Page 30
Story: Tamed By the Alien Himbo
My legs won't move. They should move. Every cell in my body screams at me to run, but I'm frozen, staring at... at...
This can't be real. The red skin. Those horns. Those pitch-black eyes that somehow still look at me with Jack's intensity. But it's not Jack. Jack doesn't exist. Jack was a lie.
A hysterical laugh bubbles up in my throat. All those weird questions. The way he moved during laser tag. How he always seemed to be studying everything. God, I'm such an idiot.
"Vanessa." His voice is still Jack's voice, and that makes it worse. So much worse. "Please-"
"Don't." The word comes out as a whisper. My fingers shake as I raise them between us. "Don't come near me."
The world spins. The brick wall of the alley scrapes against my palm as I steady myself. The rough texture grounds me for a moment - this is real, this is happening. The morning rush hour traffic continues just yards away. People walking past the alley entrance, oblivious. Normal people living their normal lives while my reality crumbles.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Maybe when I open them, this will all be a hallucination. Too much coffee. Too little sleep. Anything but this.
But when I look again, he's still there. Still red-skinned. Still horned. Still looking at me with those impossible black eyes.
My chest tightens. I can't breathe. The vision blurs, and my knees buckle. This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This isn't-
A sound escapes me - something between a sob and a scream, but I clamp my hand over my mouth before it can fully form. People would come running. People would see him. See this. And then what?
I need to run. I need to get away. But my body won't cooperate. I'm trapped between fight and flight, stuck in a frozen limbo of disbelief and terror.
"This isn't real," I whisper against my palm. "This can't be real."
Through my panic, I catch a shift in Jack's - or whatever his name is - expression. His black eyes narrow, head tilting like he's listening for something.
A chill runs down my spine. The hair on my arms stands up. That feeling when you know someone's watching-
Strong hands grab me from behind. An arm locks around my waist, another across my chest. My feet leave the ground as I'm yanked backward.
"No!" I thrash against the iron grip. My elbow connects with something solid, but the hold doesn't loosen. The world blurs as I'm spun away from Jack.
"Vanessa!" Jack lunges forward, his alien features contorting in rage. But he stops short, like he's hit an invisible wall.
My attacker's breath is hot against my ear. They smell wrong - like ozone and metal. Not human. Oh god, not human.
I kick backward, heel connecting with a shin. Nothing. It's like kicking concrete. My nails dig into the arms holding me, but they're covered in some kind of armor.
"Let her go!" Jack's voice booms through the alley, deeper than I've ever heard it. The brick walls seem to vibrate with his fury.
The grip around my chest tightens until I can barely breathe. Black spots dance in my vision. This can't be happening. This can't-
My feet drag against the ground as my captor pulls me deeper into the shadows. Away from Jack. Away from everything I knew about reality.
"Jack!" The name tears from my throat as my captor drags me backward. "Please!"
Jack strains forward, muscles bulging against whatever invisible force holds him back. His black eyes lock onto mine, desperate and determined. For a moment, I forget the horns, the red skin - I just see the man who held me on that rooftop, who made me laugh during laser tag, who looked at me like I was something precious.
A shadow moves behind him. My eyes widen as another figure materializes from the darkness. Taller than Jack, with grey, metallic skin that seems to ripple like liquid mercury. No face - just a smooth, reflective surface where features should be.
"Behind you!"
Jack spins, but too late. The creature's arm whips out - impossibly fast, impossibly long - and connects with Jack's temple. The crack echoes through the alley.
"No!" I throw my weight forward, but my captor's grip is unyielding. "Jack!"
Jack crumples like a marionette with cut strings. Blood trickles from his temple, stark crimson against his dark red skin. His black eyes flutter, unfocused, before closing.
My scream catches in my lungs as a cold, metallic hand clamps over my mouth. The smell of ozone burns my nostrils. I bite down hard, but my teeth just scrape uselessly against the material.
This can't be real. The red skin. Those horns. Those pitch-black eyes that somehow still look at me with Jack's intensity. But it's not Jack. Jack doesn't exist. Jack was a lie.
A hysterical laugh bubbles up in my throat. All those weird questions. The way he moved during laser tag. How he always seemed to be studying everything. God, I'm such an idiot.
"Vanessa." His voice is still Jack's voice, and that makes it worse. So much worse. "Please-"
"Don't." The word comes out as a whisper. My fingers shake as I raise them between us. "Don't come near me."
The world spins. The brick wall of the alley scrapes against my palm as I steady myself. The rough texture grounds me for a moment - this is real, this is happening. The morning rush hour traffic continues just yards away. People walking past the alley entrance, oblivious. Normal people living their normal lives while my reality crumbles.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Maybe when I open them, this will all be a hallucination. Too much coffee. Too little sleep. Anything but this.
But when I look again, he's still there. Still red-skinned. Still horned. Still looking at me with those impossible black eyes.
My chest tightens. I can't breathe. The vision blurs, and my knees buckle. This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This isn't-
A sound escapes me - something between a sob and a scream, but I clamp my hand over my mouth before it can fully form. People would come running. People would see him. See this. And then what?
I need to run. I need to get away. But my body won't cooperate. I'm trapped between fight and flight, stuck in a frozen limbo of disbelief and terror.
"This isn't real," I whisper against my palm. "This can't be real."
Through my panic, I catch a shift in Jack's - or whatever his name is - expression. His black eyes narrow, head tilting like he's listening for something.
A chill runs down my spine. The hair on my arms stands up. That feeling when you know someone's watching-
Strong hands grab me from behind. An arm locks around my waist, another across my chest. My feet leave the ground as I'm yanked backward.
"No!" I thrash against the iron grip. My elbow connects with something solid, but the hold doesn't loosen. The world blurs as I'm spun away from Jack.
"Vanessa!" Jack lunges forward, his alien features contorting in rage. But he stops short, like he's hit an invisible wall.
My attacker's breath is hot against my ear. They smell wrong - like ozone and metal. Not human. Oh god, not human.
I kick backward, heel connecting with a shin. Nothing. It's like kicking concrete. My nails dig into the arms holding me, but they're covered in some kind of armor.
"Let her go!" Jack's voice booms through the alley, deeper than I've ever heard it. The brick walls seem to vibrate with his fury.
The grip around my chest tightens until I can barely breathe. Black spots dance in my vision. This can't be happening. This can't-
My feet drag against the ground as my captor pulls me deeper into the shadows. Away from Jack. Away from everything I knew about reality.
"Jack!" The name tears from my throat as my captor drags me backward. "Please!"
Jack strains forward, muscles bulging against whatever invisible force holds him back. His black eyes lock onto mine, desperate and determined. For a moment, I forget the horns, the red skin - I just see the man who held me on that rooftop, who made me laugh during laser tag, who looked at me like I was something precious.
A shadow moves behind him. My eyes widen as another figure materializes from the darkness. Taller than Jack, with grey, metallic skin that seems to ripple like liquid mercury. No face - just a smooth, reflective surface where features should be.
"Behind you!"
Jack spins, but too late. The creature's arm whips out - impossibly fast, impossibly long - and connects with Jack's temple. The crack echoes through the alley.
"No!" I throw my weight forward, but my captor's grip is unyielding. "Jack!"
Jack crumples like a marionette with cut strings. Blood trickles from his temple, stark crimson against his dark red skin. His black eyes flutter, unfocused, before closing.
My scream catches in my lungs as a cold, metallic hand clamps over my mouth. The smell of ozone burns my nostrils. I bite down hard, but my teeth just scrape uselessly against the material.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42