Chapter one
I opened my eyes and I could feel this pounding headache that just wouldn’t go away. I wanted to get up, but my limbs felt like they were weighing me down heavily. I didn’t know what happened. The last thing I remember is having a party after hours at the club that I bounced at. I can see the banner with happy birthday Shana written across in bold red letters. I remember taking shots of tequila like I was drinking tap water. I’ve always been known to break free of convention. You may not know it from looking at me, but I can handle my liquor, unless of course I go overboard.
I stared up at the sky and it was such a brilliant blue that it almost blinded me. There is something different, something that I’m not quite sure what it is, but I know that there is something. I feel a cool wind tousle my raven black hair. It feels nice and it’s a momentary reprieve from the pounding drum that is incessantly getting on my last nerve.
I recall seeing all my friends and everybody having a great time. There was this man and he tried to put his hands on me, only to find out that I was not that kind of girl. He left there with a permanent limp and most likely a sprained wrist from when I turned it in just the right way to make him bow down at my feet. I think that most guys believe that I am a lesbian, but they only believe that because they want to.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like guys, but I was particular in who I spent my time with. I certainly didn’t want a drunken slob pawing at me and telling me how beautiful I am. I also didn’t want that guy with the gold chains and the first three buttons on his shirt undone leering at me and telling me that my dress would look good on the floor of his bedroom.
For the most part, I would say that they leave me alone and I must project an air of confidence that either scares them or makes them rethink their approach. Most often than not, I am the one that initiates, but only if I feel that the man is worthy.
My job is very important to me and my two coworkers, Simone and Gary are two of my closest friends. It was them that put on this shindig for me and I could honestly believe that we would be the best of friends for the rest of our lives. All three of us had opened the place together and even though my contribution was more physical at the door, didn’t mean that I wasn’t raking in the profits from my 25%. Nobody knew about our arrangement and that was part of the deal when I decided to jump feet first into this venture.
I heard what sounded like a wild animal, but it sounded like nothing I’ve ever heard in my life. I once again tried to rise up to assess my situation, but all I could do was stare at the sky and wonder where the hell I was.
Back at the club, I saw Simone dancing on top of the bar and slinging drinks like a master mixer. I had to give her credit for going to Bartending School and learning the craft from the bottom up. She became quite the natural at twirling those bottles and not spilling a drop. This was all to the chorus of applause from the crowd. She was the spectacle that brought those men in from the cold. She put on a show that was worthy of her own extravaganza in Las Vegas.
“Shana, you should get up here with me and show them how to shake their money maker.” She was the quintessential blond bombshell with the type of breasts that defied gravity. I could be so bold and join her, but that would only be pandering to the crowd. Besides, they were all drunk and I had no interest in looking down from on top of the bar to see them gazing at me with animalistic desires that were never going to be fulfilled.
“You’re doing just fine on your own, Simone.” She was shorter than me at 5’4, 130 pounds with most of that up front and center. I was a Raven haired vixen and I liked to tease the masses with brief peeks at the good stuff. My claim to fame was tight jeans, because my best asset was my tight and firm ass. My abdominals were flat and were the result of many hours sculpting them in a gym. I was freakishly strong and growing up with three brothers had made it a necessity to learn how to survive.
My father was single and our mother was absent, until we got older and we decided to give her a second chance. For the most part, our father was the one that raised us. He was very hesitant in allowing me to join him and my brothers out in the wilderness. I guess I was a tomboy from early on.
The party was still in full swing at 3:00 AM in the morning and from there, things began to get a little fuzzy around the edges. I got dizzy, but it was nothing that I hadn’t experienced before.
I think I walked out to get a breath of fresh air and then everything went blank. It was like a whole section of my memory had been excised. I couldn’t recall how I got out here in some field in the middle of nowhere.
I was finally able to lift myself up and I saw these weird mutant flowers that I’d never seen before. They seemed to sway back and forth with the breeze, but the petals were moving like they had a life of their own. They seemed to be dancing to their own tune and then this insect flew by and got the shock of its life.
Those odd purple and black flowers snapped forward and grabbed this insect out of the air like it was nothing. I was truly transfixed and I didn’t even realize that there was the sound of hooves on the ground, until suddenly they were right on top of me. It was then that I realized that the blades of grass around me had a different texture with these fine coarse hairs that you could barely see with the naked eye.
I poked my head above them and I noticed a figure kneeling and wearing what I could only assume is red armor. With the sun beating on it, it was like 1000 light bulbs going off in my eyes at the same time. I had to shield my eyes. I was trying my best to understand any of this. I lived in a metropolitan and yet this was some kind of country setting that reminded me of Iowa, but on a different scale.
“Don’t worry, Rankin. We’re just making a pit stop. Those Talons will not come anywhere close to you. Just between you and me, I’ve always thought that those flowers should’ve been banned. Unfortunately, my pleas fell on deaf ears. The council believes that the flowers are a necessity to the natural evolvement of our society. I think they only say that because they know that cultivating the flowers will bring prosperity. It’s just a matter of getting the right equipment to do the job. We’ll be home soon and then you can enjoy the stew that I made. I always make too much.” He was talking to himself and then he took off his helmet letting go a mane of blond hair that fell to the small of his back.
He looked around like he was nervous. He started to pull the armor from his body, until he was standing there with nothing, but a smile. I couldn’t see his face. I did put my hand up to my mouth in complete shock to see him completely naked from behind. He was a Greek god and that was the kind of body that I would like to start exploring in the morning and end up in his arms spooning at night.
“I do have to say that you make a fine sight for a woman that has just woken up.” He was startled and he inadvertently turned and gave me a brief glimpse at his most prominent region. He clamped his hands over it and moved behind the horse. It wasn’t actually a horse and there were two horns sticking out of its head.
“I don’t know where ye came from, but it’s not nice to sneak up on someone.” I don’t know where he got his vocabulary, but it sounded like something you would hear in the olden days. Perhaps I had fallen into some kind of renaissance fair. “Why are you out here in the middle of the day? Curfew has already started. If you’re seen trespassing on private land, you’ll be punished severely.” I was willing to play along, but I also needed to know where I was.