Peculiar Traditions

"Wait, I didn't even welcome you, did I? Forgive me, my bad."

"Welcome to the planet of Zarvlon, Andrea."

"Welcome? This must be some sort of a joke.”

Andrea attempted to gather as much strength as she could to try and reason with the creature one last time.

“Why are you abducting orphans from Earth? What did the orphans do to deserve such torture? PLEASE STOP IT!"

"Let me explain why we're doing this. As of now, we are the strongest species in the entire universe. But a few years back, the inhabitants of planet Crotozate were the strongest. There was always a power struggle between us. We fought hard but had to face defeat. Around four years ago, a few of us went to Earth and brought here a few humans for experimentation. Someone from our lab accidentally let the door open.”

"Because of this, one human tried to run away and got stuck inside our spaceship's blasters. When we fired the blasters in the next battle at the Crotozatians, they lost the battle to us. We soon realized that human blood was toxic to them. So, we decided to use it against them, and since then, we've been collecting human blood. We use it for our weaponry. It has allowed us to defeat the Crotozatians. Because of humans, we've become the strongest species to ever exist in this universe. Hunting humans during the Christmas season has become our tradition now."

"What peculiar tradition is this? Why keep orphans inside the chamber? Why the continuous torture?"

"We keep all humans inside the chamber because it improves our weapons' efficacy. The blood needs to be as much fresh as possible. We built such chambers and have been keeping humans inside them."

"Christmas is an occasion when families spend time and celebrate together. Why ruin it like that? Do all orphans exist for Zarvlonians to use as resources? Have some shame!"

"Humans are smart. That's why we carry out our plan and abduct orphans during Christmas. Crimes on Earth skyrocket during the holiday season. This way, we can stay under the radar. No one has caught us yet."

"Why? Why pretend to be Alisa? To play with us?"

"Yeah, exactly that. Aliens get bored too, you know. I brought Chow and Alisa here last year. Those guys missed you and Akemi a lot. "

"Where's Akemi? Where are the Zarvlonians keeping him?"

"Oh, he's alright. I didn't bring him here this time. I'll fulfill his wish to meet his family next year."

"No one has the right to use someone like that...no one. This is an abuse of power. Please, LEAVE US!"

"Stop talking that much. Isn't your neck hurting? It must be that miniature transport equipment we inject behind the neck. That's how we bring humans over here. It helps maintain cellular integrity when we teleport humans over to this planet. While I was running behind that Santa's bodyguard, I put some of these devices into the orphans I bumped into. You saw the orphans over here, didn't you?"

"When will this end? Is there an end to this? If Zarvlonians have the most power, why not use it for something good? Why use it to torture innocents for your benefit? Please, stop this!"

"Use it for something good? We are! Life feeds on life! Get over it! Humans should be grateful they have the opportunity to serve our planet. It is the greatest gift for any human on Earth."

"Grateful? For what? For this torture? This is MADNESS!"

"Alright, that's enough sanctimonious stuff for me. "

The Zarvlonian pressed a button on a remote, directing it towards Andrea's chamber.

"Wha..what is this?! What's happening?!"

The entire chamber filled up with unusual smoke.

"Stop! It hurts! Stop it plea..."

Before Andrea could finish her sentence, she fell unconscious. The tubes up at the top of the chamber made their way inside her skin. Soon, she became like the rest of the orphans inside the chamber.

"Have a good night, Andrea. It'll be a long one."

The Zarvlonian said rather haughtily.

"Well, this season's over too. I guess I should go and meet with the rest of my team."

All Zarvlonians across the planet met and assembled in a group. With an arrogant smile on their face, each one of them began creating a plan for the following Christmas. Soon, it'd be time to collect the next set of orphans for their planet once again.