Starseed (2 page)

Chapter One

10 Years Later

A few miles outside Sweetwater, Colorado

Damn, we should’ve stopped at that last excuse for a
town.
Driving home from Denver at night across the desolate high plains of Colorado, a blowing sandstorm came out of nowhere. Elle Thomas gripped the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white. If she wasn’t careful, she’d kill herself and her best friend, Sara Banks. She slowed the car. Her body started to tingle and she drew in a shuddering breath.
No, not now!
The familiar sensation had her sixth sense working overtime.

Without warning, a bright light blazed through the blinding sand pitting against her windshield
. Elle instinctively slammed the brakes to the floor, but the car refused to obey. She slid off the road, jerking against the seatbelt. Elle turned to Sara and squinted for a better view. “Do you see that?”   

“
Yes, what is it? I've never seen anything like it.”  Sara held on to the dash with both hands.

Out of the darkness, the brilliant glare broke into three bright lights similar to those of a freight train and barreled toward them, growing larger by the second.

Eyes narrowing, Sara stared through the swirling sand. “It's going to hit us!”

Black fright swept through Elle as she pressed her foot against the accelerator
. The engine whined and tires dug deeper in the sand. They were trapped. Her breath caught in her throat, leaving her woozy. Forcing her mind to focus, she watched the lights rush toward them. Adrenaline pumped through her veins.

“
This can't be real,” she thought.

The strange lights engulfed the car
. Elle threw her arms in front of her face. Sara screamed.

Yet, nothing hit them
. Elle watched the large black mass with pulsating lights stop before them in the dim glow from the headlights. It silently rose and hovered over the car, showering them with more blinding white light. The radio died. The dash went dark. The engine ground to a halt and the headlights blinked out.

“
Oh, crap,” Elle said. A haunting childhood memory rushed in. She’d been through this before.
Go away!

The only sound was their labored breathing and the howling wind hammering sand against the car
. Elle's chest pounded like a thrashing machine stuck in high gear. A bad taste of rusty pennies trickled down her throat from where she’d bit her lip when they hit the ditch.

The last time, the aliens had left her with the ability to foretell the future
. She didn't know how she did it. It just happened. Growing up, the other kids had treated her like a freak. Now what was in store for her?

Fear, stark and vivid, glittered in Sara’s brown eyes as she leaned against the passenger side door
. She pushed the straight brown hair away from her face and scooted across the seat to grab Elle’s arm. “Oh God, what is it?”  

“
I'm not sure,” Elle whispered, glancing at her friend. Sara couldn’t handle the truth. They huddled together, holding each other for comfort. The silent, pulsating colors shone through the car’s glass moon-roof as if looking for something…or someone.

“
Starseed. It is time.”
 

The thought burst forth in Elle’s mind
.
They’re after me.
She swallowed . . . hard and shivered in anticipation of the worst.
No! I won’t go. Please go away!
In self-defense she locked the doors.

After what seemed like a thousand years, the blinding white light blinked out
. They were alone. The thing moved slowly upward into the night sky, then veered to the right and disappeared as fast as it arrived. The sandstorm immediately lessened in intensity.

“
It's gone,” Sara squeaked in a tight voice.

Letting go of her friend, Elle pushed back a shiver of panic, taking deep breaths to calm the rapid pounding in her chest
. “Yes.” 
And they didn't take me
. She closed her eyes for an instant, savoring the sweet taste of freedom. Her fear eased and she glanced back toward Sara. “Are you okay?”  

“
I . . . I think so. Wow. That scared me so much I almost peed my pants.”  Sara sat up and peered out the window, searching for a sign of the mysterious object.

Elle knew the feeling as shivers still shook her body
. “Yeah, me, too.” 

“
Must've been some kind of new airplane,” Sara said. Lines on her face relaxed as she offered a rational explanation.

“
Yeah,” Elle lied, licking her injured lip. It was probably something from the Air Force base.”

Sara looked at Elle, then back to the night sky
. “Maybe, but that doesn't make sense. Why would they be testing anything in a sandstorm?” 

Elle squeezed the steering wheel with both hands listening to the tension building in Sara’s voice
.

“
You always know when weird things are going to happen,” Sara snapped and smacked Elle on the arm. “You've saved our butts hundreds of times. For God's sake, you’re the town psychic. You know things.”  The words tumbled from her lips. Her voice rose as she lashed out. “Did you know about those lights? Why didn't you warn me?”  A tear trickled down Sara’s cheek.

“
Right now I’m not sure about anything.”  Elle spoke in a calming voice and reached out to her friend. “This thing scared me as much as it did you. I’m as upset as you are.”  Laying her hand on Sara's shoulder, she gently soothed her and glanced out the window. “Let's stay calm and figure out how we’re going to get out of this ditch.”

Sara wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her hand
. “I'm so sorry. I'm such a mess and I'm cold.”

“
So am I,” Elle said, choosing her words carefully. “Whatever it was is long gone. And at the rate that thing moved it's probably in another country by now.” 
Or another world
.

“
You know the ranchers are always saying strange things are happening to their livestock.”  Sara dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “What if it’s a UFO?”

Elle shivered
. She’d experienced many of those events up close and personal through her visions. “I've heard those stories, too, but I’m sure this was some kind of plane or militaty helicopter.”  She had to keep Sara calm. Hysterics wouldn’t help either of them.

“
Some people say Area 51 has moved to the high plains of Colorado.”  Sara rubbed her arms.

