Chapter 6: Kel is easier to say.

Chapter 6: Kel is easier to say.

For the second time, Murry awoke to more pain than he'd ever felt in his life. Was that even possible? His skin blazed, and he wondered if he was being cooked alive. He told himself not to open his eyes. He couldn't face more torture. His curiosity poked him. Was he still with Keltrix?

When he finally looked around, Murry discovered he was back on a table. His heart began to pound as the icy claws of fear gripped him. No more. Since nothing was in his mouth, he began to beg. Even if no one would understand him, he didn't care. He couldn't stand to get ripped apart again.

"Please," he whimpered. "Please, no more, please. I can't…"

"Calm, Human." Beautiful blue eye met his. This close, Murry noted the alien's thick black eyelashes and the way they fluttered. Keltrix leaned over him, and a soft, smooth tentacle stroked up his uninjured arm. There was nothing on the appendage caressing him, no indentations or spikes. The tentacles had no suction cups like an octopus. These beings were uniquely different than anything Murry had ever seen before. If he weren't so sick, he would ask a million questions. "I'm here. Remember me? Keltrixtionlenz?"

"How can I remember a name like Kel… Keltrix-Kel." Shooting pain up his half-eaten arm stole the rest of Murry's attempts at the pronunciation. When the agony subsided, he stared into the most amazing sky-blue eyes he'd ever seen. "I'll just call you Kel," he muttered and licked his lips. "Is that okay?"

"That is fine, Slave."

Slave? Murry opened his mouth to argue that term, but he didn't get the chance. More searing burning shot through his body. His bitten leg seized. He shivered, but he was also roasting in an oven. Sweat broke out on his skin.

When the door to the room opened, the red-haired alien, JP, walked in and to the table. Fear slammed into Murry a second time. They could hurt him like before. Even though they were smooth like molded plastic between their legs, that didn't mean something more sinister wouldn't happen.

"I can't…" Murry whimpered the rest of his words. "Please don't." His eyes filled with tears. The drops rolled down his cheeks. He didn't want to be entered again.

"He appears to be leaking," Keltrix spoke behind him. "Is that normal?"

"Keltrixtionlenz," JP growled as he appeared in Murry's line of sight. The other alien's voice held censure and displeasure. "I told you to leave." JP's head blocked the bright light overhead. "I cannot fix this slave. Let him die in peace."

"I do not accept that," Keltrix snapped. "I want to take him back to Earth." Again, Kel's lips never moved, but Murry could hear him. Both aliens he understood even though neither of their lips moved, and he didn't speak their language.

"Why can I understand you?" Murry murmured.

"I forgot how uneducated and simple-minded humans are." JP's nostrils flared. "We should not have kept this one. I can already tell this thing will be nothing but problems for us."

"The language band is still on you." Keltrix ran a tentacle over the black strap still around Murry's forearm. "Do you want me to take it off?"

"No." Murry shook his head. If he were going to die, at least he would know what they said while it was happening. After he told Kel no, the alien stood. He faced JP as if they squared off, ready for a fight.

"This is not going to be a problem. What if the creature is a little curious? He will not be trouble." Kel flipped his tube hair. "Just help the human, and I will take care of it afterward."

"I cannot. You are not listening to me," JP argued. "The human's infections are too great. The wounds are not clean. You must accept what I am telling you. You would be kinder to kill the slave before this gets worse."

"Why can you not save it?" Kel asked. "You have supplies."

"I do not have the items here. This ship only transports. I have lifesaving items for us."

"Use them."

"They will not work on a human. This thing is not part of us. No part is our makeup."

"It's okay." More tears spilled out of Murry's eyes. He wasn't afraid to die. The fact that Kel was trying at all was more than he expected from a stranger and an alien.

"I do not want you to die, Slave." Keltrix leaned over him, and his head tipped to the side as if surprised that he wanted Murry to live. Both alien heads popped into his line of sight.

"Please stop calling me a slave. Consider that my deathbed wish. My name is Murry."

"Murry," Keltrix hummed his name. Once more, his tentacles caressed Murry's naked chest. "You are dying and, in much pain, but you take his moment to tell me your name?" He sounded amused. "Murry is odd, but I like it."

Murry had the urge to roll his eyes. Keltrix spoke like Murry wanted or needed his approval of his given name.

"My mom named me Murdock after my grandpa." More tears rolled down Murry's cheeks as he thought about how much he missed his mother. He wished she were here. The heat from his fever had him delirious, wishing all sorts of impossible things. "I'd like to see my grandpa again and my mom. Dying is okay. I believe that we see our loved ones when we die."

"Rest now. Slave Murry." A soft tentacle brushed against Murry's cheek catching the wetness. "Loved ones. I will have to look up this word. I do not think you will see anyone but me for now."

"I'll die on this table like a man, not a slave. I'm not your slave."

"You take issue with the word?" Kel's sealed lips tipped into a grin. "Can I call you chattel?"

"Not if you want me to answer."

"Servant?"

"No."

Keltrix laughed. "What do you call the creatures you take home? The ones on your planet that need food and water and care? You rescue them."

Murry's head conjured Linda and her stupid love for her pampered cat. She had rescued the animal from the shelter.

"I don't know," Murry muttered.

"Yes, you do. I see your brain working."

"You are talking about a dog or cat. We rescue them"

"Yes." Keltrix grinned. "Curious little cat."

"I'm not a cat, and I'm not little." Murry wanted to explain that humans were not rescued animals, but another terrible rolling pain seized his muscles. Roughly, he yanked against the bonds keeping him on the table. Fire ate at him. Fine. He would die like a cat on an exam table with an alien by his side. Whatever happened was okay by him as long as the pain eased.

"I'll be a cat." Murry thought about the dogs and cats that they put down at the vet office. "Please just don't leave. It hurts so much." His eyes, full of tears, lifted to Keltrix. "While I'm dying, will you hold my hand that way I'm not alone?" The animals on Earth had their owners pat their heads as the needles entered them taking their life. Murry wanted that. He needed something to hold on to... anything, even an alien.

Murry opened his hand.