In Search of Home

Chapter 18

The trip to Vok'Rul's home was uneventful. The vehicle that he had arrived in was driven by another alien, who had spoken no less than three words upon discovering that Vok'Rul had entered a pet shop and came out with an untrained, semi-feral young human. Viktor was placed in the spacious backseat, carrier door facing Vok'Rul as he settled on the other side. This was nothing like the truck and van-like vehicles he had been put in before. He barely felt the rumble of whatever powered these things underneath his feet. 

Viktor was subdued. He had barely gotten the chance to turn around and look at the others before Vok'Rul had wheeled his carrier out of the gate. They looked sad. He was sad. He didn't want to be here. 

But he had no choice. He hadn't had any choices ever since he had been abducted. 

Vok'Rul, his owner, Viktor thought with disgust, spoke to him softly throughout the whole trip. He seemed nice so far, at least. The only one that had taken the time to speak with him had been Lilac, and Viktor had no idea where she was now.

When the vehicle stopped moving after a while, Viktor peered out of the carrier door with interest. His mouth dropped open when he saw the big mansion in front of him. He had never seen a mansion in real life back on Earth, but the building before him certainly qualified as one. The architecture wasn't like anything he had seen back on Earth. The exterior was dark brown, shiny, and most interestingly seemed to be iridescent. There were marble-like patterns on the exterior that shifted with the view. 

When his carrier was removed from the vehicle by Vok'Rul and set on the ground, Viktor could see that the grounds of the mansion never seemed to end. They were surrounded by a larger-than-life fence. It was probably twice the height of Vok'Rul. It would be no easy feat to climb over that thing. 

Whoever Vok'Rul was on this planet, he seemed to be pretty important. This place reminded Viktor a lot of the White House. There were a few aliens lingering around the gates, likely eager to catch a glimpse of him.

The tall alien brought Viktor into the house. There were three much shorter aliens waiting at the door. Vok'Rul said something to them, and they bowed, exiting the house. Viktor guessed they were some sort of house staff since they started bringing in the various supplies that Vok'Rul had bought at the store. Vok'Rul pointed in some direction, and they started walking toward it with him in the lead. Viktor was trailing behind in the carrier. He was getting pretty cramped in this thing.

While the room they had left had looked rather proper and more expensive than Viktor had ever seen in his whole life, the room they had entered looked a bit more like home. This must be Vok'Rul's personal quarters. It looked lived-in. He could almost hear Ezekiel say something snarky about the decor. His heart twisted, and he tried to ignore the burning behind his eyes. 

For the first time in months, he was completely alone.

Viktor sat impatiently in his carrier, an almost empty bowl of jerky on his lap. He had completely cleaned out the treat bag earlier in the trip, which he regretted now. Damn instant gratification! It was the only sweet thing he had had for seven months now. Or maybe it had been eight since they got here. He didn't know. 

The aliens bustled around him. When he cared to look outside the carrier, he could see that he was placed in what must have been the living room. It looked frighteningly like a normal home back on Earth, but everything was scaled to be about twice his size. Couches that were probably normal-sized for Vok'Rul would require a running headstart to get on top of. A large table with various chairs sat on the other side of the room. If Viktor stretched, he could see that the wall on the other side of the table was a half wall. It probably led to a kitchen.