by Jenna Payne
I giggled and gave him my number, giving him another kiss before headed out the door and going back to Maggie’s car. She was sitting in the driver’s seat with every window rolled down. I climbed in, trying not to smirk as I buckled my seat belt.
“I’m not even going to ask why my car smells like sex.”
I choked on my breath of air as I smiled at Maggie, shrugging towards her as if I knew nothing. She just rolled her eyes at me and started her engine, pulled out of the parking lot and drove me home. Once home I said goodnight to Maggie and thanked her for the ride, went into my nice little house and crashed on my couch. I didn’t even have the energy to climb the stairs to my bedroom, I just curled up with my one sofa pillow and fell asleep, into a sweet dream of a sexy man in a uniform.
“I have something I want to tell you.”
“You can tell me anything, Jacob.”
“I don’t know if I can, but I want to. God I want to so badly.”
“Just tell me.”
“If they find out you know.”
“Who finds out? Just tell me silly, don’t be afraid. I can handle myself against anyone.”
“I bet you can.”
Jacob pulled me against his chest, rubbed his chin against my forehead and sniffed my hair. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close, humming a soft tune.
“I think I’m falling in love with you.”
“I know I’ve already fallen for you.”
I looked up at Jacob, thinking my ears were hearing things wrong, but when I saw the adoration in his eyes and the honesty in his smile, I knew I heard correctly. Jacob had fallen in love with me, and as crazy as I felt admitting it even to myself, I had fallen in love with him as well. It took hearing him say it first to feel the full effect he had on me, but it was there, I never wanted to let him go. I ran my fingers along the sides of his head to pull him into a kiss, and then there was a loud crash behind me.
I heard the crash again as I rolled off the couch and knocked myself into my coffee table. I shook myself awake and looked around, trying to figure out exactly what crashed and if I broke anything during my quick fall to the ground. I hadn’t broken anything, but there was a very noticeable breeze coming from the other side of my living room, and a large dark figure standing next to my fireplace.
“Who’s there?”
I knew someone was there, but it was too dark to see who it was. I knew it was a stupid idea to just call out, it was obviously they had broken in, but it never hurt to ask, at least that is what I was raised to believe.
“You have a nice house.”
I recognized the voice but couldn’t place it. He sounded angry, I could tell by how dark and sinister he sounded.
“What do you want?”
“What I want is people to learn how to keep their mouths shut, and understand risks that are involved with hooking up with random women.”
I don’t think I need to say it, but I was very confused at this point.
“Just take what you want and go, I don’t want any trouble.”
“You are the trouble.”
It was then that he pushed a picture off of my fireplace and it crashed next to me, the glass shattering all over my carpet, slicing into my hand.
“Who are you?”
He flicked on the small light that was placed on top of my fireplace, grinning down at me as I finally saw his face. He was one of the officers from the bar, the one I stuck my tongue out at when Jacob and I went off to Maggie’s car.
“Ah, I see you recognize me now.”
“How did you know I lived here?”
“It’s very easy to find someone, once you have their phone number.”
“I never…”
“You said it loud enough the whole bar has your number.”
I swallowed my fear and stood up on my feet, crossing my arms over my chest I tried to stare him down.
“Please leave, you aren’t welcome here.”
“I’m not going till I do what I came here to do, so just SIT DOWN and relax.”
I fell backwards onto the couch.
“What did you come here to do?”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to answer to that, he was stalking towards me and had something in his hand, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do but keep him talking.
“I came to dispose of our crew’s problem.”
“What problem?”
He lifted up his hand to reveal he had a knife in his hand and pointed the blade towards me.
“You, you are a problem. Jacob may be too dumb to see it, but he’ll see it once you’re gone.”
“Please, don’t hurt me.”
“I’m not going to hurt you, I’m just going to kill you.”
“Kill me? Why? I haven’t done anything.”
He started pacing back and forth, alternating between scratching his head with the blade and pointing it at me.
“You have messed with his mind, made him forget the rules. THE RULES! Rules are important for us, especially him and you, YOU, you make him forget them.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Of course you don’t, but you will. I saw into his mind, he was going to tell you, he was going to tell you everything.”
I blinked at him then, it was true that in my dream Jacob was going to tell me something, but this man couldn’t possibly know what I was dreaming.
“What do you mean you saw into his mind?”
“SHUT UP! No more questions, no more talking. I was going to take care of you as a human, but now I’m not so sure.”
“What? You’re crazy!”
“I’m crazy? I’m crazy? I didn’t jeopardize my entire crew for some bar slut.”
“Bar slut?”
I know I should have been paying more attention to everything else he was saying, but I didn’t appreciate being called a slut, it hurt and made me feel somewhat ashamed of what I did earlier that night, even though I knew I didn’t have anything to be ashamed about.
“Yes, you are nothing more than a passing attraction, worthless. Jacob will see that, once I’m through with you, I’m sure of it.”
“You are completely insane.”
