Initially, it seemed like Caeyin’s trick had worked. As the human stared at the vision he’d created in shock, a sly smile crossed his lips. Still trapped by her metal chain in reality, he didn’t have a profound goal that he was trying to achieve by fooling her. Whether she fell for it or not, nothing had changed. He was still her prisoner, and he still had no way to kill her unless she was dumb enough to come within his reach. He would have loved to wrap his hand around her throat, but she wasn’t giving him the chance as long as she kept her distance. Instead, he satisfied himself by watching her obey his orders and drop to the floor while he sat, unarmed and immobilized exactly where she’d left him.

The sight of her reluctantly folding to his whims led him to wonder what else he could make her do. How far could he push her before she stood her ground? He debated between making her grovel and testing the waters to see if he could coax her to come closer to him, but before he could experiment with either option, he noticed something strange. Furrowing his brows, he studied the human warily as she tilted her head at the vision of himself that he’d projected. Something was off. The connection he’d made was still working, but her demeanor had shifted as if she’d noticed that he wasn’t actually standing in front of her.

He stiffened as she suddenly closed her eyes. To his own surprise, he began to feel the mental link straining. She was fighting back against his grip on her sight. Impossible, his eyes widened. Even the other soldiers that he’d trained with hadn’t been able to sever the connection when he’d used his ability against them. It was the reason why they loathed him so much. Any time he engaged in a one-on-one sparring match, his opponents were always rendered helpless because he veritably blinded them by taking control of their optical nerves and manipulating their vision. None of them had ever broken free from his invisible hold, yet this human—a supposedly inferior being—was actually pushing him out of her head.

The instant the link was broken, his pupils retracted to their normal size, and he stared at her in disbelief. Maybe there was more to her species than the previous explorers had recorded. Either that, or he’d found an exceptionally gifted human that was much more difficult to kill than the majority of her kind. He supposed that would explain why she’d survived against the virus his people had released over the Earth. Most humans had succumbed to its effects, but the hardiest had overcome. Again, he mentally kicked himself for being so overconfident when he’d found her. He should have known better than to assume she would be easy prey.

At her insult, Caeyin glowered at her venomously. There was no way she could have known, but the term she used struck a raw nerve in him. He’d heard it whispered among the colonists on the ship after it had been discovered that he’d been born different than the rest of his people. Outcast was essentially what it meant. In the back of his head, a red flag raised, alerting him to how peculiar it was that a human knew about such a curse, but he didn’t dwell on it. Right now, he was too irate to slow down and process the context of the situation.

“I don’t take orders from the likes of you,” he snarled, yanking on the chain around his wrist again in the slim hope that it would break, and he could finish what he’d come here to do. “And I’m not going to just sit here and wait for you to decide you’re through with me either, so you had better kill me or release me if you don’t like my prison manner, because I’m not going to stop until one of us is dead.”

The insult that Evelynia threw toward this Lunairan scum seemed to set him off. Good. She wanted to irritate him. To get under his skin. She rose an eyebrow as he yelled at her, yanking at his chain that kept him captive. Of course though, much different to his vision, the chain and the pol both held fast. She scoffed at his words, rolling her eyes, "I don't do this, and I won't do that." Glaring at him, she shook her head, "I don't think you're in the position to be telling me what I should do with you. I won't release you. And, until I decide what it is I want to do with you, you're staying right where you are." Once she had what she wanted from him, then she would kill him.

Walking over to her mattress again, she looked to him, eyeing him up. This Lunairan could be dangerous if he managed to get out of his bindings. Not that he would. He was pretty much stuck until she killed him or until he somehow managed to convince him to release her. Which WAS NOT happening. Still, he wasn't about to let her rest. She could guarantee that. He would probably either continue to try and worm his way into her head again or would find some other way of bothering her and keeping her up. And she liked her sleep way to much to let him do that.

Leaning forward where she sat on the edge of her mattress, she watched him closely, eyes narrowing. Just how did she want to go about doing this? Shoot him with the Silencer? She knew it didn't kill Lunairans. Or at least, if it did kill Lunairans, the Lunairans would already have to have been weakened, their heart already in trouble. Either by old age or having been damaged enough in battle. Still, she didn't know if that would leave lasting damage and ramifications she didn't know about. She wouldn't be able to get her information then. She would have to find some other way.

She could try her own ability. Her mother had told her empathy wasn't normal in Lunairans. Telekinesis and Shields were a part of her bloodline, but the empathy was something that was unheard of. A new ability, that her mother had speculated was caused by the mixed genetics of Lunairan and Human blood. Her mother had been looking into it. Having been friends with other Lunairans that had become Human Sympathizers, she spoke with those Lunairans about their own offspring. Almost half of them had similar outcomes. Children with unique abilities. It was an unexpected and genetically fascinating phenomenon that her mother hadn't gotten to explore much before the invasion happened. Either way, this Lunairan wouldn't know what was happening to him, or that she had a trick of her own.

