Your fingers fidget with the dirty, ripped material of the bottoms that partially conceal your legs. You shift your weight to one side of your body as you kneel with discomfort. You inhale deeply, exhaling through your lips slowly as the throne room blurs into the background of your vision. Your eyes are planted on the cold, marble floor that your form is connected to.
Dimitri’s boots appear in your peripheral vision as he stands tall next to your bowed figure. You’ve waited for the arrival of the person named Murali, agog and anxious about what is to come of your meeting.
Your expression of worry contorts into bewilderment as you hear the click of the grand doors opening behind you. You hadn’t noticed the chill of the room until the crisp air caressed your skin. The hairs on your back stood tall as you felt the weight of a presence closing in on your lowered figure.
You can feel the piercing gaze of the person, their shadow looming over you as the silhouette reflects off the shiny platform. You hear steady footsteps rounding your position before black pants and sandals appear in front of you.
“Get up,” he commands, his voice calm and authoritative.
The chain of the handcuffs secured around your wrists clanks as you comply, shakily lifting yourself from the position you were in on the floor. You feel the ache in your knees as your spine straightens.
When your eyes meet with dark irises, you immediately feel the power radiating off this being, regardless of his simplistic clothing. The male wears a white t-shirt, his wavy, ruby red hair falling just past his shoulders. His expression is indecipherable as he observes you.
You freeze as his hand reaches out, the platforms of his fingers pressing firmly against the side of your neck. His eyes squint as his head tilts with wonder.
Murali hummed at your lack of reaction. “You don’t feel that?”
Is that supposed to be a rhetorical question?
“Um… I guess?” you respond, unsure of what response he expected.
He releases you before taking a step forward in your direction, his nose almost touching your skin as he closes in. You’re staggered and cautious at his lack of personal space. Suddenly, you become overly aware of your position as your lips press into a hard line.
“Nothing? Not even a little? Hah…” he mused, an eyebrow lifting as he finally took a step back.
What the fuck is he talking about?
“So you can’t smell pheromones and don’t have a scent gland. Tch… you really aren’t an alpha,” he said, mostly to himself as he turned away, heading for one of the two large thrones that sat before you.
You only stare at his back with your hands hanging in front of you. Your eyes shift to his form on the golden throne as he leans back in his chair, leg crossed over as his elbow props against the arm, leaning his face against the palm of his hand. His free set of fingers tapped against the gold as he hummed.
“What am I gonna do with you, huh?” He questioned, his eyes never leaving you.
Oh shit, I’m gonna die. He’s totally gonna kill me.
Your fingers curl around your thumbs as you squeeze your own skin. Your eyes shift to the ground as you contemplate your potential last moment, the lump forming in your throat once more as the moisture of your eyes threatens to fall.
You begin to think about the limited memories you had of Earth. Did you have a family? Did you have friends? Did you even have a job? What was your life like? You’re obviously old enough to at least have lived past your teenage years. Did you meet your goals? What about your dreams?
Or what if I’m already dead? What if this is my own personal hell and it’s all an illusion my soul created?
You’ve never been a fan of the concept of death or an afterlife, despite your prodding and searching for answers. Of course, out of all aspects of your life on Earth, your fears are the most memorable. Especially in this dire situation.
A loud creak interrupted your inner wallowing as your heart skipped a beat. Your eyes first shift to a still Dimitri, who is staring ahead in silence with a stoic gaze, and then behind you as you search for the culprit who just walked in.
“Turn back around,” he said, his tone quiet and firm as he swiftly glanced at you.
Complying, you turn back ahead with discomfort on your face. The sounds of a woman whimpering and pleading doesn’t help the anxious curiosity you’ve held back from expressing.
You hear ominous footsteps among the silence of the room, aside from the slaps against the floor that the struggling lady is making. When your eyes shift to the side, your breath hitches as you restrict a gasp from leaving your lips.
A man, who’s taller than Murali, with long peach strands that are pulled back into a neat ponytail, a stray, curled lock flowing in front of his face, sauntered by you while dragging a woman with his gloved fingers entangled within the roots of her hair. His green irises flick towards you through his bright eyelashes in a bored manner before he returns his gaze to Murali.
Once he makes it to the space in between you and the thrones, he tosses the girl to the marble floor before turning to face you with his arms behind his back. He wears a long dark fur cloak that’s fastened around the collar of his neck, contrasting with the white, ruffled blouse underneath. His leather pants are sleek, over his black, shiny boots.
He has piercings that cover his ears, silver chains running across his shoulders and exposed chest. A smirk forms onto his expression.
“My king welcomes your arrival, human. Hope you’re ready to learn how things really work around here!” he beamed, his tone dripping with mischief and sarcasm as he unsheathed the sword from its holster.
