What the fuck?
“Listen to me ! I can’t do this. I’m not going to be a part of this.” She wouldn’t move. I looked down to the ground silently.
“I can’t listen to this right now. Don’t you understand what this is going to do to me?” I said.
“I’m sorry, Luke. I have to go home now. I….cannot see you anymore.” Candice said. My heart was ripped to shreds. Was this because of that stupid dream she was talking about?
“Candice.” I pulled her into me. “I need you. I need all of you. It makes me happy. It brings me pleasure and—”
“And you need that so that you can fight your war. I’m telling you that I don’t want to be a part of it.” Candice slowly pulled away again. I couldn’t stand this. I was starting to feel violent.
“So, you’re telling me it’s over? I can’t speak to you, I can’t touch you?” I looked at her viciously.
“That’s what I’m telling you.” She gazed at me intently, and then it started to happen - the fading. I could feel my image becoming blurry like I was evaporating. “Luke?” I heard her say.
“I’m not going to accept this. You need to understand…………..”
In felt myself being ripped through the portal.
CHAPTER 8
Candice
And now he was gone. Disappeared into thin air. I was frantic.
“Luke? Luke!” I screamed, looking all around in some vain hope that he would appear. It was all my fault. He was gone.
“Where is Arias?” Septimus asked from the end of the corridor. He was suited-up and ready for battle.
“He….he’s gone,” I said softly.
“What have you done?” Septimus instantly blamed me, and I thought, rightly he should.
“I couldn’t be a part of all this,” I said, looking at the floor and wanting to cry.
“You’ve ruined us! Arias is our only hope, and you’ve chosen not to help us.” He said accusingly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to see him hurt!” I said.
“And how about the Corin? We have homes, we have wives and children. Our people have not known peace for eons because Arias was gone.”
“Stop it! Stop it, I can’t take it anymore.” I covered my ears with my hands and began to sob. The pain in my chest was crushing, and I closed my eyes and willed it all to disappear.
And then it happened. I was being pulled into the vortex, only, this time, I was being sucked into a vacuum, not of stars, planets, lights, and stimulation. It was a black hole of pain that tugged on every cell of my body, and it was pulling me through the gate like a soul-destroying birth.
I screamed, “Luke!” The piercing sound of my cry echoing through the universe, and when the free-fall had concluded, I was lying face-down, with no idea where I was.
I moaned and touch my face, trying to remember who I was. I felt around with my hands and sensed a rug below me. I opened my eyes, even though they were burning and hazy.
I was lying on my living room floor. I thought at first that it might perhaps be a dream, but once I began to come to sense, it was clear that I was not dreaming at all.
This is my home. Jesus.
Unable to use my legs, I crawled to my kitchen to drink water from the sink. I was so thirsty I could die. My throat was so dry that I didn’t think I would ever be able to speak again.
I looked out my kitchen window to try to orient myself further. The sun was setting in the dusty desert, and there was a sharp wind blowing. Another sandstorm, I thought to myself. Was the carnival still here? Had Luke returned? Had any of this been real?
I finally found the strength to step onto the porch, by propping myself up with furniture all along the way.
All kinds of thoughts were flooding my mind. One of them was that I should go to the diner, and try to explain where I had been. What would I tell them?
I felt the hot desert wind blowing across my skin, and it filled me with relief. I was home. But I couldn’t escape the dull ache for long. Where was Luke, and had I lost him?
I knew that I should rest, but instead, I chose to walk through the desert to Main Street. I was limping and fighting the wind, but I was making good progress.
Once I made it to Main Street, it seemed like a ghost town. There was no one in sight. I looked to my left to see if the carnival was still there, and sure enough, the rides and booths were, but it was empty.
“What the hell?” I said under my breath.
“Candice.” A voice from behind me called. “You’re early.” It was Winston, opening the diner.
“What?” I asked in a daze.
“You’re early. You’re not supposed to come in till eight.” He said, looking at his watch. “It’s six am.”
I looked up at the sky in wonder. What I thought had been the setting sun was actually the rising sun.
“How long have I been gone?” I asked. Winston looked confused by my question.
“Well, I guess you closed the place up last night, and here you are, maybe 12 hours later.” He looked at me with concern. “Everything alright? They’re not serving up drugs at that carnival are they?” He asked. “Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Winston opened the front door to the diner with his keys.
“No, no,” I replied. I looked back towards the carnival. I had only been gone for one night. The time difference between Earth and Hecate was baffling.
“Well, since you’re here you might as well help with the pancake batter,” Winston said, stepping behind the counter and putting his apron on.
“Okay,” I replied. I didn’t feel like I was really back on Earth and grounded until I started working on the batter. The mundane task helped me to calm my mind and settle me.
