I inherently knew that the taxicab I’d spotted coming up the long drive was delivering my two friends. By the time I’d managed to make my way to the porch, it was parked in the circular driveway at the bottom of the steps with Chris, Roger, and Peter climbing out. I looked for Tom, but saw no sign of him. Chris must have noticed because she shrugged and smiled. It wasn’t unusual for Tom to stay behind when we got together. We had very little in common and, although Roger, Pete, and I tolerated him, we often wondered what Chris saw in him. To me, their relationship validated the saying that opposites attract.
Roger stopped to take in the view while Chris bounded up the stairs to wrap her arms around me.
“I’m still a little sore,” I warned her as she spread her arms wide.
“You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to do this,” she said as she gently hugged me. “My ga
It was Dr. Mokena who noticed the hired car coming up the drive and came to ask if we were expecting anyone. Since my parents would have driven their car to the lodge, we really had no idea who it might be. We speculated that perhaps Marc was expecting company and mis-timed his day.The feeling of overwhelming shock that filled every inch of my being when Joshua stepped out from the back seat of car can’t be described. I was both elated and worried. On the one hand, now that I knew that he’d been trying to reach me to kiss and make up since that night in the alley by the pub, I was eager to do so. On the other hand, I was staying at the lodge of the man who he’d made it clear that same night that he wanted me to have nothing to do with. I could only imagine the sparks of jealousy that would fly.“This should be good,” Roger said while rubbing his hands together as he stood next to me on at the top
It was morning the following day before I joined my family and friends at the breakfast table. My mother was in her glory as she bustled around the kitchen making bacon, eggs, and blueberry pancakes for the hungry hoard. The one thing that I adored about my friends was the fact that they hadn’t a shy bone in their body. The world was their oyster and they enjoyed every delicious morsel of it. Although always polite, they were outgoing and extremely comfortable with who they were. Of my little group, I was the introvert.“Where did everyone sleep?” I asked. “It didn’t dawn on me to make sure you were all taken care of before I went to bed. I’m sorry.”“You needed the rest,” Chris said.“Besides, we were in good hands,” Roger said as he smiled warmly at my mother, who returned it with equal warmth. “Mama bear is quite the caretaker.”&ldqu
I slipped in and out of sleep for what I assumed was a few days. It was difficult to keep track of time in an environment with no windows and florescent lighting. At some point, Joshua saw fit to remove the IV from me and let me get up on my own to use the bathroom facilities and stretch my legs. They’d taken my clothes and replaced them with the standard, open backed hospital gowns. During one of the rare instances when I found myself alone, I searched my room for my clothes, but came up empty. Someone was going to great pains to make sure that I stayed put. I assumed that someone was Joshua.I hadn’t dreamt of Marc since I’d pushed him away in anger, which was why I was so surprised when his face popped into my head while I was fully awake. Not only could I clearly see him, but I could hear him as well.“Gertie, please listen to me. Joshua isn’t who he says he is. You need to get
I started keeping record of the number of times I was fed breakfast. This gave me a better idea of how long I was in that room. Joshua may have been hiding something, but he clearly had medical training. He cared for me with such competence that I know I healed faster and better than I would have in a normal hospital environment. I’d had two weeks’ worth of breakfasts when he carefully removed my bandage and handed me a mirror. Although it still looked angry, I was amazed at how clean and slender the scar was.“I wish it wasn’t there,” I said with a sigh, “but I expected this long-jagged thing. It felt like that dog ripped the meat from my throat. This is just a thin, small scar. It’s amazing.”“It could have been worse if you hadn’t been such a good patient,” he said as he stroked the hair on my head.’“Will I be able to leave soon
I was so frustrated and angry, with everything and anything, that I felt like I was going to burst. I needed to get out and walk. I was tired of being cooped up. I doubted that Joshua would even know that I was missing until the morning, so I didn’t need to worry about him coming after me. Therefore, there should be no harm in my spending a little time down by the lake.I thought about telling Marc what I was doing, but I as too angry with him for not taking me into his arms and showering me with the love that he claimed he had for me. I needed some way to release my pent up frustrations. My time with Joshua showed me that sex was an excellent avenue for that release. If Marc was as truly connected to me as he claimed we were, surely, he would realize that. Their crazy alien traditions be damned.I didn’t bother to try to be quiet when I walked out onto the porch. In fact, the screen door closed a little
