The trip back to the main floor seemed shorter than the way up. I kept my eyes on Jay for the most part of our descent, trying to understand what was going on in his mind. He showed no emotion, and it felt like he was furious about something and yet he kept his calm.
I was trying to figure him out from the day we found his crashed ship on Primordial Earth. To this day, I had no idea what was wrong with him. I only knew that I found myself observing him more often than not. It was like when we were in the same room, my eyes came to life and did their own bidding.
I heard the fuss of the big crowd roar below me, we were getting close to the hell called reception hall. Against all my hopes, people still swarmed in, in thousands, and I felt even less comfortable than before. At the very least, I wished we would have spent another hour or two back in the Professor’s office, so I would have had time to calm down and get ready to go through this again, but it seemed I was wrong.
We stepped off the platforms, and I could already feel the presence of countless people choking me. Silver was on my left side talking with Zan and Jay was on my right side, making people stare at him for being this unusual being that nobody had ever seen. Even though I was with people that I could trust, I felt more lonely than ever. People scared me, especially when in big crowds.
I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, but I always acted as though I could so people didn’t have to see me shake like a fish out of the water. Breathing became a choice and moving was difficult. And yet, among the endless sea of heads, there was one that I would rather not see now or ever.
“Eladia Matthews. What are you doing here?” A red-haired man with a groomed stubble and big, inquisitive eyes appeared before me.
“Sean. Who would have thought we would run to each other here?”
The man looked at me, then Jay, then Silver and Zan. He didn’t seem one bit surprised about my unusual company, which either meant he had already heard the news of my arrival, or he just acted that way to seem cooler. Either way, he was still damn hot.
“Yeah, it’s amazing. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”
Sneaky bastard. He was taking advantage of my weakness. He knew I couldn’t refuse him while in a crowd.
“Yes...yes of course. You already know Silver. This is Zan, a friend from Primordial Earth, and on my other side is Jay. Jay is...another friend from Primordial Earth.”
Jay and Sean noticed my qualm.
“I’m not from Earth, and my name is Jasih,” Jay hurried to correct me, but luckily for me, Sean didn’t seem to care.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m sorry, but I have to attend a meeting in ten minutes. I hope I see you again, love. Take care,” he said and passed between Jay and me with an elegant squish.
For a moment, I thought that somehow I had managed to get away with the minimum damage, but knowing Sean, he always left the best for last. And that was what he did again, only this time, he made sure to go big.
“Oh, huge guy...what was it again? Jasih. Make sure to take care of this girl. When we dated before, she used to be in trouble all the time. Come Tora, they’re expecting us,” Sean said and left, with a tiny robot flying to his side.
Tora, as well as Silver, was a mandatory Chronicler assistant. Every Chronicler had to choose one while studying their major. But that didn’t matter now. I slowly turned to see Jay’s reaction, but by the time I found him, he was long ahead of us towards the exit. I only had time to spot his head before rushing behind him.
Damn you Sean. You and your big mouth. But, the big question is why the usually thick Jay is suddenly so upset? What happened?
Chapter Twenty-One
Jay
I walked through the crowded hall, trying to find the exit to this place. My head was pumping, and I wanted to get some air. It was like the world was sitting on my chest and I couldn’t breathe. I had never felt anger like that in my life, or at least, since the time I had woken up.
That funny looking human with the red hair intimidated me in any possible way. Our whole mission was a failure, and everything seemed to take the wrong turn today, especially when it came down to me. But this Sean human was the drop that spilled the cup. I wanted to hit his face too bad and erase that slight smirk off his face.
I pushed my way through the many humans of the hall until I finally found the door leading to a place full with elevators. This building hovered in mid-air, so the entrance was only possible by using elevators that flew the people to the building. That was what Eladia said before.
Eladia. Even her name makes the fire inside me burn brightly. I don’t want to see her, or that man from before.
Suddenly, I felt a hand grab my shoulder. “Stop! For God’s sake, please stop running.”
Eladia panted in that small, curvy body. Her hair, always caught up, swung a couple times after she stopped. Her hands were sweaty and shaking a bit, but even though she must have been running to catch me, her skin still had that refreshing sense when touching me.
“Why? Aren’t we leaving this Institute? Or would you like to spend some more time with that man? Either way, it’s fine with me.”
She looked at me with those funny eyes, the ones that say she had no idea what I was talking about. At that time, I realized I didn’t know what I was talking about either. Her face, her dark brown eyes, everything on her, ticked me off the wrong way. And yet, I couldn’t picture her kissing that human, or falling into bed with him.
“Listen, I’m sorry if it was something I said or something I did. But, you had been way too upset since we left Professor Virgil’s office. Could you at least slow down and let me make you an offer?”
She was breathing normally now, but still, Eladia used her hand to support her weight on me. Not that it mattered or anything, but she was usually way too proud to even admit she needed help. But, she was right. That crazy Professor was my last hope, and she treated me like a specimen of some sort.
