Now I was running behind him, but he didn’t stop. Somewhere in the back, Silver and Zan followed us, but I didn’t have time to stop and wait for them.
Again, Jay suddenly stopped and turned to face me. He didn’t talk, not even seem angry; a cold calmness reigned over his face. His nerve! He made me chase him around, and now he looked like he had just met me.
“Hey! Listen...you stupid...alien!” I lacked oxygen, and my vocabulary narrowed down to simple words and phrases. I panted my lungs out, but I didn’t stop. Instead, I found the strength to raise my voice even higher. “You...will...tell me everything...you know about the Nusae!”
“Why should I? Do you think you’re that important to me?” His voice was low, yet menacing. I took a step back. Just a precaution. He didn’t seem to control his change.
“I didn’t say that. But if you tell me everything you know about them, I might help you remember who you are!” I couldn’t lower my voice; my anger had turned to a cacophony of words.
And then it came; the roar.
He opened his mouth, and he just roared at me, like the Lions did way back, when humans still lived here. Still, I was so mad at him that I didn’t want to stop. “Do you think that you can get your memories back without me? How? You didn’t even know the name of your species until now!” I yelled the last word.
Just barely, I sensed Silver behind me. Zan snarled next to her. It was somehow reassuring that I had people behind me—well, a feral human and an android, but it counted as a help, though that didn’t make me feel any safer. After all, he was the man who had killed a pack of those creatures earlier, all by himself.
I expected some kind of reaction, but it never came. On the contrary, he took the same expression he did just before the attack on the spaceship. The attack on the spaceship? That meant…
“Eladia, I think it would be better if you lowered your voice…” Silver told me, but I knew it was too late.
Jay came closer to me, and he told me almost whispering: “you and your loud words. You must have woken up the whole forest.”
“We’re in the middle of this, and now you want to assign blames? Fine then. Your roar didn’t help either.”
Zan shushed us both. We turned and faced him at the same time; he pointed behind us.
“Do...do you hear that?” I muttered. Jay snorted.
At first, it was a muffled sound of tiny feet crowding in front of us, but with every passing moment, the sound became an uproar of countless insects walking.
I couldn’t see anything, so I thought it would be better to know what we were facing. “Silver, give us some light.” And then, we saw them. “Oh...my...what in this world are all these?”
Thousands, no...tens of thousands overgrown insects crawled around us. We thought that they were coming from behind us, but no. They had already surrounded us. Big, disgusting heads, with dark bluish eyes were watching us. Spiders, or something close to a spider, with six long legs and two smaller, all hairy, were moving fast towards us.
“They are of the insectoid family, but I’ve never seen species like these. They seem to be a mix of two different organisms, but I don’t know how to characterize them.”
Silver’s voice was the last thing I could hear. A gentle pinch on my neck started spreading a warm feeling to my head and then to the rest of my body. I wanted to scream, God how much I wanted to let out a big, lengthy scream, but I couldn’t.
I felt tiny legs walk on my skin, inside my shirt. Tears clouded my eyes, and I thought everything was over. Strangely, I already felt lighter, like I was getting carried away by two strong arms. Was that what it felt like when dying? It was a nice feeling. I could get used to it.
My blurry eyes showed me random pictures. I saw Jay’s face, his strong eyes, and hard lines, came closer to mine. For a moment there I thought he would kiss me; and at that moment, I wanted him to.
Chapter Eight
Jay
Damn you Eladia. You had to go and get bitten by one of those things. My hands ached, but not so much as I thought they would. I wasn’t sure if it had something to do with her or those things that were biting me. Yet, I didn’t feel dizzy, just a bit hazy.
At least, this planet’s gravity was comfortable. Jumping from one branch to the other was a breeze, even with the extra weight from the half-dead human. Her skin was getting cold, fast. I managed to kill the little cricket that bit her, but I didn’t have time to help the robot and the savage. They would have to take care of themselves for now.
The higher I got, the denser the darkness became. I didn’t have a plan yet, so I just ran as fast as I could. The picture of the waves of those six-legged creatures somehow disgusted me. I was never too fond of insects, but those little monsters were an extra layer creepy.
I finally got to the top. The air up here was clean and smelled kinda nice. I felt the wind caressing my face and tangling my hair. I looked down to my extra passenger, and I saw something different. Her dark hair was finally free of that ugly tail on her head. The breeze gave her an otherworldly feel, while her hair flapped in the wind.
The beating muscle of my chest wanted to touch them, but my head stored the most vital organ of my body, and told me that there was no time for emotions. Her life was in danger.
One big leap to the dark later and I was back on the road, only, this time, I could see my surroundings correctly. I searched for a light source, only to find a peculiar looking bird. But it had a funny look to it. Its skin glistened in the night, and instead of wings, it had two fin-like instruments, one in the top and one in the bottom. Its belly was the light source I was looking at.
