by Jane, C. R.
A studio apartment was all I needed, the bed on one end of the room, and the kitchen and a small table on the other side. The walls remained bare as I’d been on an unsuccessful hunt at flea markets since I’d moved in, looking for just the right images to hang. I toed off my shoes, kicking them aside, and walked across my cushioned rug that was one of the few things I had been able to find that I liked. It was the color of the brightest sky and always made me smile when I looked at it. A neighbor had held a sale and he sold it to me for twenty dollars. A bargain for sure.
I made my way to the fridge while unzipping my work uniform and shuffling it down my body as I walked. I tossed the uniform on the table, then reached into the fridge for the spinach and feta quiche and juice that I was rationing for dinner this week. The chef at work snuck me leftovers a few days ago after hours, saving my life this week since I wouldn’t be able to afford any groceries with Greg cutting my check.
As part of the healthy living instigation, every morning, free bananas were made available by vendors on the sidewalk, all covered by the Vepar to encourage a healthy breakfast. The fruit went fast, so every morning at six a.m., I was down there, waiting for my small bag of goodies. Bananas and quiche would have to work this week.
By the time I finished my meager dinner, it was almost time for Cherry to arrive. I hurriedly jumped into the shower and got dressed for the night. I spun in front of the mirror in my black dress examining myself. The dress had spaghetti straps and cinched in at my waist. It also had a skirt that flowed in waves, falling about mid-thigh. It was my favorite dress and made me feel pretty which was a hard task with how worn down I always felt nowadays. I dried and styled my hair, a workout in itself since my long dark locks reached half-way down my back. I parted it at the side and sprayed the ends to keep the natural curl I had always liked. I was just picking up my mascara when a knock sounded at the door.
All I could hope was that it wasn’t my landlord and instead was Cherry running a few minutes early. Please don’t let it be him.
The knock came again, and I exhaled the breath I’d been holding onto. I moved to the door, avoiding the wooden floorboards that creaked, and peered through the peep-hole.
Cherry stood there, wearing a grumpy expression, blowing a breath of air upward, flicking at the blonde strands cascading over her eyes.
I unlocked the door quickly and pulled it open.
“About time.” She rolled her eyes and strolled inside wearing a red, shiny dress with the deepest neckline I had ever seen. It fell clear to her stomach. The side split on her skirt flashed her thigh with each step, showing off her black knee-high boots. She twirled on the spot. “What do you think? Found it at a new boutique store that specializes in dresses that are supposed to look just like the dresses worn by Hollywood stars.”
I closed the door and turned to face my friend. “It’s gorgeous. You look so sexy,” I said almost wistfully, thinking that I wasn’t as excited about my old dress anymore.
“Exactly what I’m going for. And you look so cute, babe. We’re going to have a blast for your birthday. Pick up some guys.” She winked, her attention falling to my bare feet. She furrowed her brow at the fact that I wasn’t ready.
“Give me two secs and I’ll be ready,” I told her, rushing to the bathroom to finish applying my make-up and then quickly stepping into my black heels. We left my apartment, out the front way, after Cherry’s protest on using the fire exit. And it must have been my lucky day when my landlord didn’t make an appearance. Cherry called an Uber and by the time we reached the club, I’d forgotten about my crappy day. I was ready to get drunk and party.
We stepped out on to the sidewalk in front of a building that must have once been a warehouse. The brick walls had all been painted black, along with the double doors. Golden words sat over the entrance on a plaque that seemed to glow. The Garage.
A bouncer stood outside, decked out in black.
Cherry grabbed me by the elbow and walked me closer. “Everyone’s going to this club. It’s the hottest ticket in town!”
The bouncer studied us for the longest time. When he finally opened the door, I offered him a smile as I passed by, reaching into my handbag as we walked to put away the ID that he hadn’t asked for. An explosion of music poured out of the establishment; a deep, fast beat that made my blood seem to pump faster.
Cherry dragged me inside, giggling and pushing aside the black curtains in the entryway. We entered the nightclub.
