by Alyssa Ezra
She was suddenly aware of a presence behind her, and she spun round to find Storm Kar standing on the balcony. An unreadable look was on his deeply scarred, inhuman face, and his burning eyes had dimmed a little.
“Welcome to my world, Simone,” he said with just a hint of a sardonic smile.
“Welcome to the Vision Land.”
Chapter 3: The Call of Destiny
This time Simone did not resist as Storm Kar gestured for her to follow him back inside the building. Going back down the triangular corridor, Storm Kar paused by a smooth amber panel that Simone had missed first time around. He touched a small white switch next to the panel and it slid open.
“This way,” he said, mustering a gentle tone, or as much of a gentle tone that a scary ass alien could muster, Simone reflected. Now that she had seen for herself that she was not in the nature reserve, or, as Storm Kar asserted, not even on planet Earth itself, she had no other choice but to go along with this insanity.
She followed him down this second corridor and they came to a small chamber made of a smooth, dark reddish wood. A circular table was in the centre of this chamber and an older woman in a buckskin dress was setting out two wooden bowls. The woman looked up and made eye contact with Simone.
Simone couldn’t help but stare back, noting that though she had a similar distinctive Native American look as Storm Kar possessed, her face was not fierce or beast like. She appeared to look a lot like humans.
“Ah, Grazing Elk Woman, you are preparing some refreshment for our guest. I knew I could rely on you,” Storm Kar said. He shot a hopeful look back at Simone. “When you have eaten something, you will feel better.”
“I doubt it,” Simone said sullenly. “For some reason, I’ve lost my appetite. It must be the fact I’ve been kidnapped by a crazy monster and taken to some freaky ass planet!”
Grazing Elk Woman paused in laying the table and speared Simone with her mica bright eyes. It was the same look Simone’s mom gave her when she was being a stroppy little bitch. The look had the same effect, and Simone cowered inside.
“He is not a monster!” the old woman snapped in a flint hard voice.
Simone flinched at the severity of Grazing Elk Woman’s tone and felt suitably cowed.
“Come, tempers are frayed. There is no need for hostility,” Storm Kar said giving his partner in crime a meaningful look. “Let us sit and we can talk properly.”
He gestured with his hand and two comfortable looking easy chairs glided seamlessly up out of the floor on either end of the table.
Despite her instinctive need to show defiance, the chairs looked really inviting and after what she’d just seen, Simone could do with sitting down for a little while. She didn’t resist when Storm Kar beckoned her to sit down while he settled down in the chair opposite.
With a steely expression on her face, Grazing Elk Woman finished off putting out wooden spoons before heading over to what looked like a squat iron stove where a cooking pot was resting. Bringing the pot over to the table, Simone caught a whiff of something delicious before she began ladled out what looked like thick orange colored soup.
Simone’s mouth started to water and her stomach moaned from lack of food. Despite her craving to eat though, she remained motionless as the soup was presented to her. A thought crossed her mind and she shot Storm Kar a reproachful look.
“Are you not going to help her out with the food?” she asked, arching an eyebrow, “or are the men on this planet just as chauvinistic as they are on Earth?”
“Ha! I’ll not have this one cluttering up my kitchen!” Grazing Elk Woman interjected. “I need no foolish man to slow me down, now eat your soup.”
Simone smirked, beginning to like this formidable woman. Doing as she was told, she took a spoonful of soup. It was the tastiest thing she’d ever eaten in her life and she took several more spoonfuls feeling her belly fill up. Grazing Elk Woman looked on approvingly.
“This one has a good appetite,” she said to Storm Kar. “Maybe you did not make such a bad choice after all.”
Simone looked up from her bowl. “What does she mean? What choice? What is she talking about?”
Storm Kar shifted uncomfortably in his chair and glowered at Grazing Elk Woman with his crimson eyes. “Thank you, you can leave us now,” he said in a clipped tone.
The old woman barely hid her sneer, but bowed her head. She shook her head in despair as she left the chamber.
