Chapter Three
They rode in silence out of the city limits. Jess gazed out the window as the sun set over the desert around Mesa. A small voice inside her reminded her that she should be concerned about driving into the desert with a relative stranger. For some reason she couldn’t bring herself to fear Shane in any way. Wonder about him. Check. Curious about whatever he could tell her about herself. Check. Attracted to him. Triple check. No fear whatsoever.
The desert sped by. The sky turned from pink to deep red-orange. They were about ten miles outside of the city before Shane slowed and turned onto a side road. The first mile was dirt and rutted, but eventually they reached a paved road with asphalt the exact shade of red as the surrounding sand. It even changed hue to match the surrounding desert sand perfectly. If you didn’t know what to look for, you wouldn’t even see the hardened road winding through the sand into the bottom of a blind canyon.
Jess was about to ask if the canyon flooded in the flash storms that Mesa was known for when the road leveled off onto an elevated stretch of flat pavement. The road looked like a suspended bridge over the canyon, which continued to drop off on either side. Invisible from above until you were actually upon it, it was an amazing sight. She wished she weren’t so exhausted so she could study it more closely.
They went under a natural overhang that was easily thirty feet high, extending fifty feet from end to end. When they exited on the opposite side, it was as if they had left the desert behind. The interior of the canyon was lush and green.
They began to pass dwellings that didn’t look like the typical stucco homes of Mesa. The driveways cut off from the main road, venturing off into the canyon face, doorways and windows were cut straight into the canyon wall. She could see shadows of people behind curtains. Clearly the doorways led to single-family-type homes. Stacked and staggered, the dwelling rose to encompass the entire face of the canyon walls. The entryways had balcony-like platforms overlooking the road and the canyon itself. Jess didn’t see any stairs or external elevators that would permit access to the higher homes. There must be some sort of infrastructure within the rock. The architect was genius.
Catching the sounds of music or laughter from within the dwellings told her this was some sort of community. How could she have lived in Mesa her whole life and not known it was here? Above the glow of lights, she could hear the beating wings of birds of prey, hunting in the night nearby. What an amazing place.
Below the dwelling, a concave section was cut in, displaying row after row of newer vehicles. Most were Hummers and Jeeps, popular among people who enjoyed exploring the desert. It was one of the main reasons she had bought one. There were also four-wheeled ATVs and every kind of motorcycle, from Bullet Bikes and Harleys to dirt bikes. A lower section revealed a line of standard cars, BMWs and Mercedes. She was sure she even saw a couple of Lamborghinis. Why would people who could afford these types of vehicles choose to live in small homes cut out of a solid rock ravine?
She couldn’t turn her head fast enough to take it all in before they drove under another natural overhang that was far closer to the top of the Jeep and much shorter, emerging at a large natural pool about one hundred feet in diameter. A sheer vertical cliff stretched up at least two hundred feet on three sides. A waterfall cascaded down the cliff and pounded into the pool. The crashing water created a cool mist in the desert heat.
“How deep is that?” Jess asked, awed by the power of the falls. From the lack of continuing ripples, she guessed it was deep.
Shane shrugged. “About five hundred feet at the falls and following the road. It inclines from there to the shore on the other side.”
The canyon opened to the left side of the pool for as far as she could see in the shape of a bowl. They made a sharp turn as the road curved to the right. Winding between the outer edge of the lake and a sheer cliff, the road seemed to float along the surface of the lake, flowing along the natural shapes of the two geographical wonders, meandering toward the roar of the waterfall and beyond. Shane navigated the Jeep behind the fall of the water. Jess held her breath, her heart pounding.
She could only stare in amazement. The backside of the falls was lit by an incandescent glow coming from some light source. Illuminating the heart of the waterfall, it gave the misty spray a soft glow.