The music vibrated around us. The floor beneath my feet bounced with each beat, and my stomach swirled with excitement. The black theme continued inside, a circular bar with blue lights surrounding the dance floor. Overhead there was a second floor, and people were hanging by the railing, looking down at the dance floor and its mass of writhing people. Wall to wall was filled with people dancing, no room for much else. Beaming lights sailed overhead, while the DJ stood in a cage elevated over the dance floor.
“Wow. This is fantastic!” I couldn't stop grinning, and Cherry squeezed my hand at the delight in my voice.
“Told you.” She drew me deeper into the crowds. Bodies squished up against me as we walked, and my feet were trampled on a couple of times. It was to be expected in a place this packed.
“We need drinks,” I called out, trying to be loud enough to get past the noise, and Cherry glanced back, nodding.
By the time we reached the bar, we found a small open space to breath. “This place is sick.” I glanced around, marveling again at the fact that the place was filled to the brim with what seemed like a million people. I couldn’t wait to get out on the dance floor.
Cherry said something, but I didn’t hear her because my gaze had settled on three men sitting at the end of the bar, one of them sizing me up. All high cheekbones, he wore a mischievous grin. Except, I’d seen him before. I wracked my brain, thinking for a few moments before it finally hit me. I’d seen him on a billboard in the streets.
I gasped and rocked on my heels, grasping Cherry’s arm. Panic dug its claws into my chest. “Did you know, there’re Vepar here!”
She wiggled her eyebrows. “Of course. It’s a Vepar nightclub.”
2
My skin was crawling, and I felt sick to my stomach. I looked at my best friend who was making eyes at a Vepar a few chairs away before turning to scan the rest of the crowded room. Now that I was looking at everyone in the room it was impossible to miss the fact that they were more than just humans. Every single being in the room looked like they had marched off the cover of a high fashion spread of supernaturally gorgeous individuals. Standing among such beautiful beings in the dress that I had thought was so good-looking before, I now felt like a dowdy child that had shown up at the wrong party.
As my gaze skipped across the room, my eyes got caught on three Vepar seated at a booth a few feet away. I pushed my hair behind an ear, nervous as hell. While everyone in the room was beautiful, these three were enough to make me forget how much I hated the Vepar for half a second. While two of them were gazing around the room disinterestedly, the third was staring right at me. His hair was tousled, but not in an artificial way like was the current style. The dark blonde locks were cropped close on the sides, but longer on top, and had enough wave that I suspected they were impossible to tame. Sitting on the far side of the booth, I could see his sexy broad shoulders, emphasized by the perfect cut of his suit. He would have looked almost too perfect if it weren’t for the fact that his tie was askew, as if he’d been yanking on it, and the fact that his body seemed to hum with a kind of restless energy like he was looking for something even though he was at a club. His icy blue eyes seemed to see right into my soul and coupled with the hard-as-steel jaw, he was very intimidating. Everything about him was intimidating. And sexy. Really damn sexy.
“Ella, I need twenty dollars,” said Cherry, yanking my attention from the blonde predator.
“What?” I asked, my brain a little scrambled from the intense stare down I was just engagi
ng in.
“I ordered us shots. I need to pay,” she said in an annoyed voice, gesturing at the Vepar waiter who was impatiently waiting for us.
I looked at her wide-eyed. “Um sure,” I said, cringing as I got a twenty out of my wallet. A twenty that I couldn’t afford to part with after the debacle at the diner today. She had at least the decency to offer me an apologetic shrug as she grabbed the money.
“I guess I forgot my wallet at home,” she said, handing the money to the bartender who then pushed what looked like four candy apple green shots towards us. Alcohol had managed to stay available despite the health restrictions. Apparently the Vepar were just as fond of drinks as us humans were.
I tried to push away my annoyance at the fact that I was paying for my own birthday shots by draining my two shots as quickly as I could. If I was going to get through this night, it was going to be because I was drunk. As I gasped at the burn, I could immediately feel myself relaxing. My muscles unflexed, and my breath slowed down.
