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“ You’re just coming up with excuses now because you don’t want to seem too eager.

I saw you looking around for me before you stepped into the forest, knowing this place would give us some of the privacy we both want.

And by the way, that ain’t no kitten … that’s a Suet , and he will be larger than you when full grown.

” When he steps closer to me, the kitten hisses at him.

Rubbing his soft, but odd fur, I pull him closer.

His pointed ears twitch against my nose as he rubs his head against mine.

Trying to change the subject, I start moving away from him. “ Did you see what just happened here? The ground just opened up and swallowed that big ass cat whole.”

“ I didn’t, but Ricky saw something similar a few days ago.

Even though you can’t see them right now, there are small birds high up in the timbers that normally only fly down to this level a few times a day.

He said he saw one fall, obviously dead, and then the ground opened after a little bit.

Scared the hell out of him. If you think about it, …

it’s almost like this moon is taking back what it’s cared for all this time. ”

All of a sudden, his facial expression changes, and it’s like looking at a whole different person.

“ You know Lacie , I really don’t like seeing you dressed in that alien’s clothes, or the fact that you didn’t fight him when he carried you off earlier.

” He keeps walking closer to me, and I swear he’s getting angrier by the second.

Just by the look on his face, I know I need to play this carefully.

“ Eric , I … found this jumpsuit in one of the crates, and how do you fight something that large? I’m not a man, and you had already walked off. I was alone.” By this time, Eric is only a few feet away, his body literally shaking in anger.

“ You let him fuck you, didn’t ya? You are my girl, and you let that glowing bastard stick his cock inside you!”

“ What ! … Who do you think you are? What I do with my body is none of your business Eric , and I’m sure as hell not your girl. Now , if you don’t mind, I’m going to head back to the beach with everyone else.”

“ No , you’re not! You’re going to stop teasing me and give me a taste of what you’ve been flaunting in front of me.”

“ Eric , I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve never led you on.”

“ Oh , you’ve tried to play hard to get, but I always get what I want, and I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that you were the only one for me. Now , you either take that jumpsuit off yourself, or I’ll do it for you.”

When I don’t move, he starts toward me, and I begin walking backward, only to find myself trapped against the base of a tree, with Eric’s larger form instantly pinning me in place.

When he reaches for me, the kitten swipes at his arm, scratching it so deeply that he actually yells out.

Seizing the momentary distraction, I dart around him, but he grabs me by my hair, tugging me back.

Screaming , I drop the kitten while trying to keep Eric from yanking my hair out by the roots.

Suddenly , an intense pain envelops my face.

Blinking , it takes a second for my brain to realize he’s smacked me while I was struggling against him.

Pulling me to the ground, he settles all his weight on my stomach, cruelly ripping and tearing at my jumpsuit.

At this point, I’m fighting him almost blindly and my slaps and punches don’t even faze his determination to get these clothes off me. “ Get the fuck off me, you psycho!”

The kitten must have attacked him from behind because he arches away from me, screaming as he tries to pull something off his back. Taking full advantage of all this commotion, I force myself to my feet and start to run. I haven’t made it two steps away when I hear him yelling.

“ Get your ass back here, Lacie ! You don’t want to know what happens to little girls who run from me!”

Pushing my legs as hard as they’ll go, I do my best to ignore the sharp rocks and debris cutting into the bottoms of my feet as I run blindly through the brush.

Darting through the trees, I scan the area, searching for any place to hide, but the landscape is so closed off that I have no idea where to go.

And unfortunately, his longer strides seem to be catching up with mine quickly, as I can hear him tearing through the brush behind me.

“ Lacie , you are only making this worse for yourself! I had planned on being gentle, but if you keep running from me, that won’t be the case.”

His loud, deranged words echo all around, and I fight the tears and the urge to stop and give in.

Glancing back, my breath catches because suddenly he is only an arm’s length away, and the smile on his face is so cruel that I know I will not survive if he catches me.

I feel the brush of his hand barely miss my shoulder when I see something small and black run out of the woods right under his feet.

Eric trips hard, and I hear the kitten yelp.

In my heart, I know he just got hurt trying to help me.

Pushing harder, I have no idea how far I’ve gone, but I know I’m now completely and totally lost. Just when I think I can’t take another step, I see a clearing up ahead.