Simone was suddenly alone with Storm Kar again, and the tension returned. His eyes came back to rest on her. He left his bowl untouched.
“I think I deserve an explanation,” Simone said, trying not to let him make her feel intimidated.
“Yes,” he said, sighing heavily. “You do.”
When he didn’t say anymore, she started digging. “You called this place the Vision Land,” she said. “Is this really another planet?”
Storm Kar nodded. “We are precisely eighty million light years away from Earth, on the edge of the Celestial Raven Galaxy.”
Simone tried to take in what he was telling her. “We’re that far away from Earth?” she exclaimed. “How long did it take us to get here?”
“Actually, it only took a few seconds,” Storm Kar replied. “The portal I invented to bring you here allows us to travel across vast distances of space and time in the blink of an eye. It took a long time to develop the technology of course, but the results were worth it.”
He looked at her meaningfully and a shiver ran down her spine. Despite his demonic eyes and ruined face, he exuded a dark attractiveness, a strength and intellect that she responded to on a purely emotional level. She pushed aside those feelings as hard she possibly could. She was in no mood to let her hormones make all her decisions.
“That brings us to the million-dollar question then,” she drawled. “Why have you brought me all this way without my consent?”
He flinched at her words and dipped his eyes, seeming to be ashamed of what he had done. “If I had come to you directly, like I am, and asked, would you have been willing and ready to come with me? Like you said before, I am a crazy monster.”
She tasted the bitterness in his tone and suddenly felt guilty for tearing into him like that. Though he had kidnapped her, he hadn’t harmed her in any way, and in fact was being rather hospitable. That didn’t chance the hard truth that he had kidnapped her.
“But why?” she pressed, making an attempt to be more diplomatic. “I just don’t understand any of this?”
“Isn’t it obvious,” he said giving her a hooded look. “I brought you to my world because . . . I love you.”
The words were like a bowling ball straight in her stomach. For several moments, she couldn’t think of anything to say. The only other man to tell her he loved her was Dean.
It felt strange to hear the words being said by somebody else, especially from a . . . creature like him. A surge of anger went through her. “How can you say that? We don’t even know each other?” she demanded roughly.
Storm Kar kept his eyes on the table, his face closed and grim. “I do know you,” he said in a muted tone, “at least I know that you are my destined mate. Please, you must believe that this is meant to be.”
“What are you talking about, destined mate?” Simone demanded. “Meant to be? How is that possible?”
“You were shown to me by the Great Spirits,” Storm Kar replied, his own voice rising. “I will try to explain as best as I can. I am the Chief Shaman Scientist among my people. It is an important role and when I was of an age, it was time for me to find a mate. Unfortunately, there was nobody compatible either on a physical or intellectual level for me, and no female amongst my tribe really attracted me, or, as you can imagine, vice-versa.”
Simone could well imagine that. She felt a pang of recrimination for judging him on his looks. It was extremely shallow of her, she knew that, but she just couldn’t help herself.
“I became greatly despondent,” Storm Kar went on. “Though
I am committed to my work, I also feel loneliness and crave companionship. Confused and miserable, I did what all my people do when they need answers. I entered a dream trance to commune with the Great Spirits who guide the destiny of the Vision Land.”
Simone narrowed her eyes. “I don’t fully understand all that, but it sounds suspiciously like you got high.”
Storm Kar pursed his mouth. “There are many ways to open the mind to the higher frequencies, but it is true I used certain herbs to bring about this state. When I had ascended to the realm of spirit, I called out to them and asked if there was anyone for me in my life path. They answered by showing me your planet along with an image of you. I knew in my heart there and then that you were the one meant for me.”
“That’s sweet, but don’t I get a say in all this?” Simone said in a snarky voice.
Storm Kar looked pained. “Of course, but you are so defensive, so closed off from happiness, you do not seem to want to accept the will of the Spirits.”