As she stared at him, her pupils widened just ever so slightly, in an almost unnoticeable fashion. This was something she would do as s child, when her brother couldn't sleep. He would ask her to 'do the thing' and she would put him to sleep with her powers. It was practiced, though it had been awhile so it took a little bit more effort this time. But soon, the Lunairan would feel himself begin to relax. Her heart rate calming. Anger ebbing away. That's when the sleep would begin to fight for control, and sooner or later, it would win.

Caeyin balled his hands into fists as the human insisted that she was going to do whatever she pleased with him. Her claim that he was in no position to be making demands of her irked him, not because he thought she was wrong but because he knew deep down that she was right. As much as he loathed to admit it, he was at her mercy because he’d underestimated her. She was the one with a free range of motion and at least one or two weapons that she could use to keep him down if he tried to fight her. He despised feeling trapped, but as long as he remained stuck to the pole she’d chained him to, there was nothing he could do to break free.

However, that didn’t mean he would give up and let her have her way.

“What else could you possibly want to do with me?” he asked dryly. “I’ve already told you that I won’t be compliant.” Despite the situation he’d landed himself in, he wasn’t afraid of her. The worst she could do was inflict physical pain or kill him, and it sounded like she was reluctant to do the latter. He wondered if she was considering keeping him around as some sort of pet. Perhaps she was lonely and wanted company, and since there were no other humans, she had decided that his presence was the next best thing? Or maybe she wanted a breeding partner to save her species from extinction and hoped they would be genetically compatible enough to reproduce. The thought made him wrinkle his nose. No matter what she was planning, he was determined to dig in his heels and fight her tooth and nail until she became too weary of him to continue trying.

When she walked away from him and sat down, he held her gaze obstinately. She had managed to break his mental link once, but if she attempted to go to sleep, he would just do it again. Any chance he had to grapple for power with her wouldn’t be missed. She didn’t seem to be getting ready to go to bed though. As he fixated on her narrowed eyes, he pondered what was going on inside her head as she studied him. Her prolonged staring made him uncomfortable, and he fought the urge to shift his weight.

“I think you’re afraid to kill me,” he challenged her, scratching the itch to break the disconcerting silence. “You don’t have the gall.” He closed his mouth and turned his head slightly, keeping her in his peripheral vision as the uncomfortable feeling persisted inside of him. It wasn’t dissipating, but rather, it seemed to be getting stronger. He blinked as he realized belatedly that the sensation was actually the absence of the fiery emotions that had filled him seconds before. Strangely, his temper had soothed itself, and he could feel his muscles relaxing against his will. It was almost as if he’d lost control over his own body.

Distressed by the forceful calm, he shook his head and flexed his fingers and toes, trying to fight back against whatever was taking over him. For a few minutes, he seemed to gain some ground, but eventually a tide of exhaustion washed over him, and he swayed. “What did you do to me?” he demanded with a slight slur to his voice, certain that the human was the one behind the phenomenon. He turned toward her again, but the drowsiness made his vision go dark, and instead of questioning her, a groan slipped from his lips and he collapsed on his side, unable to stave off the pull of sleep any longer.

His insults and speculations didn't bother her. Her mind continued to do her work and she continued to further press into his mind, working her way in using her own ability. He seemed to realize what she was doing at the last minute, but by then it was too late to fight it. She could see his body begin to relax and when he spoke to her one last time, asking what she had done to her, she didn't answer. Just turned her lips upward in a smirk as she watched him go limp. Sleep had taken him over and once it had, she released her power on him. His body now falling into its own relaxed state as an after effect to keep him asleep for now. She stood up and made her way over to inspect him, being smart to stay just out of his reach. Just in case.

"Afraid to kill you?" She huffed, talking to him as he slept, "I killed my own uncle, who cared for me years after my father passed. The only family and human I had left. You, an alien I hate, I would have no qualms about putting a bullet into." He didn't wake up of course, and she didn't care if he heard her in his sleep or not. Now that she had the last word for the night, she turned, walking away from him.

Taking a moment, she went down the isle of the plane, closing the sliders over the plane windows. If there were any scouts that had survived the Beasts, she didn't want them seeing her walking around the inside of the plane. And she also didn't want the alien to be able to look out the windows either to try and plan an escape. She only left one window by her mattress uncovered, so that she could look out it from where she sat. Just to keep an eye on things.

It took a little while longer, but now with the alien out, she actually get some rest at least. Before falling asleep, she laid there, staring up at the ceiling of the plane. How long should she keep this Lunairan alive? Well, she wouldn't give him any of her food and drink unless he was willing to talk. So, either he would just thirst and starve himself to death. Or he would crack. If he cracked, then she would just get all the information she could out of him and then kill him. She wouldn't keep him any more than perhaps a week. It was too dangerous to keep him for too long. She didn't need a pet. She needed to reserve her supplies and didn't need another mouth to feed. An reproducing? Such a thought was disgusting. She would NEVER lay with one of his kind. Besides. She was the last 'human'. What good would it do? Her race wouldn't stand a chance even if she did find a suitable mating partner.

