ALIEN SHIFTER ROMANCE: Alien Tigers - The Complete Series (Alien Invasion Abduction Shapeshifter Romance) (Paranormal Science Fiction Fantasy Anthologies & Short reads) (116 page)

              I ran to the window and opened it, allowing the cold wind to come in and wash over me.  I took several deep breaths before realizing that it had fallen quiet beneath me.  I could hear Brian coming up the stairs and I walked towards the door to unlock it and let him in.

              That’s when everything went black.

Chapter 3: That ended in a trunk

When I opened my eyes, everything was still black.  I was on my back, my hair pinned underneath me.  Groggily, I exhaled and listened to the sound echo.  I felt my breath hit me in the face.  That’s when the panic set in.  My heart instantly started pumping blood, throbbing hard enough to shake my ribs.  My hands swung out in front of me, but I couldn’t stretch my arms out straight.

              “Help me!” I screamed as loud as I could.  My voice reverberated in my ears.  My chest heaved as my breathing got more and more shallow.  I began clawing at the lid of whatever box I was in.  Every part of my body was shaking, whether it was from fear or from how cold I was I couldn’t be sure.  That’s when it occurred to me where I was.

              I was in the trunk of a car.  I felt around the ground beneath me for anything.  My fingers searched frantically.  The air tasted sour and like it was filled with dust; it actually felt like a solid mass forcing itself into my body.  It was like being in that bathroom all over, except I was in a closet in a bathroom.  I felt so far away from the world, even though the only thing separating me from it was a thin piece of plastic.  Or metal.  Who knows what cars are actually made out of these days.

              My sobbing, which started without my even realizing it, was making it even more difficult to breathe.  My nose had started beginning to clog and the tears were stinging my eyes, causing them to water even more, depositing all of the tears into my ear canal.  I never cried laying down because it reminded me of wet willies, yet there I was drowning in my tears, quite literally.  I could hear muffled voices.

              “Brian!” I screamed, though it was a pathetic and hardly loud enough for me to hear.  That’s when the tremors set in.  Uncontrollable shaking took over me, exaggerated kicking and arching.  I could never tell you really what it looked like, but I always imagined it resembled something like a demon possession minus the speaking in tongues and Hollywood magic.  My mouth felt dry, my tongue weighed ten pounds and was covered in glue, and my entire body was flashing hot and cold.  I did what I could to overcome my body’s natural response to the trunk to bang wildly on the hatch.  I attempted to scream Brian’s name once more, but absolutely no sound came out.

              I learned that night that even in the dark, you can see spots.  My lips and fingers starting tingling as the blood drained from them.  It felt as if I was turning into stone; I had stared into Medusa’s ugly eyes and she was forcing her spell over me.  My feet began to go numb, even though I could feel that my shoes were soaked with sweat.  This was the worst attack I’d ever suffered through.  My eyes started to dry out because I wasn’t even able to blink.

              “Nellie!” Brian’s voice boomed from outside as he reached the car, jolting it with his weight and me along with it.  I felt no rush of relief.  “Nellie, are you in there?” I squeaked in an attempt to respond, but absolutely nothing came.  I summoned the strength of a Greek god and still it was of no help.  I could have very well been bound and gagged with the amount of help I was doing for myself.

              Adam knew.  He knew that he could do something like this and he knew I’d be defenseless.  I feel it deep within my soul even today that he had been planning to do this for quite some time.  Maybe not consciously, but in a way that anyone thinks of what they would do to someone else to hurt them.  Everyone has a kryptonite, some more obvious than others, and it doesn’t take someone with the blackest of hearts to stow that information away for a rainy day.  Or a day when your fiancé leaves you because you are a worthless pig.

              “Okay, Nellie, are you by the door?  Are you near the edge or are you closer to the seat?” Silence. “Okay, get closer to the seat.  Get as close to the seat as you can.  I’m going to open the trunk.”  I couldn’t move.  Not for my life, not an inch, not at all.  There was no air left in the trunk and I began to suffocate on my own phlegm and tears.  My body wasn’t even coughing it up.  I was rendered completely and utterly helpless.

