Nebula Nights: Love Among The Stars

by Melisse Aires

  #

  "Show time," she whispered.

  Maddie used the nearby tree as target practice. At first, her aim was way off, completely missing the tree. It took her several tries before she was able to get used to the sniper rifle and its electronic trigger to hit with any kind of accuracy.

  "Maddie, be careful not to waste your ammo," Grant told her.

  She nodded as she reloaded her hopper. After that, she was careful not to move for several minutes, knowing it would take a little while to get to her position from where the other team had started from. She watched as Grant scurried from under his protective cover and climbed up a nearby tree. It seemed like cheating to her but, as small as Grant was, he could probably get by undetected. The brown gear he was wearing blended in nicely with the artificial tree bark.

  She locked eyes with Grant, who carefully motioned that someone was approaching. She peeked up through the driver's window as she saw Seth try to sneak around a hay stack. Maddie watched as Seth rolled forward, taking shots at Will who was a few yards away. Slowly, she pointed her paintball gun through the opening she created in the window, missing once before shooting Seth in the side.

  "The hell!" Seth hollered out, turning to see who shot him.

  She was ready for him. As soon as Seth turned, several of Maddie's green pellets found their mark on Seth's chest, taking him out of the game. Seth threw his hands up in defeat, shaking his head at her.

  Maddie glanced up to see the scoreboard change to reflect her kill. She gave a quick glance but didn't see any of the other team around. A slight movement from the tree branch reminded her that Grant was still in his hiding spot. She ducked down beside the car, keeping an eye on Grant's tree. She hoped he would alert her if anyone came to their area.

  After a few minutes, Maddie looked up at the scoreboard and saw the enemy team had scored. She wondered who had been taken out. Slowly, she climbed on top of the car to get a better view of the arena. In the distance, she could see Nick and Seth sitting on a bench, looking incredibly bored. Nick's helmet was splattered with blue paint. Seth's chest was covered in her green paint. She grinned at the fallen players before turning her attention back to the field.

  Several yards away, Maddie could see someone with long, dark brown hair move quickly between a hay stack and a paint-splattered wall. The green vest and helmet the person was wearing indicated to Maddie that, whomever it was, they were not on her team. She fired wildly several times but missed her intended target. She jumped down from the hood, taking cover behind the car again. She reloaded her chamber as fast as her fingers would let her. The person peeked around the wall, returning fire.

  Excitement and nerves played with Maddie as she climbed back up onto the hood. Her feet slipped from underneath her, and she tumbled off the hood of the car. Yellow paint decorated her lower legs and feet before she disappeared behind the car. Yellow paint splattered against one of the car windows.

  It took her a minute to regain her composure over her embarrassing spill. Maddie pulled herself together, knowing her enemy would be advancing toward the car. She looked cautiously at the attacker, trying to see who it was. She didn't recognize the woman firing at her. Maddie guessed it was Tamma who had found her. Her attacker moved quickly from behind the wall to a tree nearby. Maddie knew the car wasn't going to protect her much longer. She fired toward the woman, missing by a wide margin. Maddie could hear the woman curse behind the tree.

  Maddie attempted to move stealthily but dropped her paintball gun. Her face flushed red with embarrassment as she picked it back up and fired toward the tree. The woman responded with yellow paint spraying on the trunk of the car. From Grant's tree, another around of green paint shot their enemy. The woman ran from the tree and back toward the wall she was at earlier. For her troubles, she was hit twice by green paint in the back from Grant. As Maddie positioned herself to move from behind the car, she saw purple paint shoot out toward Grant.

  Grant fell out of the tree, hitting the ground hard.

  Maddie winced as she watched him try to catch his breath.

  She checked over her shoulder to see the woman was still behind the wall before she edged herself closer to Grant. He was slowly starting to move when purple pellets sprayed the ground near him. Grant shook his head when he saw what Maddie was attempting to do, motioning for her to run.

  More purple paint shot out at Grant, its source unknown to Maddie. Grant was able to roll over to the car, crouching down behind the front tire.

