Alien Holiday by Tracy Lauren
Chapter 7
Lo
The rain is like white noise—constant, drowning out all else. Not that there’s much else to hear in a rainforest like this. It isn’t like there are city sounds—dogs barking, car alarms going off, horns being honked. Mostly you just hear birds and bugs and stuff. But right now there’s only the rain and my thoughts. Then, there’s a loud…crash?
It’s like branches being broken and something slapping hard into the mud. Immediately, I think there’s been a rock slide. But then I hear alien cursing. I jump to my feet and my eyes go to the spot of the commotion.
Sure enough…
“Hey! What are you doing over there?” I demand. The greenish Vendari guy pushes himself out of the mud. He’s got a scowl on his face and he’s aimed it at me. “I asked what you’re doing? Are you spying on us? I know I saw you up here yesterday too.”
He wipes the thick, earthy sludge from his bare arms and chest—his motions are quick and angry. Then, he comes stalking over—a stream of unrecognizable words flowing from his lips.
“Why isn’t my translator picking that up?” I ask, tapping my ear. He gets a little too close and he seems to be asking me something—judging by the way he pauses.
“Teath leelhar isha foi, mefela?”
I shrug. “I don’t know what the hell you’re saying.”
Up close he actually doesn’t look so much like the other Vendari I’ve met. His skin kind of reminds me of Da’vi’s—scaled like a reptile. And those wings, they aren’t the bat-like appendages the Vendari kings have. These wings are feathered. I cock my head, frowning as I take him in. Shoot, maybe I just haven’t met all the different kinds. I mean the Red King and his people are…well, they’re all red. Apparently there are green-scaled Vendari with bird wings too. What do ya know?
“Anyway, what are you doing up here? Why don’t you come down and talk to us if you’re so damn curious about our yoga class?”
The guy huffs at me, looking exasperated. But instead of trying to communicate, he takes me by the shoulders and turns me around until I’m pointed back toward the temple. I look back at him, wondering what he’s trying to convey—when he gives me a push. Not a hard one, just enough to let me know he wants me to go.
“Ay, you jerk! Quit it!” I shake him off and go back to my work cutting flowers for Gabby’s first Secret Santa gift.
The alien does not seem to like this, I can tell by the way he growls at me. Not to mention what I imagine to be a long string of curses that comes flowing out of him.
“You kiss your mother with that mouth?” I ask, eyeing him as I hack at a vine with my knife. I’ve got one big, beautiful mock-poinsettia cut so far. I want to bring back around ten or so, but the vine is pretty hefty and it’s a little more difficult than I thought it would be. Especially when half my attention is on this yoga spy.
“Are you some kind of alien pervert or something? Into watching women do downward dog? Shit, I hope not. I don’t want to be up here alone with a pervert.”
He looks down at me with a scowl. I get the impression he doesn’t understand me either.
“What is up with these translators?” I tap mine again, wondering if they’re on the fritz. Can they get water damage?
The guy points up at the sky. “Tekkar,” he says. “Tekkar.”
I frown and follow his gaze up at the clouds. Water gets in my eyes and I blink it out, wiping them roughly. “Ugh, what the hell? You mean rain? Is Tekkar rain? Yeah, I know it’s raining. I’d be a special kind of stupid if I’d missed that fact.”
The alien makes a shooing motion. Now it’s my turn to scowl. “Excuse you, can’t you see I’m doing something here? If you’re so worried about Tekkar, why don’t you shoo yourself? I’ll be done in a minute.”
The alien bounds over to me and I do not like the way he’s acting—like he owns the place or something. I push to my feet quick and put my hands on my hips. “Listen here, I’m cutting these flowers and I don’t want to hear another word about it. I didn’t come all the way up here in the rain and mud just to have some Vendari king try and tell me what to do. I’ve got my own king, thank you very much, and the more you talk, the more it makes me think I actually have a pretty good one. At least he’s never been this rude. Now back off while I finish what I’m doing here.”
I point at the flowers and the alien crosses his arms over his chest. After that he doesn’t rush me. Not in the strictest sense at least. He’s still tapping his toe against the rock though, letting me know how precious he thinks his time is. I roll my eyes at him.
