His group agrees with smiles and hee-haw laughter. Meanwhile, the sun has rolled into a blanket of ominous clouds.
It’s not long before they’re beating me to a pulp. They use their rifles, fists and fingers. One of them glides a knife into the candle fire, heating the edge to cut my chest. Any other day, I might give up. But I’m waiting for someone important, and I don’t have time for this shit.
One of the deplorable hunters pours a foul smelling tonic onto my body. “Cursed beast,” he grunts.
My muscles twitch. They have burned me, but they still can’t see the truth. I am the candle’s end. Me. And I won’t stop until they’re charred.
I can’t take it anymore. Something inside me snaps, a cocktail of adrenaline and rage that makes me lose control. My limbs, shaking, pull apart. I break my chains with ease and rise above them, roaring into the stale cabin air. Outside, the sun has gone to bed, and the night brings a fresh kind of darkness.
I go berserk, smashing their heads like they were made of clay. I lunge forward, doing my best to physically hurt those Hellspawn who have invaded my hallowed sanctum. My throat feels raw as I unleash all of my pain.
Violence is followed by silence. Do I feel guilt? Absolutely. But I couldn’t let them kill me. Not this time.
Soon enough, the only sounds are the thunder of one person’s bare feet, and the gentle rustle of the cedar branches swaying in the wind. The bright flash of lightning can be seen from the window.
She’s coming. But there are more of them, forest hunters looking for an alien to kill. I can hear the growls and howls of others coming from the opposite direction, footsteps thumping on the forest floor. I spin and look through the window again, only to see the faint outline of torches.
“What have I done?” I ask aloud.
I wind my arm back as the door flies open. But when I see her face, I have to stop everything to stare at her beauty. Her hair is flowing in the wind, clothes from a unique time period. Her expression, and the aura surrounding her allows me to know it’s the one. My mate, the woman I’ve been waiting to catch.
She freezes. "It’s you,” she says.
I squint my eyes, confused. “Have we met?” I ask.
She nods, but doesn’t come any closer.
I remember enough of my past lives, but one thing stands out the most. Her face. It’s like someone imprinted it into my mind.
This reality was made for me. I have tested it, time and time again. But I have always been alone, waiting for her presence to set me free.
Now that a new character has been introduced to this world of repetition, my loop has been broken. All the pain and pleasures I’ve felt here have amounted to this moment.
She has come here to rescue me from this planet.
I need her.
Unfortunately, that means taking her.
Once she sees the blood and carnage, the bodies stacked in neat piles, she turns stiff. I round her front, forcing her toward the center of the room. The voices grow louder outside. They’ll be here soon to get me.
I can’t let her run.
Startled, she knocks a candle onto the ground. The flame spreads over the wet stain of alcohol. Entropy soon takes way as the fire begins to eat the wood. Her pupils widen with fear, but I am faster and more cunning than any human can expect.
I’m behind her, arms locked around her brittle neck. My need, beyond my control.
Her body turns rigid with alarm, horror at her own ineptitude to defend herself in such a critical moment.
As I hold her steady, she tries to kick my shins. I pull her out of the cabin, feet slipping out from underneath her. Her neck falls tighter in my grasp, instinct telling me to slay her, to end her in the same brutal way I ended the others.
But her scent is as intoxicating as I am deadly.
She is special. More special than she knows.
But I do not love.
I take.