“Okay. Speak. What do you have in your mind?”
“Well, we’re at humanity’s biggest city, the world capital of Yaerus. What would you say if I took you out for a dinner?”
When I heard the word dinner, my stomach growled in response. “I think you got your answer.”
She laughed at me but not in an intimidating way. Her laugh was contagious, and I felt my lips stretching upwards, but I used my whole strength to stop. My people might have been in danger, I might have kids searching for me somewhere, or grand-kids, or their kids to protect. I couldn’t spend my precious time entertaining my desires.
Still, I was hungry, tired, and I wanted to see how the humans had managed to stay alive for so many years and what tricks had they come up with to become so successful. Those little animals were always so resourceful back in my time that I couldn’t even imagine the things they must have invented.
And before I knew it, we rode into one of those elevators back to the ground. The small room was choking with people heading the same way as we did. Eladia was standing next to me. She was close enough to touch my naked arms. I felt her cold skin matching my warmness. It was a pleasant feeling, one that I could get used to easily.
Soon, when we managed to get off that elevator, Eladia and I got on a small vehicle that she called a taxi. This taxi traveled on the road and then in the air, whatever needed to get to its destination as fast as possible. Once again, I was glued to the window, trying to sip in every possible detail.
My heart pumped hard inside my chest. All these people, the big buildings, the funny smells that must have been some kind of greasy food, everything in this city had character, driving me close to a memory from my own city. But as quickly this feeling came, the same way it left. It was as if I had stretched my arm, I could touch it, only that now it was gone.
I turned to watch Eladia. She seemed happy for some reason, relieved. She stared at everything with a knowing glance. She must have passed from here countless times in the past. Still, this city was beautiful in its own way, the on
ly way a city could be.
When we finally arrived, I saw a big, flashing sign reading ‘Phosphorus’ above a small door. It wasn’t that small, but for me, it kinda looked small. I saw Eladia give something to the man that drove us here, and he left as quickly as he arrived.
“What did you give him?” I asked.
“Excuse me?”
She looked confused.
“You gave something to him. What was it?”
And again, she seemed like she couldn’t understand what I was saying. I was at my limit to storm off again, but I realized that I had done the same thing quite some times in the past.
“What is it with you humans and questions? For a species that makes so many of them all the time, you don’t seem to understand what I’m saying to you. You were talking to the driver, and before he left, you gave him something. What was it?”
She finally caught up with me. She reached inside her pocket and took out a small, plastic card.
“Humans use money for everything. It’s like a reward for a job well done, or something to measure the price of a thing. I’ve used this card many times in front of you on other planets, only now you’ve noticed it?”
And then, like a raging river coming out of my mouth, I started laughing. It’s a strong laugh, a laugh that must have been imprisoned inside me for quite some time now.
“You humans are so crazy. I really don’t know how you managed to survive with all those funny ideas you got.”
Eladia seemed amused and irritated at the same time. She smiled at me and pulled me under the ‘Phosphorus’ sign.
No matter how hard I try, humans were more interesting than I first thought.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Eladia
The second I saw him laugh, I stopped caring about who he was, or if I was actually in danger just by being next to him. Jay could smile after all, and laugh, and have fun. He was nothing like his other half, the Dark Jay. That was the first thing that passed through my mind back then. The second point was that I kinda liked him more when he smiled.
The ‘Phosphorus’ bar was one of those places where everything was designed to make you have fun. Virtual reality games, a bar on the back, restaurant on the upper floor, and many, good looking people, dressed with the latest word in fashion. But, that wasn’t the reason why I decided to get him here.
It was really late, and the lights had been lowered to create an atmosphere. Surely, if your thing was loud, mellow music, a bunch of couples dancing in the middle of the room, and doing drugs in the toilets, then okay, ‘Phosphorus’ was perfect for you.
“What is this place? The music’s too loud in here,” Jay screamed to me so that I could hear him.
“Be patient. We’re almost there,” I replied to him.
I moved towards the bar and made a signal for him to wait.
If I’m lucky, then…
“Jessie!!!”
“Oh. My. God. Eladia? What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you would be on a faraway planet by now, getting crazy with all those Great Mystery buds.”
Jessie was one of my colleagues back in my studying days, back when I spent most of my time taking care of my silhouette and fixing my makeup. But Jay didn’t have to know about that part of my life now. My trustworthy ponytail was the only grooming I needed nowadays.
“Hey, don’t be harsh. You’re a Researcher, and I’m a Mystery girl. It’s not my fault I can’t resist a good treasure hunt!” I replied to her.
We had to talk loud at one another, ending up with my voice sounding hoarse and ugly. But Jessie, with her enigmatic, black eyes and golden hair, made it seem like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Tell me, who is this stud you have with you? I’ve never seen anyone with skin so white. Is he okay?”
Luckily, the place was badly lit and she couldn’t spot his eyes. She must have thought he was just a huge human with extremely pale skin, but if she knew the truth, then I would have to spend the rest of the night explaining everything to her.
