River's Journey

by Arthurs, Nia

  “Thank God,” Jones sighed. “Did you know how freaked out I was when my brother-in-law called me back and told me the warehouse building that Robert Crenley owned was on fire?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “And Tess?”

  “She’s fine too.”

  “That’s a relief,” Jones sighed. “Now that this craziness is behind us we can focus on keeping you out of the limelight until next Friday.”

  “Next Friday?”

  “You have about seven days left until your ship comes in the meteor shower. Don’t tell me you forgot.”

  I had, at least for a little while.

  “I know you’re sulking over there, but you need to cheer up. You caught the perp. You and Tess are alive and well. That’s a success in my book.”

  If this was a victory, it was a hollow one.

  Seven days. Only seven days remained before I had to leave Tess on this earth and return to my own.

  I couldn’t do it. Even if I returned on the next trip, she would be long gone. Five hundred years was a long time.

  “Dude,” Jones’s voice surprised me.

  I’d had no idea he was still on the line.

  “Don’t even think it. If you stay on this earth, your powers are going to get more sporadic and that over-extended thing the nurse spoke about? It’s going to kill you.”

  “I know.”

  “You can’t stay.”

  “I know.”

  “Then why do I get the feeling that you’re going to do it anyway.”

  I drove the car through the late evening traffic as commuters rushed to return home before the six o’clock news.

  “Because I love her.”

  “Does she love you?”

  “I think so.”

  Perhaps Tess’s declaration had been the last words of a desperate woman.

  Whether she returned my feelings or not wouldn’t change the way I felt about her.

  “If she cares about you, even a little bit, she won’t want you to stay.”

  “Is that why you told her about me yesterday?”

  “I thought we were over that.”

  “We’re not.”

  “Hmph.”

  I chuckled. “I’ll talk to you later, Jones.”

  “Whatever.”

  He hung up. My friend had made some mistakes but his intentions were good and I didn’t hold it against him.

  THE NEXT DAY I turned in my resignation letter to USL. I’d go in for my last class this evening and say my goodbyes.

  Jones said nothing when I returned his phone and handed him the letter. His grave eyes simply took me in and he hugged me.

  I allowed the embrace. My friend was preparing for separation, whether it was by death or by beam.

  I hugged him back. We exchanged a conversation without a word. I thanked him for all that he’d done for me and he returned the sentiment.

  After my visit with Jones, I went to the Sterm place. Mrs. Sterm was in Paul’s room. She sat on the bed and her eyes looked out the windows at the blazing sun.

  She sensed my presence but didn’t look my way.

  “I don’t understand all the astrology mumbo-jumbo that Paul was always going off about,” she paused. “But I do know that he considered you a friend.”

  “I did too.”

  She rose and held out her hand. “Is Robert Crenley the man that took my baby away from me?”

  I nodded.

  “You’re safe now.”

  Crenley had died in the fire. He would never hurt anyone again. My only regret was that I had never discovered what Crenley had done with his body.

  “I don’t care about that,” Mrs. Sterm waved her hands.

  I understood what she meant. With Crenley and Ezra gone, my secret was safe but that was the last thing I worried about.

  Tess had made it out alive. I would have exchanged an interview on national TV to ensure that she could live a long fruitful life.

  I grieved with Mrs. Sterm. She no longer had that option.

  “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be around,” I said. “But if you need anything, this is my friend, Jones’s, number. He won’t turn you away.”

  “Thank you,” she said and then wrapped her arms around me.

  I accepted the embrace and allowed her to cry on my shoulder as she’d done so many nights ago.

  Life had done a number on this strong woman.

  “Will you be alright?”

  “I’ll be fine,” she sniffed and patted my arm. “Just fine. How about you?”

  “Me?”

  “I know you lost your family a long time ago. Do you have any one to lean on right now?”

  I had Jones. And I had Tess.

  “You have me,” Mrs. Sterm added as if she’d read my thoughts. “You don’t have to be alone anymore.”

  “Thank you,” I dipped my head.

  Thinking of family made me miss Tess. Like a pathetic puppy, my heart jumped at the very thought of her.

  “I’ll be in touch,” I headed for the door.

  Mrs. Sterm waved her goodbyes.

  I walked outside and found a quite place to teleport in peace. I pictured Tess’s front door, but when I opened my eyes, I stood in the middle of the road.

  A car honked and I jumped out of the way, narrowly missing its bumper.

  I managed to get to the roadside without any further mishaps and strode sheepishly along.

  A blue car pulled up beside me.

  It… couldn’t be.

  “Hey,” she jumped out of the car and smiled. “You need a ride?”

  I got in and quietly appraised her while she dropped me home.

  “You have school tonight?” she inquired.

  “Yes, why?”

  “No reason.”

  She scrambled out of the car and darted into her house. Had I missed something?

  Suddenly, Tess turned around and extended her hands through the open window. Tess stared into my eyes and said.

  “I want to kiss you but I won’t. See you tonight.”

  With that, she ran off. I smiled.

