Waveland

Chapter 33

The Past

She felt the warmness coating her back. The feeling of laying on a cloud. Bundled up inside soft fabric. A thick pillow rested underneath her head. She kept her eyes closed. Safe in her bed, no harm can come to her. In a few moments, her mother would call her for breakfast, and her dad would kiss her on the cheek before she would run out the door, a piece of toast in one hand, her backpack in the other. She would take a bite of the toast, mumbling a yes to her mom's constant statement to have a good day. She would race out the door where her best friend would be waiting for her. The captain of the football team. He had a crush on her, she had a crush on him. Everyone knows it. All of her friends waiting for the day he made it official to call her his girlfriend. She would wear his jersey to every game and he would make sure she made it home safely. Reality crashed in. She opened her eyes where strange greens peered at her, shoving a piece of hair from her face. There was no sweet call from her mother. The reality of her circumstance was that she was alone with a strange boy brushing her hair from her face. Like the worst thing in the world would be for a piece of hair to stab her eye.

"I am glad you are still among the living." The boy smiled. He seemed sweet. Another life he would have been the quarterback, she would have been the cheerleader. Maybe. Looks can be deceiving. Her family was always described as the perfect family. But a perfect father didn't trap you outside where the monsters exist, calling you a weak link.

"Who are you?" She did her best to in-steel a tough voice, but her arms shaking give away her trembles of fear.

"My name is Kevin." He smiled at her. She slowly adjusted her weight, easing up on the bed. Red hot pain shooting through her stomach as she eased into a sitting position. She relaxed against her elbows for support. "Easy." He reached his arms on her shoulder. The green eyes flashing of concern.

"Well Kevin, what am I doing here?" Rose brushed his hands off, suddenly hating the feeling of another human touching her. Possibly every connection reminded her of the alien claws digging into her skin. Oddly enough she wasn't scared. She still felt numb if anything. She didn't even try to fix the clumps of hair falling from the braid.

"Very polite to someone who just saved your life, although I have to admit it was impressive watching a little thing like you take down one of those creatures with nothing but steak knifes and stubbornness to stay down." His smile never faltered. Blonde curls bouncing across his gorgeous face. 

"You saw that?" She blushed. Suddenly embarrassed someone else seeing her as weak. She was betting on the fact no one would see her when she died. Because there was no one left to care about her.

He picked her up in bridal style. Holding her tight against his chest. She didn't say anything. He didn't say anything. They left the bedroom, that most have been his parents because it was empty besides a few picture frames. He walked down the steps, she starred up at him. His face relaxed, she trusted this stranger. She had no reason to but she smiled because she enjoyed the feeling of being in his arms. A cold feeling swarmed in her gut. She trusted her father too. Right up to the second he locked her out. She could feel her face go pale, her entire body locking up. His soft caressing voice was the only thing capable of taking her out of the daze.

They stood in his kitchen. Neatly organized, not a single dish or scattered plate. A window built above the empty, a spotless sink. He nodded his head, for her eyeline to follow. Through the trees she could see the abandoned highway over the rotten brick fence. 

"First I heard the car. I was ready to murder the fool who was making so much noise, then you jumped out. I thought you had a death wish. I watched and watched. I thought I was going to watch you, a stranger die. I should have hid, I always do. That is how I am alive. Hiding. This time was different I could't move, this stranger refusing to stay down. I waited and waited the alien didn't move. The stranger didn't move." The forest green eyes connected with hers, "I did the most reckless thing I have ever done. I flew out the front door. Not caring how loud the bang of the wood against the wall. I sprinted down to you. Carrying the girl who just murdered an Alien with two dull kitchen knifes."