              There was a loud bang and the car shook.  Another bang.  A third bang and I could hear Brian grunting as he lifted the now dented trunk hatch open.  The air hit me like shattered glass, piercing my skin and leaving my lungs shredded.  I gasped and it hurt, like eating a feast after fasting for a week.  My entire body ached as Brian lunged into the trunk and pulled me out.  I felt like a ragdoll, my limbs weakly dropping with gravity.  He laid me down in the snow and hovered over me on his knees.  I just stared aimlessly into the dark black sky above us.

              “Is he gone?” I asked, once my tongue began to move at my will.

              “Yes, he’s gone.  He’s never coming back.” I stared into Brian’s face, which was beaten and sore.  His lip was bleeding, but it was as if he didn’t even feel it.  I could only imagine what Adam looked like.  Police lights shined themselves into our eyes as two squad cars pulled up.  Officers rushed out and cornered Brian, who put his hands up and calmly explained what had happened.

              Another office ran over to me with a blanket, picking me up out of the snow and sitting me down on the front steps of Brian’s house.  He was talking to me, asking me questions, but I wasn’t listening.  I strained my ears to hear what Brian’s statement was, but all I could see was him pointing down the street and saying something about a broken arm.  He turned and looked to me, smiling softly.

              “Nellie?  Oh my God, what the hell is happening?” Laura’s shrill voice carried all the way from the street.  I looked towards her voice and watched as she came through the crowd of officers, shooing the one next to me away.  “Excuse me, this is my best friend.  My name is Laura Wallace and I am Nellie’s best friend.  Just what the hell is going on here?  What happened?”

              “It’s a really long story, Laura.  It involves Adam, a dead cat, me being locked in the trunk of my broken car, and sex with Brian.” her face looked stunned, though it eased with understanding.  She wrapped her arm around me and rubbed my shoulders hard in an attempt to keep my warm.

              “Oh my God, you slept with Brian?” she pointed to him as he smiled back.

              “Yes, yes I did. Out of all of that information, that’s the part that you picked up on?” I smiled at her.

              “Well, yeah.  I mean, yes I’m worried that you were locked in your trunk, but you’re not anymore, so tell me about sex with Brian!”

              “Laura, lower your voice, God.” I looked up at Brian as he began walking over.

              “So, someone actually already reported Adam’s car on Route 80 heading towards the city.  They’ve got someone on the road and closing in.  So, everything is going to be okay.” He nodded and patted me on the shoulder.

              “That’s it?” Laura said.  “A pat on the shoulder?  Didn’t you just save her life?”

              “Laura,” I started.

              “Everyone knows that the guy who saves the girl kisses her at the end of it.  I’m Laura, by the way.”

              “Nice to meet you, Laura,” Brian smiled at her, “and you’ve got a lot of great ideas.”  Brian turned to me and kissed me sweetly on the mouth.  “Now, I know this means we’re probably going to be spending the rest of lives together, but I was wondering if maybe you wanted to slow things down.  I’m thinking lunch tomorrow.”

              “Lunch? Tomorrow?” I pretended to be shocked. “That’s much too soon.”

              “Alright.  Dinner tomorrow it is.”

              “Much better.” I smiled as the three of us sat on the porch, watching the red and blue lights swirling against the snow.  Suddenly they seemed so much nicer.

