Chapter 7

I knew where this motel was and drove there. Since it was still quite cold the beach was empty. In summer, this place would be packed. I parked in the parking lot and quickly found room 205 and knocked on it gently.

"Cayenne, it's Kai Lane."

The women opened the door and stepped aside so I could come in. She looked terrible. Her hair was unkempt, and her clothes wrinkled. She had very visible bags under her eyes. I can see that she'd been crying. She locked the door, and I noticed her hands were shaking.

"Don't worry, you are safe with me," I assured her, but the next moment someone grabbed me from behind and put something over my mouth. I hadn't even considered that this could be a setup and that someone could be hiding in the bathroom while she let me in. That was very stupid of me.

I had training and tried the manoeuvres we had been taught, but realised that this person was Avian which made him a lot stronger than a human or half-Avian like me. Before I could figure anything else out, I also realised that there was something in his hand that was covering my mouth and I lost consciousness.

My head pounded when I came to. I was disoriented and confused, but eventually my mind cleared enough for me to remember what had happened. Whatever they used to knock me out wasn't agreeing with me. It felt like the mother of all hangovers.

I was surprised to find that I was in some kind of...holding cell. It wasn't very big, it could hold maybe four people, but you couldn't stand in it. I was naked. My arms were bound with ropes and no matter how hard I tried it wouldn't loosen. I was just getting my skin chafed off. Even with blood soaking the string which I thought could act as lubricant to slip them off, it didn't work. The cell was very dimly lit. I tried to look through the bars but couldn't see much and everything was quiet. I could smell chemicals of some sort. Where was I? Was this the Drug Cartel people?

Just then a face popped into view suddenly, giving me a fright so I scampered back into the back of the small cell.

"Finally awake I see?"

I've never seen an Avian in their true form before. It had become so common for them to have an almost human appearance that it was quite a shock. This particular one looked very birdlike and not in a nice way. His features were angular and his skin an ugly shade of yellow. His wings were folded on his back, but some feathers jutted out in weird angles. I thought all Avians were beautiful, perhaps they could make themselves so when they wore their human guises. I wondered what August looked like in his true form. August... my heart suddenly feels a pang of regret. I wonder if I'll ever see him again.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" the man shouted and banged on the bars. The noise aggravated my headache.

"I'm awake!" I quickly said, putting my hands over my ears to try and muffle the sounds.

"Where am I?" I asked uncertainly, not sure if the Avian would even answer. He grinned at me.

"At the lab, to be a lab rat like all the other lab rats before you."

"Why?"

"You're a disgusting half-breed, that's why."

I felt nausea settle in my stomach. Why does this sound more and more like the serial killer case? How is this related to Cayenne and the drug shoot-out?"

"Is this a Drug Cartel?"

The Avian laughed.

"I see you are confused. I'll enlighten you since it won't matter anyways unless you produce... results. Your bitch friend sold you out in exchange for protection of her own life against your "Drug Cartel". Not that it made any difference in the end."

The way he laughed told me that she was definitely no longer alive. It didn't explain how Cayenne knew that these people would be interested in me.

"Okay...so what happens now?" I asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see."

The Avian left. It felt like several hours before someone, or rather two someones, came back. They were talking in the Avian language. It was a very old language and since all Avians and humans spoke a universal language it was never compulsory to learn it. I now wish I had.

The gate to my cell was opened and I was pulled out like I was some sort of animal. I didn't struggle since I knew that it wouldn't help at this point.

I needed to figure out where I was and be alert for any opportunity to escape. The one was the same ugly yellow one from before, but the second one was actually very beautiful. He wore a lab coat, so a scientist maybe? He had soft gold hair and eyes and his wings were also a light colour. It reminded me of the human rendition of what they think angels would look like. In looks anyway.

"Have you stared enough?" he asked with a disgusted looking expression.

"Sorry, it's just that I've never seen an Avian in true form before."

"What, you want to tell me you never saw your Avian parent? Don't make me laugh."

