Bethany's Heart (Unearthly World Book 3) (3 page)

“It’s kinda creepy-cool looking,” Bethany said. “In a weird way.”

“I know it’s been a few years since we saw men, but you can’t be
that
desperate.”

“He just keeps staring, with those red eyes of his, like he’s waiting for something.”

“I think he’s waiting for you to make the first move.”

“Well, what the hell am I supposed to do? Invite it in for tea? It wouldn’t fit through the igloo opening. Do you think they have any intelligence?”

“I think so. They’re wearing black pants of sorts. Will you look at the size of that one’s outlined cock; holy shit he’s monstrous. They’re wearing boots. Hairy things aren’t they? It had you and let you go and didn’t eat you—always a good sign. We’ve seen the space ships overhead. They have to have intelligence if they’re capable of space flight. Maybe they want to help. We all know the water is rising. It’s time to face the facts; we will drown soon, if we don’t starve or freeze to death first.”

Bethany saw her friend’s chocolate brown eyes darken. Bleak wouldn’t begin to describe their situation. The rising waters had forced them to this area not long ago. Three shelters remained, one uninhabitable. Bethany had no clue what happened to the previous inhabitants. A strange frozen ghost town minus the tumbleweeds. Their shelters were made in parts of whale bone and old hides as well as ice and snow. Odd scents lingered to mix with new.

Almost all of their food was gone, only a sickly amount of watered down walrus soup remained. After settling into the shelter weeks ago their hunting party had come across a walrus, old and past its prime, it was long since dead. The women had fought off a pack of three scruffy, wild dogs long enough to cut off a section of meat, some blubber and a single tusk. It was all they had been surviving on.

Bethany considered herself skilled at living off the land, taught from a young age that she was part of the environment. She was educated to use everything nature gave them. She knew by four that burying their meat to age it made it flavorful. She knew by six the times of year each animal was hunted. Her mother passed on her love of traditional foods and Bethany loved to help make Aalu, a meat dip made of choice parts of seal or caribou cut small and mixed with blood and melted fat.

Those days were long gone. In her heart Bethany knew she would never again taste the delicious treat of seal flippers aged in blubber. Her world didn’t seem like her world any longer; the land, the skies, nothing was the same or ever would be again. She had become a foreigner in her homeland. An unwanted intruder with Earth’s storms as Mother Nature’s merciless hit man seeking her and the others.

Most of the fuel they used for heat was at an all-time low. Nothing seemed to exist anymore. Earth’s vast lands were being claimed inch by inch with water. Every year they had to travel farther north into the snow, only now it was monthly. Soon there would be nowhere left to run. A small, pitiful procession of humans and wild animals fleeing to survive—if possible. No matter where Bethany tried to hunt, she was forever fearful of falling into her death as the ice cracked and creaked beneath her wary feet. Water was becoming one with the Earth, a dominant lover claiming a submissive.

Having watched the alien toss the polar bear as though it was a stuffed toy, Bethany could only imagine the power behind the creatures. They hadn’t harmed the bear which was no doubt hunting Bethany and the other women. The bear had recently killed the wild dogs that had begun stalking the women. Did the alien being even know it had possibly saved their lives? Then again, the meat would have been welcome. If there was the slightest possibility these aliens could be encouraged to hunt with them, it would be worth her effort to approach them, but cautiously.

Looking at the huge alien crouched near the ground, Bethany knew with her first step all of their lives would be forever changed. She had to try something. They were desperate and desperate times and all…as the saying goes. Determinedly, she straightened her shoulders. Of all of the women there she felt she was the strongest.

“Don’t you dare,” came a command.

Bethany closed her eyes and counted to ten. It wasn’t right to hate a person, her Aama and Anaanatsiaq had taught her that, but in Bethany’s defense her mother and grandmother had never come across this witch. Bethany allowed her loathsome feelings for Bertha to wash over her until she settled her emotions; intense dislike wasn’t hate—
oh, who am I kidding?
Turning, Bethany grimaced at the ugly scowl Bertha wore. The woman was a shrew and a bitch. Nothing was ever good enough, there was never enough food, she was never warm enough—she was a thief. Worse, she justified her thieving by claiming it was her right to steal when she didn’t have enough. None of them had enough, but the others made do. Bethany had never encountered anyone with such a sense of self-entitlement, it boggled her mind. Bethany and the others worked their asses off daily; Bertha thought it her right to reap the rewards without contributing anything except her vile opinion.