One week. Thats what she would give him. And then, she'd kill him and throw his body to the Beasts.

After what felt like forever of staring up at the ceiling, she finally fell asleep. The dreams she had...were the normal ones. Of horrors. Of a Lunairan scout killing her father. Her uncle slowly turning mad to the point she had no choice but to kill him. Of the many frightening horrors she faced there after all by herself. Hours later, at sunrise, she jerked awake, sitting up, her breath uneven and a panicked look in her eyes from the night terror she had, hand reaching instinctively for her gun. It wrapped aroudn the hilt, and it took a moment for her realize that this wasn't her gun. It was the Silencer.

Thats right. She still had that thing in her home. She had her gun of course, but it lay on the other side of the small beside table she kept beside her mattress. However, she didn't reach for it. As her mind calmed and she slipped outside of her panicked mindset, she slowly put the silencer down and shook her head. Never a peaceful night's sleep. Not with all those bad memories. Night terrors were a normal thing, though most of the time they were occupied with screams. She was thankful she hadn't screamed or made such noises. She didn't want the Lunairan to hear. To try and use that against her somehow.

She stood and looked over. The thing still seemed to be asleep, though she didn't bother checking for sure. If it was, she doubted it would much longer. Oh well. So much for peace and quiet. She moved to her supplies and grabbed her breakfast. A bottle of water and a cereal bar. She ate it slowly, letting it settle on her stomach so it would last longer. She had ration her food now that those Lunairans were out there. As much as she could. The longer the food could last, the better.

As she finished eating, she moved over to the left side of the plane, where she had built a tiny shelf. On this shelf, rested a small flower pot with a flower inside of it. She only ever grew one at a time, planting a new one when an old one had lived out its life and died. This one was her current flower and she loved it. A piece of Earth-Life that still lived on. Just like her.

On the shelf under it, was a gallon jug that she had filled with rain water over time and she picked it up, pouring just a little into the pot, giving a nod of satisfaction, "There we go. That should last you a couple of days, huh?"

Despite how worked up he had been before the human had influenced him to doze off, Caeyin slept soundly through the night. He’d sprawled on his side as comfortably as he could with one arm bound to an immovable object, eyes closed and jaw hanging slack as his chest rose and fell with slow breaths. The trick she had used had worked wonders, relaxing him so thoroughly that he didn’t stir again until the next morning, and even when he did, he was still so drowsy that he was reluctant to leave the grip of the world of dreams.

A low groan left his throat, and he shifted his stiff body on the ground, not yet opening his eyes. For a moment, he was disoriented. The visions that had flitted through his mind while he’d slept had been vivid scenes of the colonists’ ship and even of his people’s home planet, a world he’d never been to before, Lunair. Each dream had been pleasant and warming, so he clung to them until he passively sorted out the fact that none of them had been real and that he was actually on the Earth, assigned to prepare the way for the rest of his people to descend and make the planet their new home.

He had also been taken prisoner by an irritating human.

As the latter thought entered his mind, he was prompted to finally open his eyes, slightly disheartened when his gaze was filled with the familiar sight of the vehicle. Nothing had changed. His wrist was still chained to the pole, and he still had no way to free himself.

He swallowed reflexively, noticing how dry his mouth had become over the course of the night. He could only last five or six days without water before he would succumb to dehydration, and he wondered if the human was aware that his kind needed it to survive. On the outside, they seemed similar enough. Perhaps she needed it too. If she was planning to keep him around as some sort of pet, she would have to provide him with nourishment eventually or he wouldn’t last very long.

Tiredly, he rolled from his side onto his back, resting his free arm across his midriff and fixing his gaze on the ceiling. His shoulders and neck felt sore after he’d laid in a semi-awkward position on a hard surface for such a long time. His chained wrist hurt a bit too as the metal began to chafe his skin, and dull bruises had begun to form under the constant pressure of the binding. The discomfort was more of a nuisance than anything else though. His kind healed quickly, so if he did live long enough to get away, it would take no time at all for the minor injuries to disappear. He was more concerned about whether he was going to recover from the mistakes he’d made yesterday or die at the hands of his captor because of them.

Belatedly, he realized that he had woken up to what sounded like the crinkling of a package, and he glanced sideways toward the back of the plane, where he found that the human was already awake, eating a meal of her own. The sight and faint scent made his empty stomach cramp, and his luminescent eyes fixated on her container of water. Watching her only reminded him that he wouldn’t have access to his own food and drink as long as he was her prisoner, so he forced himself to look away. He had to hold fast to his convictions, which meant telling her nothing and suffering the consequence of starving.