Dr. Sally Mokena arrived at the lodge shortly after the noon hour. She was accompanied by a man who she introduced as Dr. Michael Murry. She whispered that he was of the alien lineage and was the physician that they all sought care from. I assured her that she could speak freely in front of Roger and Pete, since we’d discussed the situation freely and had all agreed to be open minded and not ignorant about the possibility of aliens living amongst us. I admitted that I was still on the fence of resistance, but that I was leaning toward believing what they said about me was true.She requested that I allow Dr. Murry the opportunity to examine me to make sure that I was fine. I agreed, but only if Marc was allowed to stay in the room. Although she looked surprised, my therapist readily agreed.The room stayed relatively quiet as Dr. Murry performed a thorough examination on me, right down to an internal. He looked up at me w
“I thought I was going to be taught some moves, but so far, nothing,” I said as I slathered butter on my lightly toasted rye bread.“I think you offended our honey in the kitchen by refusing his pastries,” Pete said.“I woke up craving buttered rye toast,” I shrugged as I took an enormous bite.“See that,” Roger teased. “Tell a girl she’s pregnant and she gets all outa control.”“It seems a little crazy that I start craving right after I’m told that I’m pregnant,” I agreed.“Not so crazy,” Dr. Mokena said as she walked out onto the porch to join us. “Just timing. You’re at the point where you should be craving. I’d be concerned if you weren’t.”“We aren’t going to have to go fetch you pickles and ice cream, are we?” Roger moaned. “Please tell me handsome in the kitchen underst
With the funeral behind us and my friends gone, the lodge felt solemn and empty. Marc did his best to keep me entertained, but he had businesses to run and kingly responsibilities to tend to, so I was left to my own devices much of the time.Luis developed a good sense of the best ways to get me to eat nutritiously while making it appear to be the unhealthy mess that I tended to gravitate to. I was wise to his tricks, but said nothing. I knew that it was in the best interest for both me and my baby to eat healthy, plus I didn’t want to spoil the pleasure I knew Luis felt by thinking he’d outsmarted me.More help arrived as they prepared for the quarterly meeting of the east coast division task force. I kept myself busy helping to ready the cabins. It was inside one of them where Dr. Mokena found me.“Hello Dr. Mokena,” I said with breathless delight. It felt really good to be busy doing something
We didn’t have the paternal test done on the child in my womb, but we did get an ultrasound and found out the sex of the baby. We were having a boy. With the birth so close, I felt the urgency of preparing for our son’s arrival and started making a list of what we’d need.One of the advantages of Marc’s wealth was the ability to hire a personal shopper because I didn’t feel up to going out. When I mentioned this little perk to Roger when he telephoned to check on me, he went into a fit of temper, insisting that he be allowed to act as personal shopper for the baby’s things. Marc overnighted a credit card to him and laughingly told him to have a good time. All he asked was that the clothing be blue and not pink. Roger delighted in the way Marc was coming around with his sense of humor and made certain that we knew it.When I saw the large cube van slowly making its way up the long drive to the lodge, I sm
Clarissa puttered around the bedroom, mindless of the fact that Marc and I lay naked while sleeping in each other’s arms. Clearly, she didn’t possess the modesty that her brother displayed.When I lifted my head to see who’d invaded our room, she smiled sweetly, pointed to a pile of fabric in the accent chair next to the chest dresser and announced that she’d gone shopping for some necessities and a few outfits for me. I watched with amusement as she rearranged a few of Marc’s dresser drawers to accommodate my things.Clarissa seemed not to notice when I threw the sheet over Marc’s private parts as he rolled over and groaned.“I hate to be the bearer of unwanted reminders,” she said as she came to the bed and tugged on Marc’s foot, “but you have a campground full of task force members chomping at the bit for their leader to appear and Luis is stomping around the kitchen trying to keep Miss G
I feigned sleep while I listened to Marc and Dr. Murry converse.“She’s stable and the baby’s fine,” Dr. Murry assured Marc. “She’s more exhausted than anything. I can’t imagine how much energy she used fighting off those monsters while strapped down and at the same time telepathically communicating with you.”“Not just communicating,” Marc said with pride. “She manipulated my body.”“Amazing,” the doctor said with a slow whistle. “I’d heard about such things, but never met anyone who could do it.”“She’s Lyron,” Marc said in a hushed tone.“She’s one of the last,” he gasped. “It’s no wonder they want her.”“You must tell no one,” he ordered.“Of course not,” Dr. Murry said. “Does she know who she is?”&