“No one asked for a babysitter, cabrón. Go about your business. I’m fine picking flowers on my own.”
Now it’s his turn to cock his head, but this look he’s giving me says he isn’t going anywhere.
“Fine, your choice.” I shake my hand out and rub my palm on my pantleg before I readjust my grip and get back to work sawing at the vine. “You sure are green, aren’t you?” The more I look at him, the more I notice he really doesn’t look like any of the Vendari I’ve seen. Plus, no horns. His scales are pretty though, they tint yellow in some places and purple in others—deep, natural, earthy tones.
His wings are neat. If he wasn’t being so rude I’d ask if I could touch them. The water seems to just roll right off… He shakes them out and our eyes meet. His are still angry. Shit, he caught me staring. I blush.
“Sorry, I just haven’t seen a Vendari like you before. You’ve got nice wings,” I say motioning toward them. Just because he’s rude doesn’t mean I can’t be honest. “The other guys have bat wings. It’s kinda creepy if you think about it…” I give him a look. “Don’t tell them I said that though.”
The anger in his eyes seems to soften and now he looks a bit confused, as if he’s trying to make sense of what I’m saying.
“They’re pretty,” I try again, nodding at them. “Bonito.” Ay, Lorena…if he doesn’t know English he isn’t going to know Spanish. So I give him a thumbs up. “Es bueno. They’re good.”
His expression is flat and he points at the vine.
“Fine, you bully. I’m hurrying.” Not long after, the thready vine pulls apart. “Got it! Two down, about eight to go.”
I set the second flower with the first, but my new alien friend is quick to pick them up, none too gentle either. Then, he helps me to my feet and pushes the flowers at my chest. “Coere,” he urges.
“Hey! I’m not done!” I push him away from me. “Look, you big green…Grinch, I’m cutting a bouquet of these damn imitation poinsettias for my friend, and she’s going to be the belle of the damn ball because of it, so back off!”
Then, he’s off to fussing about the rain again. “Et Tekkar, mefela. Coere, coere!”
“Oh, no you don’t!” I complain over him. “First thing I’m going to do when I get back to the village is tell Rennek what an ass the green-feathered king is. You don’t own this hill and you can’t tell me what to—”
Over our shouting fest, I don’t hear it at first…but the scaled Vendari does and he freezes—for about half a second before he tackles me. Then I hear the snap. It’s loud as fuck. Sounds like a damn car crash. And a giant limb falls from a tree overhead, right into the spot where I was standing.
This guy, jerk or not, he saved me. And now, we’re lying in the mud, him on top, his wings ensconcing me.
He lifts his head and looks around for signs of danger, then, for one magnetic second—our eyes meet. Maybe I’m having a damsel in distress kind of moment, but for that second…this guy is super sexy. Unfortunately, that scowl comes back all too quick. And my Grinch unleashes another long string of what I assume to be alien curse words as he hauls me to my feet. With a firm grip on my arm, he starts to escort me down the mountain.
“Wait, you jerk! My flowers!”
He and I both search the ground only to see my two hard-earned blooms smashed into the mud. He motions to them gruffly with a condescending look on his face.
This is an “I told you so” moment. The ass.
“Que lindo.” I throw my arms up in despair. “You ruined Christmas. You are the Grinch. You got a little dog up there too, with some antlers tied to his head?”
He points down the mountain.
“I need the flowers!” I shout, one hand on my hip, the other driving my point across. The smartass reaches down and picks up the flowers, shoving them at me.
“Ay Dios mio! Estúpido! Not these ones. I need nice flowers! Pretty ones! Not muddy! I need bonito, like your wings!”
He frowns, tucking his wings in close and I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“No, no, no.” I shake the muddy and limp flowers. “These are ruined, I need ten pretty ones. They’re a gift. I need them. Not one, not two, not dirty or ruined. Ten.” I count on my fingers. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”
The guy looks like he’s about to give in, when lightning flashes across the sky, dashing my hopes. His expression grows as firm as ever and he steers me right back down the hill. I’d argue with him, but he has a point. The storm is getting fiercer. The tree branch was a shock and now there’s thunder and lightning. It’s all pretty intense. Still, I jerk my arm away from the Grinch.