He didn’t look at her again until he heard her get up, instantly alerted by the sound of movement. He braced himself for her to confront him again in another attempt to get information, but instead, she seemed to have a different plan in mind. As she approached a shelf with a plant on top, Caeyin sat upright and leaned against the wall, studying her quietly from behind. To his surprise, she took care of the plant and even spoke to it as if she’d formed a bond with it. He’d never seen anything like that before, and he hadn’t expected to see such gentle behavior from a creature that had threatened to kill him numerous times. He’d assumed humans were cruel and savage, not empathetic. It was an odd shift from the way she had been acting yesterday.

However, just because she was tender towards a plant didn’t mean she was better than the rest of the kind. His momentary intrigue was replaced with a twinge of bitterness as he reminded himself that her people were the ones who had taken his parents’ lives. They needed to be exterminated for the safety of the other colonists. It was non-negotiable, and it was why he’d been sent ahead of the rest: to finish off any survivors he came across.

“Why bother?” he asked her with a scathing edge to his voice, leaning his head back against the wall as he broke the silence between them. “It’s only a matter of time before the others find you here, and they’re going to kill you when they do. Why spend your time tending to a plant when you most likely only have a few days left on this planet?”

“Why bother?”

Ah, so then the alien was awake. She rolled her eyes and didn't even look at him at first. Always heckling and trying to get under her skin. As he finished speaking she looked over her shoulder at him, her gaze hardened, "I've survived five years on my own. Facing the environment and facing creatures far more frightening than your kind. You all don't scare me. If anything, this is good chance to see you murderers get what you deserve." These aliens. They killed her father. Their virus killed her Uncle. Her mother and brother she didn't even get to say goodbye to. They had left that morning with smiling faces and excited for their mother and son day. Now, they were gone. Killed by either Lunairans themselves, the virus, or the Beasts. She would never know and never have that closure. Her family was gone. Because of aliens like him.

She shook her head, turning back to her plant, her fingers brushing against the pedals, "I will keep going. Until death finally catches up with me like its been trying to do for years. And in the meantime, I'll strive to keep reminders of what the world used to be alive. Even if its a tiny and seemingly insignificant life. Because if we cant value life," She turned her cold gaze on him, "Then we become the monsters."

Turning her head back to the plant again, she frowned. It needed sunlight. She guessed opening up the window shade beside it wouldn't cause too much trouble. She would just have to be careful to not walk by it as much until she closed it again. However, as she slid open the window shade, her eyes widening as she backed away from it, "Shit, shit....shit!" She turned, going to move quickly to the back of the plane, hoping to get her gun, and in the fast movement, her arm clipped one of her other shelves, some of the things on it tumbling down in front of the Lunairan. She didn't think anything of it though, her mind was just on what she had seen outside.

She made it to the back of the plane, rumaging through her things until she pulled out her pistol, quickly checking to make sure it was loaded, and then also grabbed the Lunairan's Silencer in case she might need it as well, tucking it into her waist band.

As the human tried to defend herself, Caeyin held her gaze, unimpressed. She had already lied to him once about the presence of others of her kind, so he was sure she was also bluffing about the creatures that were more frightening than the Lunairans. Alone in the world, he felt certain that she was just putting on a tough façade to discourage him and seem stronger than she really was. Whatever her motive was, he didn’t buy it. The reality was that she was one of the last humans—or possibly the very last—on the Earth, and her death was drawing near now that his people were preparing to make their settlement. He believed she was secretly afraid, and he would just have to keep doing his best to exploit that until her calm exterior splintered, and he could kill her.

He stretched his legs as she turned back to her plant and gave him a self-gratifying speech about how important it was to value life. Despite what she seemed to think, his kind did value life. That was why they were getting rid of the human race. He knew the history based on the lessons he’d been taught in school when he was younger. When the Lunairan people had first discovered the Earth, they had seen how violent and threatening the dominant species was, and that was what had led them to clear them out to make room for themselves. Their determination to survive outweighed their concern for other life until they were stable enough to afford to care. Once they were able to settle comfortably, they would tend to the planet better than her kind ever did.

However, there was no point in arguing with someone who was so clearly biased against his species that she would call him a monster. Choosing to ignore her instead, he absentmindedly fingered the chain around his wrist, indicating with his silence that he wasn’t in the mood to keep talking to her about it.

As he let his thoughts wander to other things, he was caught off guard when she suddenly backed away from a window and said something that sounded like a swear. He looked up again and watched as she began running around, apparently searching for her weapon. For a moment, he was tempted to brush off her fluster as another petty trick, but then he wondered. What if she had actually seen something outside that would give her cause to panic?

His eyes widened slightly. It had to be the other scouts. The Lunairan vanguard had found her hiding place and were on their way to investigate it. His heartbeat quickened in his chest with a mixture of excitement and anxiousness. On one hand, he was eager to get out of his prison and return to the mission he’d been assigned, but on the other hand, he would have to suffer the humiliation of being caught tied to a pole. He had mixed feeling about the scenario he painted in his head, but as long as he got away from the human, he supposed the humiliation would be worth it.