Protect Her

Navy Seal

Chapter One

Michael Boardman was always a respected man due to his navy seal status. He was loved by all, admired by young men and women alike, and praised by his team mates as being the perfect soldier.
           Yet Anne could not stomach him. To her he was an evil man, a man who could never show a shred of kindness. Her mother had married in four years before and they had moved to the navy seal base estate surrounded by other seals and their families. On the outside their family was truly happy, always attending social gatherings with a bright smile, greeting new neighbors as though they were the estate’s welcoming committee. Yet behind closed doors Anne was terrified. She hid the bruises beneath long sleeved tops and jeans, never daring to wear anything girly for fear that someone might look at her properly. Whenever he made a mess of her face she would hide away until the bruises faded and then pile on the makeup.
            Her mother saw only what she wanted to see. The money that came in on a navy seals wages were enough to keep them housed comfortably and Anne knew that she loved her new husband though she herself couldn’t see why. She hated him with every fibre of her being yet there was no escaping him. she had once tried to leave, set up her own life in an apartment in a small town north of the estate yet he had found her and forced her home, back to the misery that were his beatings.
           She sat in her bedroom with a book perched in her hands though she wasn’t really reading. She was listening, waiting for the door downstairs to click shut so that she would know he had gone off to work and that she would be safe for the next few hours.
          As soon as she heard the familiar sound, her heart finally began to beat. Each night she lay awake in bed, her heart stopped, holding her breath for the morning to come. She climbed off the bed, grabbed her dressing gown and pulled it over her shoulders as she made her way out of the room.  
         She found her mother in the kitchen, nursing over a plate of pancakes with a mug of hot coffee in her hand. “Finally,” she smiled as she turned to look at Anne, “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to get up.”
         “I thought you’d have gone with Michael.” She struggled not to growl his name as she headed over to the coffee machine and poured herself a mug. She took a long swig to help ward off her exhaustion before she settled down on a chair across from her mother.
         “I decided to wait for you to get up,” she replied, “I thought we could go and do a little shopping.” There was nothing Anne wanted to do less yet she knew if she refused it would get back to Michael and that would be another beating.
          “I guess I’d better go and get dressed then.” Anna downed the rest of her coffee before she headed back upstairs and went into her en-suite. She closed the door behind her and locked it remembering all the times she’d hidden from her step father with the door locked, sitting in an empty bath tub with the shower curtain pulled across while she cried.
          The memory brought tears to her ears as she washed herself and brushed her hair. Over the last four years her long glossy black hair had gone dull and straw-like as though her ill treatment and exhaustion had sapped everything from her. Her face was pale beyond belief and she had black bags under her eyes the size of suit cases.
          She tied her hair back from her face and her features looked even sharper. She couldn’t help but notice how gaunt her cheeks had become. She hated what Michael had done to her. She wanted nothing more than to run again yet she knew he would always find her. He was too good at his job and had too many connections for her to hide from him forever. She had once tried to speak to her mother, get her to leave him but it had all gone sour and she’d received a slap for her trouble. That had been the first time her mother had ever raised her hand to her.
         Anne tried not to think about it as she put some light makeup on and then headed into her bedroom to get dressed. She wore a pair of skinny jeans and a red blouse. Her mother would not be seen with her unless she was looking respectable. Everyone in the town gossiped whenever someone wasn’t looking their best. Anne always had to try her best to keep the gossip off her. It always seemed to get back to Michael and her mother whenever someone was talking about her. Whether the gossip was good or bad it always got more than a few harsh words from Michael. “You shouldn’t be giving them any reason at all to gossip about you.” He’d yell before he’d slap her or punch her or even hit her with his belt. She felt like a child, unable to protect herself though she was twenty years old. He was the cruellest man she had ever met and there was nothing she could do to escape him.
       