  "Are you okay?" Maddie asked in a hushed voice.

  "I'm fine. Can you see who it is?" Grant asked.

  Maddie peeked up over the hood of the car. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Logan's black hair sticking out from underneath his helmet as he maneuvered through the arena.

  "It's Logan," Maddie confirmed.

  "Shit!"

  "What do we do?"

  "We've got to make sure Logan and Tamma don't team up. Stay here and cover me. I'm going to try to draw Logan out," Grant instructed.

  Maddie nodded as she reloaded her gun with paint pellets.

  Grant quickly studied the field in front of them as Maddie trained her gun on the location where she last saw Logan. Grant darted across the field, drawing fire from both Logan and Tamma. Maddie turned her attention to Tamma, striking the other woman in the hip. She fired toward Logan as Grant positioned himself behind a hay stack. She lost track of her teammate as Logan and Grant fired upon each other.

  Yellow paint struck against Maddie's neck, coating her cheek and shoulders. Her eyes watered as the force of the paint pellets caused her to step back momentarily. As she wiped the paint from her protective goggles, she could see a smile appear on Tamma's face. She peeked up to see if it counted as a death. Apparently, it did not.

  "You're going down," Maddie said in a low voice.

  Maddie ran from the side of the car, firing at Tamma simultaneously. This time, she didn't run for a protective barrier. Her pellets missed their mark before striking Tamma in the leg.

  Tamma twisted her body around, shooting Maddie in her stomach.

  Maddie held her stomach as more of Tamma's yellow paint splattered on her arms. She ran to the nearest protective barrier, two old oil barrels stacked on top of each other, and attempted to catch her breath and reload. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Will sneak around one of the rusted cars. With Tamma's attention on Maddie, Will was able to sneak attack and shoot her in the head.

  "Yes!" Maddie celebrated his kill as if it was her own.

  The celebration lasted only a moment as red paint pellets blasted her backside. Maddie was cautious not to turn around, to avoid being hit in the chest. She ducked to the other side of the oil protection as Will took out the enemy.

  As Maddie and Will exchanged a brief sigh of relief, John appeared seemingly out of thin air and shot Will in the chest. Will gave her an apologetic look before leaving the field.

  "Damn you, Brooks," Maddie called out to him.

  "All in good fun, Rhodes," John called back to her.

  Maddie's heart began to race as she glanced up at the scoreboard. The teams were even now, standing at three kills each. Logan must have taken out Grant and was now searching for Jackson.

  "You can give up now, Maddie. No one will think badly of you," he said.

  "Not going to happen, Brooks," she said.

  "Suit yourself, sweetheart." John grinned.

  Purple paint blasted Maddie's left side, temporarily numbing her neck and shoulder. She removed her protective helmet, trying to clear the ringing from her ear.

  "Want to play dirty?" Maddie asked.

  "All is fair in love and paintball, sweetheart."

  "I'll remember that," she said.

  Maddie darted to the right and dove into the nearest haystack. She barely avoided John's shots as she moved from the haystack and climbed into a tree.

  "Where do you think you are going? You can't hide from me," John called.

  "Don't ha
ve to," Maddie said, firing at John.

  Green paint littered the ground as she took her shots at him. Green paint splattered at his waist and knees but avoided his chest. Maddie grinned as John scurried out of the way, swearing up at her. As John was distracted, Maddie silently climbed out of the tree and hid behind a car. John regained his composure and began to fire in the tree he last saw her in.

  "The hell?" John questioned when no movement or noise came from the tree.

  "Over here,” Maddie said, standing up from behind the car.

  With her sights locked on John, Maddie didn't see Logan hiding behind a wall barrier. Blue paint splattered on her chest, sending her out of the game. She threw her hands up in defeat, laughing a little.

  "Good job, Rhodes," John said as she walked past him toward the benches.

  "You didn't do so bad yourself," she replied in the middle of her stride.

  Will hugged her as soon as she got to the benches.

