CHAPTER 2
"Shh Bethany," someone hissed in my ear.
My struggles eased at the sound of my name. The grip on my arm loosened; the hand fell away from my mouth. I turned quickly, my eyes widened on the person who had grabbed me. Cade stared back at me, his midnight eyes hooded and his black hair falling across his sculpted face. His full mouth was compressed into a firm line.
We'd gone to high school together, but those two words were the most I'd heard from him in over a year. Though, there were times I'd caught him staring at me questioningly, or watching me with an intensity that never failed to steal my breath and cause my pulse to race. With just one look, Cade could make my skin tingle and my toes curl in a way no one else had ever been able to. Though I knew he had no interest in me romantically, there had been a time when I'd harbored a crush on him. I was sure nearly every girl in school had.
He was a year older than me, having just finished his senior year, but that wasn't the reason I hadn't talked to him in awhile. The main reason was I'd been too intimidated by his brooding nature, striking looks and rumors that had run rampant through the school about him. The gossip claimed that he was involved in everything from gangs to Satan worshipping and even the mob. I didn't believe the rumors, but Cade did nothing to disprove them, and at times I thought he enjoyed letting them spin wildly out of control.
He placed a long finger against my lips, gesturing for me to stay quiet as his hand slipped into mine. I stared at his strong fingers, amazed by the way our hands seemed to fit together seamlessly. I was losing my freaking mind. The world was falling apart around me and I was marveling over the fact our hands were a perfect fit, and he was actually holding my hand.
He bent over me, a shiver raced down my spine as his full lips brushed against my ear. "This way."
My fingers tightened around his. I wasn't alone anymore and judging by the set of Cade's jaw, and the determination in his eyes, he had a plan, which was much more than I'd had just seconds ago. He tugged me down an alley, moving with a grace both astonishing and captivating. I was nowhere near as graceful, a fact I was acutely aware of, as I made sure not to trip over my two left feet.
I wanted to ask him where we were going, but I didn't speak as he led me down another street. The rumbling sound became distant, but I knew we wouldn't escape it for long. It would find us, and I was terrified of the consequences of what would happen when it did. Cade held a hand behind him, halting me at the edge of an alley. He held up a finger as he peeked around the corner of the building. His fingers unfolded from mine as he stepped out of the shadows.
My heart kicked harder as he disappeared from view. He was the only person I'd discovered; I couldn't lose him now. I was getting ready to follow him when he reappeared. His eyes, black as onyx and cold as ice, flickered briefly over me. I felt the force of his gaze all the way to the tips of my toes. I thought I would see disapproval flicker over his features as he was a calm and reassuring presence, while I was a trembling mess, but there was none.
His fingers entwined within mine again. Turning away, he began to pull me down the street again. I nearly collided with him as he turned suddenly and tugged me into the shadowed doorway of a store. My legs shook as the rumbling noise grew closer again. I could feel vibrations in the stoop beneath my feet. Whatever was hunting us, whatever was out there, it was getting closer.
A sense of urgency filled me as Cade opened the door and slid noiselessly into the antique store. I followed behind, biting on my lower lip as I fought back the scream welling within my throat. Cade slid the door shut; the faint click of the lock was barely audible over the growing noise outside.
He turned toward the shaded windows and pulled down a slat to peer out. Even his profile was perfect, I realized as I stared at his square jaw and sculpted nose. His teeth clenched as he pulled me back a step. Seeing and hearing him now, I was struck by the memory of the last time we'd spoken nearly a year ago.
I'd been standing on the street, watching alongside my mom and little sister as one of the massive alien ships first arrived. It slid over top of us as it moved toward the city, blocking out the sun, and emitting a low humming noise that had been barely discernible over the normal sounds of the day. I had clung to my mom and sister, my heart hammering, awe and apprehension filling me as we watched it.
In the movies, UFO's were usually depicted as silver and shiny, this was not. It was pitch black, dull, and cold in appearance. It was only later we would learn it was black because it was powered by solar energy and the black captured the powerful rays of the sun better. The ship was tubular in design with two large engines attached to each side of it. Though there was a hazy disturbance trailing from the engines, it was clear enough the sky beyond could be seen through the fumes. The ship was so quiet it seemed impossible the sizeable engines attached to it were actually powering it forward.
