Jevan's Dream Read online

  Jevan’s Dream

  by

  Alyssa Hope

  Text copyright 2017

  Alyssa Hope

  All Rights Reserved

  Is it necessary to say that any resemblance between aliens (blue or otherwise) and any living people (real or otherwise) is purely coincidental?

  All beings engaged in sexual acts are over the legal age of consent in their own particular universes.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1.

  To survive. That was all he knew now. To put one foot in front of the other, to try and keep moving, to avoid being beaten, to not arouse the anger of anyone, to just make it through every day alive.

  He wasn’t even sure why he did it anymore, and every day he saw others around him who gave up and died because they had quit caring. He couldn’t remember a life before this, and didn’t really think it would ever be any better, but in some secret part of himself he held onto a hope that it might, and so he kept living.

  He built a dream world for himself in his mind, and tried to imagine what such a perfect world would look like. It would have food, he knew that. Plentiful food, fresh things, not rotten fruit and stale leftovers. And there would be growing plants all around him, green things that he could touch that would respond to his touch with love. He wasn’t sure what love looked like, but he was fairly sure it was something to do with being able to touch and not being hurt.

  He liked being with the plants and they seemed to grow better when he was around them, so his current masters put him to work in the greenhouses much of the time, and didn’t beat him as much when the plants produced more. He wasn’t allowed to eat any of it, of course. It was for the masters.

  He thought about maybe being a master in his dream world, but he didn’t like being hurt and so didn’t want to hurt other things. He decided he wouldn’t be a master.

  His dream world wouldn’t have any people at all, because people were either hurting others or being hurt, or dying, and even those who had been hurt would turn around and hurt others, and that made no sense to him. No people, just plants. He would take care of the plants and the things that pollinated them, and the plants would flower and bear fruit, and it would all be very beautiful and there would be a lot to eat, and no one would hurt him again.

  There could maybe be one other person, because sometimes he felt that there was someone out there who was looking for him, but when he tried to think about them his mind hurt, so after a while he quit trying. A peaceful green world of growing things, that was all he wanted.

  He was able to live for a long time in the dream world in his mind, taking care of the masters’ plants and avoiding attention, but then something went wrong in the bigger world that he knew nothing of. The masters started getting angry for no reason, and beating him and the others for no reason, and the greenhouses fell into disrepair and then there were explosions and the greenhouses were destroyed and some other masters came, and these ones were worse.

  Once again he found himself in chains and being led away with others in chains, and it brought back vague memories of many years ago when he had been smaller, but there was no point in trying to remember. Just to survive. He and the others were shoved into the belly of some large metal thing, a ship he thought it was, and then pulled out and shoved into a big cage, and sometimes food was thrown in to them, but more often not. Every day as the sun came up lifeless bodies were removed.

  Big creatures came and looked at them sometimes, and some of the others in the cage went off with the big things and didn’t come back, and he tried to pretend that they had gone to better lives where they would at least be fed occasionally. He wasn’t sure that he believed this, but it didn’t matter what he believed.

  Finally, when there weren’t very many of them left, they were hauled up on a stage in chains, in front of a crowd of masters. There was a great deal of shouting and jeering, and they all went off with different sets of masters, and he was taken to a big place where there was the smell of blood and death, and he understood that this was where it ended. He was going to die here, and then maybe he would go to his dream place. At least maybe he wouldn’t be hungry and in pain anymore, and that would be alright, too.

  Surviving had been enough for a long time, but now it was time to let go and move on. At the end there were only two of them, and the other one limped badly and had wounds and scars all over its body, and had maybe seen as much pain as he had. It was an odd-looking thing, tall and thin with pale skin, and hair on its head, and its eyes were dark and wild. He didn’t want to look at it or touch it, but it kept looking at him, and that in itself was strange. Did it not know that it was bad to become attached to something that was just going to die?

  Their chains had been taken off and they were locked in a small room, and he curled up in a corner to await his death, his breath getting slower and slower as he let go of life.

  He was shocked back into consciousness when the odd-looking one moved over next to him, and then reached out and touched him. He opened his eyes to stare at it, and it made strange noises, noises he didn’t understand but they sounded soft and gentle, and then the creature put an arm out and wrapped it around his shoulders.

  He had a sudden strange memory of being very small and someone holding onto him in this way, caring for him, and he didn’t know what to do. Maybe this was death, having someone to hold onto? He reached out to it, and cautiously put one arm around it, and then they were hanging onto each other, and he knew for sure that he was dying because this felt good, and nothing had felt good like this for as long as he could remember.

  He fell asleep wrapped up in the arms of this strange creature, holding onto it, not expecting to ever wake up again.

  They were both woken up by explosions and shooting and shouts, and many loud noises outside of the room they were locked in. They held onto each other and waited, and there was a great banging on the door and more yelling, then an explosion that blew the door right in.

  He and his new friend huddled in the corner and hung onto each other and waited for whatever was going to happen to them. This seemed to be too loud and not nearly peaceful enough to be death.

