Just A Kiss.pdf

Just A Kiss

Lara Santiago

Chapter One

"Hello. Hello! Can you hear me, now?” Gabrielle Miller shouted into her worthless cell phone as she

pushed it against her ear. She pressed her finger hard against the opposite ear, trying in vain to hear the

voice from Bob's Tow Service.

She bent over the center console because the passenger seat sported a single bar of signal strength

versus none in the driver's seat.

"I need a tow truck sent to...” She was talking to herself. The ensuing silence she registered meant the call

just dropped. Again.

"Damn it all to hell.” She lowered the phone to dial again and saw the problem. The low battery warning

no longer blinked or beeped. The screen was completely blank. Crap! She snapped her useless cell

phone shut and pitched it to the passenger side floor board.

"What am I doing here?” Gabrielle sighed.

She'd gotten lost on her way to a party where an acquaintance wanted to introduce her to someone

perfect . She blew out her tire racing around like a mouse in a maze in this desolate industrial area, trying

to follow directions given by someone obviously more geographically challenged than she was. All for

what amounted to a blind date selected for her by someone she barely knew. What could she have been

thinking?

You thought you were lonely , said a sad voice from deep within her.

Straightening from her crouched position bent over the stick shift, Gabrielle caught a disturbing image out

of the corner of her eye and strangled a shriek. A man stood outside her window. A glance to her

rearview mirror showed a car now parked behind hers.

"Need some help changing your tire?” he asked politely. His face was lowered to her window level. He

rested one hand casually on the roof of her car; the other was hidden behind him. He looked like an

average guy, but something in his tone felt off.

"No, I've already called a tow service. Thanks, anyway."

She waved him off with her best fake smile plastered securely in place. Her sixth sense, which she largely

ignored, sent a punch to her stomach.

"Why don't I wait here with you?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that. They'll be here any minute,” she lied through teeth clenched very tightly,

trying to hold the grin now fading as quickly as the light of day surrounding them.

"I don't mind.” The disturbing edge in his tone of voice sent a tendril of pure dread snaking down her

spine.

Gabrielle dropped her fake smile. “Get away from my car!"

"You want me, don't you?” the man asked and smiled suggestively. “I can tell when a woman craves

domination. You'll be on your knees tonight, you whore.” His eyes shone with a mania now

unmistakable.

"I have a gun,” she lied, hoping it would at least make him step back.

He didn't step away. Instead, he bashed in her driver's side window with a tire iron he had been hiding

behind him. She shrieked when he grabbed hold of her hair through all the broken glass. She fought to

disengage her seatbelt.

She yanked her head from his grasp, losing several strands the hard way. Eyes watering from the bruising

sting, but free from her restraint, Gabrielle dove for the passenger door handle. He reached through the

broken window and caught the sleeve of her blouse in his fist. The sound of fabric ripping motivated her

to kick him in the face and escape through the now—thank heavens—open passenger door.

Gabrielle scraped her hands and tore a hole in the knee of her slacks as she scrambled out of her car.

She wobbled unsteadily to her feet at first, but once she gained her footing, her palpable fear motivated

her to run as she never had before.

Thankfully clad in fairly comfortable low heels, she fed on the adrenalin powering her system. She

sprinted down the deserted street searching for any available help.

"I'm gonna catch you, bitch, then I'm gonna punish you for your sins!” the pervert shouted in her wake as

he ran after her. Unfortunately, he was faster and already gaining on her. Damn it!

The sidewalk she traveled on ended at a ten-story brick structure a few blocks ahead. There were

several doors along the ground floor, but she knew her pursuer would overcome her before she could

even reach the nearest one.

Instead, she caught sight of an opening on her right and headed for it. Gabrielle rounded the corner into

an alley, never slowing her pace. She prayed for a miracle with every urgent step she took.

After only a few strides into the alley, the muscles in her thighs cramped at the exertion she demanded. If

there was a miracle to be found tonight, this alleyway wasn't it. All she could see was endless bricks and

absolutely no evidence of humanity whatsoever.

Not even a stray dog or cat to add drama.

So, she simply kept running, wondering if this was how too-stupid-to-live heroines in horror movies felt

as they ran from monsters.

Abruptly, she realized the walls were closing in on her. She couldn't see any gap at the end of the alley.

Only bricks. Everywhere. Surely it was only her imagination? She squinted into the darkness closing fast

around her. The walls of this opening were narrowing to an inevitable dead end.

There were no doors, no windows, and ultimately, no hope of escape. Gabrielle didn't slow down,

though. She found a reserve of strength and used it to propel her even faster—possibly to her death.

If she ended up smacking a brick wall at full speed, then she wouldn't be conscious for whatever the evil

man behind her intended. Her rock-or-hard-place choice fast closing in gave her mental pause. This was

so unfair, yet so unavoidable.

The madman was catching up. Gabrielle could almost feel his foul breath on the back of her neck, but she

refused to look behind her. She pushed onward.

Fifty feet. Forty feet. Thirty feet.

Her eyes welled up. She glanced toward the darkening sky for any sign of help. Not even an alien craft

for her vivid imagination to latch onto for help.