Chapter Two
When she came back into the kitchen her mother looked her up and down and gave a small nod of approval. Then she grabbed her handbag off the table and threw her keys into the air to catch them again. She smiled as she turned for the front door and purred, “Shall we?”
           Anne followed her out of the kitchen and out onto the front garden. Like the rest of the house the garden was perfect. Her mother was a keen gardener and spent a lot of her time pruning and weeding to her heart’s content. The only place Anne found anything like it was in her books. She envied her mother her happiness. It was given at her sacrifice. She was unhappy for the sake of her mother’s joy.
         Ivy unlocked the BMW and climbed into the driver’s seat. Anne paused for a moment and took a deep breath to compose herself for the act ahead of her. She would have to smile and wave at everyone they met, play the perfect daughter to the perfect navy seal and his wife.
        “I thought we could get you some new clothes,” her mother suggested as she climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut, “The summer fair is coming up and Michael will want you looking your best.”
         “He always does.” Anne grumbled as she clicked her seat belt into its holder. Her mother pulled the car off the drive and they were away down the street toward the small shopping centre.
        “Anne, you really should be more appreciative of Michael. Everything he does he does for us.” Ivy told her as she moved the car around several corners and around an island.
        “He’s a creep mum.” Anne snapped. She hated it when her mother spoke so kindly of him.
         “Anne, that’s enough,” Ivy hissed back at her, “When everything went wrong with your apartment he took you back in and made sure you had everything you needed.”
         “I was fine in my apartment until he went and told the landlord that I wasn’t twenty-one yet and I had to come home.” She hated to think about it. She remembered how he had turned up on her doorstep next to the kind little old lady who had rented her the apartment. He had pretty much grabbed her and hauled her from the apartment and into his car as though she was baggage. He’d told her mother that she had connected him due to money troubles and keeping up with her rent.
         “Enough,” her mother raised one hand from the steering wheel to force her to be quiet, “I don’t want to hear another word against him. He has been a good step father to you.”
          Anne deflated back into her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. Her mother sighed as she glanced over at her, an eyebrow raised. “Stop acting like a child and sit up straight.” Her mother ordered as they turned into the shopping centre. Anne sighed as she pushed herself upward and uncrossed her arms.
          “Anything else mother?” Anne demanded. Her mother gave her a sour look before she began to park the car. The centre was packed as it always was with both locals and visitors alike. They all looked so happy, carrying multiple bags full of treasures, and gossiping as always.
          As soon as the engine was turned off her mother grabbed her bag from the back seat and climbed out of the car. Anne had to take another deep breath to compose herself before she followed. As soon as she slammed the car door shut her mother locked it with a flick of her finger and the car locks made a loud clicking noise.
           “Where shall we start?” Ivy smiled yet Anne could see it behind her eyes. She was still angry and she wanted nothing more than to wipe the horrible thoughts from her daughter’s mind.
            “Wherever you want.” Anne shrugged her shoulders. Already she couldn’t wait for it to be over.
          Late into the afternoon her mother forced her to try on outfit after outfit, all of which she refused to like. Everything was far too short or far too girly. She didn’t even want to imagine what Michael would say if he saw her in such things. Most likely he would hate it but there was a little part of her that was even more scared that he might like how she looked. That would be even worse than his disapproval.