Twenty-five alien ships had arrived that day to encircle the earth. Five settled over the U.S., three over Canada, and four throughout central and South America. Five more moved in over Europe, five more over Asia, two over Africa, and one hovered above Australia. Their arrival had signaled a short period of chaos and uncertainty. But over time, things had settled down as no imminent threat emerged to kill us, and the aliens repeatedly proclaimed peace.
As time passed this claim seemed more and more acceptable, especially once they began to share their greater technology and vastly superior medical advances with us. Incurable cancers were cured; diseases were brought under control, if not eradicated. They taught us to harvest solar power in new and far more effective ways. They drastically reduced our reliance on fossil fuels and nearly eradicated air pollution. They introduced a new form of irrigation that allowed us to grow food even in the most arid of deserts, including Antarctica. Millions of starving people were suddenly fed, people were healthier, happier, and starting to rely upon the advances the aliens gave to us. Everything they did for us was an improvement; life became radically better for everyone throughout those first nine months.
But on that strange, frightening first day, Cade had been in my neighborhood. I never knew why, as he didn't live close to us, but suddenly his car was stopping before me. He'd leaned across the front seat of his beater car, his arm on the passenger side window as he leaned toward us. Toward me. He had been thinner then and gangly, but never awkward. Cade had miraculously managed to skip all of the awkward stages involved with being a teenager and always been gorgeous, heartbreakingly so.
His midnight eyes appeared even darker as the sun disappeared behind the ship and he pinned me with his unerring, fathomless gaze. I was unnerved, and yet strangely enchanted by his forceful stare, a stare that didn't leave me, not even to watch the extraordinary new arrivals as they slid across the sky. I had to force my gaze away from his as I turned my attention back to our suddenly bizarre sky. Then the ship had moved past us. The sun had reappeared as the ship left the rural areas behind for Boston.
"Are you ok?"
My attention had been drawn back to Cade as he uttered the question. I couldn't find words for him; I didn't have any right now. I was terrified, fascinated, and completely astonished to realize aliens actually did exist. And they were here. I didn't know if I was ok, I didn't know if any of us would ever be ok again. Clenching my jaw, feeling like an idiot in the face of his confident aura, I had managed a small nod.
There had been a strange gleam in his eyes as he studied me attentively. He'd appeared strangely torn about leaving us there, but that made no sense, we barely knew each other, and we certainly weren't friends. At least we weren't friends anymore; we hadn't been for years. Finally he had returned my nod, sat back in the driver's seat, and drove away. I'd watched him go until he took a left and disappeared. We hadn't spoken since.
I blinked as I was torn from the memory by the shaking of the building. A strange thrill of excitement ran through me as I studied Cade with a growing sense of wonder and curiosity.
Then, the quaking increased and I for
got all about him as my terror spiked again. The glass in the windows began to rattle in the frames, vibrating with the force of whatever was coming toward us. I took an instinctive step back. Cade's hand briefly slid against my back, stopping me from moving before his touch slipped away.
I watched in fascination, and dread, as he moved back toward the window. I almost grabbed him and told him to stop, but I was unable to move. He eased down a slat on the blinds, barely moving it as he peered out the window. Drawn by curiosity, I crept toward him. Pressing against his back, I leaned forward to peer over his shoulder. He shot me a look but didn't try to stop me.
The shaking increased, the noise level escalated as it echoed throughout the store. I searched for the source of the sound, but I couldn't pinpoint it through the small gap in the blinds. I jumped as a large thing suddenly loomed before us. And thing was the only word which could be used to describe it. I had no idea what it was; I'd never seen anything like it. But it was awful, disgusting, gross in ways I’d never begun to imagine gross.
Cade grabbed hold of my shoulder, holding me still as I instinctively took a frightened step back from the monstrosity outside. I nearly collided with a table containing fragile figurines that would have shattered on impact. The saying bull in a china shop flashed through my mind, and I knew I would have to be careful. I was about as graceful as a bull. There were far too many fragile things within this store, and too many hideous things outside we had to avoid.
