Hello beautiful person! Thank you for reading my first book! I hope you like it:)
"Could your skirt be any shorter?" I asked. She looked down and snorted.
"Is it just me or are you just jealous?" Tasha asked, parading in her red stilettos and way-too-short-for-school mini skirt. I rolled my eyes.
"It's just you." Milla replied. She was the most reasonable of my friends while Tasha was the opposite. She was silly, immature and didn't care what other people thought of her.
We were walking down the crowded hallway to go to lunch. Our last year of high school had started two days ago but it felt like it had started two months ago.
"I mean, look at us! Why don't we have boyfriends?" Tasha asked loudly, attracting attention from some senior boys. Tasha noticed and winked at them. I swear, sometimes she acted like this was her second year in middle school. I elbowed her in the stomach.
"I thought you liked somebody else." It was like she had a different crush everyday, I couldn't keep up.
"No, he has a girlfriend," Tasha said indifferently as we took our seats in the cafeteria. Tasha took out her mirror to apply lipgloss on her already pink lips.
"So," Milla changed the subject, "What are we doing for your birthday tonight?"
"Ohmygod, yes! What are we doing?" Tasha interrupted excitedly and I grimaced. I almost forgot.
It was my birthday today.
"Nothing special." I shrugged, not even sure what we were doing. Usually my friends and family got together and ate cake on the deck.
"But it's the big one-eight! You're finally an adult, we have to do something fun!" Tasha exclaimed, "Pool party? Karaoke night? Fancy dinner?" She offered but I shook my head at each one.
Tasha was the one who loved attention while I barely tolerated it. I found birthday's really embarrassing. I'd rather have my family and best friends with me than a bunch of strangers.
"How about dinner at my house?" I suggested.
"Dinner sounds great." Milla smiled and took a bite of her sushi.
"Can we invite boys?" Tasha asked eagerly.
"No boys. I just want a nice, relaxing birthday this year." Having boys over just complicated things. Besides, I didn't even have any boys to invite.
"I'm gonna find your soulmate someday." She promised and I scoffed.
"Soulmates don't exist."
.•*•.
A strange feeling rushed over me when I got home.
I opened the door and it was unusually quiet. The TV wasn't on and my parents weren't in the family room like they normally were when I get home.
"Hello? Anyone home?" I called upstairs and my parents quickly appeared.
"How was school?" Mom asked, following Dad down the stairs. Her voice was almost nervous and my mom never got nervous.
"It was good. I invited Tasha and Milla over for cake tonight." I noticed the quick looks they gave each other. It almost resembled fear. "That okay?" I probed them out of the conversation they were silently having.
"Of course, birthday girl." Dad tried to make his voice sound light.
"Are you guys okay? Is it about me getting older?" I asked jokingly.
"Maybe," Mom tried to relax at the mention of their strange behavior.
Dad walked into the kitchen and Mom followed. They were definitely acting suspicious.
I shrugged it off and sprinted upstairs to my bedroom. I took out my flip phone and jumped on my bed. There was already a text from Tasha.
Tasha: you're gonna love the gift I got you
Me: what is it? It better not be some random guy's phone number
Tasha: that was 1 time!
Milla: I don't think I want to know
Tasha: babies. What's going on with the rents?
Me: they're acting super shady
Milla: I smell a surprise party
Tasha: eavesdrop on their conversation!
I stopped texting and opened my door to listen. I could hear harsh whispers from the kitchen but could only make out the words "big", "unexpected" and "surprise".
Me: I think they're talking about a surprise party
Milla: I knew it
Tasha: can't wait!
Me: I gotta go. I have to cram for a huge history test
I put my phone on my nightstand and tried to study. But I was too excited thinking about my surprise party.
Two hours was a long time to wait.
.•*•.
"Alex, we're gonna cut the cake!" Mom yelled up to me around six o'clock and I smiled giddily.
"Coming!" I instantly shut my textbook and ran downstairs.
When I got to the kitchen, Tasha and Milla were already there. My smile widened, surprised I didn't even hear the door open. Maybe it was a trick of the light but I thought I saw tears in Tasha's eyes.
