Almost Human

Chapter 2

     The arm came out of nowhere. One minute, I was struggling to come to, and the next I was being pulled inside of a barn. Instinctively, I reached for the knife that I kept in my back pocket, but he quickly grabbed my wrist and gave it a tight squeeze, causing me to drop it.

     "I need you to calm down, lass," a man said in a voice that was tinged with a Scottish accent. The barn was black as pitch, so I couldn't see anything. I could only feel his body next to me, his large hand still wrapped tightly around my wrist. My face was so close to his body that I couldn't help but inhale his scent, and I was surprised to find that he smelled like lavender and linen that had been dried by summer wind and sunshine.

     "Let me go!" I screamed and tried to spin out of his hold, but he was too strong. He only pushed me further into the barn. In desperation, I tried to swing at him with my free arm, but he grabbed it as well before I could connect.

     "Damn, woman!" he growled, and then spun me around until my hands were held by his against my lower back. When I tried to move again, he pressed my body against a wall, causing my cheek to scratch across the rough wood. I could feel his strong chest against my back, and his breathing was almost as ragged as mine. I started to scream at him again, but before I could say a word, he pressed my arms tighter against my back in warning.

     "You sure are feisty, aren't you?" he said with a snicker. My eyes narrowed and I could feel heat rushing through my veins like molten lava. I wanted nothing more than to claw his eyeballs out.

     "What do you want, asshole?" I snarled. "I don't have any money, and I'm sure not going to sleep with you. You'll have to kill me first."

     He laughed again. "You aren't really my type, sweetheart," he said. "And I sure don't need your money."

     I scowled. Was he trying to insult me?

     "Then what do you want?"

     "Well," he said, and I felt his grip loosen on my arms. "I thought I was saving your life, but now I'm beginning to question why in the hell I'd want to go and do something as stupid as that."

     Then, just like that, he let me go.

     I immediately tried to run, but no matter the direction I tried to go, my body only slammed into a wall. I tried to feel for the barn door, but it was nowhere to be found. None of this makes any sense. I know that door is here somewhere!

     "Will you stop for two seconds before you bash your brains out!" he huffed in frustration. "If you'll just wait a minute, I'll turn the damn lights on."

     I heard him shuffle around for a second, muttering to himself something that I could barely hear.

     "Nothing I hate more than mortal lighting," he mumbled. "I can't wait to be home."

     Finally, I heard his hand hit what had to be the switch.

     "Ah! Here we go," he said triumphantly.

     Even though I knew it was coming, the light still caught me by surprise. For a moment, all I could see were shapes and rainbows of light. I closed my eyes tightly, then opened them again, hoping that they would adjust more easily that way.

     After blinking a few times, the room finally came into view and I gasped. The barn was nowhere to be found. Instead, the two of us stood in a tiny, doorless room with plank walls, a dark hardwood floor, and a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. If I didn't know better, I would have sworn that we were in the broom closet of an abandoned cabin.