I kept silent since it wouldn't help to explain that my mother died when I was seven and yes, she never showed her Avian form to me. It wasn't like it would change anything in this situation.

The ugly one held onto me while the scientist pressed a needle into my arm and drew some blood. He also gave me what looked like a medical check, looking into my eyes, ears, mouth and taking my blood pressure. Initially I resisted and was rewarded with a smack at the back of the head by ugly which made my headache flare up again.

"You have a bonding mark, but it is small so the bond is still fresh so it should be easy to overwrite," the scientist said, pointing at my neck where I remember the hickey being. Was hickeys a bonding mark to Avians? But surely it fades after some time?

Afterwards I was forced back into the holding cell.

"Now pray that your test comes back positive," the scientist said and walked off. Ugly didn't leave immediately. I picked up that he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Perhaps I'd be able to get some more information out of him.

"What does he mean?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he said grinning and then pressed his face closer to the bars reminding me of a kid that is just dying to tell you something but pretending like they don't.

"I guess you don't know either, sorry for asking."

This got him growling.

"I know! The test will prove if you are able to fall pregnant or not."

I thought my ears were going. What the fuck...

"If you can't you are disposed of."

"Well, obviously I can't, I'm male!" I shouted.

"Not my problem," he said shrugging his shoulders and then leaving.

I couldn't understand this situation. Was I abducted by aliens? Perhaps I was dreaming or hallucinating, because this is too messed up to be real.

Later ugly brought me some sort of fluid to drink which I assume was their version of soup or something similar. I couldn't exactly starve myself, I needed to be alert if I wanted to escape. It seemed weird for them to use rope to bind my hands and I was sure that I'd be able to wear it down with my nails, but no amount of working at it did anything to the rope which made me realise it wasn't ordinary rope.

There was no way for me to tell if it was night or day. Even though it wasn't particularly cold I wasn't able to fall asleep and my body ached from not being able to stretch properly and the floor was hard. My mind raced. Pops must be worried sick. And August too. And my sister. I thought about all the other young men that disappeared or were killed. Did that mean that some did pass this "test"? What happened to them?

I had already explored the whole cell and could not find anything that could help me escape. I was truly at the mercy of these people here. I started estimating that they were feeding me once a day and that gave me an idea of the days. I estimated five days had passed. I wasn't sure why it took so long to get the test result back, but in the back of my mind I was hoping that it took longer and that somehow, I'd be able to escape.

My heart pounded when eventually the scientist came back. Ugly pulled me out of the cell again.

"Well, well. Who would have thought you'd be lucky," he said looking me over once more before telling ugly to bring me along. The liquid food they'd been giving me was just enough to keep me alive, so I wasn't strong enough to even walk by myself. Ugly picked me up and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Careful!" the scientist hissed, "we don't want to damage the goods."

I couldn't believe that I was hearing myself referred to as an item to be sold... A thought struck me. If this craziness was true and I was able to by some miracle fall pregnant, would I be sold to someone because of it? Was this like a black-market syndicate that sold half-Avian men that can fall pregnant? I recalled reading before that it had become very difficult for Avians to produce offspring with other Avians for some inexplicable reason. They could produce half-Avians with humans, but what would happen if a half-Avian was able to fall pregnant with an Avian's child? And what about female half-Avians? I had a lot of questions and not nearly enough answers.

I was brought into a room and then cleaned up by two female Avians who treated me like they were washing a dog. Once I was clean, a type of collar was forced on me. Was I going to become someone's pet? It may have been funny under different circumstances, but I knew I needed to focus. My hands were still bound but they had smeared some sort of ointment on the chafing wounds that stung.

I was then again carried by ugly and did my best to ignore the looks of anyone we passed by. Luckily my front was covered by his body but still, it was incredibly humiliating to be carried naked by someone like you were just a "thing".

I was eventually brought into another room and put inside an even smaller cell then before, this one was more like a cage with golden bars. The type that reminded me of a canary cage. At least there was a cushion on the floor to sit on.