Shifting his weight on the ground, Caeyin repositioned himself so that he was sitting on his heels, ready to get up as soon as the opportunity presented itself. The human was still frantically hurrying about the vehicle, seeming to take no notice of the change in his demeanor. He glanced at her once more, just in time to see her bump into a shelf and scatted its contents to the floor. Following the displaced objects with his eyes, he froze as he spotted something amongst them that snared his attention. It looked like a key. His violet eyes darted to the key hole in his chain, and he quickly swiped the little metal piece and plugged it into the slot. It was a perfect fit.

Reenergized by the prospect of breaking loose from his bonds without help, he twisted the key and felt the restraint pop open, no longer tying him to the pole. He slipped his wrist out and rose to his feet, turning toward the human the instant he was free. She was still distracted, arming herself with both her weapon and his, and had turned her back to him. Wrong move, he thought with a victorious smile.

In a flash, he crossed the distance between them and caught hold of her wrists, forcing her arms behind her back and spinning her so that he had pressed her body between his and the nearest wall. “Looks like death finally caught up with you,” he growled in her ear from behind, stealing the silencer back from her waistband and pressing the barrel to her head. With his other hand, he gripped both of her wrists tightly to encourage her to loosen her grip on her other weapon, which he then brushed out of her hand with his leg and kicked underneath the bed, out of reach.

In the second that he’d pinned her, he could have fired his silencer and ended her life, but he hesitated. She had made a fool of him when she’d knocked him out and made him her prisoner, and now he wanted to do the same to her. What better way than to flaunt her as his trophy in front of the other scouts?

Deciding to make her regret what she’d done, he let go of her and stepped back, though he still kept his weapon trained on the back of her skull. “You say we don’t scare you, so let’s put that to the test,” he challenged her haughtily, backing toward the door of the vehicle. “I’ll let the others in to join us, and then we’ll see if you’re still as brave as you claim you are.”

Eve had just gotten both of the weapons secured and was ready to defend herself. She had no idea how the Beast had gotten into the compound. Had it scaled the fence? Found a weakness in the fence? She would have to go out at sundown to see if she could find any holes that the thing could have gotten through. But for now, she had to go get rid of it while it was in her sights. Otherwise, with it being in the compound, it could surprise attack her later on when she didn't know where it was on the run way. She would take care of the thing now and get back in the plane before anything else could happen.

She wouldn't get the chance however.

Suddenly she felt someone grab her and she gasped, struggling in their grasp, trying to jerk or get away, twisting her body and kicking her legs backwards when she could to try and get a hit in. Soon she was pushed against the wall and seared with anger as she heard the Lunairan's voice growl in her ear. How had he gotten out?! At first she couldn't help but wonder for a moment if perhaps this was another mind trick, but no. He wouldn't be able to physically grab her if it was. Even pressed against the wall, she was able to turn her head slightly, glancing over to see that the key was in one side of the handcuffs, the other side still clasped to the bar. The key had been among the things she had knocked over. She mentally cursed to herself. How could she have been so stupid?!

Soon she was disarmed, her gun getting kicked under the bed and his Silencer pressed to her head. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the shot to her head, only for him to speak again. Soon he was backing away from her, claiming that he wanted to see if she wasn't really scared of him. That he was going to....let the others in? What?! He thought the dangerous things outside where the other scouts. Her eyes widened as he backed to the door and she even dared to step forward, speaking quickly, panic rising in her voice, "NO! Stop! If you go out there, you'll let that thing in! It'll kill us both!"

“Right,” Caeyin drawled in disbelief when the human tried to dissuade him from opening the door. He knew she was just trying to pretend like she wasn’t afraid of his people. She was spinning a lie about another frightening creature to prevent him from reuniting with the other scouts and reinforcing the reality that she was outnumbered by a group that was here to make sure she died. He didn’t know why she bothered. No matter what, he was going to shoot her before he left her wretched vehicle. This way was just more entertaining for him, since he wanted to make her grovel after she had tried to turn him into her captive.

Unperturbed by her panicked begging, he lowered his silencer to the ground just in front of her feet and pulled the trigger to fire a warning shot. “Stay put,” he barked. “Or the next one will strike you in the head.” With an impeccably steady hand and a keen eye, it was far from an empty threat. Even if she tried to charge toward him, he was confident that he could kill her before she took two steps. He finally had the upper hand against her, and he wasn’t going to lose it again.

When he reached the door, he risked looking away from her for a flicker of an instant to locate the handle, then fixed his gaze on her again while he took it in his free hand and undid the latch. Keeping her in sight to make sure she didn’t run while he multitasked, he turned the handle and gave the door a sharp pull, calling out as soon as it opened, “Over here!” Unsure if the other scouts knew he was already inside the vehicle, he wanted to be certain they heard him and recognized his voice, so they wouldn’t mistake him for another human and blindly shoot.

However, when the door swung open and the figure on the other side came into view, he bristled, realizing too late that something was wrong. The person outside the vehicle wasn’t a scout. It wasn’t even a Lunairan. His clothes were tattered and not at all like those that were worn by his people. His hair was light brown, and his eyes were a similar shade. In his peripheral vision, Caeyin recognized that it was a human, but when he turned fully to look at it, he saw that it seemed different than the female that had captured him. It had a glazed look in its eyes, and it was spattered with dried blood.

