Taken Over (Book 2 The Ravening Series) (43 page)

   “Over the years, throughout history, we have always been here. Monitoring, watching, keeping track of your developments
, and your technologies.
We’ve even aided in some of your own advancements.
We’ve also come in search of food
before
.”

   I shuddered. We both knew that
when he said
food
he didn
’
t mean
steak. “I’m not sure I understand.”

   He nodded, took a deep breath, and then plunged in. “Our plan
et, from what I
’
ve heard of it
, is similar to earth. Hence our similar
appearances.
My people raped it,
nearly
took everything they could from it, drained it of life, blood, and
nourishment
. When they realized what they had done they began to make trips to find other planets to harvest from. There
we
re fifteen in total.”

   My eyebrows flew up, my mouth parted on a soft gasp. “Fifteen?”

   “There are three left
,
i
ncluding E
arth
that
they haven’t harvested yet and
push
ed
to the brink of extinction
.
For now.
They’ve raided those planets, took what they could, and left them behind.
There were few survivors left but I’m sure those numbers have increased by now.
”

  
My mouth opened, it took me a moment but I finally managed to form a question. “Why would they do that
?”

   “They destroyed their own planet; do you honestly think they care about others?
The survivors were left…
”

   “For a later time. Another harvest.”
I felt ill, but
the words escaped me before I could stop them. I
somehow managed to keep my composure
even though I was rapidly unraveling
.

  
“At first
,
it wasn’t that way. At first
they
just
went on
missions to collect supplies…”

   “People?”

   “Not every planet calls themselves people
,
or humans.” That didn’t make what he was saying any better. “The supplies were then brought back
to our planet
for everyone. Some were kept alive, for breeding purposes.” Yep, I was going to be ill. “Others were slaughtered outright in order to feed the hungry.”

   “How did we not notice this?” I demanded.

   “It was noticed
. There have been mass disappearances throughout history.
The lost colony of Roanoke
in
fifteen ninety
,
the
Anjikuni
Eskimo village was nearly two thousand
in
Nineteen thirty
.
” I choked at the number, gagging at the mere thought of so many lost.
So many souls trapped
,
or taken.
And yet it was nothing compared to the numbers we had lost now, numbers that were so high they were almost impossible to comprehend.
“In
nineteen thirty-seven
,
near Nanking
,
three thousand Chinese soldiers disappeared while fighting the Japanese
. The USS Cyclops disappeared in nineteen eighteen with three hundred and six sailors
aboard
. It was considered to be
one of the victims of the Bermuda Triangle
,
a place that
supposedly
claimed many lives. There was also…”

   I held up a hand, warding off any further descriptions of death and horror.
Any further description of souls that had been unwillingly taken from
E
arth.
“So long, you’ve been coming here for so long.”

  
“Even longer. Those are just the ones
that were
written about. There was a time when people were far more isolated then they are now. It was not hard for an entire group to disappear without drawing any attention. Our society is
far more advanced
than yours. They are
capable of many things that you couldn’t
even
begin to imagine.
”

   Anger spurted through me, I quirked an eyebrow at him. “Obviously,” I retorted.

   “Is it any worse than humans that kill for pleasure or greed
?
We were starving.”

   “You destroyed your own planet!”
   “So are you.”

   Righteous
fury
simmered through me, a muscle twitched in my cheek, but I could not argue his words. He was right in some ways, but in others he was completely wrong. “It’s not the same and you know it.
We are not destroying
other
worlds!
”

   He sighed softly. “You’re right you’re not.
But if you’d had the ability to find them what do you think might have happened?
”

  
I glared fiercely at him, more enraged by his words than I was his betrayal. “Do not try and justify what your kind has done. I don
’
t know what would have happened, but I
do
know that we would not have brutally slain so many. We are
not
you.”

   He stared at me for a long moment, then the anger left his face and his shoulders slumped slightly. “You’re right. Humans may be brutal and thoughtless, but you are nothing like my kind. We may be similar in appearance but that is where all resemblances end, at least for most anyway.”

  
Some of my anger melted at his admission.
“Why, why did
they keep
com
ing
back after taking all of those people? If
they
kep
t
some
for breeding…” I choked on the word, disgusted by its implications.

   “Because supply no longer met demand.” My eyes widened, I
was
repulsed by his words
,
and the coldness with which he delivered them. “My people may be technologically superior, but they are greedy a
nd set in their ways. They are not willing to change
; they are
unwilling to curb their ferocious appetites for the greater good.”

   “They’ll just continue to ravage planets instead?”

   “I didn’t say it was a great plan.”

   “Obviously not.”  

   “I know nothing of my world Bethany. Noth
ing. I have never seen it
and I never will
.
I barely know anything of my people.
I was born on a ship
,
and I was delivered here when I was two.
My people are nearly emotionless, love is not known
to them
.
It is not understood, i
t is not
exchange
d
. We are cold; we take what we want
,
when we want it
,
and we do not take no for an answer.
No matter what it is that we want, f
ood,
drink
or sex
,
we do not deny ourselves
.
Ever.
”

  
My head fell into my
hands, my fingers curled tightly into my hair.
Those poor damn people that had been taken, the poor damn people that were now prisoners. For the first time I realized The Frozen Ones might actually have been the lucky ones.
“Oh
G
od,
”
I moaned.

   “I told you there were things
that
you
would
n’t want to hear.” He was right, so unbelievably right, but I didn’t tell him to stop either. “They do not think about the consequences
of their actions
, and they do
n
o
t care.
They’re the superior race no matter where they go
;
they don’t have to worry about
the outcome
.
It’s what they know, it’s who they
are
.”

  
I was spinning, lost, terrified of his words and their implications. Everything that he was saying didn’t sound like him, it sounded nothing like him, but then who was I to judge who he was?
“And who are
you
?” I inquired softly.

  
Those eyes. They were infinite
onyx
pools as they gleamed in the moonlight. They were not nearly as black as I knew they could be though, not nearly as black as I had just seen them.
“
I’m what
you
made me.”

   I was stunned, taken aback by
his
response. I didn’t
understand it
; I most certainly hadn’t been expecting it
.
He watched me intently, but I had no words for him. What the hell did that even mean?

   “Before I was captured
on the beach
I hadn’t seen my real parents since I was two, and I
saw them only briefly during the
time
I was gone
.
Their depth of indifference toward me is
only
matched by my own indifference to them.
” My mouth dropped at the revelation, my head spun.
How could he not care about his parents, even if he hadn’t seen them in years?
It made no sense to me, none of it did. The more he revealed
,
the less and less I felt I knew him. “
I was brought
to Earth
and given to the Marshall’s when I was two.
The Marshall’s were desperate for a child, and they adopted me.”