No matter how much I tried to engage ugly or any of the others in conversation they all now ignored me. A blanket of sorts was thrown over the top of my cage so that I was plunged into darkness. I eventually heard voices and felt my cage being lifted onto something with wheels. I heard soft sobbing that sounded like a young man's. Was there someone else also caged like me?

"Hello?" I whispered.

The sobbing stopped.

"Are...are you half Avian? Human? Please help m..."

The next moment something hard clanged above us.

"Keep quiet!" a harsh voice shouted at us.

I don't know why the man thought I'd be walking around freely and be able to help him, but he at least stopped sobbing.

Eventually my cage was lifted and set onto something solid. The blanket was removed but it was still almost too dark to see anything. I could faintly make out another cage a short distance from mine. I could hear muffled murmuring like people talking. Eventually a loud voice spoke over a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending tonight's exciting event. We are pleased to announce that tonight's line-up will include 6 breeders, confirmed and certified. So, without further delay, let's get right to it."

Light suddenly flooded my eyes and I had to shut them and blink until they eventually acclimatised. I was horrified to discover that I was inside one of 6 cages put on some sort of stage. I could make out young men in the other cages, also naked like me. The lights made it impossible to see who was in the audience, but we could hear them talk as they no doubt stared at us. After about a minute or so the lights went off again.

I felt sick. At least I wouldn't be killed, but if I was sold and kept locked up somewhere that I couldn't escape from? No, I had to fight. As soon as I was able to I would, perhaps not right now because I was too weak. But sometime, I will fight, and I will be free. Someone else started sobbing again but was then drowned out by the voice that started auctioning off each one of us. A light lit up the cage furthest from me. It looked like I was item 6.

The amounts that were being bid were astronomical. Was offspring THAT important to the Avians? What about the fact that we were "disgusting half-breeds". Why would they want kids with us? It felt like ages before eventually my cage was lit up. I hated this and stared into the crowd I couldn't see with defiance. I heard some murmuring and the bidding started. The price went higher and higher. Eventually it passed the highest bid so far this evening.

I wondered what made me different from the others. Should I have cowered? Does my defiance make me more desirable? What sort of Avian would buy someone that looked like they would be trouble to handle? A sadist? A shiver ran through me thinking of anyone touching me. Finally, I was sold at a price of 12 million Lari (Lari is our currency). I didn't know if I should feel flattered or outright terrified. That was more than I earned in a year.

The blankets were put back on our cages and we were moved again. Eventually everything was still for a long while and I figured out that I was alone in a room somewhere. I heard the sound of a door opening and closing. Oh god...was this the room where my "owner" would take ownership of me? I wanted to throw up but knew it would do me no good. I would need to muster every ounce of energy I had to fight.

"Kai."

I heard a voice I never thought I'd hear in a million years. Was it just my mind playing tricks?

The blanket was removed from the cage and the light in the room was dimmed so it didn't hurt my eyes as much as it did before. Outside the cage was August. My mouth fell open and closed again. I wasn't able to get words out.

August fumbled a bit with the cage's lock and eventually got it opened. He helped me out of the cage, but I couldn't stand and fell forward. He quickly grabbed me and lifted me onto the bed.

He removed the ropes that bound my hands.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen to you," he said with thick emotion in his voice. I still wasn't able to say anything, I think I'd gone into shock. I realised he had brought clothes with him that he proceeded to clothe me in. Once I was fully clothed, he touched my face.

"I know you are very weak now, the liquid they fed you also contained a small amount of Avex to make you docile. Please just tell me by nodding your head, did they hurt you?"

How should I answer? They didn't torture me as such, but I had been kept in a cell and fed only once a day and had rope burns. My whole body ached. I slowly nodded.

An inhuman roar ripped from August's throat. Was that the wrong answer? I felt very tired, and my vision blurred. He spoke in Avian language and it was like two men suddenly just materialised out of thin air. He spoke with them briefly and they disappeared again.

I heard him call my name as my consciousness faded into darkness.