Branded

  “What do you think about this one?” he asked as he looked me in the face. His brow was furrowed but I could see the excitement in his eyes.

  “Um…” I stammered as I struggled to look away from his face. The unit certainly did look nice, it was shiny and pretty but it was just another range to me, the only difference being that it had six burners instead of the normal four. “Are you ever likely to be using that many burners at a time?” Nice, I scolded myself. That sounded real smooth. I was such a dork.

  A smile cracked on one side of his face, spreading to his smile. “This is the one I’m going to get then,” he said gleefully.

  I only chuckled and shook my head as we walked over to the refrigeration units. Alex quickly got down to business, opening and closing the doors of almost every unit.

  At one particularly fancy one that contained some kind of touch screen in it, Alex started chuckling and shook his head.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked shyly but curious as to what the answer would be.

  Alex chuckled again before he gave a little sigh and closed the door. “Just an old memory,” he said as he moved onto the next unit. “I remember when I was about six, my grandparents got a new fridge that had the ice and water in the door and my dad was absolutely fascinated by it. He thought that was the coolest thing ever invented. I wonder what he might have thought if he were to see this.” This was the first time I had ever heard Alex mention either of his parents. “Where do your parents live now?” I couldn’t help but asking.

  As Alex looked at me I saw a certain sadness spread in his eyes. It made me sad too, those startlingly blue eyes should never look sad.

  “I have never actually met my mom,” he said as he continued walking slowly through the isle. “She took off when I was only a few weeks old. My grandparents never had anything good to say about her and have alluded to a drug problem she had struggled with for years. I guess I was lucky it didn’t affect me at all when she was pregnant with me. I have no idea where she is or what last name she might be using to even try to track her down. I only know her first name is Caroline.

  “When I was about three my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. He smoked while he was in the army and it caught up to him, though he had quit long before I was born.

  His body wasn’t handling it too well and we had to move in with my grandparents. It was a nasty battle with the cancer and of course they didn’t have the treatments for it back then as they do now. He died a week before my seventh birthday.”

  He was quiet for a long moment after that and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. “I’m so sorry, Alex. That’s terrible.”

  His own sad eyes met mine. To my surprise a smile spread on his face and to my relief it spread to his eyes. In a gesture that totally took me off guard, he draped an arm across my shoulders. “It’s alright,” he said casually. “My grandparents were amazing people and I was very happy growing up with them. I don’t remember too much of my dad but what I do remember is nothing but good memories.” I tried to smile and gave a little sniffle. He looked back down at me and giving me a quick squeeze, turned to a fridge. “How about this one?” he said with a sarcastic smile.

  I couldn’t help but laugh as I saw the one he indicated was maybe half the size of a normal fridge.

  He didn’t take too much longer to pick out the rest of his new appliances. My jaw nearly hit the floor when I saw the total that everything was. I thought I saw Alex cringe slightly as well but he simply pulled out a card. “Thanks Grandma and Grandpa,” he said with a chuckle as he swiped it.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Morning dawned with an oddly bright hue. As I peered out my bedroom window, I was surprised to see several feet of fluffy looking snow on the ground. One more thing about Washington in the winter. It can rain buckets and dump large amounts of precipitation in a short time, but if the temperature drops below freezing that makes for a lot of snow. Lake Samish was located in a bit of a pass and the roads were difficult to keep clear in snow storms. I knew what the conditions were going to be like. Smart people would be staying home today.

  I had just poured a large amount of cereal into a bowl when I heard the door crack open.

  “Jessica?” his voice was surprisingly quiet and hesitant. It seemed unnatural for him.

  “Yes?” I said as I felt slightly frantic that I was getting caught yet again in my pajamas.

  He rounded the corner and I was slightly surprised at his appearance when he came into view. He was wearing a threadbare white tee-shirt that seemed several sizes too small, with the mascot from some high school in southern California. His bottom half was covered in red and black checkered pajama pants.

  “Would you care to join me for breakfast?” he said, that smile playing on his lips again. “You know I had to try out the new goods.”

  I glanced at my bowl of still dry cereal and nodded my head.

  “Great,” he said, a dazzling smile breaking on his face.

  “It’s all ready.”

  I considered putting something more covering on but after a moment thought there really wasn’t much point.

  He’d already seen me as I was, several times.

  I followed him up the stairs and my mouth started to water as the scent of bacon filled my nose. My stomach instantly growled, in an embarrassingly loud manner.

  Surprising, considering how infrequently I did eat, I didn’t think I was actually hungry.

  Alex chuckled as we came to the main floor. “Just in time it sounds like.”

  Shock spread on my face as I took a look at the table.

  He must have been up for much longer than I had realized.

  The table was filled with piles of bacon, sausage, eggs, and pancakes. The new look of the kitchen was surprising.

  Everything had a new bright gleam as the light danced across all the sterling silver surfaces.

  “Hope you’re hungry,” he said as he walked to the table and pulled a chair out for me. “I got a little carried away this morning.”

