Page 2 of Her Alien Beast
Chapter 2
AMIRA
The next night,I find myself tossing and turning in bed. Eventually, I abandon my attempts to sleep and sit up against the pillows. I can’t stop thinking about tomorrow and how much I wish the sun would never rise.
Nerves coil in my stomach, twisting until I feel like I might vomit.
What would everyone think if I backed out of the wedding? I keep asking myself this question, over and over, as if the answer will suddenly be revealed to me in some kind of psychic trance.
There’s heat lightning again tonight, and each time it flashes my gaze is drawn to the vivid white of my designer wedding gown that’s hung on the closet door.
When I glance down at the covers, I realize my entire body is shaking. This isn’t just cold feet. I’m in a state of absolute panic over the prospect of marrying Gregory. My hands tremble harder and I grip the covers in an effort to keep them steady.
Am I having a nervous breakdown?
For a fleeting moment, I wonder if I deserve this fate. My whole life, I’ve fantasized about standing up for myself and my own wants and needs, but I’ve never actually tried. At the last possible moment, I always lose my nerve. I’m not just a good girl, I’m a doormat.
I can’t recall the last time I told anyoneno.
Another silent flash of white jars me out of self-loathing.
“No,” I say aloud. “No, Gregory, I will not marry you.” As soon as the words escape my lips, I clamp a hand over my mouth and look around. But I’m still alone. It’s the middle of the night and the entire house is asleep, my parents as well as the numerous live-in servants they employ.
Maybe the heat lightning is fated to coincide with the eve of my wedding, because the constant flashes against the mountains blossom an idea. The mountains themselves call my name. Heart pounding, I remove my engagement ring and place it on the bedside table, determined to never put it on again.
I can’t escape via my hovercar, as I’m pretty sure it contains a location tracker. But I can pack up my hiking gear and hop out a window. I can spend a few days alone where no one will think to look. When all the out-of-town guests depart and there’s no chance the wedding will still take place, I can wander back home and tell my parents the truth. I can tell them how I can’t do one more thing that’s expected of me.
The lightning flashes again. Stabs of guilt assail me from all directions.My parents will worry, no one deserves to be stood up at the altar, dozens and dozens of guests have been flown in from across the planet, and…
Before those stabs of guilt pierce deeply enough to change my mind, I gather my hiking gear and get dressed, donning a t-shirt, a pair of form-fitting exercise pants, and my most comfortable hiking shoes. Before second thoughts overpower my rashness, I scale down the side of the house and jump onto the soft lawn, quiet as the stillness of night.
I navigate through the woods on my personal path that leads toward the welcome center of the La’tkk Mountains, over three miles away from my parents’ home, where a handful of hiking trails branch away. Up and down the hills I go until I reach the bridge, tiny flashlight in hand.
A huge purple snake slithers into the bushes, shimmering in the beam of my flashlight, and I shudder. But my pace doesn’t falter, even as a wild screech overpowers the shrilling pulse of nighttime insects. Some local residents claim wildcats and bears roam the mountains, though I’ve never seen one myself, however, I’ve run into the occasional giant lizard.
Don’t be scared.Just a few days until the out-of-town guests leave La’tkk.
There are protein bars and two canteens of water in my backpack. Enough to survive on for a little while, not to mention about five thousand galactic credits, in the form of silver credit coins that clang intermittently together in my pack, which I’ll use to rent a cabin on the other side of this mountain. As paranoid as I am about being tracked, I left my wrist comm behind on my pillow, as well as my galactic transfer and identification cards, items which could easily be tracked by my father at the click of a button.
At the edge of the path before the bridge, I rest against a large tree that’s glowing with translucent blue moss, providing a natural nightlight against the otherwise thick forest darkness. I plan to huddle here until sunrise. Even with my flashlight, it’s too dangerous to walk along the narrow paths that stretch further up the mountain until the sun rises. The chance of stepping on a snake or running into one of the giant lizards, which come out more often at night, is much too high.
I stare at the night sky, realizing that the heat lightning has calmed. I haven’t seen a flash in a while. There’s a slight cloud cover, but it slowly clears, revealing the stars in their unhindered glory, as well as the triplet moons looming high and large in the brilliant night sky. It’s beautiful and I can’t look away.
No one knows where I am. Not a single soul.
An odd sense of giddiness fills me. It’s exhilarating, this bold freedom that’s rushing through my veins. I’ve never run away before.
I’ve never done anything so reckless.
As I watch the night sky, I make two promises to myself.
From this moment forward, I’ll only sayyesif I truly mean it, and I will be brave as the comet that’s trailing across the sky to parts unknown.
