Banished To Earth Book One (12)

  “How?”

   “Some of them scared me. They could not hurt me, but I could not help but feel their malevolent aura. So dark, dangerous, hungry. I managed to slip away, do not know how but I got out, a little bit. The Realm is not like this world. It is vague, misty, shifting. A deep wood without trees, just shadows, swirling grey mist, trying to form something, be something, but failing. Then I sensed you, your pain fear, desperation, a dark light in the distance. Dark light? Senseless, but that’s the best way I can describe it. I moved toward it, toward you and then for a moment your eyes became my eyes, my door, my escape. You saved me too.”

    She lifted her head and looked back at the shifting sea. Chase guessed she was trying to comfort herself with her pleasant surroundings. After a few moments she spoke.  “I do know this; your world has a pulse. It lives. Sighs and welcomes. I love Earth and its big falling water.”

    He didn’t have the heart to tell her, the big falling water was the biggest graveyard in the world.

“You don’t fear it?”

    “Why would I fear it? How can something so beautiful be dangerous?”

   He choked back a tear. She could just as easily be talking about herself.

   Her lovely willful hair caught the morning sunlight and played with it like a toy. Gauzy luminous rainbows slid in and out of her shimmering tresses. It was mesmerising. He could have spent the rest of his life just looking at her.

   She turned and looked up at him. “What?”

   Chase blushed. “Nothing. Ah we should get out of here.”

   Her shoulders slumped and she relented, “Yes, we must find more dead things for me to wear.” She rolled her eyes, then smirked playfully at him.

   “Don’t worry the ocean will be here when we get back.” He said, taking her hand as he led her back inside, all the while wondering if the ocean or anything else would still be there

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when or even if they returned. He pushed that dark thought out of his mind, and wondered why he would think such a thing, as he gathered up his keys and wallet and headed for his big green and silver Telluride…

   Her eyes swelled with disbelief when they approached the big four -seater truck. He felt her tug away from his hand. “What is that?”

   “Ah its’ just my truck, how I get around.”

  “Get around?”

  “We don’t have to walk unless we want to. It’s fun. You’ll see.”

  A sheepish uncertain smile struggled to lift her features.

   It was parked on the paved driveway thirty feet from his house. He walked to the truck ahead of her, opened its door, and activated the automatic running board with a soft mechanical sound.  “See its kinda like my house, ‘cept it rolls.”

   “Rolls?”

   “I promise it won’t eat you.” He meant that as a joke. But she shied away from it anyway. He climbed out, took her hand and led her around to the passenger side, opened the passenger side door and climbed in.

   “See, nice soft couch. Cushy and safe.”

   He climbed out, offered his hand. She was so short and hesitant, despite the running board, she needed help, but mostly encouragement, to get inside. Upon sliding in he saw a smile stretch her features.

   “See, nice and soft.”

  “Yes. Soft, smells funny.”

  “Yeah just bought it.”

  “Bought? You mean buy? With money.”

   “Yea! Think you going to catch on quick.”

   “Catch on to what?”

  “This world sweetie.”

 

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   She started to say something else when she reached up and poked the windshield with her finger. “Huh! The air is hard!”

  “You mean like the hard air in my, our, living room?”

    She turned and looked at him, her face a question mark.

  “The glass doors. You didn’t know they were glass?”

  “I saw the big falling water,”

  He interrupted, “You mean the ocean, the Atlantic Ocean?”

  “Yes Atlantic, I saw Atlantic, did not see glass. What is glass?”

  “Something you’re not supposed to see.”

  “Oh, like the Transit Realm?”

  “Uh yeah, something like that. It’s there, but you just can’t see it. Keeps the bugs out.” He joked when he saw her face tighten.

   “Bugs?’

   “Little monsters. Sorry, that just slipped out, didn’t mean.”

   “Yes, you did. And you are right. It is much like The Transit Realm.” She pressed her hand flat against the glass. “I cannot break it. That is good. Can you break it?”