Sally’s suggestion that I look at the dark beasts more like evil humans in dog costumes than like dogs or wolves couldn’t have been more accurate. I’d been warned about their intelligence, what I wasn’t warned about was their ability to shape shift.The wild dog look, although their favorite, was only one of several identities that they took on while above ground. Had I not known better, I would have thought that I’d, somehow, traveled onto the movie set shooting an episode of “Planet of the Apes” when my bedroom door burst open and several large apes bounded in. One of them lifted me into its arms while the other rummaged the desk until it came across papers. Surprisingly, amidst all of that madness, I was able to wonder if those papers were what Joshua focused on the day that I’d seduced him.“Put her down, you, son-of-a-bitch,” Joshua roared as he rushed into the room with lightning
Marc insisted on driving Sally and me to Mathilda’s house. It meant that he would be gone for hours, but Clarissa assured us that she’d cover for him if Joshua arrived while he was gone. The members of the task force were very much aware of the riff between Joshua and Marc. Although not everyone believed Joshua to be unstable, they all knew that he coveted the kingship and that was intolerable. Many grumbled over why Clarissa invited him in the first place to the point that Marc was forced to demand that they respect her. She was the king’s sister, after all; as Joshua was his brother. They weren’t told the entire story of my kidnapping, but they were told enough to understand that I was being removed from the premises to avoid conflict when Joshua arrived. Only Edward and Joseph were told where Marc was taking me.I was correct with my assumption that Mathilda and Sally would have a lot in common. They instant
With the funeral behind us and my friends gone, the lodge felt solemn and empty. Marc did his best to keep me entertained, but he had businesses to run and kingly responsibilities to tend to, so I was left to my own devices much of the time.Luis developed a good sense of the best ways to get me to eat nutritiously while making it appear to be the unhealthy mess that I tended to gravitate to. I was wise to his tricks, but said nothing. I knew that it was in the best interest for both me and my baby to eat healthy, plus I didn’t want to spoil the pleasure I knew Luis felt by thinking he’d outsmarted me.More help arrived as they prepared for the quarterly meeting of the east coast division task force. I kept myself busy helping to ready the cabins. It was inside one of them where Dr. Mokena found me.“Hello Dr. Mokena,” I said with breathless delight. It felt really good to be busy doing something
“I thought I was going to be taught some moves, but so far, nothing,” I said as I slathered butter on my lightly toasted rye bread.“I think you offended our honey in the kitchen by refusing his pastries,” Pete said.“I woke up craving buttered rye toast,” I shrugged as I took an enormous bite.“See that,” Roger teased. “Tell a girl she’s pregnant and she gets all outa control.”“It seems a little crazy that I start craving right after I’m told that I’m pregnant,” I agreed.“Not so crazy,” Dr. Mokena said as she walked out onto the porch to join us. “Just timing. You’re at the point where you should be craving. I’d be concerned if you weren’t.”“We aren’t going to have to go fetch you pickles and ice cream, are we?” Roger moaned. “Please tell me handsome in the kitchen underst
Dr. Sally Mokena arrived at the lodge shortly after the noon hour. She was accompanied by a man who she introduced as Dr. Michael Murry. She whispered that he was of the alien lineage and was the physician that they all sought care from. I assured her that she could speak freely in front of Roger and Pete, since we’d discussed the situation freely and had all agreed to be open minded and not ignorant about the possibility of aliens living amongst us. I admitted that I was still on the fence of resistance, but that I was leaning toward believing what they said about me was true.She requested that I allow Dr. Murry the opportunity to examine me to make sure that I was fine. I agreed, but only if Marc was allowed to stay in the room. Although she looked surprised, my therapist readily agreed.The room stayed relatively quiet as Dr. Murry performed a thorough examination on me, right down to an internal. He looked up at me w
I was so frustrated and angry, with everything and anything, that I felt like I was going to burst. I needed to get out and walk. I was tired of being cooped up. I doubted that Joshua would even know that I was missing until the morning, so I didn’t need to worry about him coming after me. Therefore, there should be no harm in my spending a little time down by the lake.I thought about telling Marc what I was doing, but I as too angry with him for not taking me into his arms and showering me with the love that he claimed he had for me. I needed some way to release my pent up frustrations. My time with Joshua showed me that sex was an excellent avenue for that release. If Marc was as truly connected to me as he claimed we were, surely, he would realize that. Their crazy alien traditions be damned.I didn’t bother to try to be quiet when I walked out onto the porch. In fact, the screen door closed a little