Species Unknown [Book 3: Canis]

CHAPTER NINE

DAY 04
BLACKWATER
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

BEFORE I COULD react, the man reached through the small barred window of the door, lacing his fingers in my hair and pulling my face to his. My eyes widened in shock as his lips came crashing down on mine in a searing kiss.

Immediately, I began regretting my choice to get so close to the metal door. However, my curiosity to see what had been in that box had led me here, to this very moment where a strange man was currently moving his lips against mine. His lips were a lot softer than I had expected, and his sudden gentleness took me off guard. However, my shock was short lived. As soon as my mind caught up with my surroundings, I immediately ripped my face away from him.

"Are you crazy!" I shouted, pushing away from the man.

What the hell is wrong with this dude? I thought as I tried to move away from him.

However, he was a lot stronger than he looked and he fought to keep me close. His hand tangled in my hair where he had held the back of my head to press my face to his, and he tightened his grip, holding me hostage.

"Let me go!" I whispered venomously, grabbing his hand that held desperately to my hair and ripping it off of me. However, it only resulted to him switching his grip, lacing his fingers around my wrist instead.

I groaned, stepping as far away from the door as his hold allowed me. All the while, I kept pushing at his hand that slowly tightened around my wrist, and panic begin to rise up within me.

I had to get out of here. If I stayed much longer, I would surely get caught...

I wracked my scattered brain for any potential solution to get out this mess. His actions had thrown me off,  making his behavior unpredictable. So, I highly doubted reasoning with him would work.

Letting out a sigh, I tugged on my arm once again, looking up into his face that watched me. A sad, yet confused expression had morphed his sharp features, making me pause as I observed him. He had his body pressed full-length against the door, his arm outstretched through the bars to hold onto my wrist as if his life depended on it. However, in this position, I was finally able to get a clear view of his face unobscured by the dark room.

Taking a steadying breath, I reached up with my free hand that still clutched my phone, shining the light to his face. As I did, his pupils dilated against the brightness, yet his grip never wavered. Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to study his face.

Underneath the torment of light from my phone, his eerie glowing golden eyes gave way to a golden honey color that was a lot less eerie to look at. In fact, the warm color made his whole face look a lot less intimidating, and softer somehow. The longer I looked at his face, the more I began noticing things I had not seen before.

Perhaps the most notable I noticed was his left eye. At first glance it seemed normal, however, upon closer inspection it was quite a bit fuller than the other one as if it no longer held any sight. To confirm my observations, I noticed that there a long scar that began just above his eyes, and ran down his cheek. It was well-healed and barely noticeable against the copper tones of his skin, but it was there nonetheless.

What could have caused such a scar?

Curious, I took a step closer, releasing the tension on my arm to get a better look. The scar was actually multiple scars that were small and jagged and dragged across his skin in five jagged lines.

Wait...five?

My eyes flicked down to his hand that was wrapped around my wrist.

Did he do this to himself? I thought to myself, glancing back up into his face.