The sight made his survival instincts flare, and he twisted at the waist to aim his silencer at it, but the deranged human was just as fast. It lunged and collided with him roughly, knocking the wind from his lungs and the weapon from his hand. The latter clattered to the floor and skidded out of reach, and he inhaled sharply as he hit the ground, barreled over by the weight of his attacker. Quickly, he scrambled to push back against it with his hands, turning his head away as the thing gnashed its teeth and writhed, attempting to overpower him.

As he wrestled against it, Caeyin’s mind raced. He was shocked that human had been right and that her warning hadn’t been a lie. He was perplexed as he tried to figure out what exactly was fighting with him now. He was even slightly frightened by the fact that it had managed to get on top of him so easily and pin him to the floor. Reflexively, his pupils dilated, and he attempted to take control of its optic nerves, relying on his trump card to confuse the human and slip away. But it didn’t work. He felt the connection take hold, but the thrashing didn’t stop. It was as if the creature was immune to his invasion into its mind.

Grinding his teeth, he severed the link and continued to try pushing it off of him, giving up on tricking the creature with a vision when his usual method didn’t seem to be effective.

This Lunairan was insane! He was going to get them both killed. She had half the mind to turn and make a dash for her gun, knowing what would happen when he opened that door, but just as she considered it, there was a blast at her feet, warning her not to move. She glared at him. She would have to wait until the Beast was distracted by him and then go for her weapon. She wouldn't die here. She had lived too long, had been through too much to let this happen.

Sure enough, the idiotic alien had opened the door, and even more stupidly, yelled out for to gain its attention, believing it to be one of his alien friends. He opened the door all the way and sure enough, the Beast was there, attacking him and knocking them both to the ground, trying to eat the alien's face off, the two struggling. With the thing distracted, and the alien focused on the bigger threat, Evelynia turned, quickly making her way tot he back of the aircraft where she had her living area set up. It took a big of searching, shoving things out of the way and such, until finally she spotted her pistol far under the bed.

Cursing under her breath she got down on her stomach on the floor of the plane, stretching her arm and struggling to reach where the gun had slid to far under the bed. Finally, her fingers brushed against it and she had it in her grasp, pulling it out. Her hands were shaky as she checked it over to make sure it hadn't been damaged when the alien had knocked it from her hands (a backfire because of damage would have been very dangerous for her), and once she was sure it was undamaged, she pulled it off of the safety and turned to where the alien and the Beast were still struggling on the ground with one another.

For a quick moment, she considered letting the Beast kill the alien and then killing the Beast. The alien would deserve it. He had attempted to kill her once already. Had planned just now to show her off to his teammates before he would have killed her. To torture her and draw out his death to entertain himself and make himself seem like the bigger and more powerful person. It was sick. The Lunairans were the monsters here, and she dearly hoped the Beasts would do what they did best when they found the Scouts.

Yet, if she waited until the Beast had killed this Lunairan, then it would be focused on her. It would fight her and she wouldn't have a better chance of survival. She would have to kill it now if she wanted a good chance to get out of this alive, while its focus was on the Lunairan. Lifting her gun, she tried to steady her hands from shaking. Who could blame her? No matter how many times she faced these things, they reminded her of what was. Of these Beasts once being people and animals. Of her Uncle, who had been turning into one and how she had been forced to kill him before he fully did.

It was even more difficult with the alien and Beast struggling against each other. They were moving so much it was hard to get a good aim. Right when she was so sure she had clear shot, she did. Only in their movements the two shifted so that instead of the bullet lodging into the monster's head, it had lodged into its shoulder.

Giving a howl of pain, the thing snarled and growled, turning its attention to where the gunshot had come from, right at her. Before she knew it, the thing was rushing at her, and had her on the ground now, pinned, the two struggling, it trying to bite at her, what had once been nails now sharp claws, putting a good slice into her shoulder, causing her to yell out in pain of her own.

After what seemed like forever of struggling to her, but was really only a matter of seconds, she managed to wrangle herself so that the barrel of her pistol was against the things head, and shot. Blood spattered everywhere and the thing's body fell on top of her. She was quick to shove it off of her, struggling to sit up, clutching her bleeding shoulder, her breath uneven as she tried to catch her breath and calm down after almost loosing her life to that thing. And as soon as her mind cleared a little bit, she held her gun up in one hand, toward the Lunairan, her free hand holding her shoulder to try and stop the bleeding, shaking her head in disgust, "You stupid, alien. You almost got us both killed."

It was shocking to Caeyin that the human pinning him to the floor was so strong. He’d been told by his leaders among the Lunairan military that their kind was weak and fragile. Thus far, he’d only encountered the opposite. The female that had captured him had been conniving and had managed to overpower him with the use of a weapon, and now the male was keeping him on his back with nothing but its bare hands. As he fought back against it, he marveled that the information he’d been given had been so wrong. If he’d known that he would have to try this hard to fend them off, he wouldn’t have let his guard down so much. They were more formidable than he’d expected.

