Authors: Stephanie Jackson
He was
huge
; at least 6’5” t
all with
shoulders to match,
and his skin was deep golden brown. He was facing away from her, and she could see two white
ropey
,
scars running almost the whole length of his back; one on either side of his spine.
His frame narrowed at the waist and
ended in two perfect, muscular
legs. He
had
to be ugly
in the face
; nobody had a bodylike that
and
good looks, too. That would be universally unfair to everyone else in the world.
“
Wait
”
, she thought.
Why
was he naked? She looked down to make sure she was still dressed. It would be just her luck to be rescued b
y a rapist. But she was dressed;
even her shoes were still on her feet.
She looked back over at the naked man. He was facing the wall, and appeared to just be
staring
at it. He seemed to be unaware that she was awake, or that she even
existed.
“Excuse me,” she said, sitting up on the side of the bed.
Nothing; no response at all.
“Sir, are you alright?” she asked, and received the same response; nothing.
Could it really be this easy? C
ould she just get up and walk out without him noticing? She didn’t know, but she was going to try. She really appreciated him helping her, but she couldn’t deal with anymore craziness tonight, and this man seemed to have his own issues to deal with.
She crept across the room behind him and opened the door. She noticed that both of the locks on the door were broken, and that the metal door frame was slightly warped. She didn’t know if this man had done the damage, but she knew he
wasn’t
getting his room deposit back. She looked back at him one last time. He was still facing the wall.
“Thanks,” she said softly, and stepped outside.
As soon as Dani stepped out of the room, she knew exactly where she was. She was at the Inn Over the River hotel on
Riverside Drive
; not far from the cemetery.
It was one of the few hotels that
her mother had never worked at.
She took a deep breath of the cool night air and looked around her. She expected it to be raining,
but it wasn’t. The parking lot,
and
Riverside Drive
beyond it, were both dry. It looked like the thunderstorm had been all flash and bang.
That was great news considering she had
walked
to the cemetery tonight. If she took the back way
, she c
ould be home in fifteen minutes. She’d lived in the downtown
Clarksville
area all of her life and knew a back way to pretty much everything. She took one more deep breath, and set out for home.
She thought ab
out calling the cops
to report what happened, but what would be the point? What could she tell them? She hadn’t gotten a look at the guy that had attacked her. She couldn’t tell them how old he was, how tall he was
,
or even what color his hair had been. What would she say; ‘
Look for the guy who’s breath smells like he ate road kill’
? That would
n’t go over to well with the police
.
As for the man that saved her? Dani didn’t want to
involve him in her drama. He had been
nice enough to help her; no matter what his
mental
issues
were
. She didn’t want to repay him by sending t
he police to his hotel room
. Plus, if he responded to the police with the same oblivion that he’d responded to her with, they would probably lock him down for observation.
Psychiatric observation may not be a
bad
idea for him, but she didn’t wa
nt it to be because of her. And
she felt fine
;
there hadn’t been any real harm done to her, though her attacker had tried
. Actually, she felt
great
; b
etter
than she had
felt
in months.
She didn’t
feel
like she had
just
been
the
victim of a brutal attack
. If she had woken up in her own bed, she would have thought tonight’s events had
all
been a bad dream.
She didn’t even feel the grief she’d felt at the cemetery, but she knew, that too, would r
eturn when the shock wore off. She wondered if it was possible to be hungry when you were in shock, b
ecause she
was
starving.
She hadn’t eaten much since her mom had passed, and it was catching up to her.
3.
She was walking up the sidewalk
, thinking about
making herself a huge sandwich when she got home,
when
she was thrown into a
retaining wall that ran the length of her street. Her shoulder bounced off the wall, and she nearly careened off the sidewalk into the street.
She couldn’t believe this was happening
again
. It had been
stupid
of her
to not
have
be
en
more observant after what had happened
at the cemetery
earlier. She hadn’t been ready
for this
.
But
she was ready
now
. She turned just in
time to duck under the punch her attacker
was aiming at her head. While his arm was fully extended, she grabbed him by the shoulder and elbow, and flung him into the street.
S
he turned back
to get a better look at
this
attacker.
Was
he the same guy from the cemetery? It
had
to be him; that, or she was having the worst night in the history of mankind.
She guessed him to be her he
ight; around 5’8”. Dark skin, dark hair
, and even darker eyes. He was standing in the street,
smiling
at her.