The thing was smaller than a Mac truck but something about it reminded me of a semi without its trailer. It crept forward on numerous legs that were arachnid in appearance, but swollen, red, and bloated like an overfed tick. The legs seemed to pulse and vibrate with some strange life force. I was completely unable to understand what it was doing, unable to comprehend what it could possibly be. My mind simply couldn't wrap around the hideousness of this atrocity before us.
It stopped next to a few of the frozen bodies, hovering above them as it lowered to get closer to the people. I watched in repulsed fascination as one of those legs curled up before snaking out from the revolting creature. The tentacle-like appendage moved with an uncanny, rapid grace I found almost as captivating as it was disgusting. I found myself entranced by its snakelike movements. The tentacle was clear as it slithered over the ground before snagging hold of a man holding hands with a woman.
My mouth dropped and a scream tore up my throat. Before I could utter a sound, Cade slid his hand over my mouth. He pulled me against him, pressing my back to his chest as he held me close. My knees buckled and I found myself barely able to remain standing. Cade helped keep me up, but I could feel a tremor in his taut, lean muscles.
The tentacle thingy slithered up the man's leg and up to his chest. It pulled back when it reached the man's face and hovered before him like a cobra ready to strike. It remained there for a few seconds before attacking with deadly, and startling, velocity. It sank into the man's throat and drove forward as it buried itself deep within his body. The tentacle was clearly visible as it slithered beneath the man's skin and rapidly made its way through his body. The clear tentacle began to fill with pulsating blood as the man suddenly, and violently, came back to life. Vomit rolled through me, and it was only the mortifying thought of throwing up on Cade's hand that helped me suppress it.
The poor man thrashed against the thing moving through him, his arms flailed crazily against the brutal assault being waged on his body. He grasped at the woman beside him, but she remained still as stone, oblivious to his agony. The man's fingers tore at the invader, trying to pull it free, but his efforts were useless and only caused more blood to spill from his already brutalized throat. I gagged, choked, nearly fell as every muscle in my body collapsed.
This time Cade was barely able to keep me up. A small shudder ran through his body as he held me. He took his hand away from my mouth and wrapped his arms around my waist as he pulled me away from the window. I didn't fight against him, there was no fight left within me.
Cade hastily led me through the store. He dodged the shelves, and delicate artifacts, with a graceful ease that even through my strange numbness, I was able to admire. We passed by the counter. A gray haired man stood behind it, a duster was clasped in the hand above his head as he faced the shelves behind the register. His spectacles gleamed in the glow of the lamps dangling from the ceiling above him. I moved toward him to do something, to try and wake him if I could. I had to get him out of here before that awful thing came for him.
Cade's hand squeezed mine; he shook his head at me as he continued to pull me forward. I was tempted to fight against him, but I was ashamed to admit I was too terrified to offer much of a protest. Cade opened a door in the back of the store and pulled me into the darkened stairwell. Closing the door behind us, he pulled the string to turn on a dim bulb. Light filled the narrow, steep stairway, but it didn't reveal the bottom of the steps.
I glanced up at him, he was a good three inches taller than me at around five eleven. Cade bent close to me, pressing his lips against my ear again. "Stay," he said so low I barely heard him over the loud rush of blood filling my ears.
I remained where I was simply because I wasn't certain I'd be able to walk anyway. A strange, uncontrollable shaking was starting to take hold of my body. My knees were trembling; I couldn't hold my hands still no matter how much I tried. I wrapped my arms around myself, but it did nothing to ease the chill creeping into my quaking bones.
Even in this stairwell, away from the street, I could still feel the vibrations the thing caused within the building. I could vividly recall the man struggling against the awful creature greedily pulling the blood from his body.
Another dim light clicked on below. Cade was silhouetted within the shadows as he reappeared at the bottom of the stairs. He moved with unfailing silence back to me. His hand was gentle upon my elbow as he turned the light off and guided me down the steps. I was oddly and painfully aware of the fact that he moved silently but I didn’t.