          After shopping they retired to a coffee shop for refreshment. Anne nursed over her mug as her mother flicked through a magazine she had purchased from the news agents next door.
          When she placed her mug on the table with a click and stood up, Ivy looked up from her reading and raised her brow, “Where are you going?” she demanded. Anne sighed and rolled her eyes at her mother.
          “I need to use the little ladies room,” she sighed, “Is that alright mother?”
          “Well don’t be long,” her mother ordered as she picked up her own mug and took a sip, “I’ve almost finished.”
          “Yes your majesty.” Anne sighed as she turned and headed for the bathroom. She felt as trapped as ever, feeling as though her mother was watching her as she pushed inside and stood over the sink to flush water over her face. There was no escaping any of it. Though her mother didn’t hit her she was just as bad as Michael. She did nothing to stop him and that made her just as much the enemy. That fact made it hard for her to spend time with her mother. Every moment of her life was an act toward someone or other.
           She stared at herself in the mirror as she had at home and realised she looked even worse. The harsh light of the bathroom brought out the redness in her bloodshot eyes and her face was covered in blemishes even visible under her makeup.
Just leave again,
she told herself, staring herself in the eye as though she was trying to be encouraging to a friend,
Just run and keep running. Anything is better than this.
           She wiped her face with a paper toilet before heading back out into the café. As she walked back to her mother someone stepped out in front of her. She collided painfully with their shoulder and her nose ached with the impact.
          “I am so sorry…” she began to say but she was stopped in her tracks. She looked up into a pair of pearl blue eyes that glinted as they turned to look at her. In an instant she realised she had knocked his coffee everywhere. It had spilled all down his white shirt and soaked through to the skin. He gritted it teeth as though it was hot yet his mouth turned up at the corners in a smile.
           “Don’t be sorry.” He told her as he grabbed a napkin from the nearby table and began to wipe the coffee from his shirt, “It was my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
            “It was my fault.” She insisted, “Let me buy another coffee.” She was about to turn toward the bar when he smiled and replied.
            “I’ll only have another if you’ll let me buy you one.” His grin was like none she had ever seen before. His brown hair was perfectly tousled and his skin was tanned like a Greek god. His teeth were perfectly straight and pearly white.
           “I’m afraid I was just leaving.” She told him as she saw her mother begin to move from her seat, “I’m sorry I have to go.” She couldn’t afford to let her mother see her talking to a man. It would get back to Michael and there would be yet another beating. She wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone without his permission or presence. He stopping her from saying anything that he didn’t want spoken.
           “I…I didn’t get your name.” he called after her. She was unable to answer as she came up beside her mother and grabbed her jacket. Instead she bit her lip and smiled at her mother.
           “Shall we go?” she suggested to her mother. She chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw that he was still looking after her. Her cheeks flushed as she turned away from him. Her mother folded her magazine and placed it in her bag as she pulled everything together.
            “Are you alright?” she asked as he pulled her bags onto her wrist, “You are looking awfully rosy cheeked.” That only made her blush more as she realised that her mother had noticed.