Bertha was one of the reasons their supplies were so low. No one wanted to be in the same dwelling with her and her mouth. Because of her, they needed two of everything, two fires, two homes, two places to cook, more furs. The woman was dense. There was no reasoning with her. Her sense of self-importance was disgusting and pathetic.

“What do you suggest we do, Bertha? Pretend they don’t exist?” Bethany asked.

Bertha marched over to her, along with Chiyo, Adan and Dyani. All six women crowded around. Bethany studied their mixed lot. Bertha was a frumpy middle-aged, medium-built Caucasian who could have been lovely but was known too well, her insides were rotted with her garbage personality. The woman offered no information on her background when they first met.

Chiyo, a friend as was everyone else, was a gorgeous mid-twenty Asian who loved to laugh and was a thinker and mediator. She had been a foreign exchange student who had also followed Bethany home.

Dyani was a tall young Native-American with the sweetest smile and tenacity. Her traveling companions were left behind one by one in a sad trail of death until only she remained, before hooking up with the others. Tasia, the tallest of them at six feet, was a dark-skinned African American; she had modeled before the Earth died to put herself through school.

Adan was a petite red-haired Caucasian Canadian aptly named, ‘little fire.’ Tiny in stature was Adan, but she had a heart of gold, and a mean right cross. The mean right cross had her thrown off an Earth vessel heading for a planet named Ulsy, which was supposed to be Earth’s humans’ salvation. The spitfire was trying to defend a woman’s right to board with her child. The woman and child had been allowed to board as long as Adan stayed behind. Adan had agreed, but not before kicking the captain in his family jewels. The second in command sported a black eye. Bethany had come to know each woman over the last five years as all banded together to form a little family.

Bethany’s mother was Inuit, her father white. Her father had come to the far north twenty six years ago searching for adventure. He fell in love with Bethany’s mother and embraced her way of life. Bethany had been born in her mother’s little village and named after her father’s mother. Both paternal grandparents were deceased before she was born. She supposed it was her father’s lack of family which caused him to embrace a new lifestyle. He was a respected man in their community.

Bethany had loved her parents and her way of life. Both parents died in an accident before Bethany turned eighteen, but they had left her with an innate sense of survival. Her parents had done well teaching her about her surroundings; she knew at a young age, Earth could be volatile and merciless to ignorance. Her parents gave her the best of both worlds and her father had taken them traveling, though they always returned home.

“Those things are hideous monsters,” Bertha argued.

Bethany rolled her eyes.
You should talk.

“Look at them, red eyes, white furry chests. They have to be seven feet tall. And look at the white hair to their asses. It looks alive—Medusa is fifteen feet away. Don’t be so damn stupid, do you really think you can just march over and say, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’”

“Yes.” Bethany grinned at Tasia and strode over to the aliens while Bertha howled she’d regret it, and there was no way she’d save her sorry ass. Bethany snorted. The only ass Bertha would ever save was her own.

Her resolve began to crumble as would a stepped on stale cookie when she was five feet from the creatures. Only one remained crouched, the other stood with his wild hair flapping in the breeze as a storm picked up. They looked almost surreal with the vivid white background. Motionless snowmen, or were they the abominable snowmen? Bethany stopped three feet away. Slowly the crouched being stood, arms splayed. The beings were formidable to say the least. The term ‘massive’ wouldn’t do them justice. And strangely enough ‘majestic’ came to mind.

The larger creature growled something. It took everything for Bethany not to flee. White jagged teeth flashed behind blue lips. Teeth sharper than a great white shark glistened, making her swallow hard. On his splayed hands were black two-inch claw fingernails. Bethany never thought anything would freak her out more than a polar bear—she was mistaken.

Once more the creature growled. Bethany took calming breaths to regulate her pounding heartbeat. The growl was the same, a word perhaps? He must know his physique was enough threat alone; he wouldn’t need to terrorize her.

