About The Book ~ Starseeed ~
Star Traveler Series ~ Book One
He’s not what she expected…
Starseed is a paranormal romantic suspense about Elle Thomas, a hairstylist with psychic abilities. When her hometown of Sweetwater, Colorado is suddenly plagued by UFO sightings, cattle mutilations, abductions and murder, fear is in the hearts of its citizens. Because of her abilities, Elle is shunned. An orphan found in the wilderness, strangely drawn to the stars, she has always been taunted by her peers about being part alien. It’s the last thing she’d ever wanted to be, but her strong psychic abilities make things worse than ever for her. When she meets a handsome mysterious stranger, Kole Stith, her attraction to him is overwhelming and she can’t understand why the feelings aren’t mutual. Her abilities tell her otherwise.
She’s what he never knew he always wanted…
Confirmed bachelor Kole Stith is sent to Earth to retrieve a Starseed—Elle Thomas, and the Dropa Stones—disks that hold secrets of the universe and return them to the Ancient One. Kole discovers he possesses human emotions and falls for Elle. But he must put his feelings aside and discover who is abducting and murdering the citizens of Sweetwater to prove his people aren’t to blame. And fulfill his mission on Earth: Together, a pure Elle and Kole are the only hope to heal the endangered planet’s polluted waters.
Starseed is a Romantic Suspense with a twist of Paranormal. Aliens need love, too! Who knew? Elle and Kole must travel to other worlds to discover their strength and love for each other.
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my husband:
Robert J. Willhoff Jr.
My hero, the love of my life who stands beside me through my trials and tribulations, and also believes me in all the craziness that is my life. We had a blast exploring the UFO museum in Roswell, New Mexico.
And to all those out there who have experienced a degree of high strangeness concerning UFOs, aliens and things that go bump in the night. I believe we are not alone!
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Note to My Readers
About the Author
Preview of the Star Traveler Series, Book Two, Visitations, Chapter One
Starseed
Prologue
A low humming sound caught Elle Thomas’s attention, but it faded immediately. Maybe she had imagined it. Thirteen-year-old Elle shrugged and continued to watch as the sun melted, spilling colors of red, pink, and golden hues through the late afternoon clouds in the distance.
She leaned her bike against the ancient pear tree content to be here alone watching the magic at the end of day. Walking around the tree, she reached up through the leafy gnarled branches and searched for the perfect fruit. A quick snack before going home. She plucked the pear, rubbed it clean and bit into the outer skin. Savoring the mixture of tangy and sweet, she wiped at the warm juice trickling down her chin and scanned the horizon.
Happy, Elle returned to stand by her bike eating the fruit as another hot Colorado day was about to be over. Caught off guard by a funny buzzing sound close by, she dropped the pear. This time she knew she’d heard something. Pivoting, she faced a triangular silver object shimmering low above the tree tops about a hundred yards away.
Whatever it was darted across the sun-drenched horizon in a zigzag pattern. She could hear the buzzing sound and at the same time she couldn’t. A weird feeling, the noise surrounded her seeming to come from outside and inside her at the same time and then it was gone.
What could it be? Shading her eyes, she squinted against the bright glare. Definitely, not an airplane. Then sheer panic shot through her brain. This must be one of those UFOs the people in town had been talking about to her father, the local sheriff. She swallowed the huge lump in her throat. Her heartbeat quickened and a sick feeling swamped through her. Alarm tingling over her nerves, Elle stepped back.
The triangular shaped aircraft with six rotating multi-colored lights underneath reversed course until it hovered directly over her. The odd hum resonated along her spine. Surrounded by the object’s eerie glow, fear overpowered the pear taste in her mouth.
Shivering, she rubbed her arms as goose bumps prickled her skin. The sound increased in volume and a sharp stab of pain shot into her head. Cold, icy fingers of alarm wrapped around her throat. Help Dad, I need you. She mentally cried out for her father and took off running.
The craft’s vivid colors stopped whirling then blanked out altogether. Just as quickly, a warm pale blue light washed over her, stopping her in her tracks. The pain in her head disappeared.
Scared down to her bones, she couldn’t scream, couldn’t move. Her vision began to blur and grow fuzzy until it seemed as if she were looking through a smokescreen.
When she blinked, the haze lifted from her eyes. She lay on a hard surface in a pure white room with bluish fluorescent lights. Absently, she rubbed a hand across her forehead. Where am I?
Panic like she’d never known shot through her brain. Oh God, I’m in a UFO. From the corner of her eye she caught a movement. Replaced by a numbness that wrapped her in a gentle cocoon—her fear eased. Slowly, her eyelids slid shut. A warm grasp encircled her wrist.
Opening her eyes, Elle observed two women standing over her with long straight snow-white hair. They were taller than anyone she'd ever seen. Large almond-shaped blue eyes in their long faces sparkled with keen intelligence, as if they saw and knew all.
