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Moxie drove through what looked like miles of land that could be used to pasture animals, but there weren’t any around. Then she hit the woods. They were made of tall trees that seemed to repel the sunlight. When the trees gave way and the town appeared, all she could do was stop on the edge with her car idling while she stared in shock. It was like the past met the present and melded together to make the future. Everything from grass huts to modern buildings to futuristic buildings looking like it was made from crystal stretched as far as she could see.
None of it made sense, and yet together, it was in perfect symmetry. This really was someplace Between Heaven and Hell. She cruised down the mostly empty streets. Where was everyone? A woman was standing on the sidewalk. She slowed down to ask her some questions. When Moxie pulled close, the woman walked away, leaving behind a young boy.
“I’ve been waiting for you.” He smiled, showing the gap in his teeth.
She didn’t say anything. How was she supposed to respond to such a ridiculous statement from a child?
The boy shook his head in disgust then gave her another bright smile before speaking. “I have to continually remind myself that humans are slower to understand.”
Her mouth was open; the worry about a fly thinking it was a nice dark place to hide was real.
“Close your mouth. The things around here are worse than flies; you don’t want to invite them in.”
Her mouth closed so fast her teeth rattled.
“You need to go to the house of the beast. They will be waiting for you.”
Before she could form a question, the boy was back with his mother. She put the car in drive, wondering how she would find the house of the beast. After what felt like lots of wrong turns, she sat facing a grand house. The nicest one she had seen, modern but somehow nicer than the futuristic ones along the way. It could have been an old mansion or a fancy bed and breakfast. Whatever it was, she liked the looks of it.
On either side of the wide stairs was a statue of a beast. Her eyes slid off one, but the other grabbed hold of her, not letting go. She thought she saw it move. Taking the heels of both hands, she rubbed her eyes. The statue was staring at her holding her in thrall. There was no way for her to open the car door. Had she even put it in park? When the eyes blinked for a minute, she could get a good look at the beast. He was black with icy white tips on his fur. Then she was caught in its eyes again. This time she could see them. They were icy green. An inhuman green that promised to burn you from the cold.
She gasped, trying to force air through her lungs when the statue became nothing more than a statue. Her head hurt like she was in the middle of an illusion. One slow breath at a time, she closed her eyes, reaching for her equilibrium. Once she was calm, she got out of the car to see two men sitting on the steps. How had she missed them? Her eyes flicked to the statue, but it made a mockery of her by not moving.
“Hi.” She approached the two men. “One of the people in town directed me here.” Probably not in her best interest to tell them it was a little boy.
When neither of them said anything, she stumbled on. “They told me to come to the house of the beast.”
She looked at the two statues again. They were like nothing she ever saw before.
“I don’t have time for this.” One of the men stood walking up the stairs.
“You can’t leave me here with her,” the other still sitting called out.
Moxie felt lower than a piece of gum attached to the bottom of her shoe. The disdain in the man's voice told her everything he thought about her.
“I’ll find another place to stay in a nicer town.” She dusted off her pride before she turned around.
“You might as well stay.” The man’s voice was even more frigid now that he was addressing her directly. “The borders won’t open for you. They let you in but won’t let you out.”
She was out of this hell hole. Boy’s that we're too old for their age. Statues that could enthrall and ignorant men. Nope. She’d find a better place to lay her head while she made plans to be free forever.
She headed for the border, taking a glance at her gas tank that was half full. That was more than enough to escape this town. She drove mile after mile, looking for the land border that would take her back to the dirt road and then the highway.
The longer she drove, the more confused she became. Hours later, she looked in frustration at her gas gauge that said it was half full. Stopping the car, she got out and left a shirt tied to a tree. She was either driving in circles or losing her mind—time to find out which.
When the tree with her shirt on it came back into view, she stopped. The feeling of being frustrated and angry made her want to curse or preferably shoot something. Knowing neither of them would do any good, she faced the obvious.
She was trapped. It didn’t make sense, but this town and its borders weren’t that wide. She’d been driving for hours; another look at the clock on her dash said she’d been driving for close to a whole day. There was no way she should still have gas.