At the opposite side of the falls a large park stretched out, Jess could see the calm lake shore Shane had mentioned. They drove deeper into the canyon. The light from the illuminated lake had faded, leaving them in the full dark of night. All that penetrated the darkness were the lights coming from the dwelling windows and the Jeep’s headlights on the road. “What is this place?” she asked in wonder. This wasn’t something she had ever seen on any real-estate pamphlet.
“My home,” Shane answered. “I live in a single unit, located off of the parking levels.”
“These are kind of like Ancient Puebloan dwellings? Are you a Pueblo Indian, Shane? Is this some sort of a modern reservation?” It would explain why they weren’t known or sold on the regular market. The few tribes that had remained in this area were known to have prospered with the casinos and other attractions they had built on the edge of the different reservations. Prospered to this level? Wow.
“A reservation is one way of looking at it, I suppose, but we are not Indians.” Shane carefully pulled the Jeep into a spot within the concave cutout along the cave face, parking next to a Harley Soft Tail in mint condition. A quick image of Shane’s long legs straddling that bike popped into her head, and she nearly moaned out loud at the thought.
Shane shut off the engine. Jess was immediately plunged into complete darkness and felt a moment of panic. The driver’s side door opened, lighting up the dome light and Shane’s smile. He slid out, shutting the door and returning her to the impenetrable darkness. She’d never been afraid of the dark, but this wasn’t like a normal dark. It was different from any dark she had ever encountered, tomb-like. She felt suffocated. How could Shane even see to walk around the Jeep? Inexplicably her eyes began to make out shapes in the dark. She wasn’t even sure if it was real or if her mind has playing tricks on her. When Shane opened Jess’s car door, her pupils shrunk to normal under the dome light.
She couldn’t hide the relief that little glow of light gave her. Shane must have noticed. Grinning, he flipped the wheel of a lighter he must have fished out of his pocket and held it up, leading the way to a solid rock wall. The stones appeared to shift in the flickering light. Not possible. They must have walked into a blind entrance into the wall.
Lights came on from behind odd-shaped crystals placed into the walls. The room was larger than she would have guessed, modern in a male kind of way. Below each of the crystal lights were displays of different antique weapons. In the center of the room sat a leather loveseat, two matching leather chairs, and a table with a detailed chess set. Across from that, countering the medieval motif, was a La-Z-Boy recliner facing a giant flat-screen TV, securely mounted into the stone of the wall. On either end of the room were arched openings. One led into what appeared to be a kitchen or dining area. In the other she could make out the edge of a massive bed. Jess had images of Shane lying in the rumpled bedding. Yum.
“I left my bag in the Jeep.” She turned to head back the way she came in.
“I’ll grab it.” Shane stopped her, and this time she could clearly see the stone in the wall slide away, revealing the opening they had entered through. Sure her mouth was gaping open; she peered around it to watch Shane jog to the side of the Jeep and reach in to grab her bag. He walked back into the room and the stone slid back, sealing the wall as if it had never been.
“How did you do that?” This was beyond weird. Did she fall into the twilight zone?
Shane turned his head, following her line of sight at the stone entrance. “We have much to discuss. You haven’t f … er … eaten anything. Why don’t you take that shower and I will find something for us to eat.” He seemed unsure of himself for the first time sinc
e she’d met him. Maybe he needed a minute to collect himself. She knew she sure as shit did.
Relieved when he deflected an answer that might just send her into a full-blown panic attack, Jess agreed. “That would be good. Where is the bathroom?” Jess glanced around.
Shane pointed to the perfectly normal door across the room, framed into a rock wall and centered between the arched entries.
“Thank you; baby Jesus, a door that makes sense.” She headed toward it, and then turned back to Shane. “It’s not going to be dark with spiders or anything, right?” She shuddered.
Shane chuckled. “Not at all you will find it quite modern and comfortable. There are robes hanging on the door. It will illuminate as soon as you enter.” Of course it would, no light switches required, no reason to deviate from weirdness now. She didn’t even see a power outlet. Good thing she had hair that didn’t require a blowout to lay straight.
