Ravenous (Book 1 The Ravening Series) (2 page)

  
I forced myself to turn away from them before I started screaming hysterically and didn’t stop until the aliens were drawn by my screams. I slipped into an alley, leaning against the cold wall as I struggled to catch my breath. The humidity of the day was not as oppressive as the terror clutching at me. I closed my eyes, trying hard not to fall apart, struggling not to completely freak out. It was still over a mile to my house. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it.

   I tilted my head back
as I scanned over the roofs in search of cameras. I saw none, but that didn’t matter. For all I knew they didn’t even need cameras to spy on us. For all I knew, they were omniscient. That thought didn’t seem entirely farfetched, not anymore. They could apparently freeze people in an instant after all, why wouldn’t they know where we were at all times? Taking another deep breath I attempted to gather my waning courage.

   I
pushed myself slowly away from the wall, feeling like a criminal as I crept stealthily down the alley. I glanced quickly away from the man leaning against the brick building. He had been in the act of relieving himself, there was a puddle of urine before him but thankfully there was no urine still coming out. Slipping onto another main road, I darted quickly down the sidewalk, dodging the obstacles the immobile people represented. I used the back of my arm to wipe the sweat from my forehead as it slid into one of my eyes.

  I slid into another alley, bending over as I was gripped by the sudden urge to curl up into a ball and let my sanity go. I thought the world might be a better place if I did. At least I wouldn’t be alone anymore. For a moment I was consumed by the urge to just give up, to wait here until they found me, but I had never quit before and I wasn’t about to start now. Not when I didn’t know what had become of my family, maybe after, if they were gone…

   I let the thought trail off; there was no use in dwelling
on it. Not until I knew, and then I didn’t know what I would do.

   I pushed off the wall, breaking into a brisk jog as I hurried down the alley. Turning a corner, I began to move faster, nearly sprinting as I raced down
the sidewalk. I was breathing so hard that I almost didn’t hear the distant rumbling noise until it was too late. As it was, it just barely caught my attention in time.

   I pressed flat to a wall, my eyes wide as
the ground beneath my feet began to tremble slightly, my head bounced rapidly back and forth as I searched for the cause of the strange sensation and noise. I crept slowly forward, keeping my hand pressed against the glass window of a store. The noise grew louder, the quaking increased as the sidewalk beneath my feet began to tremble even more.

   I didn’t know where to go, what to do
. My throat was clogged with fear, my body thrummed with tension. I continued to creep steadily forward, but I had to get off the street. I had to find a place to hide. My hand slipped into nothingness, I nearly fell sideways as someone grabbed hold of my arm. A startled cry started to escape me, but a hand slammed over my mouth as I was pulled against a hard chest, and drug into darkness.

CHAPTER 2

   “
Shh Bethany,” someone hissed in my ear.

   My struggles
eased at the sound of my name, but I still wanted nothing more than to be free of the hold pinning me tight. The grip on me loosened, the hand fell away from my mouth. I turned slowly, my eyes widening in shock as I caught sight of the person that had grabbed me. Cade stared back at me, his midnight eyes intense, and his dark hair falling across his hard, handsome face. We’d gone to high school together, but those two words were the most I’d heard from him in over a year. Though, there were times I had caught him staring at me questioningly, or watching me with an intensity that never failed to steal my breath and cause my pulse to race.

   He was a year older than me, having just finished his senior year, but that was not the reason that I had n
ot talked to him in a long time. The main reason was that I had been too intimidated by his brooding nature, and dark good looks to approach him. To intimidated by the rumors and innuendo that ran rampant through the school about him. The gossip claimed that he was involved in everything from gangs to Satan worshipping and even the mob. I didn’t believe the rumors, but Cade did nothing to disprove them, and at times I thought he enjoyed letting them spin wildly out of control.

  
He placed a long finger against my lips, gesturing for me to stay quiet as his hand slipped into mine. I stared at his long fingers, stunned by the way our hands seemed to fit seamlessly together. I was losing my freaking mind. The world was falling apart around me and I was marveling over the fact that our hands were a perfect fit, and the fact that he was actually holding
my
hand.

   He bent over me, pressing his full mouth close to my ear. A shiver raced down my spine.
“This way.”

   My fingers clenched tighter around his, my heart hammered with fear, desire, and relief. I was not alone and judging by the tight set of Cade’s jaw, and the fierceness in his eyes, he had a plan which was much more than I had had just seconds ago. He tugged me down an alley, moving with a grace that was both stunning and captivating. I was nowhere near as graceful, a fact I was acutely aware of as I struggled to move as quietly as possible as I struggled not to trip over my own two left feet.

   I wanted to ask him where we were going but I remained silent as he led me down another street. The rumbling sound became distant, but I knew we would not escape it for long. It would find us, and I was terrified of the consequences of what would happen when it did. Cade held a hand behind him, halting me at the edge of an alley. He turned briefly back to me, holding up a finger as he peeked around the corner of the building. His fingers slowly unfolded from mine as he stepped out of the shadows.

   My heart momentarily kicked harder as he disappeared from sight. He was the only person I’d discovered, I couldn’t lose him now.
I was getting ready to follow him when he reappeared. His eyes, black as onyx and hard as ice, flickered briefly over me. I felt the scorch of his gaze, thought perhaps I would see disapproval flicker over his features as he was calm, and a reassuring presence, and I was a trembling, terrified mess, but there was none.

   His fingers entwined within mine again. He turned away, pulling me down the street. I nearly collided with him as he turned suddenly and tugged me into the arched doorway of a store. My legs were shaking, my heart pounding as the rumbling noise grew closer. I could feel vibrations
in the stoop beneath my feet. Whatever was hunting us, whatever was out there, it was getting closer.

