THE ALIEN'S SLAVE: a dystopian romance

Imogen’s pov Once upon a time, humankind was considered the most advanced and intelligent species in existence. We had conquered diseases, explored the depths of our oceans, and sent machines beyond our atmosphere. There were theories about extraterrestrial life somewhere in the vast universe, but that was all they were. Theories. Until one Tuesday afternoon, when a strange, chrome-shaped mechanism descended upon the Empire State Building, bringing with it creatures that looked remarkably human. Only they weren't human. That was three years ago. It started with Manhattan, then spread across New York. Before we could understand what was happening, the entire planet had fallen into the hands of these extraterrestrial beings. Throughout the invasion, our governments offered no explanation, no protection, and certainly no hope. Eventually, we discovered the truth. Our leaders had sold us out, trading the freedom of billions of people for their own safety. We fought. We resisted. We did everything within our power to protect our homes and preserve our freedom. But humanity had never encountered an enemy like this before. And we were losing. We came to know them as ‘Vayrans’ and that they possessed technology that would've taken human kind centuries to even conceive the ideas of, and they used it to their advantage. The resistance lasted for barely a year before we were all captured and imprisoned. That was how a twenty three year old nurse like me, went from tending to patients in a hospital ward, to slaving around at their mercy. Why were they doing it? We had no clue, but what we did know was that they were looking for something and we were just a means to an end. They implemented a system that placed each and every one of us under a faction. There were three factions in total, and each had their functions. There was the ‘Operarius’ faction. These were the workers and labourers that did all the hard work in helping these people get what they wanted. There was the ‘Mures’ faction which consisted of the hundreds of humans the aliens had decided to carry out tests on. And finally there was the ‘Mancipia’ faction, my designation. We were the people these aliens chose their human slaves from. Each faction had distinct rules, mine was simple. We were not to talk unless talked to. We were never supposed to leave our room except when told to. We weren't supposed to be awake after a particular time. We were supposed to do whatever we were told whenever we were told. And most importantly, we were never under any circumstances, allowed to feel a sense of equality with any of them. Acting out of the set rules three times, led to immediate execution. We were kept in rooms of five and were given out to our new masters, room by room. Today was my room's turn, room three hundred and seventeen. We all sat on our beds, they were kind enough to give us each a mattress albeit it being as thick as three cardboard boxes, it was still a bed. “Do you think we will all get chosen today?” Cecil, one of my roommates, asked. “ I don't even want to know the answer to that question because either way, it's still bad news for us,” Melissa, another roommate, said. We all sat in silence taking in the meaning of her words. If we are chosen, we still become slaves to whomever chose us, if we aren't, who knows what they'd do to us. The silence was broken by the sound of our cell door opening. It was Bea, our cell guard. “Good morning ladies” she greeted as she stood in a commandeering position by the door. “Good morning missus Bea” it was part of the general rules that lower ranked Vayrans be referred to as ‘missus’ and ‘sir’, since just like the humans, they were a binary species possessing two different sexes, and high ranking ones be referred to as ‘lady’ and ‘Lord’. Very presumptuous of them to refer to power with the same terms humans used. After the greetings, Bea chained our hands and feet and led us to the bath stalls. We were only allowed a shower per week except when we were on our periods, we'd be given three showers per week. But, being that we were to be chosen today, a shower was very necessary. Nobody wants a smelly slave, except people with messed up minds that is. We got to the bath stalls and we're allowed five minutes to shower. We were even allowed soap. By the time we were all done, lilac overall dresses were laid out for us to wear. I held out the dress and grimaced. I had never been a fan of bright colors, they tend to contrast with my dirty blonde hair. I put it on seeing as I had no choice. When we were done, we were silently led into a black van and we're driven off to where we would be given out as human presents. _____ We arrived at the venue and I was taken aback by the size of the place. It had been two years since I went anywhere outside my faction. The Vayrans had made some astonishing changes to Manhattan or, what was once Manhattan. We were then dragged by our chains on a straight line, I was the second to the last on the line. My leg shifts under a rock and I almost lose my footing. I paused to regain myself then I felt a lash land directly on my back. I held in a cry. It was one of our cell guards, he had always been an asshole. “Move it or do you want me to take you aside and teach you how to walk again?” He asked, mere inches from my face. I stared at my feet so as to not look him directly in the eye, which was a violation of the rules. I shook my head in reply. “When I ask you a question you answer me!” He screamed right by my ear. I flinch. “No sir” I answered, voice barely above a whisper. I guess he's satisfied because he retreats and the line continues moving. “Your back, it's bleeding” Cecil said with a hint of worry in her voice from behind me. “It's okay, it's not the first time I've bled” I said, turning my head slightly towards her, mustering something that resembled a smile. She pressed her lips together in a thin line and nodded. I faced front, staring at my surroundings. We were in one of the buildings now, the walls was a shade of teal and had huge gem like stones protruding from them. Were these gems from Earth? I asked myself, they had to be. I was still taking in the entirety of the place and didn't notice when the line came to a halt. I bumped into Melissa. “Sorry” I murmured, she didn't acknowledge my apology. “Okay girls, you're to stand by the wall on your right and wait for your masters to come and choose you when the ceremony is about to end.” a male Vayran said, while ushering us in the direction of the aforementioned wall. He sounded like he didn't want to spend more time talking to us than he had to. We make our way to where we're needed and stand still, eyes on the ground, just as we were thought. As the ceremony began, I could hear drums and trumpets playing in the general direction of the speakers. As the time drew closer for us to be chosen, I couldn't help but wonder what my Master would be like. would he be like the wicked cell guard and hit me for every mistake I made? or would he be like Bea and only interact with me only when needed? I didn't know the answer to these questions but one thing was for sure, he would be my master and I his slave.