Estrade

Kaẻ Sonawae has the best life. She has her best friend, her family, and her home, Estrade. But, when the population of her home planet reaches an all time high, an alien species known as the Paenemos brand the planet as free hunting ground for any and all aliens to hunt upon.

With the safety of her planet, family and everyone she's ever cared about at risk, Kaẻ is prepared to make the sacrifices needed to save Estrade.

With the weight of the world left on her shoulders, will Kaẻ prevail, or will she be crushed?

Because here, humans are no longer the top of the food chain.

### Chapter One

*Why are you running?*

The voices whisper, sounding so close.

*Why do you run? Come. Stay with us.*

I want to. I want to stop running, to stop hiding, but I can’t. Because the voices grow more distorted every night... and if I stop running, they’ll catch me.

*Just be with us, Kaẻ. We just want to be your frien-d…*

The only thing that refrains me from going to them is their voices. They aren’t human. They’re monsters.

*Don’t try escape us. We grow stronger every night… just give up. Be with us.*

I can feel the blood pounding in my ears, and the footsteps behind me, and the warm breath on the back of my neck. I can feel my heart, and my brain. Both screaming at me in unison to never, ever look back… focus on the things ahead…

*This is your last chan-ce-e.*

I can feel a sickening feeling twist inside my stomach. I desperately want to look back. So what’s stopping me?  I don’t know anymore. But I know that I can’t. And I won’t.

*Just – look – back… I promise we won’t hurt you.*

I continue running, branches catching on my clothes and tearing them, but I don’t stop to unhook them. I just run..

*Stop running.*

Suddenly, my eyes come to meet with a brick wall. It’s about ten metres away, but I’m coming to it, and fast. There’s nowhere to run to avoid it; it stretches as far as my eyes can see, and I’m so tired. If I could just climb onto it, and get to the other side, then maybe…

Before I realise what has happened, I leap forwards, my hands scrabbling to find the top, or a ledge, to hoist myself up. I do.

But it’s too late.

I feel hands grasp my ankles, dragging me down, and I smash my nose against the brick. Blood starts pouring from it as my senses numb, a haze of colours blocking my vision.

*This is how I die*, I think, though it hurts my brain. I just want to close my eyes and go to sleep.

So I do.

~~

‘No, you will not beat me this time. I’ve been training.’

My eyes survey the board, before I roll the dice. Five.

*Mayfair.* Crap.

The boy in front of my pumps his fist into the air, the creases of his mouth widening into a smug smile.

‘Haha!’ he exclaims, holding his hand out. ‘Pay up, you’re in *debt.*’

Narrowing my eyes, I hand over 50 in cash.

‘It’s just a game,’ I reply, handing the dice over. ‘No need to get so worked up, Kobị.’

I say this, though I would undoubtfully be flashing the money he just handed over to everyone that cares. Kobị raises an eyebrow, dropping the dice onto the wooden floor where we sit. ‘Shut up. I’m so beating you,’ he quips, and I can’t help but smile.

*Ten.*

‘WHAT?’ Kobị suddenly gapes. He’s so astounded he ‘forgets’ to move his counter. So I do so for him.

‘It’s called karma, now pay up,’ I reply, smiling triumphantly. He has just landed on *Park Lane*, which I luckily had the foresight to buy. Groaning, he hands over 35.

‘Karma is a *sy*,’ he mutters. This word, translated to English, simply means; ‘*bitch’*. Unfortunately, his mother walks in right after.

‘Kobịas, would you like to repeat what you *just* said?’ she asks, setting a tray of cookies and juice down and tying her flowing tresses of platinum hair into a bun. She looks at me and her expression softens.

‘Heya, Kaẻ, darling. Feel free to take a snack, mkay?’ she says, pulling a cap over her head. ‘I need to go to work, my *sy* boss wants me to work over hours,’ she adds, a bitter undertone creeping into the edges of her voice. Kobị folds his arms.

‘So it’s okay for *you* to say that, but not me?’ he demands, which is quite a courageous thing to say to his mother.

Loah Belaque is the mother of Kobị, and probably one of the sweetest woman I’ve ever met. She also makes great cookies, which is a bonus whenever I come around her house, which, to be honest, is quite a lot.

‘Yes, yes it is,’ she replies bluntly, before picking up a cookie, tucking it into the pocket of her trousers, and walking out of the room with a quick *goodbye.*

As soon as he hears the slam of the front door, which signifies his mother leaving, Kobị turns to me, his eyebrows furrowed.

‘Ugh, it’s so unfair,’ he complains. I raise an eyebrow. ‘ Say that to her face if you want to change something, then,’ I reply, grabbing the dice and shaking them in my fist. Kobị looks at me with distaste.

‘No, she’d kill me. That’s why I did it when she’s out of the house,’ he replies, before elegantly stuffing a cookie into his mouth. Laughing, I take a sip of my juice, before shaking the dice and dropping them onto the board.

*Three.*

‘Yes! I WIN!’ Kobị exclaims, snatching the money from my hand and jumping up.  ‘I always knew I would rule supreme! In your face!’

Rolling my eyes, I break off a part of a cookie and chew slowly, a flood of chocolate entering my mouth. For a few moments, I watch Kobị celebrate his victory at my bankruptcy, before speaking.

‘That was luck, mkay?’ I say, collecting all the money and sorting them into piles. ‘I just wasn’t in the *winning* frame of mind. Next time, I’d beat your ass,’ I add, stuffing the game parts into their respective sections.

‘Yeah, yeah. *You’re* just being a sore loser,’ Kobị replies, his grin widening. Rolling my eyes, I nibble on a cookie and carefully balance the box onto the Belaque’s already precarious tower of games.

Tucking my knees up to my chin, I look at Kobị, and a feeling akin to an overwhelming sense of happiness washes over me. ‘So, what do you wanna do then?’ I ask. ‘I mean, it’s Saturday. We could do whatever, and your parents are out, too.’

Kobị stops performing his victory dance to look at me. ‘Don’t you have to go to Kenzie’s performance?’ he asks. I wince. Ah, yes, my little sisters class performance of the nutcracker.

‘Yep,’ I sigh, my expression falling. ‘Well, my mum is expecting me back in about five minutes. I better go,’ I say dismally. Kobị picks up my bag, handing it over.

‘Message me,’ he replies as I sling my phone – bag over a shoulder.

‘Will do. Thank god mum’s letting me bring it,’ I reply, laughing.

‘Don’t be too glum, Kaẻ. How important could our next few hours together could have been?’ he asks in an attempt to cheer me up. I smile in return.

‘Yeah.’

Little did we know how important those last few hours would have been, though.