Jess opened the door and stood just inside as the crystals lit. She looked back at Shane, opening her mouth to speak. Was the light going to go off and plunge her back into that darkness again? Forget it. She snapped her mouth shut again, giving herself a shake of her head, and stepped slowly into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
Whistling, Jess took a moment to appreciate the lifestyles of the rock-dweller rich and famous bathroom. There was a giant shower cut into the stone with three different showerheads aimed into the center. A clear, no frills shower curtain guided the water to a drain in the floor. Fluffy towels sat folded on the shelf located between the shower and the heaven-on-earth, oversized tub submerged into the bathroom floor next to it. A separate door behind the tub led to a completely normal toilet and sink in your basic white porcelain.
She glanced from the shower to the bath, biting her lip in indecision. Her eye caught on the basket of soaps, shampoos, and … yes! Bubble bath and bath salts. Reaching for a knob that wasn’t there, her hand passed over a sensor and the water turned on immediately, filling the tub with perfect-temperature water. Okay.
Her questions floated away the second she slid into the bath. Heaven. She had found heaven in the twilight zone.
****
Maybe bringing Jess here wasn’t such a good idea after all, Shane thought as he listened to the bath start up. All he could imagine was Jess undressing, unveiling the curves that had barely been hinted at in her GI, stepping naked into his tub.
He was cracking up. He was hard as the walls surrounding them, groaning as he adjusted the bulge behind his zipper. Being uncomfortably aroused had been his perpetual state since the second she walked into the gym. Her scent was already mingling with his in the confines of his quarters. He could even smell her beneath the vanilla bubble bath she must be using. It was a gentle, sweet smell, like oleander flowers; the sweet, exotic fragrance complimented her. She was more beautiful than and probably just as toxic as that particular flower, too.
He hadn’t even considered how she would react to the differences between his world and hers. Never gave a thought to the psychic and kinetic energies his kind used to operate simple things like entryways and illuminations. Maybe he should have taken her to a coffee shop first. At least she wasn’t the screaming type, thank the Fates. The fact that she currently lounged … naked … in his tub rather than running blind into the night was a good sign, right? What was he going to do with her? Several images popped into his mind, none of which were appropriate.
He stomped into the kitchen, knowing there was nothing except fresh ground coffee. After looking in the cupboards anyway, he drew her scent deep into his lungs before porting himself to the community mess hall. Thanking his luck that the kitchens were empty this time of night, he grabbed a package of crackers and some sliced cheese. The container of strawberries, bottle of water and red wine were an afterthought. Debating briefly, he grabbed a couple of pints of blood from the stock. Better to be safe than sorry.
Chapter Four
“Moira,” Jess called.
“I was wondering when you’d show up.” Moira’s room appeared around Jess. Moira was laying on a pink floral chaise lounge, the décor perfectly matched with the cream colored walls, further complimented by dark mahogany tables scattered about the room. Jess took the pink floral chair sitting across one of the tables between her and her Aunt. Her special drink was full and waiting for her, as always, when she arrived. Nothing much ever changed in her “Moira Dreams.”
“Where have you been keeping yourself, girl?” Moira asked, watching Jess down her drink in one gulp. “You should have come sooner. You wouldn’t be so thirsty.”
“I know, things have been crazy, and I haven’t been sleeping well.” Jess set the cup back down on the table. Jess and Moira had been meeting this way since the day her mother was killed.
It was the last conversation she had with her mother. Jess had been out in the yard, playing on her tree swing. She loved that tree swing and would stay out on it past sunset if her mother would let her. She had heard her mother and father arguing, so she was covering her ears when her mother’s voice called to her telepathically.
“Jessica sweet.”
“Yes, mother,” Jess replied
“Honey, mommy’s been hurt.” Jess jumped down and began to run for the house.
“Stop!” Her mother’s mental command stopped Jess in her tracks. “I need you to come with me.”
