Page 5 of An Alien for the Future

I’ve taken two steps backward, intent on making my way out of the pasture and back to the safety of my homestead when I hear a sound. And not just any sound. Something that sounds like a dying animal. I freeze again.

“Lord, have mercy.” The whisper is barely there as my eyes open wider, because that strange sound takes me straight back to those hot summer nights in Mississippi, sitting on my granny’s porch, listening to her stories about haints and boo-hags. “Child, when you hear a sound like that,” she’d say, her voice low and sinister, “you best turn around and run the other way.”

There’s the sound again, loud enough that it sends a shiver down my spine because this time I can tell it’s coming from behind the biggest zimi berry bush.

Yeaaa…no thank you.

I turn and hustle my ass out of there, pushing through the orange grass as fast as I can go. No more zimi berries for me. I sure as hell will just eat that tasteless cornbread, cakes and cupcakes I’ve been making without their addition. I can live with eating food that tastes like dirt. No more zimi berries. No sirree.

But as I push through the grass, the sound comes again, this time morphing into a voice that speaks actual words.

“Frakk me.”

I pause.

That sounded like a man. Well, not a man. Men don’t exist here. Not human men, at least.

The voice sounded male. Masculine.Verymasculine.

My eyes narrow as I bite my lip. I can just see my cottage over the rise in the field. I could carry on, pretend I didn’t hear anything. For all I know, this could be a demon trying to lure me with his voice. You know, pretending to be human. Well, not human, of course, but the equivalent.

My eyes narrow on the cottage some more and a defeated sigh makes my shoulders rise and fall as I turn away from it. Leaning forward, I try to peer through the bushes without going closer. Because I might be cold, but I’m not heartless. I can’t let someone suffer if I can help it.

That doesn’t stop me from finding a large stone and gripping it tight in my hand as I take a step closer to the location of that sound.

“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. If you’re trying to trick me, you’ve got another thing coming.” I say the words underneath my breath, just meant for my ears—you know, just in case this haint will take my words as a challenge.

Pushing through the foliage, my heart pounds a rhythm against my ribs that’s got nothing to do with curiosity and everything to do with fear. The sound, that awful, pained moan, grows louder with each step, and my grip tightens on the stone in my palm.

I steel myself for whatever horror awaits, for whatever alien monstrosity might be lurking in the shadows.

But what I find is…a male.

He’s sprawled on the ground, half-hidden by a tangle of the thicket, his body contorted in an unnatural position. He’s not human, of course, but I know exactly what he is. I’m very acquainted with his kind, because his kind is the one that Xarion is pushing me to befriend. The same alien species Eleanor and Catherine are mated to. Before me is a Kari male.

His skin is a patchwork of shimmering iridescent scales, his features sharp, predatory, with eyes that gleam like molten gold. Thick, green hair is pulled back away from his face, the sides of which are shaved, only highlighting the strong structure of his brow and cheekbones. One ear has a small device tucked into it, like an earpiece maybe. That same ear is adorned with a single golden ring.

I find myself staring, not because of his undeniable beauty, but because this is the last thing I expected to see. I came out here to find zimi berries, not a Kari male.

One that’s definitely hurt. Badly.

His chest rises and falls with each ragged breath, as those slitted pupils go narrow at the sight of me.

Something twists in my gut, a knot of… What is it? Pity? Fear? Or something else entirely?

I step closer, cautiously, the stone still clutched tight in my hand.What am I doing? This is madness. He could crush me with a flick of his wrist.

But he’s hurt. Something’s gone through his boot, I can see now, something sharp and unnatural, like a shard of dark glass. My eyes widen even more when I see the extent of the damage. I see no blood, but piercing one’s foot, alien or not, can’t be good.

For a moment, we stare at each other, both seemingly shocked to find the other here. Me, a lone human woman on an alien planet, armed with nothing but a rock and a prayer. Him, a creature of raw power judging by those muscles, brought low by…whatever that thing is sticking out of his boot.

When his lips curl into a wry smile, flashing just the tips of vicious fangs, and a low chuckle rumbles in his chest, I lose about fifty percent of my shock.

Now what the heck is going on here?

“Good sol,” he says, before he glances down at his boot. “A slight miscalculation. I assure you, this is not how I usually make an entrance. Though, I must admit, your timing is…impeccable.”

My spine straightens.

---