  I took the seat he offered and noticed as my cheeks flushed red that the pancakes were pink and shaped into hearts.

  Alex took the seat next to me and started dishing food onto his plate. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said as he glanced up at me for a moment.

  I instantly stiffened for a moment. The pancakes and the big breakfast instantly made sense. I had almost forgotten that this day was upon us. It took me only a moment to calm down by reminding myself that I didn’t have to face the hypocritical novelties of the holiday as long as I didn’t go out. The white fluffy stuff on the ground was certainly going to prevent that.

  “And to you as well,” I finally managed to squeak out.

  “How’d you sleep last night?” he asked after swallowing a huge bite of eggs.

  I nearly choked on my orange juice as it went down. I coughed violently for a second before I could speak. “Fine,” I lied as I put the glass back down, before I could accidently spill it.

  “You okay?” he asked and I couldn’t tell if his tone was sincere or slightly amused.

  “Ya,” I said as I dabbed a napkin at my mouth to make sure there was nothing embarrassing there. “How do you like your new fancy stove?” I asked, trying to very quickly change the subject before I had to lie any more.

  This instantly brought a smile to his face. “It’s awesome,” he said with that huge grin on his face. “And I even had all six burners on this morning. Though I may not have actually been using them all,” he added a little more quietly.

  Food threatened to spray across the table as a laugh burst from my lips. Embarrassment washed over me immediately and I tried to cover it by shoveling another forkful into my mouth. I savored every bite as it went down.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a hot breakfast, much less one that was this good.

  “So what are your plans for the day?” he asked.

  I swallowed a large bite of bacon before I spoke.

  “Do
n’t really have any. I certainly won’t be going anywhere,” I said as I looked out the window.

  “There’s no lucky man on his way to take you out for a romantic Valentines?” he said with a wry smile.

  I felt myself blush again under his gaze. “Nope, can’t say there is,” I said. “What about you? Is there some woman you’re going to rush off to later to pick up?” He gave a slight laugh. “Relationships have been pretty hard to maintain for me. It’s a little difficult to have them when you’re running all over the world. And I learned very quickly that long distance relationships just don’t work out.”

  What he said made sense but part of me was shocked that this gorgeous specimen before me could possibly be single.

  “At least we’ve got each other today,” he said as he looked back into his plate. I wasn’t sure how he had meant for me to interpret this. His tone was innocent and did not imply anything. I tried to ignore how my heart gave a faint flutter before bursting into a throbbing race.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen snow,” he continued casually. “I was thinking it might be fun to venture out into it for a while today. You want to come?” I looked out the window again. The snow would easily come above my knees. “I guess,” I said with a hesitant grin as I continued to look out the window, trying not to think about how cold it had to be outside.

  A boyish grin spread on his face as he turned his full attention back to his plate. He began shoveling his food down at an impressive speed.

  “Whoa!” I laughed as I watched him. “Slow down, you’re going to choke! A little excited, are we?”

  “Not going to waste any time,” he said through a mouthful of food.

  His enthusiasm was contagious and I couldn’t help but be swept up in it as I too scarfed down the rest of the food on my plate. It was too bad; I would have liked to have taken my time to enjoy it. But more than my desire to savor every bite, I wanted to go and have some fun with this pretty amazing man next to me.

  As soon as we were both finished, we sprang from our seats and raced down the stairs, neither of us bothering to even clear our dishes from the table or put any of the extra food away. As soon as I reached my door I froze.

  “I don’t have any snow stuff,” I called to Alex who was already in his room. “What should I wear?”

  “I don’t either,” he said with a laugh. “I’m just going to put on as many layers as I can.”

  I gave a shrug before going into my room and following his advice. A minute or so later Alex entered the apartment and I couldn’t help but laugh at his appearance.

  His legs were bulging and looked oddly swollen due to the multiple layers of pants. I could tell he had on several sweaters under his rain coat and he had a scarf wrapped around his neck and covering half his face. All this was topped with a hunter orange wool hat.

  “How do I look?” he said using a dramatic Spanish accent as he struck a manly pose.

  “Amazing,” I said with a stupid giggle, not being completely sarcastic. I suddenly felt like a fourteen-year-old girl.

  “You don’t look so bad yourself,” he said with a wink as he looked at me.

  I was dressed similarly, with so many layers of clothing it was difficult to move.

  “Shall we?” he said as he indicated the door.

  “Let’s go.”

  As I expected, as soon as the door was opened, a large pile of snow dumped itself onto my floor. After a few moments we had both scooped it up and plowed our way through the wall.

  I had never seen any place more beautiful in the winter than Washington. It did not snow more than a dozen times in the winter but when it did, the effect was enchanting. The way the snow left a soft dusting on the towering evergreens never ceased to stop me in my tracks for a moment and take in its beauty. It was breathtaking.

  The property the house was set on was a fairly steep hill, dropping from the road above down quickly to the lake, the house clinging to the sloping side. One wrong step and it wouldn’t be too difficult to slide all the way from the top toward the frigid waters.