Instead of responding, the officer growled at me instead, his irises flashed a strange shape as he stared directly into mine. I shrunk back against my couch for a moment, terrified about what was going to happen.
“I should know better than to play with my food. No more talking, it’s time to get this done.”
Another lump of fear formed in my throat as I watched him lung towards the couch.
*****
I was able to move out of the way at the last minute, my fear taking it’s time to speed up my feet from a snail’s pace to a cheetah’s. As soon as I was off the couch and crawling across the floor there was a large tiger, growling from my couch as its claws tore into my couch cushion. I looked around for the officer but I was alone with this tiger. I scrambled to my feet and turned so that I was face to face with the tiger, holding up my hands defensively as I walked slowly backwards towards the hallway. I thought if I could make it to the door, I could make a run for it. It was as if the tiger was inside my mind, because as soon as I reached the hallway it growled and lunged at me again, slamming its body into my front door as we stared at each other. I tried to fight my fear but the tiger looked dangerous and I had nothing to protect myself with, I bolted up the stairs towards my bedroom. The tiger chased me, growling and clawing at things as it followed me. I started to scream for help, I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t done it sooner but my neighbors had to have heard me as I ran into my bedroom. I shut the door and hid behind the bed, cursing myself for not grabbing my purse with my cell phone it. I could hear the tiger growling on the other side of the door, scratching at the wood, trying to get in to where I was hiding. I was too afraid to look over the bed once I heard the claws cracking through the wood, clawing on the inside of the door, he was going to get it. I slid underneath the bed and hop
ing that It was a good enough hiding place to protect me from a giant tiger out to kill me. I was gasping for air, and pressing my face tight against the carpet when I heard Jacob’s voice.
“STOP, NOW!”
I couldn’t figure out if he was yelling at the tiger or if he had found the officer lurking in my house, but I was happy he had shown up.
“CHANGE YOU COWARD!”
Change? Change what? Jacob was very confusing, but I needed to trust him, he had come to save me. All there was in response to him was more growling, but the tiger was no longer clawing my door, it had vanished somewhere in the upstairs hallway. All of a sudden Jacob was growling back at the beast.
“Jacob! Run, get out of here, it’s going to hurt you!”
I tried to warn him, but I must have distracted him instead because the tiger had managed to attack him, I wasn’t sure how badly Jacob was injured but I could hear his scream of pain before I heard a second tiger growling in the hallway. I still don’t know how I could tell it was a second tiger, but I was positive it was. My body began to shake as I listened to a wild fight, the two tigers attacking each other, growling, and making awful sounds that were filled with pain and fear. I continued to hide under the bed, shaking and praying for everything to stop, and for Jacob to be ok for what seemed like forever. It wasn’t until all of the growling disappeared that I crawled out from underneath the bed, I continued to crawl towards the door and pressed my ear against it, figuring I’d hear movement if anything was still out there. When I heard nothing I called out for Jacob, but there was no answer. I slowly opened the door, still crawling across the floor, and called out for Jacob through the open door. There was still no answer, so I opened the door fully and discovered two tiger bodies, bloodied and still laying in my hallway. I pressed myself hard against the door frame, worried they were still going to attack me, but then I noticed only one was breathing, and its breathing was very shallow. I decided to wait a few moments to ensure it wouldn’t attack me if I moved any closer, and while I waited their bodies started to change. Their fur started to fall off, and their paws shrunk in size, their noses shrinking against their face, and their bodies were shaking. I gasped in horror as the dead tiger turned into the officer that had broken into my house, laying there dead with gashes all over his body. I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to muffle my scream as I turned my attention onto the second tiger, it was going through the same change but instead of a stranger, the tiger turned into Jacob.
“Oh my god.”
Once in human form Jacob was able to lift himself up at least half way, kneeling on the floor, gripping his stomach where he had a large claw mark going across his body.
“Tabitha…”
He seemed out of breath and in pain, but I couldn’t get past the fact I just watched him change from a tiger into himself.
“Oh my god…”
“Tabitha, let me explain.”
He was gasping and coughing up small bits of blood, and I just pressed myself harder into the doorway, trying to keep as much distance as possible between us.
“You’re…you’re a…”
“Tiger.”
“Monster.”
“No please, Tabitha. Let me explain.”
I scrambled back into the bedroom and pressed myself against the far wall but I had forgotten to close or lock the door, so Jacob dragged his injured body across the floor to join me in the bedroom.
“Tabitha, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“He…He…”
“He wanted to kill you, yes.”
Jacob was coughing again, having a hard time speaking, yet he tried to explain everything to me anyways.
“You…Him…Monsters.”
I was going into shock, but Jacob still tried to reach me with his voice.
“Tabitha, you’re safe now. He’s dead. Nobody else is going to try and hurt you.”
“Why? Why did he…why did you?”
“He thought you already knew, wanted to make sure you never talked. Agh.”
Jacob shook and groaned, clenching his stomach together as blood formed around his fingers.