One of the women picked up a sharp instrument. Once again, fear grasped Elle’s chest, but dissipated as quickly. A thought appeared in her head, “Don’t be frightened. This won’t hurt. We mean you no harm.” The woman used the blade to make a small incision on the underside of Elle’s wrist. An annoying sensation of something crawling down her arm bothered her. Whatever it was settled in the open cut like it belonged there. The sensation tickled, but didn’t hurt. It should, but it didn’t. A type of veil shaded her face and she fell asleep.
Sometime later, she awoke on another hard white surface. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she glanced around. Realizing she was surrounded by cages containing small animals, mostly rabbits and squirrels, she attempted to sit up. A feeling of being watched leapt through her. She turned her head. A magnificent wolf with beautiful blue eyes sat uncaged next to her, staring. An odd soft yellow light surrounded the wolf. Then something happened. The wolf turned into a glowing, golden being.
Startled, Elle blinked. The light surrounding the being faded and she was able to see a striking young man. Like the wolf and the women, he had piercing blue eyes. With long, dark wavy hair, his new form appeared older than Elle by a couple of years. A black jumpsuit fit him like a second skin and a five-point blue star glimmered on his belt buckle.
Elle’s body tingled, remembering before her mind did. Something about this boy was familiar, comfortable. Inhaling a gasp, she knew. They’d met before, in her dreams. She’d dreamed of him for years. She stared. He really existed? Surprised, she climbed from the hard surface. He came to her and pointed toward a bench under a low round portal in the solid white wall. Brilliant streaks of white light flew by, and as her eyes took it all in Elle swallowed. Her captors had taken her among the stars. Am I dreaming? Is this real?
The boy didn't speak. Still
, his thoughts merged with hers. “There’s nothing to fear. We won't harm you. Our destination is many light years away. After you are prepared for your future, we will return you to Earth.”
The purring sound of engines shutting down reached her ears. Prepared for my future? What does that mean? A ripple of dread ran through her body.
Within moments, they had arrived at a new location which he mentally explained grew special medicinal plants for the Starseeds. Unable to perform the special procedure in space, Starseeds had to be brought here for care.
She stared out the window at an unknown landscape. She wondered what was a Starseed? The terrain was occupied by a mixture of tall and short triangular shaped buildings and some that reminded her of Seattle’s space needle. Looking around, she realized the starship was inside a huge cavern.
Via mental telepathy, her guide explained the city was underground and lit by an intense inner power source that grew the special plant life. The bright light hurt her eyes and she turned away.
The women returned carrying a covered container murmuring in their strange language. Each woman took Elle by the wrists and led her back to the table. The boy followed them. Once again the crawling-yet-pain-free sensation occurred. What are they doing to me? One removed some kind of green goo from the metal tray and placed it upon the tiny cut. The substance disappeared. The cut immediately healed.
Then, speaking inside her mind, the boy said, “We will leave you better than we found you. Starseed, you’re going back to Earth now.” He gently touched the back of Elle’s head and the tug of sleep overtook her.
Gasping, Elle lurched forward. Propped in a sitting position against the familiar pear tree, she took in the clear night illuminated by a full harvest moon. An inky black sky littered with thousands of stars twinkled in the distance, outlining the mountain tops.
Did I fall asleep and dream the whole thing? Or was I up there with the stars?
She turned from the sky and ran to her bike to pull her cell phone from her backpack. She glanced at it. Four hours had passed. Her head ached and her stomach quivered. I didn’t dream it. They took me.
Her skin crawled at the thought. What did they put in me? She rubbed her wrist and touched the tiny fingernail-moon shaped scar. With her heart beating in overtime, she jumped on her bike.
Flying down a long hill on the blacktop road, Elle couldn’t make her blue ten-speed English racer go any faster, no matter how hard she pumped her gangly legs. Wind rushed past her face and her long blonde hair flew in all directions. With her knees still scraped from the last time she’d wrecked her bike, she clutched the handlebars in a death grip.
Her dad would never believe her. Heck, she didn’t believe it herself. And she’d probably be grounded for life for being out so late. Yet, here she was racing home down the dark country road with only faulty streetlights to guide her. Somehow she knew she was causing them to blink out as she passed underneath them. She gripped the handlebars tighter as she rushed on toward home.
Vague memories of the golden boy buzzed around in her brain. Breaking through her panicked thoughts, a voice invaded her mind. You are a descendant of the Star Children. Starseed, you are a Chosen One. Afraid, Elle pedaled faster, uncomfortable in her own skin. How could she be the Chosen One and what was a Starseed?
Chapter One
10 Years Later
A few miles outside Sweetwater, Colorado
Damn, we should’ve stopped at that last excuse for a town. Driving home from Denver at night across the desolate high plains of Colorado, a blowing sandstorm came out of nowhere. Elle Thomas gripped the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white. If she wasn’t careful, she’d kill herself and her best friend, Sara Banks. She slowed the car. Her body started to tingle and she drew in a shuddering breath. No, not now! The familiar sensation had her sixth sense working overtime.
Without warning, a bright light blazed through the blinding sand pitting against her windshield. Elle instinctively slammed the brakes to the floor, but the car refused to obey. She slid off the road, jerking against the seatbelt. Elle turned to Sara and squinted for a better view. “Do you see that?”