“
Oh, that’s silly, everything is fine now,” Elle said.
Or it's going to
be soon as we get out of here.
She turned the ignition. It didn’t turn over. Nothing, not even a groan. She sighed.
Damn, even if I
could get the car to start, it'd be tough to get out of the ditch.

“
Now what?”  Sara shuddered as if a chill ran through her body.

“
I'll call Triple A.”  Elle reached for her cell phone. The face plate had turned black. No signal. Nothing. “It's dead.”  She rubbed her fingers across the surface, willing it to turn on. “Try yours.” 

Sara pulled her phone from her purse and flipped it open
. “Mine's dead, too.”  She held out her shaking arm. “Look, my wristwatch has stopped. Oh, God. What if that thing comes back?”

“
Listen to me,” Elle said, taking her friend by hand. “Look at me.”  Sara glared at her. “It's gone,” Elle continued. “It’s not coming back. We're okay.” 

As quickly as the storm had surrounded them, the wind ceased blowing and the sand disappeared
. Bright stars and a full moon hung in the southwestern sky. Then the dashboard lit up and Sheryl Crow’s song, “Rolling Thunder” jarred the silence and caused Elle and Sara to jump.

Elle turned off the music
. Giving her friend time to compose herself, she said, “Sara, we can't tell anyone what we saw. Not a word.”

“
Are you kidding me? Who would I tell? If we say anything, people will start treating us like Crazy Herman.”

Elle winced
. “Yeah, poor Herman. He’s probably more sane than most of the people in town.”  She turned the key and listened to the engine grind. Switching it off, she slapped the dash. She checked her phone, only to see zero bars and a no service message. “We’re on our own.”

They climbed out of the car, propped up the hood and stared down at the engine
. In the glare of the full moon and the headlights, Elle jumped back. A lone wolf sat on a nearby hill watching. Great. They couldn’t very well walk to town with wild animals lurking about. She beeped the horn and the wolf ran away. Just then, lights from a car appeared on the roadway behind them. A nervous twitch ran through her. They were vulnerable, out here alone on the dark deserted highway.

Sara let out a squeal of relief
. “Thank goodness! Someone’s found us.”  

The black Jeep pulled off the road beside them
. A man spoke from his open window. “You ladies need help?” 

“
Yes, please,” Elle said.

He stepped out of the auto and sauntered toward them like a jaguar on the prowl
. He looked friendly enough. But then so had Ted Bundy. Still, even though her palms were twitching, Elle trusted her psychic senses when they said,
“You can trust him. He’s here to help you.”
  Dressed in a paisley shirt and bell bottoms, their rescuer was clearly a throwback from the sixties. But as the moonlight illuminated him further, there was no getting around it. He was gorgeous.

Elle found herself lifting the bangs out of her eyes to take in his long dark hair, his razor-sharp cheekbones and a jaw as hard as chiseled granite
. He had a full, sensuous mouth, and as she scrutinized him further, she thought he might be Native American.

Until she noticed his eyes—his piercing blue eyes—and Elle felt a wave of attraction
. Ordinarily she went for the traditional type, not someone who might have performed at Woodstock. Nevertheless she found herself saying, “I slid into the ditch in a sandstorm.”

“
Let me take a look.”  He held out his hand. “By the way, I'm Kole, Kole Stith.”

She accepted his handshake
. It was a cool strong hand. He had a confident grip with none of the funny business that men sometimes indulged in, such as squeezing her hand too hard to show how masculine they were. “I'm Elle Thomas.”  She nodded toward her friend. “And this is Sara Banks.”

“
Hello, Sara,” he said before he returned to look deep into Elle’s eyes. Slowly, he pulled his gaze away and pointed toward a pool of leaking water. “I don't know much about automobiles, but that probably isn’t good. It must’ve happened when you slid into the ditch.”  As if he sensed her eyes upon him, he met her stare straight on.

A tremble rumbled through her heart as though it had been kick started
. She knew him, and she didn’t. In the harsh angles of his face, there was a beauty that kindled something to life in her inner soul. His eyes were an incredible blue—the long dark lashes hiding a surprising innocence, yet there was nothing childish in the direct way he looked right through her, past her defenses right to the center of her being.

He seemed to be staring right through her, making her feel things she hadn’t in a long time
. Neither looked away from the other, and an unexpected warmth pulsed underneath her skin and across her heated face. Elle enjoyed the new sensations he stirred within her as much as they frightened her. She was glad he couldn’t see her blush in the moonlight.

He gave a slight inclination of his head toward her, a courtly gesture, as if to say yes, I feel it too
. Then he said, “Even if I could get your car started, you can't drive it in its present condition. I’m going into Sweetwater if you’d like a lift into town.”  Kole motioned toward his jeep. “Come on.” His voice was low and soothing, a steadying presence as he moved silently and gracefully away.

“
Should we? Is this a good idea?” Sara whispered as they headed to the passenger side of Elle’s car to retrieve their things. “We don’t know anything about this man.”

“
What choice do we have?” Elle asked and glanced back toward him as disjointed thoughts flooded her mind.
They might return and take us.
She shivered. “I don't want to spend the night out here. Do you?”

“
No. Absolutely not.”  Sara shook her head and followed Elle.

“
Besides,” Elle glanced toward Kole. “I have a good feeling about him.”  She watched the man a little taller than her own five-foot six inches get into the Jeep.

Sara visibly relaxed
. “That’s all you had to say.”

Moments later, Elle was in the passenger side of the Jeep, Sara in the back, and they were on their way home
. Kole glanced both ways and pulled onto the road.