CHAPTER 10

ALIEN SHAPE SHIFTERS ARE POSSIBLY CAPTURED BY OUR GOVERNMENT TO RESEARCH ABOUT ANTI-AGING!!

"I will kill you first," I threatened as I pulled his hair in anger.

"Stop it...I was just funning..." he said and pulled my hands away from his hair.

"I won't be mistreated in any way; I will have you know I am not a small child, I am a grown up of thirty two years. Treat me in the way that befits my years. How old are you? Don't tell me you are younger than me," I exclaimed in horror. It was not that I was one with archaic thinking that the male should be older than a woman if they are to be married but because I was already in for a lecture by my parents on bringing friends home who had dyed their hair in such inappropriate colors so if Zywan asked my father for my hand in marriage and he was younger than me then it was impossible for me to change my family's view.

It's not that I was not independent and a grown up adult with a career and apartment of my own but children are children in the eyes of parents. I took care of teenagers at my job in school but for my parents I was still the small Kuhu who kept on crying for a Popsicle or who always said that 'mom and dad love brother more than me.'

I had been living on my own since I joined my job that is when I turned twenty one but everyone still treated me as a teenager whenever I visited home. Being the youngest and a girl child in my family, I had been pampered a lot. I turned thirty two this year but it seemed that my family was unaware or else ignoring this fact. I was asked about getting married every time I returned home but I always put it off saying that I was not ready yet.

My mother came to me on several occasions and showed me the pictures of men that she deemed good as a life partner for me. The men she deemed good meant the white collared, hardworking, straight guys who were settled in life. They had a steady job and some property in their name, their family background and upbringing matching my own.

My parents would never condone my marriage to someone who had blue-white hair and looked to be from another country. Being of the same religion was also a must for my parents. I may not be outdated but my family still had their thinking set on the teachings from ancient times. I was the only thing in their lives that did not match those rules that guide them. I was brought up as a unique individual instead of as a girl. My parents' decision to raise their daughter in such a different manner had made my relatives change their parenting technique a lot. Many of my female cousins were successful in their own fields and had made their families proud of them as much as my parents were proud of me and my elder brother. But when it came about marriage then my parents were as archaic as if they were in the nineteenth century instead of the twenty first we lived in. We could select our own life partner if the said life partner had all the qualifications that any good middle class family could accept....meaning he had to be settled financially, had a steady job, was of the same religion, had a good character, was older than the female....and the list went on.

"I am at the prime of my age, I will turn seventy four on the coming month," Zywan answered.

I looked at him in horror filled wonder, "you are seventy four years old!" I exclaimed stupefied. Talk about age gap... and I had been dreading that he was younger than me for he looked to be under thirty.

Now here was my dilemma....did Zywan meet any of the qualities that was deemed suitable by my family? 'NO' with capital letters so how was I going to take him to my family and introduce, 'hi everyone, meet Zywan Kling, the second prince and general of the planet Demarzah. By the way he wants to marry me and take me to become his princess on his own planet. He is going to turn seventy-four the next month so he is not younger than me at least.'

My parents would lock me inside a room for the rest of my life and Zywan and his followers would be dragged out of the village in a blink. The entire village would be more than happy to save poor me from the clutches of these strange aliens who had brainwashed me and turned me into a vegetable with wool in the place of brain inside my head.

I would never get to see Zywan again...never to see the little fireworks in his hypnotizing blue-white eyes. I won't be able to feel pulled towards him against my will again. I would never feel the fire in the pit of my stomach again that felt like it was consuming me slowly....

Wait a minute....what was I even thinking...I had decided to shake the aliens off on Earth and hide from them. The marriage to an alien was out of the question. My family would never accept him as my groom and I did not want to live millions of light years away from my family.

Him being too sexy was another thing but I was never going to move to a place where even talking to my family was hard. No...I was not feeling disappointed at the thought of separating from him. It was a small disappointment because I won't be able to explore a new planet.

"We live for a longer time than most because of our shape shifter genes. My father is around three hundred and he is still healthy," he told me.

"How many years do your people live?" Prince Manan asked me.

"One hundred and twenty at the most if we live a very healthy life, most people die early due to diseases or misfortunes," I said and hiccupped again. I hit my head on Zywan's chin and pain radiated in my whole head.

"Ouch...what is your chin made of...stone," I commented as I rubbed the sore spot. I was irritated because I was feeling unhappy that I was not going to be his princess soon.

He rubbed my head tenderly, "why don't you rest a little and try to sleep off the effects of the liquor?" Zywan asked and stood up. He placed me under the comforter on the bed.

"I don't want to sleep...I didn't even take any picture..." I whined. When was I going to get a chance again after I returned to my own planet?

"You can take as many pictures as you want after you take a nap, I will take you for sightseeing if you so command but please you have to do as I tell you for now," he said as he pulled the comforter more securely around me.

"I am not sleepy..." I said in a slurred voice and closed my eyes.

"So you are in the mood to join us for the excursion?" Zywan was speaking in a low voice after a while.

"Your female is very interesting brother, I want to see if the ennui that has started making home in my heart will disappear at last by visiting a place filled with ladies like her," Prince Manan answered in the same low pitched volume.

"You are too young to be feeling this way brother," Zywan commented as he moved to sit near my head. Zywan started caressing my hair soothingly.

"I don't know why I am feeling this way brother....I have not been able to live on our own planet since a few months ago. Everything makes me feel like my life is incomplete...like I am incomplete. I want to cure this feeling. I think this excursion is the answer to my prayers to Menemar." Prince Manan answered and sighed.

"Go and get the spaceship ready for takeoff then, you will feel less bored if you have a task to complete. I will accompany my problemsome female and keep an eye on her," Zywan said in an amused voice.

"Okay brother, I will inform Kyla to inform everyone in the family about our plans. I almost forgot to tell you brother that Kyla harmed new sister with a shock earlier and I warned Kyla that you will decide her punishment." Prince Manan said and the sound like scraping of chair legs on the floor made me frown.

Zywan caressed his fingers over my forehead in a soothing motion and I relaxed.

"Thanks for informing me Manan. My little tinimaar seems tough but is so soft and can be harmed easily. I will ask her if the shock did her any lasting harm when she wakes up," Zywan said as he caressed my cheek slowly.

"I will leave you two alone now, see you later brother," Prince Manan said again and left the room. He closed the door softly.

Zywan moved away from me and I mewled in irritation. He joined me on the bed again after a while and moved me over his shoulder.

"Shh...I was taking off my clothes and boot, sleep now my tinimaar," he murmured as he patted my back.

I fell asleep in a few minutes.