“Go…get out. I don’t…I can’t…”
“Tabitha, please. Don’t make me go.”
“GET OUT!”
I screamed at him, my heart was racing and I was scared there was still danger in my house, I needed Jacob as far away from me as he could go. He groaned and grunted, trying to rise to his feet, he moved a little better once it seemed the blood had stopped leaking from his wound. He stumbled his way out of my bedroom, looking back at me one more time before he walked out.
“I only wanted to protect you.”
He sighed and left, I could hear him stumbling down the stairs and heading out the front door.
*****
My mind forgot what I did for the several hours between when Jacob left and when I was finally able to move from my small ball on the floor. I uncurled myself and rose to my feet, I walked out of my bedroom and gasped at the dead body still in my hallway. I moved around it and headed downstairs, I grabbed my purse and went towards my car. I slid into the driver’s seat and just sat there, I had planned on spending the night at Maggie’s, I didn’t feel safe staying all alone. I wanted to call her first so I dug through my purse for my cell phone and pulled it out, I noticed I had a text message so I decided to read it before calling Maggie.
Tabitha. I’ve realized in the short time I have known you, I have fallen in love with you. Please don’t call me crazy, I know how it sounds. I really need to talk to you, and I hope that even after I tell you, you will feel the same. Meet me at the bar tomorrow night.
Jacob had sent that to me before I was even home from the bar, my heart sank when I realized he must have been talking about the tiger changing thing. I sighed and rested my forehead against the steering wheel, trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. I knew I should go over to Maggie’s like I had originally planned, but I kept repeating the text message over and over in my head. He admitted to being in love with me, and before the tiger thing I was ready to say it right back to him, I had fallen in love with him too. I banged my forehead against the steering wheel a few times to see if I could talk some sense into myself, but it was no use, even as my head was screaming for me to go to Maggie’s and forget the crazy tiger man, my heart was screaming louder, and it screamed that it didn’t matter. I already loved him. I started the ignition and headed out towards the bar, unsure of exactly what I was going to say once I got there, or even how I would find Jacob. I only knew that the bar was close to where his ship was docked, so that had to be where he was headed. I took me no time at all to reach the bar by the docks, I’m fairly certain I was going twice the speed limit the entire ride, but I was determined to get to Jacob before he disappeared for ever. Once parked I climbed out of my car and headed towards the dock, only to be confronted by a group of naval officers, all standing at attention with their arms crossed across their chests. The one in the middle arched an eyebrow at me and gave me a very menacing glare.
“Can we help you miss?”
“I’m looking for commander…”
“He’s not here.”
“I didn’t even give a name.”
“He’s not here, and you are not welcome.”
“If he’s not here, why are you guarding the dock like that?”
“It’s our duty ma’am.”
“Where’s Jacob?”
“Not your concern, ma’am.”
‘It is my concern, he’s injured. Where is he?”
“He’s been looked after, you can go now.”
I could tell by how the officers were trying to get me gone that Jacob was on the other side of the man barricade. It actually pissed me off that they were so certain Jacob wasn’t my concern, he had been injured protecting me, and I was desperate to apologize for screaming at him and for sending him away.
“I need to pass. SO excuse me.”
“No can do, ma’am.”
“Not going to happen.”
I can’t explain what effect I thought it would have, but I reached up and slapped the officer clean across the cheek and glared at him, standing my ground as our eyes locked together.
“Let. Me. Through.”
“I said I can’t do that ma’am, now walk away.”
I raised my hand to hit him again, this time I was planning on punching him but he caught my wrist and held it up in the arm, forcing me to stand on my tip toes.
“Do not try and hit me again, ma’am.”
“Let her pass Rodgers.”
“Yes sir.”
The officer immediately let go of my wrist and stepped aside, creating a small space for me to walk in between the wall of men. Standing on the other side was Jacob, almost fully healed, but still painted in blood.
“You’ve healed already.”
“A perk to being a monster. What do you want?”
I swallowed a lump that was stuck in my throat, I could see the hurt in his eyes as he said the word monster and I immediately felt sick to my stomach.
“I wanted to apologize.”
“For what?”
“For the things I said. I was in shock, and scared and…”
“And?”
“And I’m in love with you.”
Jacob blinked at me, closing his eyes and shaking his head before looking at me again, as if he couldn’t believe his ears or eyes.
“What did you say?”
“I said I’m in love with you. Despite everything that happened, even though I don’t understand how or what you are. I have fallen madly in love with you Jacob.”
Jacob ran up to me and scooped me up into his arms and kissed me hard. His lips have never devoured me like they had in that moment, as if his mouth was claiming all of me and not just my lips. He twirled me around and squeezed me against him until I was gasping for breath, my lungs threatening to collapse against his tight hold. He let me drop to the ground, but refused to let go of me, his hands still gripping my hips as he stepped back to let me breath.
‘Sorry.”
I gasped and coughed.