“This planet is crazy. Now I get why humans turned out as crazy as they did.” It chirped and flew around me. It smelled of flowers and something wet. My skin prickled at the thought of what could that mean.
There was water nearby.
I followed it behind a curtain of vines, all of them heavy with red-colored buds. The path was rough and full of metals and rocks, but my steps were steady. I took my time over an opening to the ground which smelled funny. Eladia now had trouble breathing, and her blood pumping organ was beating fast.
At least, in that part, we are the same, human. Our hearts beat strong. I suddenly wanted to save her. I wanted to hear her voice again, yelling at me. I was not sure what drove me straight into that madness, but seeing her sleeping like that, I thought it would be a waste to let her die in my arms.
The smell of water was getting stronger, and my unusual guide finally flew away, leaving me alone in the dark. For a moment, I panicked.
Me? The great Prime Officer? Afraid? I was in the middle of nowhere, with no light, no knowledge of my surroundings or anything to guide me to the end of this narrow alleyway. So, yes, panic was the first thing that came to my mind.
But as soon as I took another step forward, a weak light appeared at the end of my way. At first, it was only one tiny light, something I wouldn’t have notice if I wasn’t in such a despair, but then, this one light became two, the two became four, and before I could count to ten, the whole glade erupted in light.
A greenish pond was right in the middle of a destroyed building, full of vines, moss and every kind of dark-colored flower. This place was an ecosystem by itself, with flowers getting their aggressive colors from the flying animals, and the animals probably swimming and feeding and living off them. In all honesty, it was something wonderful.
I tried to take in everything, but something troubled me; Eladia suddenly seemed heavier. “Fuck. She’s almost dead. I have to do something.”
The first thing that came to my mind was to give her a sip of that greenish water. I didn’t know why, maybe it was my own body craving for the wet element, or something totally illogical, but that was what I chose to do.
I placed her on a bed of fallen leaves and cupped my hands inside the pond. The water was cold but refreshing. I had to stop myself from taking a sip when I remembered that Eladia needed it more than I did.
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From what I managed to gather, only half of it ended up in her mouth. This scene brought up a memory, or rather what it was the shadow of a thought.
...I’m not good at taking care of people. I’m great at breaking them…
I looked at my hands, and I knew I was right. I had just killed a whole pack of creatures, and almost hit Eladia. My fists were my words, and I didn’t know when to stop. I checked her temperature, but nothing had changed. I ran back and forth to the pond a couple times more, but there was nothing more I could do.
In the end, I just stood above her motionless body and felt a hollow dread. She was dead.
I didn’t know why I cared. Back in the crossroad, almost an hour ago, I wanted to kill her, to at least abandon her. Now...I wanted to see her angry eyes again.
One of the birds flew next to her. I moved my hand to shoo it, but as it pecked her wet hand, she opened her eyes and looked around her like nothing had happened.
Without realizing it, I had stopped breathing. The air surged in my body, and I wanted to slap my face.
You got soft, Jasih. She’s just a human.
Chapter Nine
Jay
My head span and I was really close to throwing up my breakfast, which I now remembered it was the only thing I had eaten all day. I tried to focus on the small lights flying above me. For a moment, I took a wild guess. Are those stars?
I heard the splashing of water next to me, and random things started to come up. The endless waves of insectoids, the sudden sting in my neck…my hand rushed to the part which now felt sore and smooth. There was no evidence that it had ever happened, except the fact that a small patch of skin around that part of my neck, still had a cold feeling around it.
I’m sure I was dead, but someone must have saved me. But who? Who was the one that carried me away and protected me? Zan was too feeble to be able to do that, and Silver lacked the initiative.
That left only one person.
“You’re awake,” Jay uttered in a matter-of-fact tone.
It was like he had fought the venom with his own two hands and made sure to win, that was his at that moment. But there was also something else there. Maybe it was relief?
Nah, I’m just fooling myself.
His clothes were torn apart. The fabric on the front part of his black shirt, was full of holes and through it, I could see open wounds with dried blood. He was seriously hurt, more than he would ever dare to admit. Even so, here he was, looking at me with the same cold glare. His eyes showed nothing.
“Yes, it seems I am. Did you...did you save me?” My voice still shattered. Seriously, what is wrong with me?
“Yes.” The word left his mouth easily, with a tint of plain arrogance. He seemed to imply that there was no one else who would be able to do it.
“Thank you. I owe you my life.”
“Yes,” he replied instantly. My brows shot up in surprise.
Is he gonna ask me to serve him for the rest of my life to pay up the debt? Typical man’s attitude. Even among generations and generations of different species throughout space, that part remains the same. They’re all pigs.
