"...I must confess
A thousand degrees
Bring out the beast inside of me
Don't be afraid
Blow into the place
It's gonna melt your fears away
I'm gonna get the fire started
Impossible for you to breathe
Temperature is rising up, up, so hot
And I'm burning up..."
I sang along to my new favorite song on my shiny new iPod. My parents were out at the store, so I was home alone. It was getting dark, so I knew they would be home soon. I took advantage of their absence to play some sniper games online. I was in the middle of listening to Bad Boy when I heard something. I quickly pulled out my earphones and listened in silence. A few seconds later, I heard it again. It sounded like someone banging on the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard. Please be an animal! I thought. I didn't stay around long enough to find out. I ran into the hall and listened for more sounds. After five minutes of silence, I nervously made my way to the back door. I peeked out from between some blinds to see if there was anything out there. Seeing nothing, I let out a nervous laugh. I returned to my games, but kept my music down.
"I really hope that was just an animal." I told myself. Hearing the sound of my parents unlocking the front door made me jump at least three feet. Laughing at myself, I exited out of the website I was on and tried to make it look like I wasn't on.
"Go help." My dad told me. I reluctantly went into my bedroom to look for my boots and helped bring groceries in.
"Did anyone call while we were out?" my grandma asked.
"No." I answered. I decided not to tell them about the noise. It was probably a cat knocking something over... I kept my eyes open, though, as I went in and out of the house, getting the groceries out of the car.
"...People in their sane minds swear they see you today Johanna, Johanna are you really here?
Are you lookin' for the love they took away?
Everyone knows that you couldn't bare the pain
So you took your life in the pouring rain
You took your life in the pouring rain
Looking for your lover after all these years?
Johanna, Johanna are you really here?
Has your lover returned after all these years?..."
Bobby Mackey's song relaxed me a bit as I sat on the couch. It was a sad song, based on the story of Johanna, who used to live in Wilder, KY. She fell in love, but her dad didn't like the guy, so he killed her lover. She was so sad that she killed herself. Now, it's said that she haunts Bobby Macky's Music World, which sits on the place where her father's gambling house was. I just thought it was so sad. I couldn't imagine losing the love of my life. I didn't have one, but it must have been very painful. As soon as the song ended, I turned my iPod off and got ready for bed. I got my blankets and spread them out on the couch. The only reason I slept there was because my sis and I had to share a room and we always fight over who gets to sleep that night. She needs the TV on all night and I need everything turned off. So, to solve that problem, I just sleep in the living room. To tell the truth, the couch is way softer than my matress. I'm due for a new one and my parents keep saying they'll buy me a new one, but they never do.
"Come on, Wonderland." As I do every night, I pray that I'll have an awesome adventure in Wonderland like Alice, but the last big dream I had was about Norm and Jorgen from Fairly Odd Parents taking over this weird school I had to go to and making kids work 24/7. I saw a lot of kids colapsing from exhaustion, so I went right up to them and demanded they stop. Of course, that's when my brain decided to wake up. I snuggled into the blankets and closed my eyes, picturing the dream I wanted. Before long, I fell into my dreamland.
When morning came, I woke up looking like a lion. I went to the bathroom then went straight to the computer. I checked all my favorite sites, but with all my favorite people out on winter vacation, everything was quiet. I got up to get some cereal and ate it while I searched for a game to play. Finding nothing that would entertain me, I got dressed and went out into the backyard. I turned the hose on so I could water my little pine tree, Steve. When I gave him enough water, then I checked Wilber and Prudence, my bean plants. They grow in a water bottle. I decided to put in more water and put them out where they could get more sunlight. Then I heard it. It sounded like something moaning behind our shed. I held the hose sprayer like a gun and carefully made my way to the shed. Something huge was laying back there. He was laying on his back, which must have been very painful because we have a lot of big rocks back there. He opened his eyes and I saw they were a dull yellow.
"Come closer." He said, his voice all raspy. I didn't want to, but I felt my feet shuffling closer. I thought of all the ways to fight him off as I got closer. He held out his hand and gently took the hose from me. I stood my ground as I watched him drench himself. He had red skin, but bits of his face were a sickly green. He had purple dreadlocks and his hands had claws on them. I watched as he sprayed water into his mouth, drinking it down. After a while, he stopped spraying and handed the hose back to me. I took it without really realizing what I was doing. I was mesmerized by this creature. He looked up at me, his eyes now a litttle brighter. "Can you get me something to eat?" he asked, a slightly seductive tone in his voice. I was going to run into the house, but I saw the oranges on our trees and picked one of them. I took it back to him. "Thanks, baby." He started unpeeling it with his claws. I don't know what I was waiting for, but he looked up at me and motioned for me to sit down. I sat down on the ground, not caring that I was getting my sweats dirty.
"You're probably wondering who I am." he said. I nodded. "I'm Thrax. I'm- well, I used to be a virus. The last thing I remember was falling into some alcohol. A few days later, I'm wandering around this city. Your house was the only one without a dog, so I stayed the night out here." Thanks a lot, Daddy! I thought. Why did you have to hate animals? "So, what's your name?" he asked me.
"Amber." I answered.
"Well, baby, I need a place to stay. Mind if I stay here?" I opened my mouth, then closed it. How am I supposed to ask my parents if some stranger can stay with us? Thrax smirked and got up. When he stood to his full height, I felt shorter than normal. He was huge! He simply strode into the house, pulling me behind him. My grandma was shocked when she saw a seven-foot man with red skin walk into the house. "This little beauty invited me to stay for a while. If you don't share her hospitality, then I'm afraid something bad could happen to her." He held me close, holding one of his claws close to my throat. This claw was longer than the others and heated up so hot, I felt my sweat dripping down. My grandma just stared and nodded. He whispered in my ear, "Now take me to my new room." I took him to my parents' room, because mine was too messy. "Good." He closed and locked the door behind him. "Now we wait." He looked at me in a weird way.
Oh, God! I'm gonna get raped, aren't I? I thought.
"Let's turn up the heat in here." He said in a seductive tone of voice. He forcefully kissed me. My brain turned to mush and my heart pounded so hard, I thought it would burst. I hardly even remember what happened. I was only conscious of his lips, a feeling of pure bliss and heat. Lots and lots of heat.