Chapter Seven

 

 

“I don’t know why he’s after me.” The window was down allowing the air to blow through the car. The further away she got from her apartment the slower her breathing became. Everything that just happened felt like a dream.

That was no dream.

He wanted to kill us.

More like study us. Place us in a cage, no one would ever hear from us again.

Great the voices in her head were making her even more paranoid.

“Tell me what’s happening.” His voice was soft and steady, but she could hear the steel undertone to it.

He was making her feel better. There was no surprise in his actions, no fear and so far he hadn’t condemned her or demanded to be let out of the car.

“About two months ago, Ron moved into my building. I remember seeing him, but he didn’t make an impression on me. Just another guy. I forgot all about him. You know caught up in my own life.

“The first time he was standing outside his apartment when I came out of mine, I thought it was strange before I let it go. Then it seemed to happen more and more often. Soon I started getting nervous, paranoid thinking he was watching me. I kept telling myself I was wrong, but I couldn’t shake the feeling.”

This feels like a repeat of last night except this time I’m not being chased. Does it matter? My place was broken into. Not just broken into my balcony doors were blown apart. Her hand went to her stomach, the acid felt like it was going to eat her alive.

Maybe if she pulled over for a minute. His warm hand was on hers redirecting her thoughts with a gentle caress. A quick sideways glance at him told her what she needed to know. He was here with her caring for her.

“You’re not alone. I don’t know what’s happening, but we will figure it out together.”

“Thank you.”

Tell him.

We should keep it to ourselves.

Can we trust him?

How did he manage to jump three stories and hide our presence?

I think he’s working with the government to capture us.

Right, because the government is that advanced.

Hey, it’s the government you never know.

Your life is in danger, tell him.

I live to follow the alien voice in my head.

“They may want the pictures.” She was pulling up in front of the club. He gave her directions and told her to keep driving until she pulled in front of a beautiful house.

“Who lives here?”

“I do.”

“Your house is massive.”

“There was a time I didn’t have any space. It felt like the walls were closing in on me. Now I can have space, so I took it.” He came around and opened the door for her helping her out the car.

They walked up the stairs to the large wrap around porch. He opened the door for her, the living room was large but had minimal furniture. They walked through a large doorway to the kitchen.

“You’re hungry. Tell me about the pictures.” He went to the fridge and started taking food out.

She stared at him in disbelief. None of the men in her life ever cooked for her. She knew it was because she hadn’t found the right man, but still this felt more unreal than what happened at her apartment.

“Remember, I told you I did pictures of fantasy worlds?”

“I do.”

“Here’s one of them.” She picked up a container and pulled out one of her drawings. “This one is almost done. It needs a little more coloring some layering, and then it will be ready to sell.”

“Where did you see this?”

A small laugh came from her as she twisted in the chair. “I saw this in a dream. It was incredible, I felt like I was there.”

The picture was of a beach at night, the water was black, but it shone like diamonds. There were two moons in the purple sky with beautiful red mountains in the distance. The sand was white the alien standing on it was majestic.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yes.” He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her swaying back and forth. “You’re special Fire. Are there others like you who see things like this in dreams?”

“I don’t know. Looking for my replacement already?” Her smile was teasing, but her eyes told a different story.

“There is no replacing you.” His fingers cupped her neck before they followed the line of her chin.

He lowered his head and kissed her gently before he backed up.

“Why do you think they want you because of your pictures?”

Her picture was so detailed and correct. She caught the color of the water when the moons lit it up. The red of the mountains was breathtaking. She even caught the natives of the planet in glorious detail. There was no way she could know what she drew was a real place and neither could the males after her.

“I have a website that’s word of mouth. I don’t do any SEO marketing on it. I encourage my patrons not to search for it. If they are passing along the information give out the exact address. It was working well, then I noticed hits that didn’t look like anyone looking to buy. When I tracked them back to the source, they were all from the same organization.”

“I hope you don’t mind breakfast I need to have some food delivered.”

“Why don’t you just go to the store?”

“It just seems easier.”

Her hand reached out to covers his. “We’ll go to the store later.”

Her eyes sparkled no thoughts of danger ruined her gaze as long as she was looking at him. He liked it, no, he liked her. How she didn’t argue when he told her to get ready. She put her well-being in his hands when they jumped from the balcony. Trust, it was simple, and it was heady.

“Are you alright?”

“I am, I just got caught up in your eyes.”

He got caught up in our eyes.

He’s handsome.

I know, but he’s even hotter when he looks at us like that.

Like he never saw anyone like us before.

“Thank you.”

