A throbbing headache was what greeted Ali when she finally woke up and at first, she couldn't remember why. Then the memory of the Hunter slamming her head into the ground again and again came back. She tried lifting a hand to check and see if her head was bleeding, but that was when she realized her hands were shackled to a table. Struggling proved futile, as the bindings were stronger than anything she had encountered before. A loud hiss made her turn her head to see the only door opening. She wasn't surprised at all when two Hunters stepped in. One was definitely the one that had ambushed her, but the other was different, his mask was covered in scars and there were several more weapons strapped to his belt. It was the more gruff-looking Hunter who stepped closer to Ali until he was directly looking down at her.
"What do you want?" she asked.
The Hunter let out a series of strange clicks, followed by a gruff dialect.
"Sorry, I can't really understand you," Ali said with spite.
The Hunter spoke to the younger one and the two seemed to have an argument for a few minutes before the younger one spun on its heels and stormed out of the room, obviously angry that he was being forced to leave. The Hunter that remained walked slowly over to a side-table and picked up a small device with a wicked looking needle. The Hunter took the needle and grabbed Ali's chin, forcing her head the other way. She fought against him, but cried out when pain shot from her neck down her spine. She twitched and clenched her hands into fists until the pain vanished, leaving her gasping.
"Well that wasn't so bad, if that's all you got up your sleeve—"
"You can understand now?"
Ali's eyes snapped over to the Hunter's. She stared at him in shock. "What?"
"You can understand now?" the Hunter repeated.
"How?"
The Hunter raised the device and tapped it with one scaly finger. "We don't interrogate much, but when we do we run into the problem of the victim not being able to understand us. So we created a device that we implant into our victims' necks and gives them a limited access time to our language."
"And what kind of information are you seeking?" Ali asked, "I'm not too familiar on human knowledge."
"How were you created?" the Hunter interrupted.
"Why do you want to know that?"
"Tell me."
"No."
There was a pause as the Hunter appeared to study Ali intently. He gave a grunt before reaching for the thin cables that connected into his mask. Hisses of air were released as the Hunter jerked the cables free. Ali watched with curiosity as he gripped the edges of his mask and slowly pulled it off.
Once his face was revealed Ali glared into the Hunter's beady eyes. "You looked better with the mask on," she ridiculed.
The Hunter merely grunted, his mandibles clicking. "You can't resist forever."
"We'll see."
The Hunter said nothing as he gently rested the tip of his long nails on Ali's arm. He pressed down with a little more pressure, his nails puncturing her skin. Ali barely flinched.
"We could make it fair," she said, "I tell you something about me if you tell me something about you."
The Hunter removed his claws quickly, surprise appearing on his face. "Why?"
"Because I'm probably just as curious about you as you are with me."
The Hunter seemed to consider Ali for a moment before nodding. "Very well."
Ali grinned. "I'll go first. Hmm, let's see. I happen to be a Capricorn."
The Hunter growled. "That wasn't the information I wanted."
"Too bad. The rules were I would tell you something and then you would tell me something. You never made it specific."
"Tell me about your creation."
"You have to tell me something about you first. How about telling me your name?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, then I don't know what I can tell you."
The Hunter sighed. "I don't have to share my name with someone as low as you. But I can tell you that I am a Yautja. We are the hunters of the universe, traveling from planet to planet to find the most interesting creatures to hunt."
Ali looked at the Hunter in shock, the truth dawning on her. "You want to know how to make more like me so you can hunt them."
"You certainly create an interesting prospect." There was a pause as the Hunter and Ali exchanged gazes. "Your turn."
Ali's mind was working furiously. Before, she only thought the Hunter wanted to know more about the aliens, but instead he wanted to create hybrids for the sheer purpose of hunting them. It was something she couldn't resign another to and so she met the Hunter's eyes and shook her head.
The Hunter's fist slammed into her face, snapping her head to the side. Blood poured from her nose and onto the table, which, to her dismay, remained unaffected. The Hunter's claws dug into her face as he yanked her face around and forced her to meet his gaze. Ali grinned at him, despite the pain and blood coming from her nose.
"I think you broke my nose!"
The Hunter growled, his aggravation mounting. "Forget the back and forth nonsense. Tell me what I want to know!"
"No! Not if you're going to start creating more just to hunt them!"
"You have a strong will, like the Hard Meats, but your body is slightly weaker than theirs, isn't it? And everyone has a breaking point."
The Hunter reached for a strange, but sharp-looking device. Ali watched closely, already knowing what was coming. She wasn't planning on struggling, determined to give the Hunter nothing, but he grabbed her arm anyway to hold her steady. He drew the sharp tool straight down Ali's elbow all the way to her wrist.
Ali screamed the moment the blade pierced her arm, she hadn't expected to be in this much agony. She had felt pain before, but this was different, the blade sliced differently than any she had experienced before. Her arm continued to burn long after the Hunter lifted the blade. Again, the table remained unaffected despite the fact that Ali could feel her blood running down her arm and spilling across the surface.
"Tell me how to make a human with the blood of the Hard Meats!" The Hunter demanded.
"No!" Ali shouted, even though her mind was becoming clouded with pain, "I will never tell you."
"I got all the time in the world. There is no one coming to save you."
"Doesn't matter. You can kill me for all I care, but I won't subject someone like me to your games."
The Hunter growled and marched back over to his side-table and reached for a serrated knife. When he got closer, however, Ali was able to see that the serrated edge was lined with barbs. She glared up at the Hunter and clenched her mouth shut. The pain that flared on her stomach made her shudder, but she refused to open her mouth to scream. The Hunter ran the knife several more times across her stomach, but eventually stopped when he saw he wasn't getting the reaction he wanted from Ali.
"Is that all you're going to do?" Ali said when she heard the blade being returned to the table, keeping her eyes on the ceiling, "You really are going to have to push hard to reach my breaking point."
"We'll see how much you feel after you recover from this," the Hunter replied.
Ali was about to ask what he meant when she felt warm liquid flowing over her stomach. She choked on her own scream as liquid fire began spreading through her veins. It moved slowly, seeping down her legs and up her torso, the pain spreading with it.
"We will talk again later, once you've woken up."
"What does that mean?" Ali said, surprised that she was able to get the words out.
Her answer came in the form of more pain as the venom, or whatever it was, continued to spread. Her shoulder began burning as if her own acidic blood had turned against her. She tried lifting her head to see for herself if her skin was getting eaten away, but it looked normal; the pain was all on the inside. For a moment, Ali was unable to understand why her shoulder was hurting so bad, but then it came back to her; the wound Aisha had given her. But the pain didn't stop there, the venom was still working its way through her body. The damage it caused to old wounds was nowhere near as bad as what it did to new wounds.
Her arm began shaking as she was forced into a torrent of agony. Her screams continued to echo around the room, long after the sheer force of agony sent her into spiraling darkness.