“He’s just a friend coming to Mosa for the first time, so I thought of giving him the proper tour of the city. Hey, Jessie, you know, I have something to ask you. Can I get him upstairs?”
Jessie, the usually wild girl, seemed to think twice before nodding to me. She passed the door key to me with a smooth handshake. I wanted to thank her, but she shook her head. Before I turned my back, she threw me a slight grin.
Well, there they go Eladia. Your student years. This is probably the last time she lets you get up there and have some fun. It figures. After all those times she had to come and pick me up from up there, while I was drunk.
Nevertheless, I would have never come back here if it wasn’t for Jay. I wanted him to see the coolest view of the city at night. However, when I turned my head expecting to find him at exactly the same place I had left him, he was nowhere to be found.
I swore behind my teeth, but in a room as small as this, I quickly saw him in the middle of the dance floor. A young brunette was trying to seduce him by dancing around him with her clothes almost off. A skinny, good-looking girl that she could have had every man she wanted. Instead, she chose the one least suitable for her.
She moved her hands around him, touched his abs, then headed up through his arms, pushing her pelvis sensually against his dick, and then she started all over again. It certainly didn’t help that the music was slow and sensual at the time. It was like she had asked for that particular song.
By the time I arrived, Jay was already talking to her, and for a moment I thought of storming out of the room myself, to take a page out of Jay’s book, but I didn’t. I was sure Jay wouldn’t follow me anyway.
“Hey. We have to get going, Jay.”
Immediately, the young girl turned and looked at me straight in the eyes.
“Hey, lady. Who are you? I’m sure Jasih wants to stay with me. Am I right boy?”
Okay, now she can pronounce his name as well? Shit.
Jay didn’t talk. Instead, he pushed her aside and stood right beside me.
“I asked you to stop ten times already human. Maybe if the music wasn’t so loud, you would have heard me the first time I told you so.”
With a flick of her long hair, she turned her back on us and walked away. For a second, I was glad Jay had chosen me instead of her, although checking down towards his penis, I could see that something was stretching.
I wanted to slap my face to stop thinking about Jay in that way, but I couldn’t stop. His statuesque build, his perfect face, his rough skin, everything about him drew me closer. I sighed and lowered my head while we walked towards the end of the room.
There were two doors, one leading to the restaurant upstairs and the other to the roof. We followed the second one, but Jay stopped behind me, confused.
“Aren’t we going to get something to eat first?”
I sighed. He was as thick as always. “Trust me. We can have something to eat later. Now you have to follow me.”
He didn’t seem to understand, but I didn’t want him to understand. Right now, I just wanted to get as far away as possible from that girl, and Jessie, and anyone. Honestly, I didn’t think I wanted to climb all these stairs just for Jay anymore.
The way up seemed endless and sometime later, I could almost hear Jay’s disapproval. Well, he didn’t say anything but it was the way he breathed in and out and his attitude. It was like he was expecting me to go faster, or he even sometimes stretched his hand to help me. We stopped a couple floors before reaching the roof, taking a short break to catch our breath—well, so that I could catch my breath—when Jay started talking.
“I thought you were upset earlier. Did something happen down there?” He still talked a bit loud, probably his ears were buzzing from the loud music.
“No! I just want to get up there and show you something. That’s all!”
“You don’t seem okay with it. It’s like you don’t want to be up here,” he suddenly said.
The words left my mouth before I had the time to stop. For a moment there, I hoped he hadn’t heard me, or he hadn’t understood what I said, but then he went on and said it.
“Were you jealous?”
Shit. Now I’ve done it. Well, you know what they say. Offense is the best defense.
“Who? Me? Of her? Of course not. I just don’t like being around many people, that’s all. Now, are we going?”
And before I had the chance move, his hand jolted forward and grabbed mine.
“I don’t understand you, humans. Outside you were laughing and having fun, and inside you seem worse than me. If there’s a problem, please say something.”
“No, of course there isn't a problem. I’m just head over heels in love with you and you don’t seem to have a clue.”
Okay, Eladia, tell me you didn’t just say that. Oh, my god, I did say it.
It was one of those times that my mouth ran faster than my head, and I said things I didn’t mean. But I kinda ended up saying them after all because they sounded better in my head at the time.
Damn, damn, damn. I have no idea what I’m doing.
He still held my hand, only this time, the heat from his skin traveled all the way to my face. I wished he would come up with a witty comment, and then we could keep going up to the roof where the wind could wash away all my thoughts.
Instead, he stared deep into my eyes, searching for something. I realized I stared back at him. My hand hurt now, and my heart had stopped beating. I breathed but only mechanically. Time had frozen, and I could do nothing but wait.
Only that I couldn’t stop talking.
“Please say something. I know it’s not like you, but please say something.”
“When did this happen?”
Jasih: Paranormal Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Àlien Mates Book 2) Page 10