“Where did the hits on your website come from?”

Back to the here and now. Her mind did a mental shake as she thought about her website.

“The purification war. I read it, they were talking about purifying the Earth from the aliens that have taken it over. According to them, they are everywhere. In the government and walking down the streets among us. They are frightening if we ever saw one we might die from fear. Then I logged off and blocked any request to see my sight from them.”

“Do you believe in aliens?” He was at the stove cooking when he asked that question.

She couldn’t see his face, so there was no way to tell if he was making fun of her or was it a serious question.

“I’ve thought about this a lot. There are so many planets out there. So many galaxies, how could we be the only people? It might sound silly. Others, friends have told me that it’s silly. They say there is no life other than us in this solar system. So, why would there be life anywhere else? I think that’s the answer we give when we think we’re the biggest thing in space. The scientists agree with me there could be life on other planets.”

“I agree with you also. There is life on other planets.”

He brought food to the table. It was a simple meal, but it didn’t matter she felt like she was being treated like a queen.

“Eggs, bacon, and toast. It’s not much.”

“You cooked it for me, I feel like it’s the best breakfast ever.”

“You're easy to please, Alpia.”

“What does Alpia mean?”

“Alpha…female.” He stumbled, but he couldn’t tell her she was his mate. Alpha mate, Earth women didn’t like that, they wanted to be in on the process. That’s what Deja and Jessie told him once.

“We have to call the police.”

“I don’t think getting the authorities involved is a good idea.”

“They will be looking for me. There might even be an APB out on me. You know when they search for someone. I’ll definitely be on the missing person’s report if I’m not found in twenty-four hours.”

“I don’t like it, but we will go after we eat.”

“Thank you. Will they come after me again?”

“They’re not done Fire, but we’ll defeat them.”

 

*~*~*~*

 

The police department was too noisy, and she found herself wanting to duck her head and turn around. It was the firm grip that Declyn had on her hand that kept her walking toward the desk.

“Can I help you?” The officer was older and looked bored even with all the people in the station. A lot of them looked like residents of her building.

“I think someone tried to kill me.”

The officer brows raised and he indicated a seat for her to wait.

“They blew her apartment door off, and the balcony went with it. If we had been in there, we might have died.”

That got his attention. He lifted the phone, and a detective came out.

“Hi, I’m Detective Baker, please come with me.” He took them to his small office where it was calmer, less noisy, and indicated chairs for them to sit.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Safire Morris, and this is Declyn.”

“Last name Declyn?”

“Lupe.”

“Ms. Morris, can you tell me what happened at your apartment?”

“No. I was going to make breakfast when Declyn suggest we go to his place to get breakfast. That way we would be in for the rest of the day. We were getting into the car when I saw my balcony blown to shreds. I hit the gas, I didn’t know what was happening, but I thought I better get away just in case they were coming after me.”

“Why did you run?”

“Detective Baker it may be your first instinct to run to trouble when you see it, but it’s not mine. Growing up my mom taught me not to run to see who was fighting. See a gun, go in the opposite direction and if glass comes flying out the sky because your balcony door has been blown to bits, get the hell out of there.”

The smile on his face was in his eyes.

“Your mother must be a smart woman.”

“She was.”

“Why would someone come after you?”

“I don’t know. I sell art to make my living. I can tell you that a new neighbor moved in not too long ago. His name is Ron, I don’t know the last name. He seemed to always be knocking on my door or following me in the building. He’s the reason we decided to go to Declyn’s. He was already knocking on my door asking me out.”

“Have the two of you been together long? The neighbors I spoke with were surprised to hear you had a man in your life.”

His hand caught hers giving her a squeeze. “I met Safire about six months ago when she came to my club looking for her friend. Since then we have been talking. Yesterday she came in because it was her birthday. She was so beautiful I knew I couldn’t wait any longer to ask her out. Sometimes we miss out on the perfect person because we take too long to make a move.”

He moved his chair a little closer to hers and sat silently as the detective asked more questions.

“I have to ask this question, there were some concerned citizens outside of your apartment Ms. Morris claiming you were an alien.”

She gave him her birth date, parents names, City, and hospital, she was born in.

“Please check it all. If you order a copy of my birth certificate can I have it when you’re done because I have a feeling mine is now missing.”

“You don’t seem surprised.”

“I was surprised when I had to cover my head from flying glass. I was surprised when my neighbor stalked me. I’m not surprised that someone would make an outrageous claim that can be so easily verified.”

“You’re right Ms. Morris. It’s already been verified. Please leave a number where you can be reached. I also suggest you find a different place to live.”