  “This is why I love Washington,” Alex said as he paused on the deck to overlook the view before us.

  “Southern California is nice in its way but it doesn’t have half the beauty of here.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” I said, watching the stream curl from my mouth, drift upward, then disappear.

  Alex glanced over at me and that sly smile threatened to break through. Just as I caught the mischievous gleam in his eye, I knew it was already too late.

  “Gotch’ ya!” he bellowed just as he dumped a handful of snow on my head.

  By the time I screamed and wiped the snow off he was already half way up the hill, running toward the road. I bent down and picked up a handful of the powder and formed it into a ball. My aim was surprisingly accurate considering the many cumbering layers I wore and it landed square on the back of his head.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so lighthearted and care free as we chased each other around the house, throwing snowballs as fast as we could. There weren’t too many times when I had allowed myself to be so relaxed around anyone, parents and friends included. It seemed so easy for Alex to bring out a side of me that I didn’t think existed. A part of me that just wanted to be me and felt free to be just me.

  “I don’t think that’s the best spot to lie down,” I said with a chuckle as I watched Alex lay right in the middle of the road.

  He sat back up and looked to his left then to his right before looking back up at me with a smirk. “I really don’t think anyone’s going to be driving on this road for quite a while.”

  I had to admit he was probably right. Even though it was nearly ten, there weren’t any tire tracks on the road yet.

  We were pretty well snowed in.

  With a blissful sounding sigh, he tilted his head back till he fell perfectly flat on the snowy road. I chuckled at him and shook my head. I looked across the road to the hill that rose up from it, wondering if we would be able to find a straight enough path to sled between the trees on it.

  “Come make a snow angel with me, Jessica!” Alex said in innocent delight.

  As I looked down, I was fairly sure my heart stopped beating for a moment. Flashbacks from my nightmares filled my head as I beheld the perfectly beautiful man with piercing blue eyes and brilliant wings newly formed at his side.

  “I…I…” I stammered, frozen in terror. My hands started shaking and I felt slightly weak in the knees. My ears started ringing and I couldn’t concentrate on any other sound. My breath came in sharp, painful bursts. The scar on the back of my neck prickled and started to burn.

  “Jessica?” a voice called but it sounded muffled and very far away.

  And then darkness swallowed me whole.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  I always felt sure I knew terror as no other person did but the terror I felt now could not even compare to what I had before experienced.

  It was completely dark, wherever it was I might be. It hid things from my eyes and it seemed to be in alliance with the voices I heard. It unmercifully veiled them in its impenetrable folds.

  The laughter was maddening as the voices heckled, rising in volume and dementia with each passing moment.

  Cold clammy hands reached out at me, tracing fingers along my cheek, down the back of my neck, across my thigh, grasping my ankles. The feeling of the condemned pressing closer in on me, nothing but hands touching, was beyond petrifying.

  Through all these sensations a new one began. The feeling that a more solid and lucid being was standing directly before me, cloaked cruelly in the darkness. A new distinctive set of hands reached forth, ever frigid and clammy as the others but more deliberate, more powerful.

  They placed themselves on either side of my face and I felt my insides chill as I had the feeling eyes were boring into my own. Those hands slid slowly down to my shoulders, down my arms and I felt myself being pulled closer to the unseen being. Th
e arms that started to wrap around me were just as cold as the hands attached to them.

  I wanted to run, to disappear, to die but could do nothing as those arms forced me into an arctic embrace.

  I sensed rather than heard as the thing seemed to be inhaling my scent and felt as if death had finally found me when a pair of lips brushed my ear.

  “You shall be mine,” a voice clear and sharp as ice whispered.

  As soon as the words were spoken I was released by the mass of cold hands and felt instead that my body was being shaken violently, the air around me warming quickly.

  “You shall be mine,” the voice again whispered into the darkness. It was followed by a chilling low chuckle.

  “Jessica?” the voice was quiet but frantic.

  I realized the shaking was coming from a pair of large hands on my shoulders. My heart was pounding and I felt like my body was trembling violently. I had to get my eyes open. I had to escape from the cold.

  “Jessica?” the voice called again, this time a little louder.

  The muscles in my eyelids finally started working again and I opened my eyes just slightly and gasped when a pair of blue eyes seemed to be only inches away from my own.

  “You’re awake!” Alex cried as he gathered me up in his arms and crushed me to his chest.

  “Can’t breathe,” I gasped as the air was forced out of my lungs.

  “Sorry,” he said as he immediately lay me back down.

  “Are you alright? Do you want me to take you to the hospital? I nearly called 911!”

  As his questions registered I had to think if I was actually alright. My scar burned as if it had been freshly branded but the rest of me felt only slightly shaky.

  “No,” I said after only a moment of hesitation. “I’m fine.” Doctors were to be avoided at all costs. They would ask questions I had no logical answers to when they saw my bare back.