  "Not bad out there," Will said.

  "Are you kidding? I would have been dead a lot sooner if it wasn't for you and Grant."

  "Eh. Details." Will shrugged.

  "Seriously though, I nearly died several times," she said.

  "It was your first time. You did fine," Grant gently said.

  "I fell off a car," Maddie said, sheepishly.

  "That was just plain funny," Nick said, laughing.

  Maddie couldn't help but laugh with him. It must have been hilarious from his vantage point.

  Tamma walked over to where Maddie was on the bench and handed her a bottle of water.

  "Don't feel bad. You really did do okay for a clone," Tamma said.

  "Thanks," Maddie said, grateful for the water.

  "For a clone?" Grant asked in a defensive tone.

  "Why would you even say that?" Will asked.

  "What? I'm sorry, but it's the truth. You are all thinking it. I just have the moxie enough to say it," Tamma said.

  "Guys, it's okay. It's fine." Maddie waved Will and Grant off.

  "I could have killed you when I shot you in the stomach," Tamma stated.

  "I'm well aware," Maddie said.

  "Paintball just isn't your thing. Not that there is anything wrong with that," Tamma said.

  "You seem to have a knack for it," Maddie pointed out.

  Seth put his arms around Tamma and kissed her cheek.

  "I know how to pick them," Seth joked.

  "Apparently I need to pick better, Mr. First-Man-Out," Tamma teased, poking him in the side.

  "She surprised me!" Seth defended himself.

  "This is paintball. You should always be on guard," Tamma pointed out.

  A buzzer sounded, alerting them the game was over. Jackson walked over to them, covered in blue and red paint. The brothers must have ganged up on him after having reloaded with different colors.

  "How was your first experience?" Jackson asked.

  "I had fun," Maddie said, grinning at him.

  "Good. That's what is important, after all."

  John walked over to her and brushed some of her hair off her shoulders.

  "You have some paint in your hair. Probably shouldn't have taken off your helmet."

  "I had to get the ringing in my ears to stop," she pointed out.

  John's fingertips brushed the side of her paint-covered neck, sending chills down her spine. Maddie struggled hard to keep from giving any kind of reaction to his touch.

  "Alright, enough excitement. Let's go eat. I'm starved," Nick stated.

  #

  The large group left the arena to wash the paint off. No matter what she did, Maddie could not get the purple paint out of her hair. She decided to quit struggling with it. She let her semi-dry hair hang loosely around her shoulders. Jackson was outside her room when she was cleaned up but instead of leading her to the right toward the mess hall, he started walking left.

  "Where are we going?" she asked.

  "I've got to grab something from John's apartment," Jackson told her.

  Maddie's stomach twisted in unfamiliar knots. She had never been in anyone else’s apartment other than her own, including Mack's. For some reason, the thought that it was John's made her shake a little.

  "You okay?" Jackson asked, eying her carefully.

  "Yup."

  Jackson shrugged as he knocked on John's door.

  "It's open!" They heard John call from inside.

  Without hesitation, Jackson walked inside. Maddie slowly entered in after him.

  She wasn't sure what she was expecting. Maybe another sparse room like hers. Instead, she walked into a large living room. A long, dark blue couch rested against the back wall. A matching loveseat was against a shorter wall. A recliner was angled in front of a large, flat screen TV. A bookshelf covered with DVDs, so tall it touched the ceiling, was against a wall behind the recliner. Various pictures covered the walls. The apartment had a window overlooking a large man-made lake. Maddie could make out a split in the wall that led to the kitchen. Next to the couch was the second split that went to the other side of the apartment. It was hard for her to believe this apartment was inside the agency.

  "Feel free to grab a drink or something. I'll be just a minute, and then we can get some food," John called from his bedroom.

  "Hey, bud, where's my data tablet?" Jackson asked.

  "Kitchen table," John replied.

