“Nicah, run! Towards the aliens. Go!”
She didn’t need me to tell her twice. She jumped to her feet and ran. She flew by Mama and Master and headed after the departing aliens as fast as her legs could carry her. The pen was only enclosed with simple wooden barriers and an old, rusted metal gate. Our fear of Master kept us trapped inside the pen, not its barriers.
I screamed for the others to flee as well, but their fear kept them in place with their blankets up over their heads. I was about to run and physically drag them to their feet, but a scream from my mama snagged my attention. I sucked in a breath when I saw Master was now beating Mama.
He had his blaster drawn, and she fought against him for control of it. I couldn’t believe Mama was fighting him, he was augmented. One smack of his hand would kill her, him being afflicted with drink was the only reason Mama was still alive. I didn’t realise I was running towards them until the blaster went off, and I stumbled with fright. I came to a halt and watched as my mother slumped against Master’s body. Slowly, she slid downwards until he stepped away from her, and she dropped to her knees.
“Mama!” I screamed hysterically. “Mama!”
Master looked at me, and he had the audacity to look shocked, but he quickly shook it off, stumbling then running after Nicah when he noticed she had fled the pen. He accidentally dropped his blaster in the process. A glance in Nicah’s direction showed me the alien with blue skin was running towards her as she frantically waved her arms in the air. He was much closer to her than Master was. I returned my attention to my mother and sprinted over to her side.
“Oh, Mama! No!”
“Levi.” She grabbed hold of my dress, ripping it at the shoulder. “Go with them!”
“I will.” I forcefully pulled her up to her feet. “We both must go—”
“Not me, baby. You and you alone.”
Horror filled me.
“I can’t!” I cried, holding her to me. Warm wetness covered the front of my dress. “I can’t leave you, Mama!”
“You will!” she roared, her fingers biting painfully into my arms. “You will go with them and be safe!”
“Not without you!”
“You will bring me eternal peace once I know you have safety.”
Her legs buckled beneath her, and she fell to the ground. I wasn’t strong enough to support her so she fell onto her back. Blood was spilling from her mouth, and my cries were so loud, it drew a response from an animal somewhere off in the distance. For the first time, I looked at Mama’s stomach, and the gaping hole staring back at me invoked a sense of fear I had never experienced before.
I inhaled the charred stench of scorched flesh.
“Mama.” I choked as I glanced at the wet patch on my dress and quickly realised it was soaked with her blood. “No, Mama. Please.”
“Shush.” She kissed my face when I dropped to my knees and pressed my cheek against hers. I felt the blood on her lips smear on my skin. “You will live, and you will live free. Do you hear me, Levi? You will be free.”
I whimpered. “I need you.”
“No, you don’t. You haven’t needed me for a long time, my beautiful girl.”
She was wrong. I did need her and would always need her.
“You’re the only good thing about my life.” She palmed my cheek, rubbing away the blood she put there. “I have thanked Almighty every single day since I first felt you kick inside my belly. You’re my very own ray of sunshine, and I will wait for you. I love you, my heart. Thank you for letting me be your mama. My beautiful, beautiful girl.”
My heart absolutely shattered.
“I love you so much, Mama.” I sobbed. “I love you so much it hurts. Please, stay with me.”
My mother smiled, but before she could say a word in response, she stopped breathing, moving, living. She passed away right there in my arms. Overwhelming pain consumed me in an instant, and I screamed and screamed until my throat was raw. With a shaking hand, I reached for my mama’s face and closed her eyes. For the first time in my life, I saw that she looked serene and peaceful in a way that only death could grant.
Agony rocked me.
“Mud!”
I didn’t react to Master calling me even though the anger in his voice told me that I should. I didn’t move from my mother’s side. I held her body in my arms and stared down at her beautiful face as tears meandered down my cheeks. I told myself she was only sleeping and would wake up soon. In my heart, I knew it was a lie, but believing that lie helped me breathe.
I screeched in pain as I was viciously yanked to my feet by my hair. When Master turned me to face him, his face was a blistering red as sweat ran like a river from his forehead down onto his cheeks. His blue eyes looked lifeless. If I looked hard enough, I wondered if I could see the demon within them leering back at me because surely, Master was a hell-dwelling demon.
“This. Is. Your. Fault,” Master snarled, his body shaking with anger. “Nicah escaped with the aliens, and Iona is dead.”
At that moment, I knew no number of credits would save me from being raped and possibly murdered by this man. Hatred burned within his soulless eyes, hatred for me. Mama was dead because he had taken her life. I had to get away and go somewhere he would never find me. I had to listen to what Mama said and go with the aliens. They took Nicah, and something told me that they would take me too if I asked.
With that thought in mind, I looked up at Master, and said, “I am yours no more.”
“Ye’ll always be mine, bitch. I own ye.”
I lifted my chin, straightened my spine, and for the first time in my life, I mustered all my bravery and spoke my mind.
“No, you filth, you don’t.”
I chose that moment to lift my knee and ram it into his groin. His eyes widened, spit slobbered down his chin, and in a matter of seconds, he released me and fell to the ground with a thud. As I stood over him, a glance at my mama’s body drew a hate-filled roar from me as I grabbed his blaster from the ground. I didn’t know how to use it, but it was heavy.
“I hate you!” I bellowed as I kicked, stomped, and smacked Master’s body with the blaster. “You’ve taken everything from me! Everything!”
He cried out and shouted inaudible words and only stopped when I swung the blaster down hard on his head. I drew in a sharp breath and stumbled away from him as he lay still and unmoving. Blood streamed onto the dirt from the head wound I inflicted. He looked like Mama … He looked dead. I switched my gaze from him to Mama, and another wail climbed up my throat as I backed away from her battered body.
“I’m sorry, Mama,” I said to her. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you. I’ll love you forever. Please, wherever you are, wait for me.”
With one final whimper and one last glance at her beautiful face, I turned and ran in the direction of the port. I dropped the blaster and screamed for the others to follow me, but none of them did. They saw what I had done to Master and that he lay dead on the ground. Every single one of them got up and fled the pen and ran towards his house. I knew they were looking for anything they could find to arm themselves. One of them even ran for the blaster I had dropped. I hoped they fleeced his money and possessions and somehow started a new life away from the one they had always known.