   A sense of urgency filled me as Cade opened the door and slid silently into the antiques store. I followed behind, biting on my lower lip as I fought back the scream welling within my throat. Cade slid the door shut, the soft click of the lock barely audible over the growing noise outside.

H
e turned slowly toward the shaded windows. Even his profile was perfect, I realized as I stared at his hard jaw and sculpted nose. His eyes narrowed slightly, his teeth clenched fiercely as he pulled me back a step. Seeing him now, hearing him now, I was suddenly struck by the memory of the last time we had spoken nearly a year ago.

  
I’d been standing on the street, watching with my mom and little sister as one of the massiv alien ships first arrived. It slid over top of us as it moved toward the city, blocking out the sun, and emitting a soft humming noise that had been barely discernible over the normal sounds of the day. I had clung to my mom and sister, my heart hammering, awe and fear filling me as we watched it move slowly onward.

  
In the movies UFO’s were usually depicted as silver and shiny, this was not. It was pitch black, dull, and cold in appearance. It was only later that we would learn it was black because it was powered by solar energy and the black helped to capture the powerful rays of the sun. It was tubular in design with two large engines attached to each side of it. Though there was a hazy disturbance trailing from the engines, it was clear enough that the sky beyond could be seen through the fumes. The ship was so quiet that it seemed impossible that the sizeable engines attached to it were actually powering it forward.

   Twenty five
alien ships had arrived that day. Five settled over the U.S., three over Canada, and four throughout central and South America. Five more moved in over Europe, five more over Asia, two over Africa, and one hovered above Australia. Their arrival had signaled a short period of chaos, fear, and uncertainty. But over time things had settled down as no imminent threat emerged to kill us all and the aliens repeatedly proclaimed peace.

   A
s time passed this claim seemed more and more acceptable, especially once they began to share their greater technology and vastly superior medical advances with us. Incurable cancers were cured; diseases were brought under control, if not eradicated. They taught us to harvest solar power in new and far more effective ways that drastically reduced our reliance on fossil fuels and nearly eradicated air pollution. They introduced a new form of irrigation that allowed us to grow food in even the most arid of deserts, including Antarctica. Millions of starving people were suddenly fed, people were healthier, happier, and starting to rely upon the advances the aliens gave to us. Everything they did for us was an improvement; life became radically better for everyone throughout those first nine months. 

  
But on that strange, frightening first day, Cade had been in my neighborhood. I never knew why, as he didn’t live close to us, but suddenly his car was stopping before me. He had leaned across the front seat of his beater car, his arm on the passenger side window as he leaned toward us. Toward
me
. He had been thinner then, lean and gangly, but never awkward. Cade had miraculously managed to skip all of the awkward stages that were involved with being a teenager and always been gorgeous, heartbreakingly so.

  
His midnight eyes appeared even darker as the sun disappeared behind the ship. He seemed far more intense as he pinned me with that unerring, fathomless gaze. I was unnerved, and yet strangely enchanted by his forceful stare, a stare that didn’t leave me, not even to watch the extraordinary new arrivals as they slid across the sky. I had to force my gaze away from his as I turned my attention back to our suddenly strange sky. Then the ship had moved past us. The sun had reappeared as it left the rural areas behind for Boston.

  
“Are you ok?”

   My attention had been drawn back to Cade as
he uttered the question. I couldn’t find words for him; I didn’t have any at the moment. I was terrified, fascinated, and completely stunned to realize that aliens actually
did
exist. And they were
here
. He continued to stare at me, expecting some kind of answer, but I couldn’t find one for him. I didn’t know if I was ok, I didn’t know if any of us would ever be ok again. Clenching my jaw tight, feeling like an idiot in the face of his confident aura, I had managed a small nod.

  
He gazed at me for a moment longer, a strange gleam in his dark eyes as he studied me intently. He appeared strangely torn, seemed as if he didn’t want to leave. But that made no sense, we barely knew each other, and we certainly weren’t friends. At least we weren’t friends anymore, we hadn’t been for years. Finally he had returned my nod, sat back in the driver’s seat, and drove away. I’d watched him go until he took a left and disappeared from sight. We hadn’t spoken again since then.   

   I
blinked as I was torn from the memory of that day by the shaking of the building. My heart jumped in fear, but a strange thrill of excitement ran through me as I studied Cade with a growing sense of wonder and curiosity. Then, the quaking increased and I forgot all about him as my terror spiked high again. The glass in the windows began to rattle in the frames, vibrating with the force of whatever was coming toward us. I took an instinctive step back. Cade’s hand fell briefly against my back, stopping me from moving before his touch slipped away.

   I watched in wide eyed fascination
, and dread, as he moved slowly toward the window. I wanted to reach out and grab him, wanted to scream at him to stop, but I was unable to move as I gaped at his back. He eased down a slat on the blinds, barely moving it as he peered out the window. Drawn by curiosity, I crept toward him. Pressing against his back, I leaned forward to peer over his shoulder. He shot me a look but didn’t try to stop me.

    The
shaking increased, the noise level escalated as it echoed throughout the store. My eyebrows drew questioningly together, I searched for the source of the sound, but I couldn’t pinpoint it through the narrow gap in the blinds. I jumped slightly as a large
thing
suddenly loomed before us. And
thing
was the only word that could be used to describe it. I had no idea what it was; I’d never seen anything like it. But it was awful, disgusting, gross in ways that I had never begun to imagine gross.