Your chest felt constricted as you listened to the cries of the woman who squirmed on the floor. She hugged her knees as her free hand reached out to the red-haired male, who eyed her with indifference.
“P—please! My dearest king, spare me! I beg of you!” she exclaimed as she shifted to kneel on the floor.
“You should be flattered! You think you’re above the king’s fate for you? Accept your position as an example to the newcomer!” The peach-haired male nearly growled as he placed the bottom of his boot against her back, pressing the young woman against the foundation.
You bit your lip as your brows furrowed with concern. You had an internal battle on whether you should step in to fight for her. On one hand, you are most likely going to die anyway, so why not help her? On the other hand, what exactly could you do in this situation? It’s not like your opinion or actions matter. These men are going to do whatever they please with whoever they want.
“I know exactly what you’re thinkin’,” the voice catches your attention before you shift your gaze to the golden-eyed male beside you. “If you wanna live, don’t be an idiot.”
You almost whimpered in response as a sob threatened to escape your throat. Your eyes shifted ahead of you as you watched the display. You swallowed hard.
I’m such a terrible person—or worse, a coward.
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You can’t help but stay in place, fear and shame striking you all the same as you trembled in your stance. Your senses are tingling—something deeply wrong is about to occur, and you’re going to be a witness to it.
Suddenly, Murali pushed himself from the throne before he strolled down the platform. His footsteps echoed amongst the whimpers of the sobbing woman. His eyes stayed on her form as he stopped in front of her. She shook as he crouched in front of her bowed form, the former male’s foot weighing down on her back.
“You alphas are so weak… it’s unfortunate for you,” he said with indifference, his tone oddly calm during this scene of chaos. Your own heart pounds against your chest as he stands upright.
“You wanna die by being useful, or die by Silas’s hand?”
Goosebumps appeared on your skin as you felt the iciness of his detached tone. How could he say something like that in such an objective tone? Are these men really not as they appear? Are they not human?
“Y—your grace… please! I don’t want to be made an example! I want to live! Please, I’ll do anything,” she groaned, sobbing hysterically as you could hear the wet sniffles of snot.
I can’t do this. I can’t watch this shit.
But you couldn’t look away either. Despite your erratic breathing, the irregular heartbeats, and the hairs that stood straight against your body, you kept your attention ahead of you.
“Pathetic. You should feel blessed,” Silas muttered as he glared down at the woman, removing his foot from her back before placing it against her head.
She tried to pick herself up against the force, but only her lower body lifted in the air as the palms of her hands were placed flat against the floor.
You were stunned, speechless, as your lips fell apart. Your brows furrowed in fear and disgust as you watched him push all his weight against her skull, effortlessly. Almost like it was nothing to him.
Her strangled cries were slightly muffled as the pressure on her head became unbearably heavy, trapping her forehead against the marble before the sickening, crunching sound of bone breaking echoed throughout the room—a wet crack that reverberated through the air.
Silence.
He lifted his foot, a disgusting squelch filled the atmosphere as the thick, crimson substance stuck to the bottom of his boot.
You couldn’t move, trapped in your trance as you replayed the moment over and over again in your head. Time seemed to have slowed as you watched two slithering, withering, black fabrics protrude from Murali’s back. Both of the materials’ ends opened into a steep, peculiar hole with pink insides that resembled a throat.
You exhaled a small, strained breath as they closed in on the woman’s body. One focused on the upper part of her figure while the other consumed her from the waist down, essentially ripping her apart from the middle. A puddle of blood splattered against the floor as her remains were gradually sucked into the fabrics, a grotesque sound of crunching, squelching, and grumbling echoed through the room.
You began to pant, hyperventilating as the revelation that you are among an alien species took its toll. Despite your itch to run out of the room, you knew that you had nowhere else to go, and escaping would be a lost cause considering the success rate.
So you stayed put, though you couldn’t help but drop to your knees, bile rising to your throat as you spilled your guts to the floor, some of the content splashing against your torso. You gagged, heaved, and grunted as you released the weight of disgust, fear, and disbelief.
“Women are disgusting, even from another planet,” the peach-haired man murmured as he watched you become undone with a heavy-lidded gaze.
More withering fabrics protruded from Murali’s back as they were dragged through the blood, his footsteps becoming louder the closer they got to you.
You flinched as one of the materials wrapped itself firmly around your neck, forcing you to sit upright as your eyes shifted to Murali. You almost cowered under his cold gaze as he studied the expression on your face.
Your heart skipped a beat at the smirk curling upward as he tilted his head, revealing his sharp fangs.
“I think my brother will find you interesting,” he mused.
Brother?
You weep as the woman, Ginko, scrubs your back, the suds of the bath hiding your lower half as your arms conceal your breasts.
You had insisted on washing your own body, but the older woman was persistent in her instructions to cleanse you thoroughly. The king didn’t trust you to clean yourself properly in such an emotional state.