  A large blue creature came in, and touched him with gentle hands, and made soft noises. It tried to separate him from his new friend, but his friend actually hit out at the new creature and wasn’t beaten for it, both of which surprised him. He clung onto it even more tightly, and then other gentle blue creatures came in and both of them were picked up and carried out of that place into the sunshine. They weren’t dragged in chains, they were carried like they were some of the precious fruit he had once grown, that bruised if it was treated at all roughly.

  They were taken to another of those metal ships and placed in its belly, and some of the gentle creatures went in there with them, and he and his friend were stroked and spoken softly to, and given sweet things to drink. They travelled to a much larger metal thing, another ship but a very large one, and the air in it smelled different, and he could smell green growing things in this larger one. He wondered if there was a greenhouse somewhere inside this big thing, and if maybe he would be allowed to see the plants.

  Instead they were taken to a big room with a lot of tables and odd-looking things, and some of the big strange creatures poked at him and his friend, touched them with cold things, and once stuck sharp things into them and drew blood. His friend was taken away, but made some comforting noises before it left and put its arm around him again one last time. Did it think it was coming back? It seemed to be trying to tell him that, and he wanted it to, as much as it was dangerous to want things. He thought that he wouldn’t mind if his friend lived with him in his dream world.

  In this real world he tried
to keep himself wrapped up into a ball so no-one could hurt him, but they kept moving his arms and legs, although they did it gently. One of the big gentle things kept stroking the side of his head, and water was running down its face.

  It was crying, he remembered this, but he wasn’t sure why this one would be crying. It looked well fed, and it didn’t seem to be bleeding or hurt, but maybe it was hurt inside. He cautiously reached out to touch it, and found himself being pulled onto its lap and cradled there. He had another memory of being very young, and then he started crying as well and hugged the big one, and cried until he fell asleep in its arms.

  Chapter 2.

  ‘Jevan’.

  ‘Jevan’.

  The voice kept saying that in his mind, and eventually he remembered that that was him, that in some long ago time and place he had been a person called Jevan. He looked up cautiously and met the eyes of the large gentle creature who had been crying.

  ‘Jevan. Hello. I am Karo. How are you?’

  ‘Karo?’

  ‘Yes, I am Karo. How are you?’

  He didn’t know the right answer to this, or even what it meant, so he kept silent.

  ‘We are going to take care of you now, Jevan, and no one will ever hurt you again.’

  He thought about that, and tried to remember how to speak. It had been a long time since anyone had wanted him to speak or cared what he said.

  ‘I am - dead?’

  The one called Karo made a choking noise. ‘No, sweet one, you are alive. It is going to be alright. You are safe now.’

  Jevan tried to process this, but it was a lot of information.

  ‘My friend, from the death place?’

  ‘He is here, he is safe too.’

  ‘Not dead?’

  ‘No sweet one, not dead. You are both on a large ship called the Crusader that our people sent out to find you and our other lost children. You have been rescued. You are safe now.’

  Karo had more words. ‘You were very young when you were taken, stolen from your family. Do you remember anything of them?’

  Jevan tried to think, but it made his head hurt again. ‘Being held, arms around me, like yours, maybe, but different. That was real?’

  ‘I think so. Jevan, beloved, do you know why it is different, what a bond is?’

  Jevan shook his head.

  ‘Does it feel good to be with me, sweet one?’

  Jevan thought about it, and nodded carefully, wanting to tell the truth but scared of offering too much or getting attached just to lose again. ‘Yes, you, and my friend. Feels good, safe, to be with you. This is what a bond is?”

  ‘Yes, it is a start. You will start to morph, to develop sexually, now that we are together, because we are part of a triad, you and I. Do you remember any of this from before you were taken? Anything about bonds?’

  Jevan hesitated, but it did feel safe to be with Karo, and maybe he could trust him with his dream. ‘Is this like a dream world?’

  ‘It could be. Do you have a dream world?’

  Would it be safe to tell this one? Maybe.

  ‘I have a dream world of plants, in my mind, where I go when things are bad. Are there plants here, on this ship? A greenhouse?’

  ‘We have an arboretum …’ Karo must have seen theconfusion on his face. ‘Yes, a greenhouse.’

  ‘Can I be there, with the plants? I like plants. I want to live in a world where there are plants but no masters.’ Then he realized he could have offended. ‘I am sorry. You are a nice master, I like you.’

  Karo got a strange sad look on his face. ‘No, not a master, sweet one. You’re free now, you’ll never have a master again. But I’m glad you like me. I like you too.’

  Jevan was surprised that he felt sad that he had made Karo sad. He slid back onto his lap, because that seemed to make both of them feel better, despite all the crying. With both of Karo’s arms around him, he felt safe again. He felt Karo’s mouth brush the side of his face, and that felt good, too. He was just beginning to relax when there was some loud noise at the door, and then his friend from the other place burst into the room.