"Happy birthday!" Everyone cheered. I laughed, happy that everyone I loved was here.
Dad cut the cake, which was the most perfect specimen of chocolate fudge ice cream cake, and handed a plate to me. It tasted irresistibly delicious and I licked the plate clean.
I opened my presents next and laughed when I got to Tasha's. She got me a stuffed emoji poop the size of a pizza box.
"I saw it and thought of you!" Tasha told me and I smiled.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"I can't believe you got her that." Milla shook her head playfully and handed me her present.
I opened it and stared at the beautiful photo album in my hands. I flipped through it and smiled. There was a picture of all three of us waiting for three hours to ride Bizarro at Six Flags. She even had the photo of us screaming on the ride.
I thanked everyone for the presents and hugged my parents, who got me a camera.
We settled into the night by sharing funny stories. Tasha entertained my parents with hilarious high school stories while I covered my ears. Milla then decided to tell my parents about the science of chemical bonding to distract them from our embarrassing stories. We listened in silence, including Tasha, until we couldn't hold in our laughter anymore.
Everyone was happy. I was happy. My life was perfect.
Until there was a knock on the door. Everyone completely froze.
Finally, Mom stood to answer it.
"I'll get it," She said uneasily.
"I wonder who it is." I thought out loud. I didn't invite anyone else and I was pretty sure my parents didn't either.
"Where is she?" A low masculine voice demanded in a possessive tone.
I whipped my head over to the door. Mom didn't answer and that's when I realized something dreadfully wrong. This was not planned.
Five men entered the family room, frantically turning over furniture with no effort. They growled menacingly and their eyes were glowing amber.
What were they?
"Run!" Dad cried, jumping from his seat, "Alex, run!" He turned to face a giant man but he punched him in the jaw. Mom was trying to unsuccessfully prevent anyone else from entering the front door.
I froze, staring at the scene in front of me. Was this even real?
Tasha was the one who ushered me upstairs and shoved me into my room. She quickly locked the door and tried pushing my dresser against it.
"What the hell is going on?" I demanded, desperately confused. Who were those men in my house? What did they want?
"Listen, we don't have much time-" Tasha was cut off by the cry of my door being ripped from it's hinges.
I widened my eyes when I saw who was walking towards us.
It was a man. He was tall, almost hitting the ceiling, with very broad shoulders. I could almost see his arm muscles rippling under his black t-shirt. He had short brown hair that reminded me of melting chocolate. He was so handsome I could hardly breathe. I just wanted to run into his arms.
But what I noticed most were his eyes. His cold, striking, steel blue eyes that were looking at me in surprise. Which quickly turned to anger.
"Step away from her." He commanded forcefully. I could feel the power radiating from his body.
I looked at Tasha to see if he was having the same effect on her but she only glared.
"Never." She objected, blocking me with her body. I'd never seen Tasha so serious.
In an instant, he attacked her and shoved her to the floor. I yelped in shock. He pinned her easily to the floor and she struggled to break free. I couldn't bare to watch this.
"Stop!" I hardly recognized my voice. It was too fearless for it to be mine.
The man stared at me then back to Tasha, who looked like she might pass out. His eyes turned back to mine and with heavy reluctance, let go of her.
I could finally breathe.
Without warning, the man walked over to me and scooped me into his strong arms. As soon as he touched me, I felt a tingling where his skin came into contact with mine.
He made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. My parents were both trying to stand and Milla was unconscious on the floor.
"We're done here," My captor spoke and the four men stopped fighting. They let go of my parents and obediently followed the man holding me, who I was assumed was their leader.
This man couldn't just kidnap me from my home! Who did he think he was?
I'd been so shocked that no words formulated in my brain. I just now had the sense to fight back.
"Let me go!" I yelled at him but he only held on tighter. I stared helplessly at my parents.
"You can't do this." Dad struggled to say as the man holding me turned to leave.
"I can and I will. You promised six years. Her time is up." He said in a powerful voice and without another word, without another goodbye, left my friends and family stranded with terrified eyes.