Page 17 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Stars

My daily late-night runs were the only time I ever had to myself, so when I pulled on my hoodie and laced my sneakers up tight, I didn’t expect this time to be any different.

I headed out of my street and went straight for the forest road, the long, winding quiet a pleasant distraction from the usual chaos of a house full of sorority girls. The sun had set hours before, the inky black of the sky a blanket of calm as my feet pounded the tarmac, moving quickly one in front of the other. In the distance, I heard the familiar wail of a siren, the campus security out on their usual patrol had no doubt come across a drunken fight or a hazing ritual. I breathed deeply, keeping my head held high as I pushed forward, the burn forming in my chest as the air whipped against my skin.

The stars were bright and glittering, and when the street lamps began to fade and I was far enough away from the glow of houses, I found myself watching them. My eyes fixed on the formations, and I realized that some of them were unfamiliar. My legs wobbled and I let myself slow, crouching to hold my knees and breathing deeply as I tried to catch my breath. An owl hooted in the trees and I straightened, looking above into the heavens. Even without the moon, the sky felt unnaturally bright, the stars shining with such intensity they could have lit up the rest of my trail. Normally, I would have brushed it off and continued, but something about the way a cluster of stars were twinkling gave me pause. I’d never studied astronomy, but I vaguely knew what constellations to expect on a night like this. I’d spent many times over the years admiring the big dipper and Orion, but this time, something was off. Instead of the usual formation of stars, I saw a shining cluster of something bigger. I swallowed as my eyes tried to focus on a set of floating orbs, twinkling brightly before they moved to slowly the left.

I shook my head.

“Satellites,” I reassured myself before I took another step.

But then I faltered as I realized one of them seemed to be getting bigger as if it were coming slowly towards me.

I should have kept on running.

I should have turned back.

But, as my heart fluttered in my chest and my breathing slowed, I found myself smiling. Warmth spread through my legs, flooding from my toes all the way to the tops of my thighs before curling up tight in a heated coil at my core. A gasp escaped my lips as the star closed in, so gentle and hypnotizing, like a silent seduction.

And then, with no more than a whisper, I felt my feet leave the ground as I was consumed by light.