  Tess Hardey was a strange one, but she was all mine.

  Chapter 30

  Tess and I spent the entire week together. She took a week off school so that we could do her ‘couple’s list’.

  We held hands and watched movies. She introduced me to her favorite reality show and nearly chewed my head off when I disagreed with her choice of bachelorette.

  We visited her parents and I was introduced to every one of her most embarrassing baby photos.

  We took a trip to the cayes and spent a weekend relaxing on the beach. Of course, we slept in separate rooms.

  Even if Tess had entertained thoughts of anything deeper than a PG-13 romance, my body just could not handle it.

  I walked a fine line each time I used my abilities with my normal strength. The kind of adrenaline I got from Tess Hardey’s touch was dangerous.

  During the first few days, Tess and I spoke often of the future. In our little cocoon, anything was possible.

  “What do you think about children?” Tess inquired one day as she sat beside me.

  “I don’t know.”

  The thought of children had never entered my mind. Was it even possible to have them given we were two separate species?

  “Kids are weird,” she said.

  I nodded, not sure where this conversation was going.

  “I used to work in the nursery at church,” she shivered. “Children are… smelly. They’re loud and messy.”

  “They are,” I agreed.

  Tess drew closer to me and put her head on my shoulder. I immediately put my hands in my pockets so she could continue to speak without the distraction of floating objects.

  She sighed and dreamily whispered, “I want five.”

  I nearly choked on my own spit.

  For the rest of the week, Tess continued to blurt random wishes that surprised me. I learned a lot more about her than I’d
bargained for.

  THE NIGHT OF THE METEOR SHOWER came quickly. Tess lay in my arms as the rocks hurtled through the sky.

  It was time to leave, but I couldn’t move. This was where I wanted to be for the rest of my meager human life.

  Unfortunately, the choice to stay or go was wrenched away from me. I was summoned by the ship and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

  While I worried for Tess and bemoaned the suddenness of our parting, a light beamed from the sky and hefted me into the air.

  I floated above the treetops. As my true skin strained to reveal itself, my human flesh remained.

  The light burned my eyes and information from the ship downloaded into my brain. My blood was being rejected.

  The beam disappeared and I landed back on the ground with a hard thump. I glanced at the large, silver mass of my ship as it rose and returned into the blackness.

  I held my hands up and stared at the veins rushing through my pale skin.

  My blood.

  When the doctor performed the blood transfusion I regenerated, but Tess’s blood had already mixed with mine.

  It would be impossible to survive on my star. I was free to remain.

  Though Tess’s blood would make it easier to transition properly to earth, it also cut my abilities in half.

  I managed to teleport past several borders, but was held up at a point half-way across the continent before I could get my abilities to work.

  At last they kicked back into place and I teleported to Belize.

  Nearly a week had passed since I last saw Tess. I visited her house only to find that she was gone.

  I slapped my head when I realized what day it was. Tess would probably be at her fair! Saint Mary’s Academy had its annual Spring Fling tonight.

  I’d spent up all my abilities getting here. Thankfully, my house and car remained.

  On my way to Tess’s school, I tried to figure out what to say to her. My excitement nearly drove me mad.

  I stopped in front of the tall buildings of Saint Mary’s Academy and threw my car door open, springing out and rushing through the gates.

  The fair was packed with people even at this late hour. I searched frantically for Tess. When I saw her, my heart sped up with a vengeance.

  She wore a bright yellow T-shirt and jeans. Her beautifully curly hair was scooped back in a ponytail.

  She was working to break down a structure and directed a bunch of teenage girls as she went. I drank in the sight of her like a glass of cold lime juice on a hot Belizean day.

  She spun around. Astonished, she grabbed her student’s hand.

  “You-you see him too, right? Tell me you see him too!”

  I took a step toward her, my heart rushing with joy.

  “Yes, miss.”

  Tess stumbled toward me.

  “River,” she whispered, “how are you here?”

  I rushed to keep her upright. “I was at the right place at the right time, but there was one problem.”

  “What?”

  “There was someone in my blood.”

  I explained the experience and she listened with rapt attention.

  “Are you… are you saying you can survive…here?”

  “Yes,” I grinned.

  She blinked and then smacked my arm.

  “What took you so long! It’s been seven days!”

  “I’m half-human now so my abilities have been cut in half. That means I need a passport to travel anywhere. It took a while to sort through the red tape so I could return to Belize.”

  “So, you’re really here to stay?”

  “Yes,” I pressed my hands against her face. “I’m going to grow old with you, Tess. I’m going to love you until the day I die. I’m going to hide your Oreos from you so you don’t get sick and then I’m going to eat them all when you find them.”

  “You jerk!” she cried, punching his chest. “Don’t… talk about Oreos like that.”

  I kissed her forehead, ignoring the dizziness that would come. As my blood settled, so would the side effects.

  “I want to give you five kids so they can be stinky and messy and drive you crazy!”

  “You jerk!” she cried. “Don’t talk about our kids like that.”

