Beautiful Beasts: First Contact

Alexa Woods stared out her window at the rain, for some reason it seemed to always be raining. Her scar was burning and it hadn’t given her so much of a twinge since the day she received it all those years ago. Not that much time had passed but to her it seemed like an eternity. Some days she felt like a veteran having fought in some long ago war, she could still hear her comrade’s screams when she went to sleep at night.

Still see the horror on their faces as their chest cavities were ripped open to make way for the screaming alien newborn. And she remembered that one merciful hunter who had not only spared her life, but had given her a way to defend herself and had marked her as a true warrior. Her fingers brushed over the strange symbol it had carved into her cheek using the serpent’s corrosive blood.

After the whole ordeal, she had promptly dropped off the face of the earth, taking up residence in a small town in the middle of nowhere and opening up an antique shop she knew no one would enter. For now she just wanted to be left alone.

The bell over the door rang signaling a customer and Alexa let out a sigh.

“Welcome…” she began but stopped when she saw who had entered her shop. It was an older woman with straggly greying blonde hair and frantic brown eyes. The white dress she wore was torn and dirty and her feet were bare. She clutched a bundle to her chest, Alexa only realized what it was when it began to wail from the wetness and cold.

“…Are you alright?! Come in and I’ll get the baby a dry blanket…”

The fear seemed to drain from the woman’s face, replaced by raw gratitude.

“…Thank you…thank you so very much…”

 

The old woman refused to let go of the infant even after they were both warm and dry.

“Where did you come from anyway?” Alexa asked nervously.

“…Someplace far from here…” was all she said. This made the younger woman nervous. She half believed this woman was an escaped mental patient who had stolen some one’s child…

She turned her head, gazing into the crackling fire, it was then the old woman noticed the scar gracing her cheek. She shot strait out of her seat, trembling.

“…It’s you…”

“What?” Alexa began.

“You are the one…you are the one master was so infatuated with…this is all your fault!”

“…Whoa! Whoa! Just…calm down…”

“He has given you their mark for defeating the serpents!” the woman cried pointing at Alexa’s cheek.

“…How…how did you know that…?”

“Master has told stories of you…” she said coldly.

“Master? As in those hunters? But…I thought he was dead…”

“Our master was truly great. Even after receiving such a severe wound…and having one of those worms emerge from his chest, he still lived. And you are the reason for his madness!”

“What are you talking about?!”

“He was impressed with you…infatuated with you after all you had done but he lacked the ability to return to your planet to find you. So he took out his frustrations on one of his human servants…” the woman continued.

“…What do you mean…frustrations…?” Alexa began afraid to know the answer.

“…He was killed in battle shortly before she gave birth to them and she during the birthing…And so, it is also your fault this child has no mother!”

Alexa’s eyes fell upon the bundle in the woman’s arms.

“…What…is that…?”

The woman pulled back the blanket to reveal a perfect human child with skin as pale as milk. The baby gazed right back at her, one eye Amethyst the other a feral gold.

“…Though she may appear human, this child has the hunter’s blood running through her veins. The others would have killed her but I couldn’t let them do that. I remember how much her mother loved her and her brother, she would want someone to take care of them. But I am old, I doubt my ability to keep her safe…” The woman gazed at Alexa with pleading eyes.

“Please…you must look after her. She has no one else!”

Alexa’s eyes flicked from the old woman to the infant, the baby’s eyes seemed to plead with her as well. She didn’t know what would happen, she didn’t know if it was even a smart idea. The only thing she knew with absolute certainty was she had the help the child.