   “Yeah, if I hit it with a rock.” He said, happy that his medicine cabinet's mirrored door had fallen off and shattered while he was trying to rehang it the week before. What in the world would she make of a mirror?

   “Do not hit it with a rock, never do that!” She reached down and hugged him and inhaled his woodsy scent. ‘So glad you didn’t shower.” She smiled just before he helped her out of the truck.

    “Oh crap, completely forgot. Sorry sweetie, we can’t go until I clean up and change. You can look at the, ocean, ah, Atlantic, if you want, while I get ready. Just don’t leave the deck. I can sense Hunters miles away, so you should be safe, and maybe you can too, sure hope so.”

“When you are near, I am safe.”

  

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   Her words stung his heart. “You know, it might be a good idea if you watch a little TV, might learn a little something, but probably not.”

“TV?”

  “That big black flat thing in the living room, come on, I’ll show you.”

   “Was there a fire?” She asked when she looked down at the black asphalt.

   “Oh. No. It’s just rock and tar; stuff they use to make roads. And that grey stuff on the ground butted up against the black, that’s concrete. Got it under my house, too, excuse me, our house.”

  “Our house?”

    He put his arm around her, “Yes, ours. You are my wife. Everything I have belongs to you.”

   She smiled at him and pressed her head against his chest. Her hair hugged his waist as they sauntered back to the house…

   Chase thought it might be better if Pry remained inside while he got ready, so he decided to turn on the TV when they returned to the living room.

   “Why don’t you sit on the couch, and I’ll show you something you’ve never seen.” With that he walked over to the TV table, snatched up the remote and turned on the set. Pry had just settled down on the couch when it flicked on and started booming loud rock music against her tender alien ears.

   It was the old Steppenwolf song ‘Born To Be Wild’, a baby diaper commercial of all things.

   Pry leapt straight up like a cat, backflipped over the couch and dropped to the floor on all fours.

   Chase slammed his thumb on the off button, tossed the remote on the couch and ran to her.

   “Whoa! You alright?” He asked, looking down at her crouching, little, half-dressed body. Apparently, his makeshift belt was not tight enough to keep her pants around her waist. Luckily the shirt made a nice dress.

   “Baby I’m sorry.” He stretched out his hand to her.

   She cowered away. He stooped down beside her cupped the back of her head with his right hand. “It’s alright, Pry. It’s just noise and pictures. It can’t hurt you. I promise.”

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     She relaxed her coiled body and sat back on the floor, propping her hands on her knees. “You must think me a fool.”

  “Never. Phastanar must be like Earth centuries ago. Medieval.”

  Pry’s features tightened.

   He could tell she was struggling with the word medieval. “Primitive, no electricity, trucks cars stuff like that. But it’s okay. I’ll teach you.”

   She rose with the fluidity and grace of an Olympic gymnast. Her face red, but not from exertion. “Forgive my ignorance.” She mewed.

   “Forgive, no. I love teaching you new things. I want to show you the world.” A smile brightened his face. She had just given him a gift, a gift he never knew he needed. Hope.

   “Come on let’s try this again. Didn’t know you could do that.”

   “What?”

   “That was a really cool backflip.”

   She shrugged. “It is merely how we catch animals. They are fast. We are faster.”

   “So, you don’t just go around draining men.”

   Pry looked down as they made their way around the couch. “Men need culling, and we need babies. That is all. My father did not need to die. But most men…” She saw his face clouded with concern. “But this is Earth. None of that is accepted here. Am I right?”

   “That’s right. We don’t kill people here, well, we’re not supposed to anyway. Just follow my lead.”

   She shook her head.

“Do what I do.”

“And my hair, it should not move, should it?”

   “No, our hair, uh, my hair, their hair is dead, just a covering. Sometimes it even falls out.” Chase could not hide his grin when her nose crinkled up in disgust.

   “But mine does live. How can I say this? It has its’ own life and will. It serves me but…”

   “So it’s Kinda like an animal, a pet, well more like a puppy that loves to chew bedroom slippers and bad men.”