“Those were just regular shots, right?” I asked, as the room began to spin a little bit.
“It’s a Vepar bar,” she said to me haughtily. “Of course, I was going to have us try Vepar liquor.”
She slid off her barstool ungracefully, her almost non-existent dress briefly flashing the fact that she wasn’t wearing underwear, and I hurriedly averted my eyes as she nonchalantly adjusted herself.
“I think it’s time to see if the Vepar men like me as much as human men do,” she said, tossing her long blonde hair behind her and doing a shimmy. She scanned the room before homing in on a target, a well-dressed Vepar with slicked black hair who was making eyes in our direction. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like he was looking at me rather than Cherry.
Unperturbed, Cherry grabbed my arm and began to drag me behind her, completely forgetting that this was my birthday and I might have something else that I wanted to do besides be her wingman for the night. Cherry was already getting sloppy from the shots we’d taken at the bar and she narrowly missed running into a waiter who was hustling by with a full tray of glasses. Unfortunately, her narrowly missing the waiter meant that I couldn’t swerve out of the way in time and the tray knocked me in the head, sending me falling backwards, the back of my knees hitting something hard. I stumbled into what felt like a rock-solid seat that I realized belatedly was someone’s lap.
My cheeks burned from falling into someone, and I sat frozen. I looked up into a shocking green gaze that I immediately recognized as belonging to one of the men that I had noticed earlier, and then I immediately averted my eyes. That wasn’t much better as I could see that the Vepar all around me were staring at me, the clumsy human.
I shook my head, telling myself to turn my head and face the situation. Turning, my breath caught a little. He was a damn good-looking man...alien...Vepar...whatever they were called. I could fall into his gaze, and I suddenly found myself picturing us naked with me beneath him. I trembled at the thought, yet I couldn’t get his face out of my thoughts. So gorgeous it would stop anyone in their tracks. I’m sure he was used to that kind of attention, based on the little smirk on his face. I’m sure females of both species froze when they crossed his path. He had the greenest eyes I had ever seen. They had a haunting twinkle to them that just added to his allure. He looked like he could see all of my inappropriate thoughts. Heat crawled up my neck, and I prayed that wasn’t the case.
Looking around for help, I caught a glance of Cherry walking out the door with what had to be one of the only other human males in the club. Tears gathered in my eyes and my throat thickened at the fact that my so-called best friend was leaving me on my birthday in a Vepar club of all places. And we’d just arrived too. I squirmed to get up, but the arm around my waist held firm.
“What’s the hurry, my pet?” he whispered in my ear, his breath sending tremors down my spine.
“I saw someone I know. I should go say hello,” I responded weakly, not wanting to let him know that I was now all alone at the club.
“I can hear your heartbeat, pet. I know you are lying.” His words carried a light growl, and while they should have scared me, I found myself becoming intrigued. I twisted around, still trapped in his lap, and tumbled into those stunning eyes again that were too pretty to be human. They reaffirmed I wasn’t sitting in the lap of a human.
He was most definitely a Vepar.
My breath hitched all the way down to my lungs, and as if sensing my fear, he smiled. His upper lip lifted slightly, a dimple crinkling on his chin. Warmth radiated from his expression, and his gaze fixed on me as if a secret lay between us. Then he gave me a knowing nod.
The blush burning my cheeks was a dead giveaway of the way he affected me. My mouth twitched, and I fought a smile, reminding myself whose lap I sat in.
The monsters who came onto Earth and took over. The ones that were most likely responsible for all the missing people, missing people like my parents.
I’d heard people say to stay hidden when a Vepar made an appearance. If they don’t know you exist, they can’t take you.
And I’d ruined that royally by landing in one’s lap. Frantically I looked around again to see if there was any way out of the situation. I needed to run, get away as fast as I could. I needed to forget tonight, forget Cherry, forget my birthday.
I wriggled in his grasp. “You can let me go now.”