Just as his arms began to tremble beneath the pressure with which the human was bearing down on him, he flinched at the deafening boom of the other one’s weapon. In the next moment, his eyes widened as his attacker let out a cry of pain and lurched to the side, struck by the projectile that had flown from the barrel. Blood rained down from the wound, spattering across his cheek and neck, and suddenly the pressure was gone as it turned its attention to the other human, leaving him breathless on the ground.

At first, he didn’t move, dazed and still comprehending what had just happened. Aside from the fact that he had just been assaulted by what had appeared to be a deranged human, he was also surprised that the female had protected him. He turned his head toward her and sat upright, watching as the wild one fell upon her and wrestled her to the floor just like it had done with him. It was hard to tell if she had distracted it from him intentionally or if his safety had just been a byproduct of her desire to kill the more dangerous threat. Either way, he didn’t know quite what to think.

Climbing to his feet, he kept his gaze fixed on the scrapping humans and took a step toward them, drawn by the compulsion to intervene. He didn’t necessarily feel the need to protect the female, but he didn’t want to leave the fight unfinished. He’d been trained to finish what he started.

As she let out a scream, he edged closer and tensed to strike while the deranged human was distracted. Though he didn’t have a weapon in hand anymore, he still knew how to fight with his fists. He also knew how to strangle a creature to death if need be. That was exactly what he planned to do now, but before he had the chance, another explosion shook the room, and the creature fell limp on top of her. Apparently he hadn’t needed to do anything at all, because the female had taken care of it, herself.

Still breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush, he narrowed his eyes as she turned her weapon against him and climbed out from underneath the other human’s dead body. Of course, the instant the outside threat was gone, she tried to get the best of him again. He didn’t expect anything less.

“How was I supposed to know what was on the other side of that door?” he tossed his head, affronted. As he spoke, he glanced at the weapon in her hand, deciding to get rid of it before he found himself in harm’s way. His pupils dilated once more, and he projected a vision into her mind of himself standing exactly where he was now while he crept closer and reached out to take it from her. She had broken free from his mental grip once before, but she hadn’t been able to do so right away, so he was sure he had at least a few seconds to pull off the theft before she could force him out of her head again.

Taking advantage of the small window of time, he grasped the weapon in his hand and pulled hard once he was close enough. “I’ll take that,” he declared. “So you stop pointing it at me.”

“How was I supposed to know what was on the other side of that door?”

"Really? Are you kidding me?! What do you think 'no! stop! if you let that thing in, it will get us both killed' was supposed to mean!?" She said in exasperation. Were all Lunairans this daft? If it wasn't for her, this Lunairan would be dead! She should have just took the risk and let the Beast eat him. His lack of knowledge of this world was going to end up getting her killed along with him.

Once again, there was that itch in the back of her brain. A warning. Her body grew tense and she blinked her eyes, looking at him. Something was wrong. He was in her head again. She needed to break through it before--

Letting out a gasp, suddenly he was right there. Before she do anything, her gun was wretched out of her hands. She was left weaponless, glaring at him with pure hatred in her blue eye, "Good job." She spoke sourly, "You have my weapon. What now?" She wasn't going to show fear. That was what he wanted. He craved it, that much she could tell. Especially from the way just moments ago he had been talking about 'letting the others in' to 'see if she was as brave as she claimed she was'. This was some game of glory for him. He wanted to show off to his friends. Likely so he had witness to tell those back on the ship how he had killed the last human on Earth, "Show me off as a prize to your comrades? Kill me in cold blood here in front of them? Or take me back to the ship and dissect me to see why I've survived the virus your people sent down to kill my friends and family?"

If she was brought back to the Lunairan ship, who knew what they would do to her. Perhaps just shoot her, like they had done all those years ago when that boy brought her to the others that were heading back to the ship? Maybe dissect her like she assumed they would? She was sure a human immune to their 'perfect virus' would be of interest to learn about. Or experiment on her, use her as some sort of lab rat since they couldn't use their own to experiment on. Maybe even, if they were cruel enough, keep her as some sort of pet or slave.

She kept her cold gaze on him, "Or just kill me now and save us both the trouble?"

When the human tried to pin the blame on him, Caeyin ignored her. If she had been someone whom he trusted, she would have been right. However, she had already lied to him once, and he’d had no reason to believe that she had been telling him the truth this time. Before he’d seen the other human with his own two eyes, it had been more logical for him to assume that she had been trying to fool him again, so he wouldn’t reunited with the other scouts. That she expected him to know inherently when she was being honest or dishonest was ridiculous. Even his kind wasn’t that intuitive without forming a mental link with the other person to read them more closely.