I tried to push my body up, to lie against the weak trunk of a cut tree. I started to discern the beautiful, fire-birds. Yes, that word suited them well. A reference from an old book came to my mind. It was a short abstract one about a type of insect, fireflies. It could perfectly explain those creatures as well.
As my eyes swiped the glade, they finally caught Jay moving towards the water in the middle. The greenish pond gave off an intoxicating aroma, something of roses and squashed berries. I wanted to get a sip. But I was not the only one who seemed to have the same idea.
Jay’s long and brawny hands stretched upwards, pulling his shirt on their way up. Suddenly, below the destroyed fabric and under the quizzical demeanor, another part of Jay appeared, that of his physical perfectness.
“Oh, my…” I said through my teeth. Every muscle of his chest, his bulging pectorals, his throbbing abs, anything that I could only imagine how they looked up until now, were far better in reality.
He turned and looked at me.
Shit, he must have heard me.
I felt my ears twitch and flush, and I was trying to hide my face behind a curtain of hair. Only just now did I notice that my hair was loose.
“What’s wrong human? Are you not feeling well?” If his voice was a little colder, then I was sure I would have frozen to death.
How can a man this hot be so senseless?
“I’m fine. Just a bit tired. That’s all.” All the sentences came out as one, and I wanted to apologize, but I was too embarrassed already. His black hair was messily cute, and the rest of his body was chiseled to greatness. Yes, Jay was the picture every man should strive to become.
And then, he bent down and removed his pants as well.
I was not a prude person, no, please. I was the exact opposite of that. I had lied topless inside the observatory of Sol, and I was usually in my underwear while in my apartment. Yes, you could call me bold. But, even though my experiences with men could be counted using both hands, or maybe one and a couple fingers from the other one to be exact, I had never seen a man like him almost naked in front of me.
His underwear, a tight boxer, only managed to hide the very essential parts. Sure, what else could have been hidden behind that thin layer of fabric? Well, I was not sure. I was struggling to keep my eyes away, but I ended up gawping at him without even a pebble of disdain. I had never felt like that before, certainly not for a man. But, from the first time I saw him, I couldn’t stop thinking what this man could have been in his past.
A Prime Officer, and of course an Originator, but his body was the body of a fighter. Nowadays, generals and admirals never even participated in real battles. They gave their orders from their space stations, far away from danger and the intergalactic battlegrounds. This man...this man was the battle personified.
When he dived into the water, I kinda wished I could follow him. My mind was running through his body like drops of the sweet nectar he was swimming in, which now ran down his body. I was thinking about his hot body, his muscular biceps, and the swelling inside his underwear.
Shit. Fuck. What are you thinking Eladia? You must be exhausted, girl.
Before I was even aware of my actions, I was looking around the glade. It was darker than before and undoubtedly quieter. I didn’t know what was going on, but I had a bad feeling about it.
“Jay?” I whispered, but the man was nowhere to be found.
I was searching around the glade, but it was already too late when I found the reason the whole area suddenly turned silent. A feline-like creature with dark mane and strikingly white eyes had appeared out of nowhere. I was looking at it, but I was not yet sure if it had noticed me.
I froze. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, and certainly, couldn’t shout. My mind was blank, as blank as a mind could be, when real danger appeared. This day got longer and longer, and I was finally thinking that being a Chronicler was actually a dangerous job.
The feline creature walked with the grace of a fallen king, now devoid of his glory.
Why am I the only one that gets in so much trouble all the time?
“Human, you’ll get us both killed,” Jay whispered in my ear as he tossed me up onto his arms with ease. This man could snap me like a twig if he wished to.
He was sneaking behind the dangerous beast, tiptoeing his way with me on his hands. Jay carried me behind a fallen wall on the other side of the glade, entering inside a small area that could be described as a cavern. This area was full of water and those firebirds from before. Some of them flashed like broken light bulbs, and others just chirped now and then. It was crowded already, not counting us, touching each other.
Jay stretched his hands around me from the moment we got in, using his body to cover mine. However, him being almost naked, and me, utterly turned on by his appearance, didn’t help all that much. I thought he h
ugged me to protect me, but then again, I wasn’t sure if that could count as a hug.
He was not touching me, but my body. He didn’t care for me, but for the human that could help him. After all, why should he care for anyone, especially someone as insignificant as me? It wasn’t like he could fall for me as I did now. That wasn’t possible.
“I think it has gone. Let me check.”
He left me alone in the cavern, and I felt naked without his embrace. I shook my head, trying to shake away the feeling of loneliness that suddenly filled my heart.
Eladia, you’re an independent woman, a Chronicler for God’s sake. You can’t act like an infatuated young girl, certainly not with a troubled man like Jay.
I tried telling that to my mind again and again, but the moment he arrived to inform me about the situation, my heart skirted. It actually, honest-to-life, skirted.
Alien Romance Box Set: Alien Former: Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Books 1-5) Page 45