“What’s the rush?” he said, his voice velvety smooth against my ear, and the shivers returned to my skin from his breath on my neck. If my body reacted that quickly from his closeness, I had no hope of saying no to him. He’d somehow get me in bed with him, and before long, I’d vanish from society and probably end up in a prison on another planet. Or so the rumors insisted.
I glanced down at his strong arms, the corded muscles beneath the tanned skin. His shirt was the color of midnight and was rolled to his elbows, giving him a casual look despite the fanciness of the club. Around us a mix of Vepar and human women danced, cheered, and drank. I didn’t see any sign of the Vepar’s two companions that I had seen him with earlier. Had they separated so they could study the humans and select their prey?
I twisted in his lap to look at him again, and it was a terrible mistake. My heart skipped a beat and I lost my words being this close to someone so incredibly handsome. My fingers tingled with the urgency to reach over and touch his face to see if he was real.
Was this his real form? Was it possible for a whole planet to be full of nothing but genetic perfection? if so, it must have been disappointing to arrive on Earth to find we weren’t all spectacular models. I lowered my gaze, curling my shoulders forward, reminding myself I was nothing spectacular. My work uniform hung over my thin frame during the day, and my black dress tonight was nothing special. I wore my dark chestnut hair in a ponytail most days, though I had toyed with the idea of putting purple highlights in it. But just like with most things, I never gained the courage.
I pushed myself out of his grasp, suddenly feeling less scared, but more out of place. I didn’t belong here, not with these gorgeous people, not at his club, and definitely not pretending this man would be interested in me. Even as an extraterrestrial being, he’d overlook a simple female like me, unless his goal was to hunt down a slave. Even Cherry had picked up a guy, while every inch of me itched to run back to my apartment.
Quickly, I climbed out of his lap, suddenly appreciating his kindness in showing me interest. I shyly glanced away and turned toward the exit when iron fingers wrapped around my wrist.
“Where are you going, my pet?”
I twisted around to face the man with the devilish eyes, his strong hand wrapped around mine like a shackle.
“I made a mistake in coming here,” I answered, not sure if I was talking about coming here without knowing it was a Vepar club or coming here in the first place because I didn’t belong. Something about the tenderness in his gaze coaxed me to speak the truth, because I suspected he picked up on small nuances like my nervo
usness, that I was alone, and how vulnerable I appeared.
I might be vulnerable, but I wasn’t about to forget how dangerous the creature was holding on to me.
“Humans have a saying that there’s no such thing as coincidences. Do you believe that?” he said randomly, tracing my lips with a whisper soft touch. Somehow the act seemed more intimate than sex. This being was looking at me like he knew all of my secrets or at least felt that my secrets belonged to him. He’s touching me so possessively, not even pausing for a moment to ask my permission. I’m suddenly even more aware that the creature in front of me is a predator hidden behind a pretty face. I have to leave.
I shrugged, trying to hide the fact that I felt almost debilitated by fear, and tucked a strand of hair behind an ear nonchalantly. “Haven’t given it much thought. Guess if enough strange things keep happening, I’d question the coincidence.”
His thumb on the hand that was holding my arm in a vice grip started to rub a circle on the inside of my wrist as he held my gaze, so intent and focused I had no choice but to start shivering. Tremors wiggled south to the pit of my stomach and lower. I’d never had a man stare at me with such depth, not even the boys who’d shown semi-interest in me in the past. This here...this was something else.
“What can I get you to drink?” he asked smoothly, his eyes still on me like I was a shot of single malt whiskey.
The voices, thumping music, and mass crowd in the club floated somewhere behind me. My eyes flitted anywhere besides his face as my mind raced with how to escape. As much as my body responded to his attentiveness, how the heat between my thighs inflamed into an inferno, I was sure I wouldn’t survive the night if I stayed any longer.
“Thanks, but maybe next time.” I said, trying to draw my hand from his without success.
“Sometimes the hardest thing in life is letting go,” he said randomly, finally letting go of my hand.