“Bethany,” she said and pointed to her chest with her hand encased in double fur-lined mitts.

The creature cocked its head and stretched his arm without moving his body closer, to touch her hand. A black fingernail traced the leather material. He looked puzzled. His hand splayed against the mitt and he separated his fingers. The wind was frigid; the air too cold to expose body parts for too long, but Bethany came to a quick conclusion. If she were built closely in resemblance to him in any way, there was less of a chance she’d be eaten. She pulled the mitt off her hand. The other alien made a crude sound and suddenly his mouth hung open. He growled something but the larger one shushed him and moved closer to her. Bethany lifted her hand and pressed her bare flesh to his. His hand was wonderfully warm. She felt strength beneath his touch.

The two stood gazing at one another. His hand was so big. It wasn’t fur covered as was most of his chest except for an oval bald patch on his belly. His arms were huge and bare in spots with four horizontal inch-thick strips of white fur, the tips of fur waving in the breeze. The back of Bethany’s hand was already red and she began to pull away, needing the protection of the leather fur-lined mitt. The creature enveloped her entire hand in his as he curled his fingers around, turning her hand into a fist. For a brief moment Bethany was tempted to yank free, but his hold, though firm, was gentle. In seconds her hand was blessedly warm, cocooned in an oven of flesh.

“Fnnn,” the creature growled again.

“Finn,” Bethany repeated. The creature became animated and excited, nodding his head, grinning, then quickly lifting his hand to cover his mouth and hide his teeth.

Bethany moved forward, standing toe to toe with the alien. Red eyes gazed down at her from his great height. She had been positive she had felt the warmth of those eyes. It seemed strange to her she felt little fear. She should be afraid, she supposed. She had felt more fear when living in her dorm on campus at college when the world fell apart. Nature attacked without warning if not provocation. Fires blazed, volcanoes erupted. At every turn was loss. Racing home she ran straight into bereavement, nothing was spared anywhere, but she was home.

No, Bethany realized, why fear her demise in the form of this being when she had lived on the edge of death for years. Raising a tentative hand she reached up to pull his hand away from his mouth. His teeth were even more terrifying and huge while displayed. He was smiling, Bethany knew it. He was also afraid he would frighten her. She was close enough for him to rip apart.

“Bethany,” she said and again pointed at her chest. “Beth-a-ny.”

“Bhhhet-y, Bet-ny, Beth-ny.”

“Close enough.” Bethany smiled at him.

“That overgrown furry dog isn’t sleeping anywhere near me,” Bertha yelled and Bethany watched the woman return to her home and disappear inside. She cast a glance to Finn.

“You have no idea what a lucky bastard you are,” Bethany said and laughed.

“Bethany?” Tasia’s hushed voice called from behind her.

The woman was creeping towards them. Bethany smiled at her dear friend, she should have known wherever she was Tasia would be close by. When she was a few feet from Bethany her hood blew back exposing her face, Finn made a series of startled growls and grunts. He released Bethany’s hand and moved forward. Tasia squealed in fright when the alien gripped her face in the palms of his hands. Bethany shot forward to grab Finn’s arm. The other alien lifted her off her feet.

Twisting, Bethany gazed up at the huge alien. The look on his face was indeterminate as he watched his partner’s assessment of Tasia. A single arm was wrapped around her waist and Bethany was two feet off the ground. Her back was pressed to his rock solid chest. She could feel her panic rise. The remaining women called out fearfully from a distance.

“He’s not hurting me,” Tasia called back, her words were garbled as the huge beast’s enormous fingers were on her mouth, her jaw, then cheek. Tasia had him gripped by the wrists; she was lifted to her tip toes in his close examination of her. “I’m fine, Bethany. His thumbs are wiping my skin. Maybe he’s never seen a black woman before.”

“Finn?” Bethany cried out as Finn began tugging at Tasia’s fur parka, exposing her delicate throat to the elements.

Finn turned to look at Bethany, growled threateningly and released Tasia only to grab the other alien roughly. Bethany was immediately released and landed on her ass on the ground in a heap. She scrambled up and darted over to Tasia, snow flying in her wake. Both aliens exchanged heated banter. Finn was gesturing wildly at both women.