Solacium

Ch 11: Blake

I ran my fingers through my hair, grumbling as I got out of bed. Looking at the clock, the flashing red numbers read 3:30 am. It was the middle of the night, which unfortunately meant I only slept for a few hours.

Getting up, I grabbed a hair clip from my nightstand and went to the mirror by my closet. Doing my best to ignore the soreness in my arms, I twisted up my messy hair and secured it in place with the clip. When that was done, I took a quick look at the rest of me.

The girl in the mirror looked terrible. Eye bags with ash smudged across my face and unwashed hair. Not to mention the fact that I was still wearing the same outfit from yesterday. The black long-sleeve shirt I had picked out was still slightly damp from the rain and clung uncomfortably to my skin. My black jeans were equally as wet, but also had smudges of mud and ash.

I sighed, swearing under my breath that I would shower as soon as I found out what happened downstairs. Grabbing my gun, I caught a glimpse of my bag thrown on the floor and remembered the stolen alien blaster I tucked away inside it. Looking down at my simple handgun, I debated briefly which one I should use.

My gun felt light, too light. With three rounds missing from yesterday, that meant I only had another three left in the chamber. That was a dangerously low number, and I desperately needed to acquire more ammo. With the Deviants hoarding all the weapons in the city, ammo was hard to come by and definitely not something I wanted to waste.

My mind made up, I made my way to my bag, replacing my gun with the sleek silver blaster. I figured it would be best to be prepared, just in case Jada was right and aliens did in fact hold grudges. Besides, I did shoot the guy three times and I stole his gun. Not to mention Jada ripped up his suit leaving him half-naked on our dining room table. If someone did that to me, I'd be pretty pissed too.

Perhaps I won't have to shoot him three times to take him down with this. I thought, glancing at the heavy blaster in my hand.

Fully armed, I walked out of my room, silently closing the door behind me. As I made my way to the stairs, I paused, glancing back at a room down the hall. Jada's room.

Maybe going alone isn't a good idea...should I wake her?

After a brief internal debate, I decided that it would be the safest option to let her rest and go down the stairs alone.

As quietly as possible, I made my way down to the kitchen. Rounding the corner, I paused at the kitchen entrance when I saw the table that was previously covered with a large lump of unconscious alien was now completely empty. The only thing left were the blankets that were draped across him, now discarded in a heap on the wood floor.

Dried black blood stains still marked the table, and looking closer, I saw an imprint in the stains in the shape of a knife. Specifically, the knife that Jada had left on the table before she left. The knife that I completely forgot about and left on the table.

I groaned. Nice going, Blake.

I had to now consider the strong possibility that the alien was armed and most likely vengeful. Gripping the blaster with both hands, I readied myself for whatever awaited me. Making sure the dining room was empty, I clutched the blaster, stalking silently towards the next closest room. Stepping into the kitchen, I saw a shadowed figure move unnaturally quickly in the corner of my vision and immediately pointed the blaster to fire. Or at least I tried to.

The trigger refused to budge, and the blaster never went off. Stunned, I looked up to come face to face with the alien. Towering over me, he easily stood over seven feet, and his head was tilted down to look at me. His strange eyes were wide with surprise and I noticed he had the missing knife gripped tightly in one hand. I stepped back immediately.

Watching my careful movement, the alien scrunched his face up in confusion and took a step towards me, which I responded to by taking two more steps back.

At my action, his face seemed to morph into frustration as if saying; I don't want to play this game again.

I, however, would play this game all day if it meant avoiding being shanked by a seven-foot-tall alien. Keeping my distance, the alien kept his eyes trained on me, following my eyes as I let my gaze drop to the knife in his hand.

He looked at the knife for a moment, as if he completely forgot he even held it, before he tossed it aside. The steel clattered to the floor and I flinched at the sound. Suddenly the memory of him tossing aside his blaster earlier came forth in my mind, and I looked up at him in confusion.

Instantly, he put his hands up again in surrender and took another careful step in my direction. I frowned. At this point, I was getting frustrated with his persistence to come near me but I refused to back down this time.

What part of stay the hell away from me does he not get?

I guess he didn't remember I was holding his blaster because when I raised it he paused, his eyes widening in recognition. I watched as his face morphed from surprise into something almost smug. His eyes twinkled with mirth as he looked up from the gun to meet my gaze. With his eyes trained on me, he took another step forward, with more confidence than his previous movements.

His shift in demeanor threw me off guard, and I swallowed. With unsteady hands, I aimed the blaster at the center of his chest, remembering that was the shot that took him down last time. Unphased, the alien took one more step in my direction.

That was the final straw for me. Aiming the blaster, I pressed down on the trigger with all my strength, but it still refused to budge. The alien smirked, picking up his pace and walking towards me with long confident strides.

I began to panic.

In two more strides, he would close the distance between us. Running out of options, I did the only thing I could think of at the moment. Throwing the blaster at him as hard as I could, I took off towards the stairs, back to where I left the gun in my room.

Damn it damn it damn it, I cursed internally as I slid across the floor, running away from the footsteps that seemed way too close behind me.

Before I could make it, long arms wrapped themselves around my waist pulling me into a bare chest. I gasped when my back came into contact with the striking warmth radiating off the solid muscle of my captor.

Immediately I freaked out, pushing at the arms that snaked their way around my waist, holding me close. Yet, despite my best efforts, the alien didn't budge.

Instead, he simply held me tighter, making odd noises that, in a different context, might have been considered soothing. Suddenly, I felt him dip his head down to my face and I froze. I held my breath as he lowered his head, running his nose along the curve of my neck, breathing me in.

"What do you want?" I whispered, stopping my futile attempts to struggle out of his grasp. I felt the alien smile against my hair as he let out a sigh.

His voice rumbled against my skin in a series of tonal clicks as he continued speaking in a language I couldn't understand. He must have asked me a question because when I didn't respond he shifted his grip to my arms, turning me around to face him.

His gaze held mine and he repeated his words carefully, waiting for a reaction. Not understanding a single thing that came out of his mouth, I could do nothing but stand there with a blank expression on my face.

Seeing my expression, his sharp features crumpled into a frown and he released one of my arms, then lifted his free hand to feel behind his ear. It seemed he didn't find what he was looking for because his eyes widened, looking around the room skeptically before settling on something behind me.

His eyes narrowed into an icy glare that sent shivers down my body.

Instantly, his grip tightened on my arm and I felt myself get pulled back as the alien shifted me protectively behind him. I struggled slightly, not wanting to let some alien manhandle me like a rag doll but stopped when I heard a noise from just ahead. Looking over his back, my eyes widened when I saw who he was glaring at.

A figure standing at the bottom of the staircase fiddling with something behind their ear.

Jada.