With a resigned sigh, she got her shirt and headed back for the town she couldn’t escape. Was she freaked out? Yep, of course, maybe not so much. If this was her first encounter with the supernatural, she’d be looking for a counselor and a padded room. It wasn’t. Freaky things had followed her since she’d been a child. The people who held her captive weren’t all human. She never let on that she knew, never talked to her dad about it. She knew, and so did he. What the others didn’t know helped to keep her alive.
When she pulled up in front of the house of the beast, the same male sat on the steps. She would have thought he spent the night there, but his outfit was different. Rather his shirt was. He was still wearing jeans, with a pair of black boots. Yesterday he had been in a black tee, today he changed it for a green one. She didn’t miss the fact that it matched his eyes. He was still sitting with his head tilted back, so she couldn’t really see his hair color.
She could see other things like his neck. It was graceful yet thick. No one would be trying to break it. He was broad in his shoulders but looked like he tapered down at the waist. His chest was thick; she could almost see the muscle through his tee, but he wasn’t super bodybuilder thick. He was more like a cross between a runner and a lightweight bodybuilder. His skin was a chestnut color. That color that could blend in with any race in America.
He was also rude; she couldn’t forget that.
“You came back.” He didn’t look at her when he spoke.
She glanced at the statue again, willing it to come to life and swallow him whole. When nothing happened, she decided to address the rude man sitting on the steps.
“I’m looking for a place to spend a few nights. Do you know of a place?” She’d rather sleep in her car than spend time around him.
“We have an extra room.”
“I was thinking someplace like a motel or a small bed and breakfast.”
“We have a room for you, but if you want to spend another day riding around town, do so.”
She stomped toward him, believing him when he said there would be no other option but here.
“You might as well grab your bag.”
He stood, and she almost swallowed her tongue. What looked perfectly normal sitting down became something she didn’t want to resist standing. His head moved to one side, hair falling over one shoulder. It was black with icy white tips. She almost fell when she saw it; her knees shook, making her body rock.
She did a precise military turn and stomped back to her car. The black hair with the white tips was a coincidence. After grabbing her bags and her rifle, she got close enough to see his green eyes. They weren’t the inhuman green she had seen on the beast. Still, seeing them bothered her. She didn’t feel like she was standing on solid ground.
He walked up the steps without waiting for her. It was up to her to follow him or not.
What are you getting yourself into? she wondered.
He didn’t stop when he went through the doors. She barely got a chance to look at the living room past the foyer before hurrying to walk up the stairs behind him. She didn’t want him to leave her. When they got to the second floor, he took her almost to the end of the hallway, where there was an open door.
“This is your room.”
She put her bags down before she looked around the room with wonder. It was beautiful, big, and open, with a small table and chairs and a sitting room. There was the bed that was a large sleigh bed. It was like the room was reading her mind. Of course, that wasn’t possible. Yet, if anyone had asked her what she was looking for, she would have said this. Now, if only it had its own en suite.
“Don’t you need my name to sign me in?”
“Moxie Everglade.”
She grabbed her bags. There was no way he should have known her name. This was a trap. The people she worked for, the ones who thought they owned her body and soul, were playing with her. They wanted her to think she tasted freedom only to pull it away. She ran for the door, desperate to getaway.
The man, if he were really a man, tackled her.
“You’re safe here, Moxie.”
“No, get off me. I won’t work for you again. I won’t kill for you. Your hold over me is gone. I refuse to give in, to submit. I am my own person!” She screamed as she fought. She used teeth, nails, hands, and even a well-placed knee as she tried to break the grip of the man holding her.
“You’re a fighter,” he said after finally subduing her.
She was on her stomach with her hands behind her back while he sat on her behind like he was in the saddle on a horse.
“We are not the people you are running away from.”
“Then how did you know my name?”
“I don’t have a good answer for you. I just knew it.”
It was the most foolish thing she ever heard. Yet hearing it calmed her down. Her father always went by the last name Smith, keeping their actual last name a secret from those that made their lives horrible. One day if they ever got away, they would revert to it.
“What do you want with me?”
“I don’t know.”
She was scared again, but with fear came a sexy little shudder. What the heck did that mean?