  I laughed and brushed her hair away from her face. I loved this woman so much. If I’d been sent from the stars just for her, my life––and all that I had been through––was worth it.

  THE END

  A Word from the Author

  Hello! Thank you for coming along on this journey with me. If you enjoyed this story, I would be honored if you would let others know by writing a review on Amazon. Word of mouth is important for an author’s success. Thank you for your support!

  I would love to hear from you at corcorozal@yahoo.com

  You can also follow me on IG: Nia Arthurs @nia_bks and Twitter: @niaarthurs

  Other Books by this Author

  Available on Amazon…

  The Taming Series

  Taming Mr. Jerkface

  Taming Mr. Charming

  Taming Mr. Know-it-all

  Taming Mr. Darcy

  The Seven Realms Series

  Genesis

  Revelations

  The Tree of Knowledge (coming soon)

  Love & Reggae

  Amid the Noise

  Count Me In

  Buffalo Soldier

  Confessions of A Church Girl

  Glass Houses

  Fitting In

  Standing Out

  Standalone

  Whiter Than Snow

  Married By Science

  Tsea

  Fool Me Never

  Audrey’s Choice

  Scarlet

  Love In Many Shades Series

  Cece & David

  Cece & David 2

  Cece & David 3

  Boyfriend By Series

  Boyfriend By Blackmail

  Boyfriend By Midnight

  Boyfriend By Design

  The Redo Series

  That Was Then

  This Is Now

  Read on for an excerpt from Audrey’s Choice

  Chapter 1

  The iron edges of the seatbelt dug into my back as Stanley Preston pushed me against the leather seats of his state-of-the-art Lexus.

  The sun splayed against the silver buckle and spit fragments of light over our tousling figures.

  All the windows were locked completely tight and the dark-tinted glass captured the heat and blasted it directly toward us.

  Stanley and I were blissfully unaware.

  His lips on mine were demanding, impatient. I tried to ignore the painful ache forming in the small of my back as he tugged at the zipper of my pants.

  He abandoned his clumsy attempts several times for the more pleasurable pursuit of feeling up my chest.

  “Baby, you are so fine,” he breathed, his large nose smashed against mine. “So, so fine.”

  I pressed my small hands against his face. “Thank you.”

  He smiled and his eyes filmed over with an emotion that I knew all too well. Words were unnecessary as we hungrily caressed.

  I finally managed to get the zipper down and unbuttoned my pants while Stanley continued to handle me with increasingly frantic movements.

  Before any more articles of clothing could be tossed aside, my cell phone vibrated.

  I groaned. I’d finally managed to ignore the jabbing of the seatbelt but the trembling of my cell amplified the pain.

  “Don’t… answer it.”

  The buzzing, however, was relentless. Though Stanley seemed quite content to ignore it, I finally managed to push him off so that I could answer.

  I pressed ACCEPT and smacked the screen against my face. “What?”

  “Um, Au-Audrey?”

  I recognized the feeble voice immediately.

  There goes the mood.

  I straightened and pulled up my zipper with one hand while I balanced the phone against my cheek and shoulder with the oth
er.

  “What do you want, Clark?”

  “I don’t mean to bother,” he said with all the confidence of a limp noodle, “but we have that essay piece for Mrs. Thornton. It’s due tomorrow and you said we could get it done today.”

  When I didn’t immediately hang up the phone, Stanley tried to distract me with wet kisses to my shoulder. Annoyed, I pushed him away and scooted to the other side of the backseat.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Stanley cursed and ran a hand down his closely shaved head.

  I glanced apologetically at him and hissed into the phone speakers. “Now is really not a good time, Clark.”

  “Oh, no problem,” he stuttered. “That’s fine. I can just do it myself and put your name on it.”

  I sighed. I would honestly rather any other task than writing an essay with Clark Fisher.

  His offer to skirt the assignment and simply ride on the coattails of his hard work was tempting, especially in light of Stanley’s interest.

  Unfortunately, I wasn’t that kind of girl. I earned my grades. Period.

  “No, I’m coming. Where are you?” I pulled up my bra straps, which had slid down sometime between making out in the front seat and crawling to the back.

  “I’m in the library.” Clark’s nervousness was evident as he assured me. “I really don’t mind doing all the work. I know you’re busy with all the clubs you’re in and stuff.”

  I rolled my eyes and shrugged into my T-shirt. “Clark, I’m going to be there in five minutes. Okay?”

  “Sure. Again, I’m sorry, Audrey.”

  “Stop apologizing, Clark. It’s annoying.”

  “Sorry. I mean…” he coughed. “I’ll – I’ll just hang up now.”

  I nodded and stuffed my phone in my pocket. The rustling of fabric against the leather seat was especially loud in the rushing silence.

  Stanley ran a hand over his handsome face and I inwardly cursed Clark Fisher’s atrocious timing.

  Stanley Preston was the most sought after second year at the junior college. He was six-foot-three inches of pure chocolate muscle.

  His body was lean and strong. His reputation with the ladies was timeless and his popularity was unmerited. We’d been flirting on and off for a long time.