Ripping the weapon out of her hand, he turned it on her with a jaded expression. The question she asked gave him pause though. Ordinarily, he would have taken the opportunity to kill her the instant he was able to. There were no other right-minded humans—at least, none that she was willing to tell him about—so he had nothing left to gain from keeping her alive that would please the pilot. The most sensible course of action was to fire the projectile at her and walk away to continue exploring the area. However, he wavered. His thoughts wandered back to the feral male that had attacked him, and he wondered if there were more of them out there. If so, it could be worth his time to question her. He needed to find out more about the threats on the Earth, so he would be better equipped to face them next time.

“I will kill you,” he assured her coldly. “But it won’t be now.” Pressing the barrel of the weapon against her chest, he took hold of her upper arm in his free hand and dragged her roughly over to the nearby chain restraint that she had used to tie him up the day before. After he’d been forcibly familiarized with the device, he knew how it worked. He slid his hand down from her bicep to her forearm and pulled her toward it, only lowering the weapon in his other hand to snap the metal piece around her wrist and remove the key.

Disregarding any efforts she may have made to resist, he picked the projectile gun back up and stepped back, assessing his own work. It looked like the human was restrained well enough, so he finally turned his back on her to retrieve his silencer from where it had been thrown to the floor. Though he’d used the earth weapon to threaten her, he didn’t really know how to use it, so he felt more comfortable with the electromagnetic gun in his hand. Better to rely on something that he was certain he could use.

“First, I want you to tell me what that thing was,” he dictated, idly indicating the dead male with a wave of his hand as he inspected his weapon for damage. When he felt satisfied that the silencer was still operable, his violet eyes flicked up to meet her gaze. “A different breed of human? Or do you all become that unstable as you age?”

Despite the gun pressed to her, Eve did struggle a little in his grasp, knowing exactly were he was taking her. She had locked him up in the handcuffs and they had held fast for him before he had managed to get a hold of the key, so of course he would think that was the best way to restrain her for right now. The difference was, she knew how to get out of this thing, when she had the right opportunity. It would take her a moment to get the thing unlocked, but if she tried to do it now, he would see what she was doing and just kill her. So, she needed to wait for the right time and opportunity when his attention wasn't on her or he left to escape from her metal bond.

And of course he wouldn't kill her right away. He was going to draw this out as long as he could, a sort of revenge for her keeping him around and not killing him right away. She had kept him to try and get information, and now he was going to try to do the same with her. Except this time, it was her turn to refuse him information. She kept her hard gaze on him as he asked her about the Beast. Asking if it was just a different breed of human, or if they all became unstable like that with age. These Lunairans really knew nothing. They were ignorant that it could possibly be their fault that such things existed. And it made her angry.

"I'm not telling you jack shit!" Eve snapped in his direction, "You might as well either get rid of me or go get your little friends and tell them you caught me, because I'm not giving you any information. I hope you get killed out there by one of those things, just like I'm sure your people are out there getting killed by them as we speak."

Caeyin wasn’t surprised by the human’s unwillingness to answer his question, but her response vexed him nonetheless. His upper lip curled back slightly, and his violet eyes narrowed when she said she hoped he would get himself killed by one of the things that had just attacked them. He opened his mouth to retort that his comrades were just fine on their own, but the words died on his tongue. In truth, he had no idea what had become of the others. He’d been separated from them a day ago, and they weren’t due to reconvene until tomorrow. Although it pained him to admit it, it was possible that at least one of the other scouts had stumbled upon a feral human and been unable to fight it off. They were far stronger than he’d been told to believe.

Instead of arguing with her, he turned his head away with a roll of his eyes and planted himself in one of the mounted seats just beyond her arm’s length. I should get rid of her, he thought as he toyed idly with the weapon in his hands. The human was uncompliant, insubordinate, sharp-tongued, and not at all helpful to him. Coupled with his ordered to get rid of her kind on-sight, he had every reason to aim the projectile gun at her head and pull the trigger. However, something stilled his fingers.

As infuriating as she was, she had still stopped the male human from sinking its yellowed teeth into his throat. It felt wrong to repay a lifesaving gesture with coldblooded murder. He let out his breath in frustration. Had she not done that, he could have killed her without a second thought, but now he felt like he owed her. He wanted to wrinkle his nose with disgust at the thought. A Lunairan indebted to a human. It was ridiculous, but it didn’t change the fact that he now felt obliged to let her live, if only for a little while longer.

“If you’re not going to give me what I want, then just shut up,” he ordered exasperatedly, resting his weapon loosely in his lap and casting her a scathing, sideways glance. Really, he was more frustrated with the dilemma she had put him in rather than her hateful words, but either way, he was getting tired of going back and forth with her. Having decided not to finish her off right then and there, his next course of action was to reach out to the other scouts and bring them to the winged vehicle to see her for themselves. With any luck, one of them would kill her in his stead.

He turned to the closed window on his other side and lifted the edge just enough to peer outside, keeping watch for movement on the ground beyond. He just had to wait long enough that he felt comfortable venturing out without worrying about being ambushed by another deranged human.