Simone bridled at his words. He sounded just like mom when she kept nagging her to move on from Dean. This jerk had snatched her from her world and was giving her a guilt trip for not being grateful.
“Okay, I get that you were inspired by a vision,” she said. “So what happened then? You opened your little portal to Earth and here I am?”
“If only it had been that easy,” Storm Kar replied wistfully. “It took many of your Earth months to even locate your planet and much longer to find a means to create the portal to bring you here. You cannot imagine the sacrifices that were made to bring all this about.”
Storm Kar fell silent, and his burning eyes became unfocused. Simone felt a deep sadness radiating from him, and she was curious as to what kind of trials he’d gone through, but she remained steadfast.
He might have had a mystic vision telling him that she was his one true love but she was still to be convinced. He might feel in his heart he’d found his one true love, but she knew in her heart she’d already found her own true love and he had died four years ago.
“Your people, what are they called?” she asked; now needing to break the oppressive silence that had fallen on them.
“We are the Mystic Folk, that is the name of our tribe,” Storm Kar said, rousing from his quiet brooding. “We share this world with other . . . peoples, collectively we are known as the Noble Kin, but the details are of no concern right now.”
“Okay, and that Grazing Elk Woman, is she your mom, or housekeeper or something?”
Storm Kar barked a laugh. “Don’t let her hear you say that,” he said chuckling.
“Grazing Elk Woman is the Chieftess of my tribe.”
Simone didn’t hide her surprise very well because he laughed again. It was like rolling thunder and made her shrink in her seat. “And you accuse me of chauvinism,” he drawled. “In my culture, the females act as our leaders.”
Simone nodded. “I’m beginning to like the sound of your tribe.” She shot Storm Kar a covert look. “From the way you talked, I’m guessing you are not exactly like the rest of your people.”
“If you mean they are not all hideous monsters, then the answer is yes,” Storm Kar said sardonically. “My people look more like Grazing Elk Woman, and by that I mean, they are humanoid in appearance rather than being a race of grouchy old females.”
Simone smiled wryly. “I get it. Sorry if I offended you.”
Storm Kar’s fiery eyes met her gaze and a chill went through her. “You could never offend me,” he said, his voice heavy with meaning.
Simone started to feel uncomfortable again. She didn’t like where this was going or how she was going to get back to Earth. If, as he claimed, the portal worked in only a matter of seconds that might prove her only viable means of escape. All she had to do was find it and figure out how to use it.
As she turned over ideas in her mind, she absently reached up to touch the skin behind her ear. In fact, behind both ears, she had been feeling a strange tingling sensation for a while now, though she’d been too preoccupied to think much about it. When she touched her skin now though, she felt a small rough bump.
“What the hell!” she exclaimed and reached up to check behind her other ear, finding a similar swelling.
Storm Kar looked like he wanted the world to open up and swallow him. He looked down at his bowl and studied the uneaten soup there. Simone knew men well enough to know that this had something to do with him.
“What are these things behind my ears?” she thundered.
“Before you get angry, you must be aware that it was necessary,” Storm Kar replied in a gruff voice. “The genetic modifications were necessary for you to be able to breathe my planet’s atmosphere and understand our language.”
Simone rose to her feet, fury swirling like a vortex inside her. “Genetic modification!”
“Do not become emotional,” Storm Kar countered. “The process is reversible.”
“Show me!” she almost bellowed.
Scowling, the alien went over to a cabinet set into the nearby wall and took out a small crystal pyramid with reflective surfaces. She snatched it from his hand with a ferocity that made him take a step back, and using it as a regular mirror, managed to examine the small red bumps merged to her skin.
Okay, they weren’t as grotesque or as obtrusive as she feared, she was still fuming. She thrust the mirrored pyramid back at Storm Kar.
“Let’s review the facts, shall we,” she said in an acidic tone. “One, you kidnap me against my will because you got wasted and some woowoo vision told you I was your one true love, two you perform a medical procedure on me without my consent and three,” she paused. “I haven’t worked out three yet but I’m sure as hell whatever it is, it’s your fault!”