None. Nothing. Nada.

But when she focused forward again, a miracle appeared. A beam of light suddenly spilled forth ahead of

her.

The blue-tinted glow brightened, as if from a big television, and a shaft of light arrowed toward what was

surely her salvation. Was it a door? A window opened in the endless brick? A contingent of law

enforcement tucked away ready to help her?

Twenty feet. Ten feet.

It was a narrow opening between the brick buildings. Gabrielle turned and embraced the light, throwing

herself through the gap. She didn't slow her pace as she twisted her upper torso to accommodate the

narrow space and charged through at full-steam-ahead mode. If she'd been a D-cup instead of a C-cup,

she would have surely left part of one breast behind on the corner.

Without a doubt, the hulking monster giving chase couldn't fit, right? Gabrielle sneaked a glance behind

her but couldn't see anything as her hair blew into her face and covered her eyes.

When she turned back to the courtyard surrounded by the tall brick buildings, she couldn't quite

understand what her eyes registered. A small group of tall, massively built, commando-looking figures

stood silently in a circle. The blue light emanated from somewhere in the center of their loose human ring.

Gabrielle, elated to find someone else in her barren nightmare to possibly save her, dove for the center of

the group and the hope-fulfilling light, intending to do a tuck and roll once she hit the ground.

However, as her body slid into the circle and the soothing light enveloped her, something remarkable

happened. As she flew between two of the figures, she realized they surrounded a massive marble,

coffin-like structure. It looked like solid rock. Another impressive warrior figure lay on top of the slab in

repose.

Gabrielle, thinking she was aimed to smack into the rock, braced for impact, but she didn't crash.

Everything stopped moving, including her body. She hung suspended in midair several feet from the slab.

Then a wall formed around everyone, including her. She heard a loud thump behind her and hoped with

all her heart the noise came from the pervert chasing her. He deserved to be a smear on the newly

created wall.

Poetic justice , she thought smugly.

She remained in midair, wondering if she would be stuck like this forever, but it was only for a moment.

Gravity returned without warning, and she crashed. She hit the side of the structure in a very clumsy tuck

and roll. The circle of warriors stationed around her looked surprised.

They were very dark. Or was it merely their clothing that was dark? And they were very tall. Or was it

just that she was gazing up from the ground which made them look so tall? And they were big. Okay,

there was no mistaking the muscles they all had.

Was she dreaming? Was she dead? Were they about to do something worse than what the madman she

escaped from had in mind for her?

Gabrielle closed her eyes and counted to three. It was childish to believe they'd be gone if she simply

wished hard enough, but she tried it anyway. When she opened her eyes again, the dark warriors were

still in a circle around her, but she was no longer in a courtyard surrounded by tall brick buildings and a

newly formed steel wall. Gabrielle gasped in surprise. She was now on an aircraft of some sort.

Gabrielle groaned and rubbed her aching shoulder. She was surprised all right, but apparently so were

the warriors, as evident by the wary astonishment on their faces as they closed ranks around her.

She was so grateful to have escaped the madman, she didn't register the frightfully aggravated looks her

rescuers now directed at her. Dangerous looks. They drew their weapons as she stared up into their

weary, unmistakably angry faces.

And so, Gabrielle did what any self-respecting, too-stupid-to-live heroine in a horror movie would do.

She fainted.

* * * *

"What will we do with the human?” Crag, the male leader of the alien explorers, asked Sybille, his female

second-in-command. He had directed the rest of the dwindled crew to their stations to pre-flight the craft

for the journey home. They already faced challenges with Zelda gone and Keller incapacitated.

"Leave her here,” Sybille responded distantly as she watched the female slumped on the floor next to

Keller's resting place for the journey.

"Is that wise? What if she wakes up? Our mission parameters were clear. No contact whatsoever."

"It's already too late for that. The human made contact by jumping into our circle of departure. Besides,

we don't have time to return her to Earth and still ensure Keller is healed in a timely manner. We'll bring

the human back once Keller's safely attended to by his wife, Maura."

"The human won't stay asleep for that long. Surely she'll wake before we dock."

She shrugged. “The room will be sealed. She won't escape. I already checked her for weapons and

found none. Besides, she's puny, even by Earth standards."

Crag folded his arms over his massive chest and took a deep, calming breath. Sybille immediately

recognized the look on his handsome face. He was about to protest, but they didn't have time.

"Do you want to risk the damage of a royal prince to return a foolish human who shouldn't have been

where she was in the first place?"

"I hardly think it's her fault, Sybille."

"Perhaps not, but I don't imagine you want to explain to our queen that her son spent extra time in

excruciating pain because of an earthling who caught us departing."

"Putting her back will be complicated."

"Perhaps, but unavoidable. We'll deal with it when the time draws closer. Come, we need to make final

preparations for our departure out of orbit.” Sybille turned and exited the room, urgency driving her

steps.

She closed the door on their way out of the quiet chamber to allow their wounded friend peace. If Keller

woke during the journey to their home planet Tiburon, he would need it.

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