“Yes, what is it? I've never seen anything like it.” Sara held on to the dash with both hands.
Out of the darkness, the brilliant glare broke into three bright lights similar to those of a freight train and barreled toward them, growing larger by the second.
Eyes narrowing, Sara stared through the swirling sand. “It's going to hit us!”
Black fright swept through Elle as she pressed her foot against the accelerator. The engine whined and tires dug deeper in the sand. They were trapped. Her breath caught in her throat, leaving her woozy. Forcing her mind to focus, she watched the lights rush toward them. Adrenaline pumped through her veins.
“This can't be real,” she thought.
The strange lights engulfed the car. Elle threw her arms in front of her face. Sara screamed.
Yet, nothing hit them. Elle watched the large black mass with pulsating lights stop before them in the dim glow from the headlights. It silently rose and hovered over the car, showering them with more blinding white light. The radio died. The dash went dark. The engine ground to a halt and the headlights blinked out.
“Oh, crap,” Elle said. A haunting childhood memory rushed in. She’d been through this before. Go away!
The only sound was their labored breathing and the howling wind hammering sand against the car. Elle's chest pounded like a thrashing machine stuck in high gear. A bad taste of rusty pennies trickled down her throat from where she’d bit her lip when they hit the ditch.
The last time, the aliens had left her with the ability to foretell the future. She didn't know how she did it. It just happened. Growing up, the other kids had treated her like a freak. Now what was in store for her?
Fear, stark and vivid, glittered in Sara’s brown eyes as she leaned against the passenger side door. She pushed the straight brown hair away from her face and scooted across the seat to grab Elle’s arm. “Oh God, what is it?”
“I'm not sure,” Elle whispered, glancing at her friend. Sara couldn’t handle the truth. They huddled together, holding each other for comfort. The silent, pulsating colors shone through the car’s glass moon-roof as if looking for something…or someone.
“Starseed. It is time.”
The thought burst forth in Elle’s mind. They’re after me. She swallowed . . . hard and shivered in anticipation of the worst. No! I won’t go. Please go away! In self-defense she locked the doors.
After what seemed like a thousand years, the blinding white light blinked out. They were alone. The thing moved slowly upward into the night sky, then veered to the right and disappeared as fast as it arrived. The sandstorm immediately lessened in intensity.
“It's gone,” Sara squeaked in a tight voice.
Letting go of her friend, Elle pushed back a shiver of panic, taking deep breaths to calm the rapid pounding in her chest. “Yes.” And they didn't take me. She closed her eyes for an instant, savoring the sweet taste of freedom. Her fear eased and she glanced back toward Sara. “Are you okay?”
“I . . . I think so. Wow. That scared me so much I almost peed my pants.” Sara sat up and peered out the window, searching for a sign of the mysterious object.
Elle knew the feeling as shivers still shook her body. “Yeah, me, too.”
“Must've been some kind of new airplane,” Sara said. Lines on her face relaxed as she offered a rational explanation.
“Yeah,” Elle lied, licking her injured lip. It was probably something from the Air Force base.”
Sara looked at Elle, then back to the night sky. “Maybe, but that doesn't make sense. Why would they be testing anything in a sandstorm?”
Elle squeezed the steering wheel with both hands listening to the tension building in Sara’s voice.
“You always know when weird things are going to happen,” Sara snapped and smacked Elle on the arm. “You've saved
our butts hundreds of times. For God's sake, you’re the town psychic. You know things.” The words tumbled from her lips. Her voice rose as she lashed out. “Did you know about those lights? Why didn't you warn me?” A tear trickled down Sara’s cheek.
“Right now I’m not sure about anything.” Elle spoke in a calming voice and reached out to her friend. “This thing scared me as much as it did you. I’m as upset as you are.” Laying her hand on Sara's shoulder, she gently soothed her and glanced out the window. “Let's stay calm and figure out how we’re going to get out of this ditch.”
Sara wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her hand. “I'm so sorry. I'm such a mess and I'm cold.”
“So am I,” Elle said, choosing her words carefully. “Whatever it was is long gone. And at the rate that thing moved it's probably in another country by now.” Or another world.
“You know the ranchers are always saying strange things are happening to their livestock.” Sara dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “What if it’s a UFO?”
Elle shivered. She’d experienced many of those events up close and personal through her visions. “I've heard those stories, too, but I’m sure this was some kind of plane or militaty helicopter.” She had to keep Sara calm. Hysterics wouldn’t help either of them.
“Some people say Area 51 has moved to the high plains of Colorado.” Sara rubbed her arms.
“Oh, that’s silly, everything is fine now,” Elle said. Or it's going to be soon as we get out of here. She turned the ignition. It didn’t turn over. Nothing, not even a groan. She sighed. Damn, even if I could get the car to start, it'd be tough to get out of the ditch.
“Now what?” Sara shuddered as if a chill ran through her body.
“I'll call Triple A.” Elle reached for her cell phone. The face plate had turned black. No signal. Nothing. “It's dead.” She rubbed her fingers across the surface, willing it to turn on. “Try yours.”
Starseed Page 1
