Beyond Her Kiss

Chapter 5- Scent

Sheila Marie's eyes fluttered open, blinking against the soft dawn light. She glimpsed around, as she'd done many times before, but it was meaningless, as it had been each time before. She was alone up here. However, the place looks so familiar, it was like she could almost taste the frigid wind. There was no one around. Not a soul. And that's when she saw the mysterious hills, cutting across the terrain ahead of her, a vast forest trench snaking across the landscape on her right side and a crystal lake on her left.

After some point, the air was rich with the fragrance of leaves and loam, moist too. Even so, many hours after the rains have passed, the soil remains wet, releasing its heady fog. The melody of running water in the stream has the same hypnotic quality as music, she wants to stop just to drink in the music. She took in all the air her lungs can hold and expel it. These journeys were like a trip out of her life, a visit to somewhere the measuring of time was done only by the rising and setting of the sun.

She went her way through the skinny trunks that grew so tall, racing for their share of the sun's rays. In places, they were so lumbered. The air had that smell of woodland before the rain, perhaps above the canopy, there were clouds fit to burst.

Then she heard a woman's voice inside her head, something was threatening about the voice, something out from the horror films, something so sinister and yet so welcoming. The voice was also familiar. It was oddly soothing, but her mind welcomes it; like a daughter welcomes her mother's embrace.

In this land, she felt rising anxiety in this desolate place, she'd sensed a more frightening ring to the words in her brain. And then it came. A word that sent a straightening pang shooting to her spine. Oddly familiar. The unmistakable horror paralyzed her, and the more she thought about running away or moving a bit, the more she felt discouraged and terrified. “Avenge me, daughter, avenge me!”

Sheila Marie tried to hide how scared she was. She couldn't control the tremor in her voice. “Who are you?”

She couldn't hide her body movements to be less stilted. However, she could make herself smile somewhat, even if it looked phasted on, and she was beyond scared. The fear lurking from her mind was suffocating her. "Who are you?" She repeated.

And now she was running out of pure adrenaline, her survival instincts choking her in her grasp, and an irrational escape propelling her forward, and just then, in the middle of her panic and fear something veered, something changed, and she senses something, pulling up slightly out from her view, then it vanished from nowhere, just maybe she might make it out of this nightmare alive.

She woke up. Confused about where she was. Her hair was as wild as the jungle, untamable and unruly. Her once remarkable golden blond ringlets now vaguely resembled a bird's nest and any bows or clips that had once held them in place were long gone. She looked around and remembered that she was in Julius's guest room.

The guest room was just tidy enough to show that she cared about the space and just messy enough to show that she was able to let her creativity roam free. It was her goldilocks zone, perfect for how she was.

The morning sun peaks in the tiny window. Blinding her eyesight as she squinted.

She moves toward it, feeling the light reach her skin and her eyes adjust to its brilliance. She reaches out with her hand and leans on the silver gloss frame, notice the subtle pattern on the glass of raindrops that came and dried.

Through the bedroom window comes the brightness of the day shine, that boldness that lifts her spirits and the ever-changing art of the sky, the clouds that brought infinite images of beauty. Looking at it, her nightmare was forgotten. There was something in that feeling of gratitude, for all those gifts given so freely, all for spending a moment gazing into the blue. Yet, looking above, she knew a storm was coming, somehow above the clouds a storm was brewing, waiting for the perfect moment to grace its purpose.

“Thank God, it was just a nightmare.” How could she dream such a mess such fear? It was scary as hell. It felt so real and so creepy at the same time. "Who was that voice?" She reckoned it was just a mere nightmare right? Yet, she knew deep inside it wasn't.

Her throat charred when a burning sensation in her throat grew more, she went into the bedside table and picked up the glass of water, and when she pressed the cold glass rim against her parched, cracked lips. She felt even thirstier.

A drop of water traced its way inside her mouth, she savored it. Thick saliva streaked the inside of her mouth instantly sapping any moisture that may enter. Yet her thirst wasn't quenched, the feeling of needing to drink something more was normally just her brain's way of warning her that she'd been dehydrated. It was a burn that didn't go away but instead grew stronger than ever. How could she still so thirsty after a glass of water? Somehow it felt like she wanted more.

She slowly raked her hands through her hair, her stomach clenched with a desire to feed. A cold chill creeps down her spine. “Julius, are you there?” She shouted, opening the door and going straight to the kitchen. The kitchen table cools her palms as the warm golden hues rekindle her soul. It was the steady companion to the aroma of freshly baked bread and the birdsong that flutters in from the neighborhood garden.