“You’re going to
fight
me? Well, isn’t that just
adorable
?” he said, and started walking towards her.
“Stay away from me,” she warned
, and raised her fists in front of her.
“Or
what
?” he asked, raising his foot to step back up on
to
the sidewalk.
She pivoted on her heel and kicked him in the chest, laying him
on his
back out in the street,
“Or I’ll kick the
ever lovin’ shit
out of you,
that’s
what.
”
The man had one hand on his chest where she kicked him and was using the other h
and to try and push himself
off the ground.
“I don’t think so,” Dani
said, and stepped off the sidewalk.
She walked over to him and kicked him in the face. He fell back onto the street.
“
Be good
,
”
she said, mocking what he’d said to her at the cemetery. “What’s wrong, Pumpkin?
No smile
? It’s not so funny anymore, is it?
” she taunted him. “
Well, not to you anyway,” she said, and kicked him in the ribs.
He groaned and rolled over onto his side. She didn’t care that he wasn’t capable of fighting back now. She was pissed, and determined to kick him to death. She stomped on him over and over again; relishing each sound of pain that passed through his bloody lips.
She was
so preoccupied with trying to stomp
the man
to death that
sh
e didn’t hear the person coming up
behind her until it was too late. She was suddenly grabbed around the thro
at
and flung to the ground.
What
in
the
hell
was going on
!?
Was it Kill Dani Day, and she just didn’t get the email? The new attacker was leaning over her, preparing to do God
knows what; and then he was gone
.
Before he
’d
had a chance to do an
ything to her, he was picked up
and smashed to the ground with bone shattering force.
She looked up
and saw the man from th
e hotel
standing above her, and
he was just as naked as the last time she’d seen him. Even in the mist of this new attack she knew that she’d been wrong; this man was
far
from ugly.
He stared down at her with eyes th
e color of blazing blue fire.
He had gorgeous
,
high cheek bones, and beautiful full lips. She moved her eye
s further down his body and saw
that he was a
fully grown
man.
“Are you
determined
to get killed tonight, woman?” he ye
lled at her.
“Get in your house!
Now
!”
She didn’t even consider disobeying him. She ran a few feet down the sidewalk, up the front steps, across the yard, and into her unlocked front door.
She locked the door behind her
and ran through
the house to lock the backdoor
as well.
She did a quick check on the first floor of the house to make sure all the windows were locked, and then ran up the stairs to do the same on the second floor.
When she was sure the house was locked up airtight, she went back downstairs to call the police. She came to a dead sto
p when she saw the
naked man
standing in the middle of her living room.
“What the hell are you doing in
my
house? How did you get in here
!
?
” she demanded
, and then changed her mind
. “You know what…
never mind. You can jus
t go on to jail with those dickweeds
in the street,” she said, and grabbed her cell phone fr
om the end table she had thrown
it on before leaving the house
that night
.
She dialed 911 and waited…and waited…and waited. She hung up
the phone,
dialed ag
ain, and got the same outcome; d
ead air. Damn it! Why was everything going so wrong tonight? She considered running to the kitchen to grab the house phone, but gave up instea
d. She sank down onto the couch
and dropped her head in her hands.
She didn’t hear him move
and just about jumped out of her skin when she felt his hand touch her shoulder.
“I understand you’ve had a bad day, but I need to talk to you”, he said.
Even his voice was beautiful, but she couldn’t bring herself to care right now.
“Look, please
try to understand.
I’ve buried my mom today,
and
been attacked twice; not to mention the weir
dness of… you,” s
he said, w
aving her hand in his direction.
“So forgive me if I don’t feel like having a conversation right now. I’m tired, and more than ready for this day to be over. Thanks for helping me and all, but I just want you to leave,” she said, as politely as she could manage.
“It’s important,” he said, completely ignoring her request for him to get out.
“
Fine
!
You want to talk to me?” she asked, finally snapping. “Then why don’t you start by telling me
why you’re fucking naked?
”
she yelled.
She didn’t really expect an answer, so was stunned at t
he words that fell from
his mouth.
“When you f
all from Heaven, you do so nude,” he said.
“
I’m sorry if it offends you, but I haven’
t had time to find clothing yet.
”
“Did you just say you fell from
Heaven
?” she asked, hoping against all hope that she’d heard him wrong.
“Yes,” he said calmly. “I am an
A
ngel
of God
.
”