Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
The chilling shrieks attract the attention of others Phaelix who pour from the jungle with fishing nets in their claws. At the sight that greets them, they drop their nets and run yelling for their houses, but the prawns cut them off from every angle. Soon, they, too, are drowning in the orange sea.
The redhead has scurried to her feet and is clinging to the blonde next to the fire, both of them sobbing uncontrollably. I command the prawns to move around them. The patch of mud in which they stand barefoot is like an island in a squirming saffron-colored sea.
Green goo and glob cover the soil as the prawns make steak of the lizards. I try to block out the horrific screams of the Phaelix. It’s like an Alfred Hitchcock movie with prawns instead of birds. I still need some of the Phaelix alive if the humans and I are to make it out of here, so I command the prawns to back three of the Phaelix up against a tree before encircling them. One of the three is the guy who called the shots when Betty and I arrived on the scene, whom I presume to be their leader.
When all the lizards except for those three are dead, I clear out the prawns but leave the ones guarding my prisoners. The insects quickly disappear. I don’t waste time in getting to the clearing.
The women stare at me with terrified, pasty faces while the Phaelix shout something in their language that sounds like insults.
“You’re Elsie,” the blonde exclaims. “Elsie from Cleveland. I remember you!”
I grin. “Fancy running into you again.”
“What are you doing here?” she asks with a slack jaw.
“Looking for a way back to Earth.”
She continues in a daze as she looks around. “What happened? Where did these insects come from, and why didn’t they attack us?”
“There’ll be time for questions later.” I point at the Phaelix. “Do you speak their language?”
She rubs her dirty arms, shivering as she gazes at the treetops nervously. “A little. Be careful. There may be more of them. They live in treehouses.”
I glance over my shoulder at the makeshift bungalows on stilts. “Do you mean those aren’t their homes?”
“Those are the prisons,” the redhead says. “They’re for us.”
I take in her bony frame and the ribs protruding from underneath her threadbare dress. Bruises cover her arms and legs. Those lizards did a number on me too when I first arrived, so I have no doubt about who put those marks on her. They didn’t starve me, but maybe they were just fattening me up before they intended to sell me. Yeah, no. I don’t find any compassion in my heart for the dead lizards.
“How many humans are here?” I ask.
“Six, including us.” The redhead’s green eyes flash. “We were twelve, but Penny and Sabrina got sick and died. The other four guys were killed when they tried to overpower our captors.”
Fuck. “We need to grab the others and get out of here.” I turn to the blonde. “Ask them who can create a portal to Earth.”
She opens her mouth, but instead of speaking, she lets out a scream as she fixes her gaze on something behind me.
I twirl around to see at least a dozen Phaelix swinging down on ropes from the thick foliage of the trees.
Before I have time to even think “prawns,” a Phaelix jumps right in front of me, clutching a branch like a baseball bat.
Forget the prawns. There’s no time. Think lizards.
I focus hard on the Phaelix surrounding me, commanding them to knock each other out with those bats they’re waving around, but they only snarl and snap their shark-like teeth.
Oh, fuck.
My power doesn’t work on the lizards. I guess I can’t command intelligent species. I should’ve kept the prawns around, but it’s too late to rectify that oversight.
Both the blonde and the redhead scream at the top of their lungs. I’m screaming too. Or I think I am, but maybe I just want to and never get a chance because even as I make a beeline for the jungle, something hits me so hard on the head that my brain rattles in my skull.
I’m trying to think of dinosaurs, but my mind is fuzzy, and my vision goes out of focus.
As I go down, the strange world with its vivid reds, yellows, purples, and oranges turns black.
Chapter 2
Elsie
I wake up in a fetal position on a cold, hard surface. My head is pounding, and my mouth is so dry my tongue sticks to my palate. The rattling of my bones as I shiver convulsively doesn’t help my headache. Wherever I am, it’s like a fucking freezer in here.
Something sharp digs into my cheek. I turn onto my back and dust off the grit that sticks to the side of my face. With the splitting headache that hammers in my temples, the smallest movement hurts. I grind my teeth against the pain, crunching sand between my molars.