Chapter Three
They returned home and Anne headed straight for her room. She looked at her watch knowing that Michael would soon be home and she would have to lock herself away again. It was torture to be fearful in her own house yet there was nothing for it. No cure to help her sleep, no comforting words from her mother. It was not how she had lived her childhood. Her father had been a kind mind always buying her small presents whenever he went away on his tours, always smiling and taking her out whenever he was home.
           Michael was the total opposite of her father making it even more unbearable that her mother was with him. Her father had died five years earlier during at tour in Afghanistan. She had lingered in the past ever since.
          “Anne! Get your arse down here now!” she heard Michael’s voice come up the stairs and a lump formed in her throat. She thought of locking her door and ignoring him but she knew he would only break it down and come at her anyway. Her heart pounded as she headed out of the room and down the stairs.
          “I hear you met a young gentleman this afternoon.” Michael stood by the fireplace, his hand on the mantle. He kicked at the ash in the grate with the toe of his boot.
How does he know that?
She thought as she entered the room and found her mother reading a book on the sofa across from her husband. She glanced up looking almost guilty before she looked back down at the page in front of her.
           “I only bumped into him as I was coming out of the rest room.” Anne tried to justify herself though she knew he wouldn’t listen. She knew what was coming.
           “You should be more careful and watch where you are going.” Michael’s voice was calm. It was always that way before he flew into a rage, the calm before the storm. Anne already felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes and her hands tightened into fists. She wanted to turn and run but she knew the beating would only be worse.
           “I was watching where I was going,” she protested before her mind had a chance to register what she was saying, “He came out of nowhere.” She instantly regretted it. His face twisted with anger and he turned on her.
           “I will not have this town gossiping about your flirtations with a man based on your stupidity.” He hissed at her. Anne stared back at him knowing that if she took her gaze away from his he would only get worse.
          “It was a simple mistake!” she insisted though she knew he would not listen. He stepped forward and grabbed hold of her by the shoulders.
          “Don’t back chat me!” he glared at her as his fingers bit into her shoulders. She gritted her teeth against the pain, determined not to give him the satisfaction. She stared him in the face and waited for the first hit to come. When it came it was as hard as every other she had ever felt from him. His fist came up into her stomach and there was nothing she could do but curl in on herself. She clutched her stomach as tears began to stream down her face. She heard her mother gasp but when he turned to look at his wife she had her nose in her book as though she hadn’t even noticed what he was doing.
          “Mum.” Anne whispered through the lump of pain in her throat. She longed for her mother to stand up, to stand against him and say that she would no longer watch him beat on her yet she didn’t. She simply remained where she was, flicking through the pages of her book as though she was the fastest reader in the world.
           “You are a sinful girl.” Michael growled at her as he wrapped his fingers in her hair and forced her head up to make her look at him. With that he slapped her across the face, “You must be punished for your wrong doings.” Anne began to weep then. Her stomach ached and her cheek burned with pain as she looked up at him.
            “I didn’t do anything wrong.” Instantly she knew it was the wrong thing to say. His face turned in rage again and he smacked her again. Finally he let go of her hair and she fell backward.
           “Get out of my sight you stupid girl!” he ordered as he pointed at the doorway with a finger that shook with utter rage. Anne clutched her cheek with trembling hands as she crawled from the room.
           Once out of his sight she ran for the kitchen. She saw her mother’s car keys perched on the edge of the table and grabbed them up. When she ran for the door she could hear him behind her as though he had come for round two. Anne ran as fast as she could through the door and toward the car. As soon as she was inside she set the engine going and pulled the car out of the driveway. She narrowly missed hitting Michael as he tried to stop her but she wished she really had hit him.
           “Anne!” he yelled after her but she was already off down the road, “Come back!”
           Her vision was blurred by tears as she drove. She had no idea where she was going but she knew that she could not stop. If she stopped her might find her then there would be another beating. She just couldn’t take another hit. Her ribs hurt and her face was sore. When she glanced in the rear view mirror she saw that her cheek was already beginning to bruise. It brought out the blackness under her eyes and only made her cry more.
           The lamp post seemed to come out of nowhere. She screamed as she realized there was no stopping. No matter how hard she pushed on the breaks she could not stop the car from hitting it.
           In a startling instant she realized that she had not fastened her seat belt. As the car hit the lamp post her body jerked forward and her nose hit the steering wheel. She clung tightly and felt her wrist snap with the impact. Her neck burned with pain and she cried out.
         The car’s alarm began to beep loudly as it came to a halt. Blood dripped down Anne’s face from a cut on her forehead as she rested with her face on the steering wheel. She was breathing heavily, her lungs burning. She coughed as she attempted to stay conscious, her mind growing fuzzy.
          “Miss! Miss! Can you hear me?” an oddly familiar voice hit her ears as the car door beside her was pulled open, “Can you hear me?”
          Anne tried to move but every tiny twitch hurt. “Stay still,” the voice continued as though a twitch of her finger had told him that she could hear him, “Don’t move. I’m going to get you out of here.” Anne did as she was told. She wasn’t going anywhere. She doubted that she could have stood even if she had tried. Her legs were shaking violently and she realized she was crying, her sobs coming in short gasps.
           “Please try and calm down.” The male voice continued to talk to her as she felt hands slip beneath her. Suddenly she was free of the car and her back was against the cold concrete of the street. The man held her head as though he thought she might have broken her neck, “An ambulance is on its way.” He told her. When she looked up at him her heart fluttered with recognition. His brown hair was tousled as it had been in the café. His blue eyes were swimming with concern. In that moment Anne felt safe. She was not faced with her cruel step father but a man who seemed to care about her whether he knew her or not. It was a feeling she had not felt for the last five years. The lump in her throat loosened and she allowed herself to fall into unconsciousness knowing that she would be safe in his arms.