  Maddie studied the pictures on the wall as Jackson went to retrieve his tablet. She was amazed at some of the photos taken. Most of them were of nature, dotted with pictures of his brothers from various events. Logan and Seth holding up a string of fish in each hand. One appeared to be a birthday party. Logan standing next to a dead buck, looking proud with a shot gun in his left hand. Maddie was standing in front of a beautiful picture of a snow capped mountain when she heard John's voice behind her.

  "Do you like it?" he asked.

  "It's exquisite," she said.

  Her heart skipped a beat as she turned around.

  John was drying his hair with a towel. He was shirtless, wearing a pair of blue jeans that hung slightly off his hips. Maddie's mouth went dry looking at him. It was the first time she had ever really seen his body. For a moment, she was mesmerized by his well-sculpted chest and arms. The way his jeans hung off his hips only showed off how well toned his abs were. The image of running her fingers through his chest hair made her flush. Oh my God, she thought.

  "Thank you," John said, flashing his crooked smile.

  Maddie had to turn away to keep from staring. She cleared her throat before speaking.

  "Did you take these yourself?" she asked.

  "I did. Photography is kind of a passion of mine," he admitted.

  "Well, you are very talented."

  "Glad you like them. I can show you my art book if you'd like," he said.

  "Art book?" she asked.

  "Some photos and drawings I've done over the years."

  "You like to draw?" Maddie asked.

  A part of her felt a pang of jealousy. Art was never a talent of hers, although she often wished it was. Instead, she turned to writing. What she couldn't draw with a pad and paint, she tried to make up with words. She felt like her writing was mediocre at best but she loved it.

  She finally turned back around to look at him. He was now wearing a crisp white shirt that seemed to magnify his muscular arms.

  "I love it. I try to draw a little each day. It helps," he said.

  "Helps with what?" Maddie asked.

  "The nightmares." John's voice trailed off for a moment as if he was lost in thought. "Here, let me show you," he said, snapping himself out of whatever trance he was momentarily in.

  John walked over to the entertainment stand and pulled out a drawer, pulling out a large black book.

  "This is one I just created," he said, handing it to her.

  Maddie gently cradled the book and started flipping through it. Drawn in pencil were incredibly detailed pictures of bloody battles he must have been in
. Maddie was completely enthralled by the images as she turned the pages.

  "Wow, John," she said, looking up into his pale blue eyes.

  "Most of the time I draw to help get the images out of my head. As I said, it works. But it's not all war and death. Here."

  John took the book back from her and flipped toward the back.

  "I just drew the next few pages last night. I should warn you, it's much different from anything else I've ever drawn. Forgive me if it's no good," John said before handing it back to her.

  Maddie's breath caught in her throat as she looked down upon the newly drawn pages.

  "It's...it's me," she quietly said.

  "Yes," John said, his voice just above a whisper.

  The pictures were highly detailed. The first picture was of Maddie looking down, wisps of hair falling gently in her face as she smiled slightly. Maddie wondered what the girl in the drawing was thinking of in that moment. There were several different images drawn of her pool game with Seth. Maddie laughed as one of the pictures John drew was of her badly throwing darts.

  "They are beautiful," she said.

  "Thank you," John said, his voice low. “I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed you. Just didn’t want to hide anything.”

  “No, you didn’t embarrass me. I… I’m flattered.”

  "Are you two done yet? I've been standing here for the past ten minutes," Jackson said from behind them.

  Maddie shot Jackson a dirty look for the intrusion, which he only laughed off. John seemed to blush a little as he took the art book from Maddie and put it back in its home.

  "Shall we?" John asked her, offering her his hand.

  "Let's go," Maddie smiled, accepting his hand.

  The rest of the day was much of a blur to her. She kept thinking about John's photos and drawings. A part of her wanted to go back to his apartment to look at more of his work but ultimately she decided against it. The only things she felt sure of was whatever she felt for him had intensified today and that John felt something for her, too.

  She fell asleep with a smile on her face and purple paint still in her hair.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Maddie was asleep in her dorm that night when she was awakened by sirens sounding out. She'd barely had enough time to throw on a pair of jeans when her door burst open.