“Enough!” Storm Kar exploded with sudden ferocity. Now it was Simone’s turn to back away. His eyes burned with savage fury and he bared his fangs. “I did what I felt was right! You do not understand the torment I have suffered! You think I wanted any of this! I did it because it is my destiny! You are my destined mate!”
“My destined mate is dead!” Simone retorted, raw with pain. Her heart pounded like a jackhammer in her chest and tears ran down her face. “My destined mate is dead,” she repeated, her voice breaking as her emotions tumbled free.
Storm Kar stood watching her, the muscles of his toned body tense and trembling. He half raised his arms as if to embrace her before stopping himself. He balled his hands into fists and, his scarred face a stoic mask, he turned and stalked out of the chamber.
Simone, shaking like a leaf herself, lost the last of her self control. She sank back into the chair and began crying uncontrollably.
Chapter 4: An Uneasy Agreement
Simone sobbed for hours, or maybe it was days. She had no idea of how to tell. Whatever the truth, it felt like forever as her wounded heart poured out every drop of the pain and grief it had been carrying.
Eventually, the crying stopped, and alone and exhausted, Simone decided to make her way back to the chamber where she’d first woken up in.
Storm Kar and Grazing Elk Woman were nowhere to be found, and she lay down on the mat in an exhausted heap. Closing her eyes she slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When she woke, she felt at once refreshed and disappointed that Storm Kar and his planet were not some kind of hallucination. Speaking of the man of the moment, there was still no sign of him or his sidekick, and with nothing else to do, she moved back down the passageway to explore.
Returning to the balcony, the bizarre view of the living forest and its rock-like denizens was still there but now a transparent dome had formed over it effectively sealing her in. Maybe Storm Kar was frightened she’d try and escape or just end it all there and then by jumping over?
Whatever the reason, she was effectively locked in so headed back to the wooden chamber where she’d eaten. A cold breakfast of strange looking fruit, small bread rolls and assorted meats had been laid out on the table, along with a jug
of darkly colored juice and a clay cup.
Simone’s stomach growled for sustenance, and she set upon the breakfast with relish. If they had intended to poison her, they would have done it already, so she figured it was worth the risk. That was, unless, Storm Kar had realized he was wasting his time trying to convince her that they were meant to be together and had decided to dispose of her. Whatever the case, it made a tasty last meal.
After she had sated her hunger and enjoyed a couple of cups of the delicious tasting juice that had been provided, she took another look around. This time, she discovered a second room leading off from the dining chamber, which served as a kind of bathroom and water closet.
Feeling grubby and eager to get out of her clothes, she managed to work out how to work the elaborately looking faucet and poured hot water into the huge half oyster shell that served as a bath.
Stripping off her clothes, she sank gratefully into the water. The tension and stress of what happened with the fearsome alien began to ebb away and she closed her eyes. Her mind replayed all the crazy events up to when she investigated the strange noise in the reserve.
She pictured Storm Kar again, before she’d pulled off his hood, and her imagination lingered over his smooth, sculpted torso and broad arms. His tattoos were wonderfully exotic and the scars on his arms spoke of secrets and struggles.
She remembered the deep timbre of his voice, and though he had been gruff and intimidating, she found that she liked listening to it. It had a sultry, erotic quality to it that pressed all her buttons. The more she thought about him and his powerful voice, the more her pulse quickened.
She felt the tingling swell of her breasts and a blossoming heat gathered between her legs. She stretched out her arms and rested them on the sides of the bath, luxuriating in the sensual feelings that were gathering inside her. She hadn’t felt like this in such a long time.
As soon as she realized that, Dean surfaced in her mind like a ghost and the feeling was suddenly lost. Simone opened her eyes and sat up in the bath. Her heat began to cool and she experienced a pang of guilt at her previous sexual fantasies. It seemed that she was somehow betraying Dean just by thinking about Storm Kar in that way.