Hoping it’s the landing fields, I run faster, only to barely stop myself before I almost fling myself headfirst into a sheer drop-off.

Backpedaling my arms, I grab a limb sticking out, stopping just before I fall into a ravine I can’t see the bottom of.

Grasping my side, I try to catch my breath. Looking around, I realize I’ve nowhere to go. The only way out of here is the path I just came from, and Eric is back there somewhere. My thoughts seem to conjure him right out of thin air.

“ You’ve been bad Lacie , and you know what that means.

You have now forced me to have to punish you and look at what you’ve done.

” He points to a large tear in the knee of his jeans.

“ These were my favorite pair and you know I hate for my things to be damaged. I just need to figure out what to take from you to make up for it. Maybe your earlobe or a nipple will suffice. You know you’re truly beautiful standing there, with sweat running down your face and your cheeks flushed.

Your beauty is so tempting that I can’t wait to taste that breast that is showing just enough skin to tease me.

However , because of the things that have happened today, I’ve decided that I don’t want others to see you as I do.

Your beauty should be for my eyes only, and I’m going to remedy that in just a little bit.

I think a few well-placed cuts here and there will make all others look away, but you don’t have to worry about your disfigurement turning me away …

No , I’ll rejoice because every mark was made from my own hands.

After all, I don’t want those fucking aliens to ever look at you lustfully again.

For your sake, when I take you later, I had better not find any traces that you’ve been with another.

My restraint only goes so far.” He pulls a knife out of his pocket, twirling it around in his hand. “ Now , where to start?”

“ You’re a fucking psycho ! Can you even hear the words coming out of your mouth?”

His laughter echoes off the walls of the ravine.

“ Now , I won’t tolerate any name-calling.

My mother used to say the same thing to me until I decided to sew her mouth shut one morning.

Do you know it took days for her to die …

I finally got tired of her whining and slit her throat, but then I couldn’t stop.

The female body is just so delicious under my hands and in my mouth.

And I have come to love the anticipation of who I get to play with next.

Your teasing is only sweetening the anticipation of how it’s going to be between us.

My seed is soaking my underwear as my body anticipates the first cut and your warm blood coating my hands as I fuck you.

Now , I do realize that I have to be slightly more careful here as there are so few of us, but I’ve learned well how to cover my tracks through the years. And I figure when I get done playing with you, I’ll sweeten up that little friend of yours.”

“ You stay the fuck away from Briar , you sick bastard! You might get away with doing this to me, but the Commander is not stupid. They will catch you.” My eyes search everywhere for a way to escape him, but he’s blocking the only path forward, and there’s no place to escape behind me as it’s straight up and down just a few steps back.

“ No , they won’t, Lacie . You’ve made this too easy by running off to whore yourself out to an alien, then disappearing when he discarded you.

No one will ever suspect me, since I’ll be back on duty before they even realize you’re missing.

The party was still going strong when I left, and it will be hours before any of them start to leave.

That gives me plenty of time to play with you.

If you happen to survive, and that all depends on you, then I’ll find a place just for us so that we can continue this game for a little longer. ”

Ok , one minute he says he’s going to cut me up for others to see, the next he’s going to kill me, and now if I’m good he’ll hide me somewhere. So , I try another tactic as he inches closer. “ Eric , please don’t do this.”

“ Stop calling me that! My name is Jeffrey , and you will address me properly from now on.”

“ Then who’s Eric ?”

“ Oh , just the young man I killed as they were loading the last of the pods. The scientists were so busy that they never noticed the difference. It’s amazing what people often overlook, even when it’s right in front of them.

Anyway , he was a rich, spoiled brat. Why should he get to live when I was the one who deserved it more? ”

He steps fully out of the tree line, and I know there’s no rationalizing with him because the man truly is mad.

Without thinking, I step back, only to find myself at the very edge of the cliff.

Turning slightly to look down, he must’ve thought I was going to jump because he rushes toward me.

But the moment his weight merges with mine, the dirt beneath our feet shifts, and suddenly I feel myself falling.

His hands paw at me as we both scramble for something to hold onto until the entire rock wall gives way around us.

Debris rains down, knocking Eric ... Jeffrey , whatever the fuck his name is, away from me.

Just as he loses his grasp on me, his screams are suddenly silenced, and my body strikes something hard.

Pain and then darkness overcome me as the fight of this day leaves my body.