Monster With Red Eyes
AURORA'S POV
"No, please. Can you take me back to earth? I miss my parents. I miss my mother and my baby sister. I miss my siblings."
I began to sob. "Please do this for me. I can go stay with them for a week, maybe you can come back to take me. This is not home. I'll never feel welcome."
Nora tried to eye me. Her eyes were twitching. I know she was trying to ask me to stop saying those things.
The Alien King stood in the door for a moment. He looked at me with his red eyes, then he turned and walked away.
He did not say anything else. As soon as the door shut, I felt like I could finally breathe again. I sank down onto the floor and put my head in my hands.
"He is so scary," I whispered. "Nora, did you see his eyes? They look like fire."
Nora came over and sat on the floor next to me. She put her arm around my shoulders. "He is just big, Aurora. But he has been nice. He hasn't hurt us."
"Hmmm..."
"He is just misunderstood. He doesn't open up to people. Give him time. You will enjoy him."
Maya, the maid, walked over too. She had a warm cloth in her hand. "Please, My Lady, do not be scared. The King is very happy you are awake. He told us to make sure you were happy."
"Happy?" I looked up at her, and I felt angry. "How can I be happy? I was stolen from my home. Then I was stolen from the Crab King. Now I am in this black palace with a man who is not even human. I am scared for my life! Every time he looks at me, I feel like he is going to eat me."
"He won't eat you," Maya said with a small smile. "He wants to love you. He told the guards that you are the most precious thing in the world."
"I don't want to be precious!" I snapped. "I want to be back on Earth. I want my old life back."
I looked around the big, fancy room. The gold on the walls looked like bars to me. The silk sheets felt like a trap. I thought about my house on Earth. I thought about my mom and my dad. Do they know I am gone? Are they looking for me? Or do they think I am dead?
"My family," I said, and my voice started to shake. "Nora, my mom. She must be crying so much. She wakes up every morning and makes coffee. She probably looks at my empty bedroom and screams. And my dad... he was going to teach me how to fix the car this summer."
The thought of them hit me like a punch in the stomach. I could see my mom's face so clearly. I could see the way she smiled. Now, I was light-years away on a planet with purple skies and two moons. I might never see them again. I might never go back to Earth.
I started to cry. It wasn't just a little bit of crying. It was big, loud sobs that made my whole body shake. I curled up into a ball on the shiny floor.
"I want to go home!" I screamed. "I don't want to be a Queen! I don't want a maid! I just want my mom!"
Nora pulled me into a hug. She held me tight while I cried into her green dress. "I know, Aurora. I miss them too. I miss the sun and the grass. I miss the sound of the rain on the roof. I miss highschool. I miss house parties. I miss so much."
Maya knelt down on the other side of me. She didn't look like a stranger anymore; she looked sad for me. She started to rub my back in slow circles. "It is okay to cry," she said softly. "It is hard to be so far away."
"You don't understand," I sobbed, looking at Maya. "You live here. You like this place. You are an alien. You are used to this place, the food, the people. But to me, this is a nightmare. I am a human girl. I belong with humans. Not with monsters in gold palaces."
Maya gasped. Oops!! I should've never called alien monsters.
"The King is not a monster," Maya said quietly. "But I know he is not your father. I am sorry you are sad."
We sat there on the floor for a long time. The room was quiet except for my crying. Slowly, my heart started to slow down. The medicine the doctors gave me made me feel a little sleepy, and the crying made me tired.
Nora wiped the tears off my cheeks with her sleeve. "You have to eat something, Aurora. You haven't eaten in two days. You need to be strong. If you want to go home one day, you can't be weak."
I looked at the table with the bread and the fruit. I didn't want it, but I knew Nora was right. I stood up slowly, leaning on Nora. My legs still felt like jelly.
"I won't stop trying to leave," I told them. "I don't care how many maids he gives me. I don't care how much gold is on the walls. I am going to find a way back to Earth."
Maya nodded and helped me sit in a chair. "Eat first. Then we will talk more."
I took a small piece of bread. It tasted sweet, like honey and flowers. It was the best thing I had ever tasted, but it made me sadder. Even the food here was better than Earth. Everything was bigger and better here, but it wasn't mine.
"Nora?" I said, looking at her.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think the Crab King is looking for me? Do you think Kraye will come and save us?"
Nora looked down at her hands. She didn't answer for a second. "I don't know, Aurora. The Alien King is very strong. He has a big army."
"Kraye has gold ships," I whispered, trying to hope. "He told me he loved me. He won't just leave me here."
I looked out at the purple sky. I hoped that somewhere out there, a gold ship was flying fast toward me. I would rather be with the Crab King than the monster with the red eyes.