  “Leave him alone, what the hell are you doing …”

  “Be quiet, don’t upset him …”

  “He’s been through enough without you …”

  “I am not doing anything, you heathen …”

  “Don’t call me a heathen, you big heathen …”

  Jevan screamed and pressed both hands over his ears, rocking back and forth on Karo’s lap, not such a safe place anymore.

  The yelling stopped, and in the silence Jevan’s whimpers were loud.

  “Gods, I’m sorry, little one”, the tall pale one said softly. Jevan was surprised that the voices made sense now, and the words. Did this have something to do with the bond? Or maybe that his mind was waking up? Was this good or not?

  ‘It’s alright, sweet one, I won’t let him hurt you.’ For the first time Jevan realized that Karo’s voice was inside his head.

  ‘No, he won’t hurt me, he’s my friend, like you are. What you called a bond?’

  He reached out to the tall pale one in his mind, wondering if that one could do the quieter way of speaking as well.

  ‘Friend?’

  ‘Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.’

  ‘You have a name too?’

  ‘Tad. I am Tad.’

  There was a jumble of thoughts from both Karo and Tad trying to talk at the same time, and Jevan found himself wishing for plants again.

  ‘Tad? Do you know about a bond?’

  Tad sighed and glared at Karo before he nodded. ‘Yes, little one, I feel it too, maybe. Something. The big one here says that we have a bond, that we three are one, that we are a triad. Does that make any sense to you?’

  Jevan shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’

  Karo looked angry, and Jevan cringed, thinking he was at fault somehow, or Tad was.

  ‘I am sorry, Master. Please, I am stupid, it is not his fault.’

  He kept his head down, waiting for a blow that didn’t come.

  Karo looked sad again. This was very confusing. ‘I am not your master, or his, and I am not going to hit you or him. Ever. And if I was angry it was just because both of you have been hurt, and you should not have been.’

  Karo looked like he was trying to find words. ‘The bond is there, it will just take time and healing to grow, just like plants grow. It will all be good.’

  Jevan thought about it. ‘I used to think that someone was looking for me. Was that you, the bond?’

  Karo hugged him, and made a soft purring sound that reverberated through his body, like being stroked softly all over. ‘Yes, I think so. I could feel you, I knew you needed me, but for a long time I didn’t know where to find you.’

  ‘I think you found both of us when you were meant to’, Tad said, and Karo looked at him in surprise.

  ‘Yes, maybe.’

  There was a long strange silence while Karo and Tad stared at each other, and Jevan’s head hurt again.

  ‘Plants. Can we go where the plants are? Please, Master?’ He was hungry, although he was scared to ask for anything to eat. Maybe there would be food there.

  ‘Not master.’

  Karo said something to one of the other big ones who was in the room, and one of them called him ‘Medical Officer Karo’.

  ‘You have many names?’

  ‘My name is Karo, but they also call me Medical Officer because I help people to heal and stay healthy. Just as the one who runs the ship is also called Captain, and the one who works with its engines is also called Engineer.’

  ‘Like a Master.’

  ‘No, just like someone who knows a little more than the others about one small part of the world. Like maybe you would be ‘Grower Jevan’, if you grow plants.’

  Parts of Jevan that he had locked away for a long time started to open up, and more of this made sense.

  ‘Friend, Tad, do you have another name?’

&nbs
p; ‘I was an engineer, little one, but the ship that I was on, um, broke, and I was injured and my leg broke too, so I couldn’t be an engineer anymore, and then I was a slave on a strange planet, but then I was with you. I’m glad I was, because now we’re together, and with Karo. This was meant to be, I think.’

  ‘There are plants. Karo is going to take me to see the plants. You can come with us, please?’ He didn’t want the three of them to be apart again. He was scared that one of them would disappear if he lost sight of them.

  ‘Yes, we’ll go there’, Karo assured him. ‘You need to nurse, do you know this?’

  ‘That’s real?’ Tad asked. ‘There are rumors, of course …’

  ‘Very real, heathen. Triad lovers heal from nursing, as well as strengthen their bonds.’

  ‘Fine. Then I’ll nurse him, too.’

  ‘You are not even healed yourself yet.’

  ‘We’ll see. I think I can.’

  Jevan wasn’t sure what they were arguing about this time. Maybe they liked to argue.

  ‘Plants?’

  Chapter 3.

  Jevan was used to following along blindly, and it didn’t surprise him that they had to walk for a long time before they got to where the plants were. They passed a number of other of the big gentle creatures and each of them made soft noises to him, and some of them reached out to touch him, although Tad tried to stop them.

  ‘They are just happy to see him, they mean him no harm.’ Karo sounded upset.

  ‘You don’t understand, you don’t know how close he was to …’

  ‘Yes, I do know, human. I felt it through the bond.’ Karo seemed to be having trouble with the words again, maybe because he always had so many of them. ‘I am very glad you were there for him. Tad. Thank you.’

  They quit arguing, which surprised him. He began to get tired and Tad picked him up and carried him, which also surprised him, because Tad was still limping and weak. Then Karo looked back and realized what had happened.