“Fine, but I’ll be back tomorrow. And don’t you try to stop me.” I wag my finger and he curls his lip at it, leaning back as if I have the plague. Then, he motions for me to hurry down the hill. Ugh.
I’m angry. My first Secret Santa effort was a bust. And while this guy did save me and is probably giving me sound advice to head home, there’s just something so darn rude about his attitude. I however, am not rude. “Thank you for saving my life,” I tell him, my tone hot. He doesn’t know what I’m saying, let him infer from the way I say it. It’ll serve him right for being such a sour puss.
After a few minutes of silent trekking, we get to the slim valley that lies between the mountain and our yoga hilltop. Water rushes through it. Maybe about…waist deep? Branches and mud are swept downstream.
“Great.” I look at my alien chaperone and his demeanor conveys the same. Then, he looks at me—his gaze as icy as ever. Without forewarning, he grabs me—lifting me into his arms. I yelp in surprise and push against his chest, but his hold is tight. Then, there’s a sinking feeling in my stomach as he flaps his massive wings and we glide over the rushing water. He’s quick to set me down on the other side.
My heart’s pounding. That was quite the surprise.
“Sorry. I didn’t know what you were doing.” I straighten my drenched clothing. “And thanks,” I tell him again. This time, there’s no heat in my words. “Look, I didn’t get your name and I don’t want to keep calling you Grinch in my head, even though you are being a total Grinch. But I’m Lo, short for Lorena.” I tap my chest and offer a small smile. “Lo.”
Grinch frowns at me. Jeeze, this guy. Can’t he be cool for one second? “Lo,” I say again, tapping my chest. He nods, begrudgingly. Then repeats it.
“Lo.” Cabrón gestures toward me like I’m a sack of potatoes…and he hates potatoes.
Still, I stare at him, waiting. He offers nothing in return.
“Well?” I demand hotly. “Who the hell are you?”
He looks exasperated, as if having a silent battle with himself. Then finally… “Resa.” He taps his own chest.
“See, that wasn’t so hard. Was it?” I smile a little brighter.
His eyes narrow and he points toward the temple. “Coere.”
My smile drops away. This alien is the absolute worst. “Yeah, yeah! Tekkar, coere. Whatever. I’ll be back tomorrow for my flowers. Do me a favor and go Grinch up someone else’s Christmas, you old sour puss.” I turn and start stomping back toward the temple.
“I do not need your attitude!” I shout at him. “There’s enough of that in Beacon!”
He shouts something heated right back, but stays rooted to make sure I get over the rise. I linger for a moment, staring at him…all handsome and mysterious in the rain. Why is he making sure I’m okay and yet being so darn mean?
April would tell me to meditate on it.
I flip him off. With one last look, I hurry down the other side of the hill, eager to be in front of my fire in some dry clothes. But I think about the stranger the whole way back. Resa. It’s a cool name.
I reach the familiar trail, beaten and worn enough that I don’t sink into the mud. It’s a relief. It’s a relief Resa was around to protect me today. He was a jerk, but if it weren’t for him that branch could have seriously harmed me. And even if the branch weren’t an issue, I’d have had a hell of a time getting past that rushing water that filled the valley.
Resa… Maybe he’s not so different from Gabby. Thinking about it like that gives me a little compassion for the guy. Some people are just…abrasive. They can’t help it. But under Gabby’s harsh exterior, she’s a good person. Resa is harsh too, but he protected me.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I graciously decide not to hold a grudge. Papí was like that a lot—a bull in a china shop when he was angry. But under it all, he had a big heart. Maybe that’s why Gabby doesn’t get to me as much as she does the others? And maybe that’s why I can shrug off Resa’s bad attitude. I know their kind. What the hell, if I see him tomorrow I’ll be polite. After all, he did save my life.
Back home, I stroll into the courtyard. Multicolored lights flicker along the colonnade and some of the girls are hanging up garland. They smile when they see me, waving me over to join them. It looks like fun. It isn’t like mi familia at home, but it’s family nonetheless and I’m grateful I’m not alone. How terrible it would be, to be alone at Christmas.