The Earthly Queen: The Woman of Worlds Apart

Chapter 13: (Eris)

I wake to a sharp bump. I snort and sit up with a drowsy sigh. I am so stiff from yesterday. I must've slept like a rock. I actually feel better, surprisingly.

"Morning," Caine says.

"Hi."

I look around. We are way, way far from the city. The city, even the suburbs, are gone. There's nothing in sight but rural farmlands and stretches of dense wooded areas. There is no traffic, just us rolling solo down the highway. The sun is rising and casts a golden glow over everything. Caine has a window rolled down slightly and the sweet smell of fresh morning air rushes in. air that doesn't contain every element of the periodic table in every breath is quite refreshing.

"You feeling... better?" Caine asks. He sounds unsure as though he may accidentally start another screaming match.

I chuckle. "Relax, I'm fine. I didn't think that it was possible to sleep, you know, after all of that."

"The body is resilient," Caine says. He sounds so sharp, guarded.

There is a long silence. "Hey, um... I'm... I'm sorry, you know, about last night," I stumble awkwardly.

"It's fine," Caine says. "I'm sorry too, I was really harsh to you and that wasn't fair, at all."

"You, harsh?" I smile, incredulous. "I treated you like shit and you say you were the bad guy? Please."

We get into a playful back and forth and by the end my mood is somewhat improved; so is his. There's actually a genuine smile on his face. His sharp incisors glint in the sunlight.

I can't help but stare at his profile, the side of his face resembling an eclipse from my side of the van. I still can't get over the elf ears. He's handsome I suppose; but the ears are so puzzling to me.

"So, Caine," I say, "I'm an earthling, you know that. But you haven't said where you're from. What kind of an alien race are you? What planet? Jupiter, Neptune, maybe Venus?"

He laughs - a musical sound I was not expecting from someone like him. "No, I'm not from any of those. I'm from way, WAY out there. This galaxy is actually really remote and separate from most of the ones I'm familiar with."

"Ok, so... where then?"

Caine gently bites his tongue between his teeth. I guess he must do that a lot while thinking. "To tell you the truth... I'm not really from any planet."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Eris... I'm not... I'm not a citizen from any planet because I can't be. I was born in a factory outside of Genesis, the capital city of humanity."

"Factory?"

"I'm a C-Splice," He says. 'C' stands for 'chimeric.' they spliced my genes with those of a wolf's, prominently, as well as some avian."

There were many answers I was expecting. This is not one of them. I do suppose that explains some of his characteristics.

"So... you're basically a werewolf?"

Caine winces. Did I offend him? "I suppose. Of course, I'm not nearly as 'wolfy' as some of the other canine C-Splices out there. But, I do have advanced eyesight and sense of smell and hearing; more pronounced features. I saw you staring at my ears and teeth."

"Do you get, like, profiled for looking the way you do?"

"Not really. There are a lot of human races out there with similar features to mine. I suppose the only thing separating me from regular people is my genes. I used to be more noticeable but I was... 'relieved...' of those characteristics. Most people can't tell me apart now - until they see my geneprint identification. Then all decency goes out the window." he suddenly catches himself apparently saying something wrong. "Not that that it's your problem or anything - "