The day went on as I was accustomed to. I served during the breakfast shift, then took a break, followed by the lunch shift, and my feet began to hurt around 4 pm. It was life as I remembered it, although inside, I was changed.
I desperately longed to see Luke, and prayed that I had not lost him.
Looking out the window towards to carnival, I could see that it was starting to come to life in the night. The sun was down, and the darkness of the desert was revived by the garish sparkle of the Carnival of Cursed Souls. Now, I finally understood what the name meant.
“You going back tonight?” Iris asked, catching me staring down the street.
“I…I don’t know,” I replied. In all honesty, I was not sure about what to do. I didn’t know if I could face the carnival, and its souls, ever again. Except for one of those poor souls in particular.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” A look of recognition came over Iris’ face, as though she saw in me a woman scorned.
“No. No, he didn’t.” I replied. It was the truth, after all. Luke had not hurt me, but I am afraid that I did more than hurt him. Would he be fighting tonight?
And so, after locking the entrance to the diner, I looked right, towards home, and then I looked left, towards the carnival. Again, I felt that giddy temptation within me, and I turned left.
As I got nearer, the screams and laughter got louder, and I was filled with anticipation.
I was going to see him. I was going to see him again.
Walking past the stalls and games, I saw Leona the contortionist, drinking from her flask. And there was Merv.
“Come once and all to see the Amazing Mazie, the 500-pound woman!” He cried.
And there, at the other end of the carnival was the wrestling match, and within the ring was Luke. Arias the Angry. Chest bare.
“Yet another win for Arias the Angry!” The announcer cried as the bell rang, and Luke’s opponent was suffering on the ground. The announcer grabbed Luke’s hand and lifted it into the air in victory.
Now, as if there was a radar beam within his body, Luke looked directly towards me, picking me out of the crowd.
We just stared at one another, as the chaos of the carnival seemed to go quiet all around us.
“I’m sorry.” I mouthed
silently.
He mouthed nothing back. The announcer dropped Luke’s hand which was being held up in the air, and as if in slow motion, he released his gaze from me and turned. Luke stepped out of the ring and walked off into the distance.
“That’s it for Arias the Angry. Come back again tomorrow folks, for more close combat excitement!” The crowd dispersed, and I continued to just stand there, allowing realization to wash over me.
He wasn’t coming back.
My refusal had lost Luke’s love forever. I didn’t chase after him, and I felt as though my body might be frozen to that one spot for the rest of time. My heart felt as though it had died.
I let the crowds swirl around me, and just stared off into space. After who knew how long - it could have been an hour for all I knew - I turned and walked from the carnival like a ghost. It was only after I left that I realized that I was standing there that long because I was waiting for him to walk back to me. He never did.
What I did next was something I had not expected from myself since I left Seattle, I walked to a bar.
The Desert Dive was a bar that I had walked past several times coming home from work, but I hadn’t gone in. It was a dive, to say the least. Cigarette smoke filled the air and mostly men - construction workers, day laborers, and those who worked with their hands in the desert sun all day - were seated at the bar, drinking beer and watching sports. There was a video game console, and two guys were pressing buttons and looking at pictures of women with their breasts exposed.
I was definitely in the wrong place. I had had my bout of pub-crawling when in Seattle, but I was pretty sure it was a phase. Being in the Desert Dive this night was a desperate way to just escape from my thoughts.
“What are you having?” The buxom woman behind the bar asked. She was chewing a gum and had tightly premed hair.
“Just a shot of something,” I said. I tried to think about what. “Whiskey, I guess.”
“Coming right up.” The woman said. A shot of whiskey was sitting in front of me before I knew it. “You want something to eat, sweetie?”
“No, thank you.” I realized that I hadn’t eaten a thing since I had returned to Earth, and it probably wasn’t smart to be drinking the whiskey. I took one sip of it and felt slightly sick.
“My name is Pearl.” The woman said, cleaning a glass with a cloth. “I’ve seen you before. You work in that diner, don’t you?” She asked.
“Yah, The Southwest,” I replied, taking another sip and hunching over the bar.
“That’s what I thought,” Pearl said. “You have never been in here before?” She asked.
“No, I just…..had a very long day,” I said.
“So I see,” Pearl replied knowingly. “Need to talk about it?” I had the sudden feeling that Pearl was looking right through me.
Do bartenders always have this ability?
I didn’t feel like spilling my heart, but at this moment, it seemed like a better idea than the whiskey that was in front of me.
“I think I lost someone. Someone important.” I said.
“I see.” Pearl raised her eyebrows. “Man? Woman?”
