble, "And then I almost got both of us killed by acting like I knew better. He's injured and he probably hates me. Oh shit, did he tell you he hates me?"

She raised a single arched eyebrow.

Fuck. Did I misjudge entirely?

"Fuck is he your boyfriend? I mean I only flirted a little bit. I didn't really have time to make any moves, you know, I was trying to survive." My cheeks burned, "He probably hates me now anyways. You're good."

Stella began to laugh really, really hard.

"Oh Eden! You're so fun."

"What's so fun?"

"You totally like him."

"No I don't!" I pouted, messing up the lipgloss Stella was applying. She made me pucker my lips, "Wi mwont eben bwow im!"

Stella scrunched her face, "Huh?"

I took in a deep breath, "I don't even know him! I just met him."

I am just extremely attracted to him. Undeniably. Like the man is hot. But none of it matters, he is not my family. He is not home.

I couldn't afford the distraction. And it wasn't like he'd like me back after that little fuck up.

Stella started to play with the front pieces of my hair that were cut a little short than the rest.

"You don't need to know him to hook up. And, sometimes love is a great motivator. He's working on a map to figure out where we're located." Stella looked behind on her desk, pulling out two long pieces of white ribbon. "If you're good at math, you could help him too."

I don't remember my name, or my family.

But I know that I'm good at math. It was my favorite subject. I tried to think past that, and my brain started to pound with a headache.

"Why are you trying to help? Not that I'm mad." I asked, as she began working the ribbon into my curls.

Smiling, she answered softly. "Taehyung is one of my best friends here. I've never seen him look so..."

"So?" My heart leapt in my throat.

"For lack of better words, intrigued by someone coming to camp. He's usually focused on one thing. His injury is your fault, just not in the way you think."

My head turned, "What do you mean?"

Stella leaned back, giggling at her handy work. She swiveled her chair so I was facing the mirror, and my jaw nearly dropped.

She leaned forward, grabbing my shoulders, "It means Eden, that man has never been distracted like that while hunting, ever. He's got it bad for you, purple eyes."

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(A/N: ahhh this story is just so fun! Lmk who should be the face claim for Stella cuz I have a pin board that I use to keep organized!!!

Dress in question

Hair in question

Makeup in question - very pink, very glitter, very glowy, very soft