Free Awaken: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance by Juno Wells Page A

its shoulders broad and powerful. Perhaps Josie would have catalogued more, but her common sense returned along with her mobility. She ran.
    She did not get far. A steel-like grip encircled her arm and hauled her backwards. The pitch of Josie's scream echoed in the quiet of the night. She fought against the hold, twisting and tugging, the cans of cat food rattling against each other noisily in the plastic bag. The silver creature shook her, shocking her into stillness and Josie stared up into its face. Its skin a mirror, it reflected the depth of terror in her widened brown eyes.
    "Please don't hurt me!" she begged, her body shaking. Even its eyes were silver too. It regarded her silently, its features stoic. What was this? "Please…please…"
    Tears slid down Josie's cheeks and after a short moment, the creature let her go. She did not wait and she did not ask why. Given a chance to run, Josie took it and did not look back.
     

     
    Something woke her and Josie didn't know what until she heard it: Sir Glauber's hissing with an occasional growl thrown in. She peeled the magazine from her face and sat up. Yawning, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes as her un-caffeinated brain struggled to make sense of why she slept on the living room floor and Sir Glauber's uncharacteristic vocalization.
    Also, why was her apartment door on the ground? And why was the silver man standing against the wall that separated her living room from the kitchen?
    Josie's heart slowed then powered into overdrive. Scrambling to her feet, she let out an expletive when she banged her leg against the edge of her coffee table. Her heart racing, her leg smarting, she scanned the room for a weapon. The best she could do was her TV remote.
    She held the TV remote high, ready to chuck it at the silver man's head if push came to shove.
    "How the hell did you get in here?"
    To Josie, Sir Glauber's following hiss and growl seemed to underscore her question.
    "If you don't leave right now, I'm calling the cops!" Josie glared at it, breathing fast. Panic and fear made her body tremble, worse yet when she remembered her mobile phone was in her bag and her bag was in her bedroom and getting to her bedroom meant getting closer to… it . Silver man.
    But it didn't matter. As long as she got to her phone, everything would work itself out. She would place an emergency call as quickly as possible and tell them…a weird, mirror-like being occupied her apartment. OK. Maybe 'an intruder' would be better and less likely misconstrued as a prank call.
    Josie raised her hand higher to chuck the remote when the silver man lifted its hands, palms facing her. For some reason, she did as it asked, her hand paused mid-air. There were five fingers on each of its hands and Josie was uncertain whether this fact made the situation stranger. Her eyes noted the human traits and her brain wanted to believe it was human, but some part Josie knew silver man was not a native of Earth.
    "What do you want?" she demanded, but as always, it remained mute. It turned one hand over so its palm faced the ceiling and Josie's lips parted slightly as her apartment door became animate, rising from the floor to reattach itself to its hinges.
    The sound of her heart beat loud and strong in her ears as she and the silver man stared at each other. The remote slipped from her hands and Josie's feet moved on their own accord. She ran past him into her bedroom, diving for her mobile phone.
    "What's your emergency?" asked the emergency operator.
    "There's an intruder in my apartment!"
    "Please describe the intruder, ma'am."
    "It—he's silver!" Breathing fast, she fought to find the appropriate words. Her body tense, her skin too hot, her hands clammy, she paced the room. "He's almost seven feet tall, I think. And he's…he's…"
    Sir Glauber growled louder and Josie rushed out of her bedroom to see if he was in danger. The silver man occupied her living room, holding the magazine that was stuck to her face when