He led me through the basement, guiding me through the clutter of boxes. I kept expecting to walk through a cobweb but the basement was surprisingly free of spiders and dust. Amongst the boxes were unpacked antiques set out in preparation for their move upstairs. Others had been stored away until their new owners could pick them up, something they would never do now. Cade led me to the back wall. I stood staring at it as he pushed on something I couldn't see. I frowned at him, and then at the wall as it began to creek and groan. In my hypersensitive, over stimulated state, I was barely able to keep myself from screaming.
My nose wrinkled as he led me into the small, musty smelling room revealed by the hidden door in the back wall. I was having troubling breathing, I couldn't see the walls surrounding me, but I could feel their nearness along my skin. I almost turned and bolted from the room, but I somehow managed to keep myself under control. Mainly because Cade's hand was strong and reassuring on my elbow and I couldn't humiliate myself in front of him.
He pulled the door most of the way shut before tugging on another string. Light flooded into the room, which was about twelve by twelve feet wide. There were only a few boxes within it, one of which was taller than me and nearly twice as wide. I couldn't help but speculate about what treasures were hidden within these boxes and stashed away in this secret room.
"Stay here."
I whirled as Cade released me. "Wait!" I gasped, lunging for him. I could maybe stay in this room if he was here, but by myself...
By myself I would go crazy.
His grasp on my shoulders was surprisingly tender as he held me back and shook his head at me. "I have to get him. I can't leave him up there."
I couldn't form words to argue with him. He was right, the poor man couldn't be left up there to be drained dry by that awful, bloodthirsty thing. But I couldn't be left here either. I despised being trapped within closed confines. The phobia had taken hold of me years ago, and it had never let me go. I didn't think it ever would.
He
was already shaking his head as I spoke again. "I'll help you."
"No, Bethany. Stay here."
"Cade..."
"It will be better if I go alone, quicker. Quieter."
I wanted to protest and tell him I was just as terrified of this room as I was of that damn thing out there. I didn't do anything though. He was right, the man required help and I couldn't bring myself to look like a sniveling coward in front of him. Never in front of Cade.
I didn't know what it was, but I'd always found myself having to appear less childlike, and more confident around him. But then again, my childhood had been cruelly ripped away from me years ago.
We had lived in this town together almost our entire lives, but we barely knew each other, and yet he gave me a sense of strength I'd never known before. Even when we passed in the hallways, not speaking, not touching, I'd always felt a strange sense of comfort just from knowing he was there. There had always been a connection to him I had neither understood nor tried to develop. I considered my feelings for him a silly crush, one that was inappropriately rearing back to life right now. All hell was breaking lose above us, and yet I found myself strangely lost to the magnificent force of his smoldering gaze.
He most certainly didn't feel anything for me, a dull, clumsy girl who was as far off his radar as the Planet Jupiter. Though he was intimidating and aloof, girls had flocked to him. They'd been drawn in by his alluring good looks and the air of mystery enshrouding him. However, I'd never seen him with any of those girls, and as far as I knew he wasn't dating anyone. I didn't even know if he ever had dated anyone, no matter what the rumors said.
But even with his distant attitude, and seeming disinterest in everything and everyone, I had still found him watching me within the halls, or on the street. Sometimes I would look up and he would be staring at me with an intensity that never failed to make me quiver inside. Staring at me in a way that made me feel he knew me better than anyone else, maybe even knew me better than I knew myself.
I knew his attention didn't mean anything, I just yearned for it to, but whenever I found him watching me it always left me rattled and longing for something more. Something I couldn't begin to understand but knew I craved desperately. Those were the few times I actually did feel like a silly child again, because there was no way Cade Marshall could ever see anything even remotely interesting or special in me.
I was feeling that strange connection to him again now, and it was giving me an odd sense of security and warmth. I couldn't turn into a blathering idiot in front of him. I just couldn't. No matter how much I didn't want to stay in this cramped room by myself.
My hand fell back to my side, my lips pinched together as I managed to give him a brisk nod. He continued to study me, but I kept my face impassive and tried to keep my fear hidden from him. I wasn't sure it was working though.
Finally, he turned away from me and slipped out the door. It wasn't until I heard the lock click into place I realized I didn't know how I would escape this room if he didn't come back.