I didn’t get the deciding vote. If I said to follow the truck, it would make votes on both sides tied.
The truck began to turn off. My hand perched over the turn signal. I had to make my decision now.
The things I’d seen, the things I’d felt… With the passage of a little time, the fear had already worn off. It didn’t seem as bad or as scary as I’d thought in the moment.
I shook my head and lowered my hand. “I’m the maid of honor. It can’t be my fault you don’t get to your wedding on time. Let’s get home as quickly as possible.”
Sirena and Bianca sighed with relief.
“Thank fuck for that,” Bianca said. “I had a hot date I don’t want to miss.”
Victoria and Maddy weren’t so relieved.
The truck slowed as it made its turn. I glanced at it every few seconds in the rearview mirror.
Then, we were alone again on the open country road. I watched the night sky, looking for any sign of that bright light to come visit us again.
But nothing happened.
We’d made the right decision. We’d be home within the next two hours. And then we’d have the wedding to look forward to in the morning. A new beginning for my best friend.
I turned a corner and there, right in the middle of the dark tarmac, laid like a police trap across the road, a bright spotlight. It would ensnare us the moment we entered it and there would be no escape.
I swung the steering wheel, swerving around the spotlight, but my success was shortlived as the barrier raced up to meet us and we smashed right through it and plummeted into the dark ravine on the other side.
Nighteko
It was a memory. A bad one—one I didn’t want to recall. It ended in disaster. I tried to throw myself from my subconscious but there was nothing I could do.
Someone might have been holding my head in their hands, forcing me to watch, and I was powerless to stop them. I couldn’t even shut my eyes.
My hands were fat and chubby and I waved them in front of my face. I tugged on my mother’s skirt. I could barely reach her waist. She was cooking something—something delicious—and sweet white powder puffed up and burst, drifting down over the side of the table and tinkled my nose, making me sneeze.
Mom raised an elbow and looked down at me through the gap. She beamed and handed me a piece of what she was cooking. I ate it directly from her hand. The flavor conjured all kinds of memories and feelings. It was crunchy and I loved the feel of it on my tongue. It sent a tingle down my throat.
“So that’s where my food’s been going,” a stern voice said.
My mother spun around to see a large Titan male standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He placed his hands on his hips and scowled at the two of us.
“Are you sharing my favorite treats?” he said, voice loud and booming, scary to my infant ears.
“It’s only one,” Mom said. “I’m sure even you can spare that many.”
My father crossed the room on his treetrunk-like legs with two strides. The ground shook at his approach. I looked up fearfully at my mother. Her eyes were fixed firmly on my father. She was going to get the blame for sharing the treats and it was my fault.
I tugged on her skirt and my bottom lip quivered with approaching tears. Then I regained control of my courage and leaped out from behind her skirts. I beat my fists on my chest the way I saw the hairy creatures in the trees did in the jungle behind our hut and braced my father’s shin to hold him back from harming my mother. I barely reached his knees.
“And what do we have here?” he said.
He bent down and picked me up, holding me in front of his face.
“I have a challenger for your love, do I?” he said.
I swung a fist at his face. It connected, striking his cheek and barely made a dent.
His face split into a grin. He raised my shirt with his thumbs and pressed his lips to my belly and blew, making a loud rasping noise. I giggled and laughed, throwing punches and kicks when I could, but he took the blows as if they were nothing.
My father wrapped his huge arms around my mother. I was sandwiched between them. I blew bubbles and enjoyed sharing their warmth.
Then a shout rang out from somewhere outside our hut.
“Defend!” the voice shouted. “Defend yourselves!”
“Get down,” my father said, snatching up his giant sword from the corner. “Hide.”
“Come back to us!” my mother bellowed. “Come back!”
She clutched me close and watched as outside the fires rose and the screaming began—
“Captain? Captain? You need to wake up, sir.”
My eyes burst open and I shot up, grabbing the man’s arm and jabbing a razor-sharp blade at his neck. I stopped an inch from his skin.
Stryder raised his hands in surrender.
I sighed and put the blade away, relieved to finally be freed from the torture my unconscious waged on me each night.
“What is it?” I said.
“We need you on deck, sir,” Stryder said.
“Now?” I said.
Something struck the ship and my quarters shook from the blow. “Are we under attack?”
“Not in so many words,” Stryder said.
The deck was busy with activity when I arrived. The ship shuddered as it took another strike on the starboard bow. My crew manned their battle stations. On the screen, I saw the cause of the alarm.
“We ran into an asteroid field,” Stryder said.
Damn. I’d hoped to shave a few cycles off our journey time by cutting through a sliver of disputed space. Two customers were late in picking up their merchandise and it’d put us behind.
Asteroids assailed us on multiple fronts. Rattigan, my pilot, navigated as best he could through the natural minefield but it was impossible to