She sighed as she shifted the cloth to your shoulder. “You have to grow thicker skin if you’re going to survive on this planet. It’s tough for the women here,” she explained, her tone firm but slightly comforting.
You sniffled as you allowed her words to soak in. “I know, I just haven’t experienced anything like what I saw. My planet, it’s nothing like this. Everyone is human.”
She hummed. “Humans are the majority here as well, though we are not strong enough to overthrow the omegas as the noblemen did the alphas.”
You paused, shifting your head to the side. “Can you tell me what happened? I feel so lost not knowing anything.”
She stopped scrubbing you, checking her surroundings before she rested her arms against the edge of the tub.
“This planet was once ruled by noblewomen. They were strong alphas who were the same type of alien species as the omegas who rule now. Although the human women were seen as weak, they were still held in higher regard than the omega males who roamed the city,” she began, resuming her cleansing of your arm.
“The noblemen now, who consist of seventeen men, including the ones you’ve met, used to be human thousands of years ago.”
You gasped with shock evident on your expression, turning your head to face the auburn-haired woman. “Thousands of years old? They look like adult men! Are you for real?”
She nodded with a hum. “Yes, I know,” she responded before continuing the history lesson. “They were favored by the noblewomen. They were deemed the prettiest amongst all the other human males who were abused and used as cattle. So the alpha aliens would use the men’s bodies.”
The sound of water splashing caught your attention as you listened to the story. She paused to dip the cloth into the tub before resuming, scrubbing your neck.
“The men grew tired of being treated like common whores who were only good for lying on their backs and either being a horse to ride or a toy to play with. Their heats, a special season of vulnerability, were also taken advantage of and used against them. So they planned their revenge, which was led by King Murali and his brother Ezra.”
You pondered the name in memory of when Murali had mentioned his brother. So there are two kings and the rest are just the noblemen who were once favored omegas. You hummed in response, urging her to continue.
“They faked an external attack, distracting the queens and sending the castle of aliens into a frenzy. They were so focused on the outside that they missed the ambush within the walls of their own home. The various alien women were drugged, tortured, raped, and eaten alive by the seventeen men.”
“Disgusting bitch. Look at you now. So weak under me,” the man with short lilac hair framing his face hissed.
Blood covered his features, white eyes cold with a crazed glint in his irises as he used his hand to consume more of the alien woman’s flesh. His naked body was covered in crimson, rubbing himself against what’s left of the corpse as his hunger for power overrode his sense of humanity.
“Jesus Christ,” you whispered as you read the passage.
You gasped as you shot up from the futon. Your hand was placed on your chest as you breathed heavily, glancing around the dark, quiet basement of the sleeping maids.
“Fuck,” you quietly exhaled as you lied back down, staring at the ceiling as you remembered the conversation with Ginko before.
“Once they consumed the women, the men gained the same powers as the aliens before. The fabrics are tunnels to their digestive tract. Despite their mouths and regular throats, they can eat through the fabrics. It makes it easier to consume whole bodies or attack enemies.
It’s almost humorous considering they don’t even need to eat. The noblemen gained immortality so they don’t feel hunger. They simply feed to satiate their craving for power and dominance.”
The palm of your hand reached your forehead as you felt the pulse of your brain. It throbbed in heaviness as you recalled the events that you lived through within the night.
How the hell did I get here?
You tried to push yourself to remember, but no matter how hard you searched through the folders of your mind, you couldn’t understand why you woke up in the ruins.
“Now, the alpha women are seen as the weakest. We are nothing but servants, maids, cattle, and occasional playthings if they’re bored enough. The noblemen favor the omega males in the district closest to the castle. I’m surprised they haven’t sent you to the women’s common village, but maybe it’s because you have an unknown status so they’re keeping you close, within the walls of the mansion like the rest of us maids.
The only time the human men and women are together is the yearly tradition of the males’ heats, impregnating the women to bear more humans. They separate the males and the females as soon as they’re born, and the parents indoctrinate them into this world’s system. Now, everyone thinks of them as gods.”
You were speechless, staring at the woman as you held the towel around your torso while she cleaned the tub. “That’s so fucked. What the hell is wrong with everyone here?”
“Yeah. It’s screwed up. But the alpha aliens were no better,” she grumbled. “The rest of us are just trying to survive at this point.”
“You’re human, right?” you questioned, waiting before she nodded in response, brown eyes shifting to you. “So how do you know so much when everyone else is completely blind to the truth?”
She chuckled. “I’ve snuck into the library a few times since I was a little girl. Came across some old passages and called it a day,” she began. “If you ever decide to do the same, just don’t get caught. They’d rather you be naive and passive.”
You decided that you had no choice but to play along for now, but once you’re given the chance…
You will find your answers.