She eyed the fridge and hoped for something to eat. It was smaller than the average cooler box and it vibrated and groaned with the effort of staying cool. Inside the ice had built up a thick frosty layer and all that could be fitted into space was a can of beer. "Oh! No! I need to visit the grocery store later." She murmured.

A moment passed. She stiffens knowing it was caused by the presence at the door behind her. For the first time since she was discharged from the army, she felt fear creeping from her mind. Her intuitive thoughts were telling her brain that someone was on her back. A part of her doesn't want to turn back because she knew the moment she did everything would change. Another part wants to know what's happening. Slowly she turned on her heel. A dark silhouette appeared at the far end of the kitchen. She gaped and stared at the man.

He was getting closer. She gets a better view through her surprised eyes as the light from the window falls on him. The man was beyond gorgeous. Deadly handsome. Sheila Marie thought. Who could he be? Impossible, did he just appear from thin air? She must be crazy for thinking such things.

“There you are, little human.” The man said. Through the open door came the most explicit eyes, dismissing the last of the night's sleepiness from her mind.

The emotion in his eyes was intense, yet they held the tenderness and life of the sunlit texture. They had a thousand shades of blue and a tiny touch of gold. He has the most elegant eyes she'd ever seen. A flush crept up her face, realizing that the man was staring at her. His face went blank and he scowled.

The tall man towered over her. His appearance alone was alluring. He was wearing all black, a black leather jacket, his jet black hair that was pushed back revealing his forehead was covered with a black hat. He took off his hat as their eyes met. His hair was lazily ruffled, the raven tips haphazardly pushed so they intertwined into beautiful chaos. He must be a shampoo model, how could he have that glossy-smooth-looking hair? She thought.

The man's rugged features were charming. His hair, which glistens in the sunlight illuminating from the window, and his face was carefully structured. Yet he seems rather cold. He gritted his teeth. “You need to feed.” He said and his nostrils flared.

Abruptly, Sheila was beyond embarrassed. Does she smell? She asked while sniffing herself. The moment she does, she smells the sweetest flavorful aroma drifted through the cool air. Her stomach clenched with hunger at the thought of sweet, honeybuns. She could imagine the warm, fluffy bun dripping with amber-colored liquid, yet it wasn't the smell of food that intrigued her more.

She focused on the other smells in the air, like the earthy smell of calm rain or the salty tang of the ocean. She then walked towards the man inching her nose a little nearer to his neck, Sheila Marie breathed in his scent which was nothing not all like Julius’s, who always had a hint of sandalwood, yet this man has a lingering scent of fresh earthly and ocean aromas. Oddly familiar.

His fragrance was so much more exotic. Like a tang of sea air that has a way of making her content and at peace; like it was anchoring her other emotions to the briny aroma that has all the callings of home. A scent that made her feel like she was safe and protected. So this was what she smelt earlier. She thought.

“Enough, you need to feed now! Be quick!" He merely offered her a wolfish grin, and for some reason, his defiance in the face of her menace both irritated and excited her.

Am I still dreaming or what? How could he look so alive and so real at the same? She asked herself. However, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. It felt like a nightmare. What the hell did she get herself into?

His voice was soothing, somewhat comforting. She looked up, meeting his gaze. His stare softened. Who are you, stranger?

Wait a minute...., this guy is a stranger right? and why is she not panicking and screaming or calling 911? or something related to panicking? She thought to herself.

Sheila Marie was confused. Her chaotic mind wasn't just simple anxiety in a different cloak, it was like her brain was concentrating in an attempt to allow her lustrous brain through, the ultimate surprise of her life. She was never a lust-at-first-sight kind of girl yet she believes that is what she was feeling now.

This man was giving her a familiar feeling, a feeling when you just came from an earth-shattering orgasm. Something like that she reckoned.

She could almost feel her wet folds under her knickers. Yet she knew what she desired was the opposite, a chance to regain her composure, her calm, her tranquil air, and have enough space to focus on what matters and let a path of panic emerge but she couldn't help herself.

There were some primitive urges and needs that wanted her to acknowledge it. She felt like devouring this man all over like she wanted to be licked and praised and be sated, she felt like moaning, like she wanted it harder and faster. She wanted him inside her, right here right now, she wanted to feel him taste him, to-

Dammit! How could I think such a thing towards this stranger? What the f**k is wrong with you Sheila Marie, what on earth am I thinking? She felt disgusted all over and she shivered.

Yet she ignores it.

"Who the hell are you?" She questions the man.