Bounty Hunter

Chapter 3

        The satisfying heat of the sun beats upon my forehead inducing beads of sweat. My running shoes hit the soft sand at a steady pace.  The sense of achievement I gain from running remains persistent, despite the routinely aspect of it. The sun’s rays are softer at this early hour, but still manage to beat upon my face. I plug in my earphones and appreciate the serene emptiness of the beach. I continue jogging across the sand, but a disconcerting sensation begins to prickle against my neck. Nervously, I away the sweat dripping from my forehead. Unable to bear my paranoia any longer, I whip around ready to berate the person following me. Instead, the saggy and forlorn eyes of a bulldog greet me. “Are you lost?” I ask it. It simply barks in reply and continues to pad softly behind me. “Go away you little dog,” I grumble. Indifferently it remains on its path trailing my tail. I shake my head in defeat and continue running.

                The beaches’ long expanse concludes and I bend over with a sigh of relief. Straightening up, I finish off the last remnants of my water. “You’re still here?” I say my eyes widening in disbelief. Suddenly the dog’s face starts to contort and twist violently. Its saggy features blur, elongating and smoothening out. A tall man stands before me in place of the bulldog. He seems to bear no qualms about his stark nudity being laid out in front of me. Judging by his midnight blue skin, I’d say he was definitely an alien. The alien man taps his necklace, which appears to be styled as a dog collar. Thankfully no dangerous weapons spring forth, instead the device covers his body with a pair of clothes. Oh no. This cannot be happening, I think silently. My already sweaty body heats up even more as I begin to panic. There is no way, not even if the universe itself pushes me, that I am getting sucked into this alien crap. These thoughts fire rapidly through my mind, and as soon as I witness the transformation I kick off into a sprint. My adrenaline screams at me to run faster and farther. I take off running and attempt to climb the gate of the nearest building. Unfortunately, no one is around to witness my plight.

                A coarse hand grabs my leg yanking me downward. With a high pitched yell I launch my free leg out, and feel it connect with a hard stomach. A satisfying groan follows my blow, but the hand clings onto my leg preventing my escape. With remarkable speed the alien is up and dragging me away. Before I can release another scream his hand covers my mouth with a heavy cloth. I thrash my arms out aiming for his face, but the cloth smothers my nose and mouth dulling my senses. The world’s sharp edges soften and I l succumb to the darkness that envelops me. Slowly my mind begins to awaken and I manage to shake off my forced slumber. A pair of vibrant purple eyes, inches away from my own brown ones, is the first sight to greet me. My head jolts backward in fright and I swear loudly. The alien man backs away apologetically. “Has your mother ever told you it’s rude to stare at people!” I shout breathlessly. “And where’s my phone!”

                He lifts a blue hand clutching my phone. “I’ll give it back to you once we’re done here. I don’t want you calling the police.” “Look dude, whatever it is you think I did I didn’t do it. So why don’t you let me go and we can all return to our normal lives,” I ramble. “You can relax. I don’t mean to harm you. I just need you as bait.” “Bait for what?!” I yell exasperated. “Keep it down,” he says menacingly. “Your boyfriend won’t be so elusive once he finds out his girlfriend is missing.” The frustration boiling in my stomach begs me to bang my head against the wall. “I don’t have a boyfriend,” I say calmly. “No? Does the name Kai ring any bells?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie smoothly. “Cut the crap May. I know all about your little excursion with Kai. I’ve been after him for years. Now I finally have a hold over him.  Kai keeps his business clean. So for him to slip up and be seen with you must mean something.” “Who the hell are you?” I spit ignoring his statement. “And how the hell do you know my name?” He flashes me a fake smile. “You can’t expect to run around with the most notorious bounty hunter in the galaxy and escape notice.” “So you’re evading my questions too I see?” The blue man simply tucks my phone away and narrows his eyes. “Just sit tight. Kai will be here in a matter of moments,” he says leaving the room.

                Tears of frustration brim in the corners of my eyes. My tied up hands and legs are begging to kick Blue’s ass. Since I don’t know his name I’ve decided to call him Blue. What a rat. Not only did he kidnap me, but he took my freaking phone. He is definitely in need of some ass kicking. If only I could ditch these bindings. My eyes skim the room and I’m surprised to find it’s quite luxurious. “Usually when people kidnap someone they take them somewhere a lot less ‘lavish’” I call out. The sound of something heavy thudding against the carpet catches my attention. Whipping my head around I find the very idiot responsible for this mess. Kai.