Jess felt a dizzy, spinning sensation, the same sensation she felt every time she returned to her Aunt Moira. She must have crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Then her mother was beside her in the dream. She took Jess’s hand and suddenly they were in the same room she now stood in. Moira and her mother began to cry and hug. Jess had never met Moira, didn’t even know her mother had a sister, let alone that they were twins. Sometimes she wondered if Aunt Moira was really her mother’s imaginary friend/sister who had been passed down to Jess.
“Oh, Fates,” Moira had cried. “They’ve killed you!” It was then that Jess noticed that her mother had blood pouring from her neck.
“Mommmmmyyy!” Jess had begun to cry, and Moira looked at her. Jess would never forget the look on her aunt’s face in that moment. Her eyes reflected a combination of surprise and sorrow.
“Please,” her mother had said in a weak voice. “Please take care of my Jessica, Moira. She is an innocent. I want her to live a normal life.”
“Of course.” Moira knelt down, tears streaming down her face, pulling a crying Jess into her arms. “I am your Aunt Moira, Jessica. I will always be here for you. Whenever you need me, you just need to make a big wish for me. Think really, really hard about this room while you go to sleep, and you will come right back here in your dreams, okay?” Sniffling, Jess had nodded.
She’d felt dizzy and spinning again, finding herself standing right outside her back door. Running into the house, she saw her mother laying in a pool of blood with her neck slit, her father kneeling beside her, holding a bloody knife.
“Mother!” She ran to her mother’s other side and touched her mother’s cheek, feeling a tearing sensation in her chest, like someone had removed an organ, followed by an empty hollowing in her mind. Her mother was dead. Jess looked up into her father’s vacant stare and knew that she was alone in the world, except for Aunt Moira.
Jess had come to Aunt Moira almost every night after that. They had cried together, both mourning the woman they had loved more than any other in the world. Eventually she visited less and less often, until the year she turned thirteen, when Jess had gotten very ill. That was when Moira had begun giving her the special drink. Whenever Jess went without it for more than a day or two, she could feel herself getting ill again.
It had been more than two days since she had visited her Aunt. She was feeling the effect of her drink re-energizing her.
“I needed that.” Jess sighed.
“So where have you been? I was very worried. I thought something might have happened to you.” Moira was watching her intently.
“Nothing to be w
orried about. Eric talked me into teaching a class a couple of days ago. I was nervous and couldn’t sleep the night before. Shit, I fell asleep in the bath. I’ll be back to tell you everything later.”
“Damn it, Jess. WAIT!” Moira called out.
She heard Moira calling to her. She could hear Shane calling to her too. She reached for the spinning dizzy sensation, willing her mind to wake up.
The minute Shane had ported back into his kitchen, he knew something was off. He couldn’t sense her presence; Jess was gone. He knocked on the bathroom door.
“Jess.” He knocked louder. “Jess!” he yelled, twisting the door open and lunging into the bathroom. Her discarded GI was thrown on the bathroom floor, her bag lying just inside the door. The tub was full of steaming bubbles, but no Jess. He ran into the bedroom, calling, “Jess,” but heard only silence.
Fates, what if she had panicked and left after all? Could she have figured out how to send her psychic energy into the entry and leave that quickly? He opened the stone entry, but the Jeep was still there.
“I’m sorry, were you calling me?” Her sweet voice came from behind him. He jerked his head around and looked into the open bathroom door. Her head was leaned back to rest on the back of the tub she was submerged in. “I must have fallen asleep.” Her sexy, sleepy voice soothed him with relief.
“You were gone. I checked the bathroom and you where not there.” He couldn’t help the accusation in his voice. She’d scared the hell out of him, and fear was not an emotion he was familiar with. Nor was the incredible sense of loss he could not understand.
“I was right here.” She was looking at him like he was nuts again. “Where the hell would I go?”
His relief and fear rapidly turned into irritation and anger. Was she serious? “Just tell me where you went.” Stomping into the bathroom, Shane stood in front of her bath with his arms folded across his chest. He wanted to shake her … until he looked into her eyes.
Immortal Becoming Page 3