“A man. Someone….…special.” I said, taking another cautious sip of my drink.
“He’ll come back,” Pearl said with authority.
“What?” I asked.
“He’ll be back, I said. There’s no worse place for lonely hearts and lost souls than here. A man in the desert doesn’t stay alone for long because he can’t take it.” Pearl explained. I felt like this advice was over the top, but was still comforted by it in a way.
“So, should I go find him?” I asked.
“No,” Pearl said and leaned over the bar for emphasis. “He’s going to come to you.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Honey, I just know these things,” Pearl said.
As it turned out, this was my last drink, and I walked through the desert towards home on this night, thankfully not drunk. Pearl has filled the void. It was incredibly dark out, the lights from the carnival having already been extinguished.
Luke
“Where have you been?” I demanded. I had been standing here for what felt like hours. I was angry as hell.
“Luke?” Candice recognized my voice immediately, although she probably couldn’t see me. I stepped out into the light of the moon, and she looked at me guiltily. What had she done?
“I said, where have you been? And…are you okay?” Besides being so angry, I was really concerned about what had happened.
“I stopped to have a drink. I guess I was there for a while.” Candice explained. I didn’t like the sound of this.
“Well, I came looking for you. I wanted you to be here.” I said, stepping in closer.
“I’m here now. It’s okay.” Candice said and stepped closer. “Luke, I’m so sorry.”
She better be.
But at the same time, I knew that this was partially my fault, and I was softened by her apology.
“I asked too much from you,” I said, grabbing her tightly. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
Candice looked nervous and unsure. Then she looked at me directly, her face reflecting the moonlight.
God, she’s so beautiful.
“I want to do this for you. What you’re asking from me.” She said, gauging my reaction. “I want to help you to return to Orion so that you can free the Corin.”
“Candice, you don’t have to say that—”
“No, please. Let me go on.” She said. “No matter what I do, I’ll lose you. But I want to have as much as I can of you, and this is the best way.”
I stopped her mouth from speaking further by gently kissing her lips. My hands felt the smooth of her back and down her sides. I was not going to be able to control myself any longer. Candice’s words were confirmation enough that I would no longer have to hold back.
“Do you trust me?” I asked, putting a hand behind her neck and turning her face up to mine.
“I do,” Candice replied. I kissed her again, passionately and hungrily.
I pulled back and took her hand in mine, kissing the back of it. Without saying a word, I walked her back towards the house and up the stairs to her room.
I laid her down on the bed, and kissed her again, but this time slowly, working my way down her body, exploring the front of her. With my hands, I felt all of her contours and curves. She was perfect in every way.
Candice laughed a little.
“I’m embarrassing you?” I asked.
“No, it’s what I said before. I’m ticklish.” She said with a giggle.
“Well, that’s it,” I said. Her giggling drove me crazy, and the thought that she was ticklish ignited a fire in me. I wanted to take it slow and savor each step so that she could enjoy her first time, but I felt an urgent need. I hoped it didn’t frighten her.
CHAPTER 9
Candice
First, he took my top off over my head, and then he went on by undoing my pants, pulling them down over my trembling thighs. I felt so bare and exposed, and seeing Luke take in my body with his eyes was thrilling and scary too.
He kissed and touched my bare abdomen, and for whatever reason, I was not feeling ticklish any longer, but instead, I felt a heat come over my body and wetness between my legs. It was a delicious sensation that I had never before shared with anyone.
Luke moved slowly down my body until his mouth had reached that part of me that had been untouched for all this time. Once his mouth was on top of my panties, Luke began to kiss and suck.
My body jumped, and I grabbed onto the sheets for support. I had never felt anything like this before, and it was shocking at first.
“Trust me.” I heard Luke say, trying to calm me down. Now my body began to relax, and I released my muscles. Once Luke felt that I was calmer, he slid my panties down and returned to where he had left off.
My body began to squirm. It wasn’t just that it was one of the most sensual sensations I had ever
experienced, but it was also that it was with Luke down there, someone that I had both a passionate longing for and intense feelings of love. This heady mixture was a first for me, and maybe it was for Luke as well.
The rhythm of Luke’s mouth became faster and deeper, and my hips began to move in motion with him. Then it was as though my entire body was overcome with a tidal wave of pleasure, and every muscle contracted with ecstasy. At first, it was not relief because the discomfort of feeling so much pleasure lingered in my body for what felt like a long period of time. Luke massaged my hips as I came, encouraging me to let go and reach that apex of pleasure.
Alien Romance Box Set: Romantic Suspense: Alien Destiny: Scifi Alien Romance Adventure Romantic Suspence Trilogy (Complete Series Box Set Books 1-3) Page 137
