Authors note: This type of category is new for me. If the story is successful, I have ideas on a second part. Please vote and please make comments so I have feedback on what works. It's the only method I have to determine which writing projects to abandon or continue.
I write for fun but I don't have an editor. I proofread but there are occasional errors in punctuation. Comments regarding such are unhelpful and end up deleted. Really more interested in positive criticism so I can develop my writing as it relates to world building, character development and interactions.
This story involves elements of bdsm which will be expanded on in later chapters.
Part One: The Abduction
John muttered under his breath as he entered his favorite dive bar to drown his troubles once again. He didn't normally drink much, except on social occasions, but the past few months had been rough and he knew his life was spiraling. Lately, alcohol seemed to offer a reprieve from the daily assault he felt he was under.
Work had become increasingly miserable since the company was bought out and new managers brought in to evaluate the operation. He figured it was only a matter of time before he was laid off as part of the reorganization process.
A few weeks ago, his girlfriend of three years left him and shacked up with one of his good friends, causing him to wonder if there was anyone close in his life he could really trust.
In the past, he might have turned to family for support but he had no one left. His mother died of cancer three years ago, his father in a car accident months after that and recently, his only brother was killed in a training accident while on military deployment.
As if things weren't bad enough, he thought, his rent had been increased and he simply didn't have the budget to absorb it. The rental market had become very tight and he figured if he did lose his job, he would have to move to another town and start over.
Ordering his second beer, a beautiful woman sat next to him at the bar and gave him a smile.
"Mind if I join you?"
Somewhat surprised by his potential change in good fortune as well as her straightforwardness, he stammered, "Not at all. I could really use the company, actually. Can I buy you a drink?"
"I'd like that, thank you. I'm Lexi, by the way."
"Lexi. What a pretty name. I'm John."
Lexi pretended to greet him as if he were a stranger but the truth was he had been assigned to her weeks earlier as one of three potential targets in the city and she had already done a lot of research over the past week before approaching him.
Before following him to the bar, she learned the essential facts; No spouse or girlfriend, no children or other living family, few friends, no pets and no meaningful career to speak of. In short, that he wouldn't be missed.
While it wasn't necessary to know much more, she liked to take the time to study a guy's personality through casual conversation. Partly, because she was fascinated with Human Beings, men in particular, but also because she had been searching for many years with high hopes of someday finding a unique guy she could claim as her own.
Lexi had spent nearly two decades on Earth finding young men to abduct who had little reason to ever want to return. While the men were taken primarily for ongoing sperm and semen harvesting, some were trained to work in the public Pleasure Houses and a very select few were adopted as personal Pets.
Lexi originally came to the planet for the thrill of hunting young men but kept agreeing to stay longer because she was especially skilled in the practice and wanted to help her people. Over time, she hoped to find herself a Pet but with this week being her last in this particular rotation, she accepted the chances were fast dropping to nil. She knew it was time to give up her search, at least for now, and return home to reconnect with her birthplace.
They drank a couple beers together, making small talk and for the first time in weeks, John forgot about all his problems. Immediately, he felt comfortable with her and for once, he could hardly believe his good luck. The small talk turned deeper but he enjoyed conversing with her and liked the fact that he could talk intelligently with a beautiful lady beyond the typical flirting scenario one normally found when meeting someone in a bar.
For reasons he couldn't explain, he trusted her and even shared some of the misfortune that led him to spending more time in the bar in the first place. To his relief, she seemed interested in his past rather than turned off by it. As he opened up, she asked deeper questions about the decisions he'd made in life and where he hoped to go in the years to come.
Having no good answers for her queries, he found himself pondering if he really had much of a future at all. He certainly wanted to but his dreams had slipped away long ago and he often thought he'd eventually become one of those people who worked his life away, dying unhappy in the end, and with little to show for his life.
Almost as if reading his mind, she put her hand on his leg and asked, "John, if you could hit the reset button on your life and start anew in some far away place, could you follow through and do it? Would you walk away from all this if you thought something better was waiting for you?"
"Lexi, I'd be gone in a flash! Hell, meeting you has been the bright spot of my year and we're just sitting here, drinking beer and chatting. Pretty pathetic, I know."
"I disagree, John. Pathetic would be to recognize you have no future and stay anyway, knowing it won't change for the better. So, if you could, would you go back to school, get a fancy degree and use it to become a doctor or something like that?"
"No, not really. That kind of stuff doesn't mean much to me. And I never was very good at planning out my future, truthfully. Even if I could start over, for me to truly succeed, I'd need the right person by my side. Guiding me as I steer the right path and helping me set goals to work towards. I've always done better with a partner than alone."