Extraordinary Ch. 01

A special thank you to my editor just_a_bibliomaniac who not only edited but kept me encouraged and excited about writing.

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Extraordinary

Chapter 1: When I Lie

Christina Henderson is standing in the center of the stone circle naked and in pain. Shed doesn't want to be here and she's afraid of what is supposed to happen. Afraid is not a strong enough word to describe how she is feeling, perhaps panic or paralyzing terror is more accurate. She takes a ragged breath as she scans the area around the stone circle hoping to see anyone she might recognize, but all she sees is the faceless monsters only psychopaths could ever dream up.

Christina has no clue why she of all people is being thrust into this unbelievable situation but she can pin point the start of what led up to this horrific moment. It all started when she lied, nothing ever good happens when she lies. See, she is not quite twenty-one yet. With her unique fashion sense that usually consisted of mismatched, whimsical clothing that messily draped over her lanky frame and naturally high-pitched voice she could easily pass as an awkward freshman in high school. It should not come as a surprise that she was a wee bit nervous to buy her first fake id.

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"Chrissy come on, you're almost twenty-one. I promise no one will notice." Christina's best friend Lilly said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Since childhood Lilly had been such a troublemaker she actually thought her name was "No" until she was five years old. Now at the age of twenty-two she was a force of nature. She had become friends with Christina in third grade when Nick Samuelson pulled Lilly's platinum blonde piggy tails. Nick had pulled her hair so hard that Lilly had fallen over and hit her head against the merry-go-round. Christina had marched right up to Nick and poured glue on him and called him a booger head. Ever since that day they had been best friends or partners in crime as their parents liked to say.

"I think the id looks great, now quit whining and come on before you make us late. " Rem said anxiously while shoving Christina's purse into her hands. Rem had recently been hired as the new CNA at the nursing home Lilly and Christina work at and all three had instantly clicked. It was easy to get along with Rem's sweet personality but there was just something about her that was a little quirky that had endeared her to Lilly and Christina.

The three friends were going to a new club called Undertones which already had rave reviews. As the girls walked up to the door to the club Christina couldn't shake the dread creeping up her spine, leaving the hair on the back her neck on end. She was nervous about the fake id sure, but to her this felt like she was in danger. When she stopped Rem turned around and cocked her head with a look of compassion and curiosity written in her eyes.

"What's wrong now?" Rem said as she walked up to Christina's side and sighed when the only response she got was a mere shrug. With an encouraging and reassuring tug on her hand Rem practically dragged a nervous Christina to the bouncer.

At the bar Lilly ordered some fruity drinks and started to chat about all the hotties that were at the club that night. When Christina didn't put her two cents in the other two girls glared at her with growing annoyance. She mumbled something incoherent to appease her friends but was trying to hatch a plan to leave early. She was more a home body anyways; she would rather curl up on her overstuffed chair reading a good book then to be crammed in a small club like sardines with strangers.

When the drinks finally arrived the small group found a table near the back to occupy. It had the best view of the crowd and assured that Christina wouldn't bolt for the door when the others weren't paying attention.

Christina had just begun to relax when a fight broke out in front of her table. Two huge men were rolling around on the floor as a large crowd started to form around them. To Christina it looked like the smaller man was losing, he had blood coming out of his nose with a black eye already forming while the other man looked to be relatively unharmed. Just then the larger man picked up a chair and slammed it over his opponent's head, as it splintered the girls all winced and grabbed their drink just in case.

While Christina was getting up Rem nudged her side and pointed to a rather large man making his way through the crowd. This man made everyone in the whole club look like midgets in comparison. Rem had an expression of apprehension and adoration across her face while she literally stared at the man. Christina on the other hand felt like an ant in his presence, he was nearly seven feet tall with muscles on top of his muscles which just emphasized her petite, sleek frame.

The mammoth of a man made it to the fighting men just as they both rose to their feet. He stepped in between them intent on breaking up the fight. This only angered the smaller man and he tried to lash out at the intruder and was surprised when he missed. The whole club was shocked when he not only missed but overshot his target and instead landed the blow on Christina's mouth as he toppled over the flimsy table.

It only took a few seconds for the man and table to be pulled off but it felt centuries to her. When she was finally in a sitting position with every eye in the club on her she closed her eyes fighting the dizzy feeling threatening to overwhelm her. A pair of plate sized hands steadied her and the man who broke up the fight came into her vision when she opened her eyes.

"I'm deeply sorry for what happened. Does your head hurt?" he said with a concerned frown. She actually had to think about that as she lifted her hand to her head, wincing when she touches the goose egg on the back of her head.

He easily cradled Christina in his arms while he carried her through the crowd. An electrified sensation coursed through her body as her hand briefly touched his neck. They keep an almost intimate eye contact for a few moments in frozen suspension before he found a path leading to an office. He laid her down as if she would break on a dark brown leather couch making sure not to touch her bare skin again. He found his feet and began to leave but not before he frowned once more at Christina.

Just a few moments later a tall exquisite woman with legs up to her neck came in followed by Rem and Lilly. The tall woman introduced herself as Heather and pressed some ice wrapped in a towel to Christina's swollen and bleeding lip. They started to talk at the same time as Christina looked dazedly into space, barely hearing a word of what is said. When it got quiet she realized Lilly just asked her a question.

"What?" Christina sheepishly smiles at her friends. This only made all three of the women start talking at the same time at a faster rate.

The man who had carried Christina came in looking annoyed. "You're hurting her with your exasperating chatter. Why don't you three go outside and wait for the ambulance, I'll look after her." Lilly looked at Christina's face and actually appeared guilty. Christina couldn't remember a time she had ever seen her best friend look guilty before. Lilly nodded and without saying a word pulled Rem behind her leaving the frowning man alone with a slightly dazed Christina.

He slowly stalked to the couch like one might imagine a lion stalking a gazelle. He kneeled beside the couch so that he was eye level with her while he quietly introduced himself, "I am Axel Craigler, I'm the owner of the club and I can't express how sorry I am you got hurt."

He lifted his deep mocha eyes to her face with a raised eyebrow when she remained silent with her arms crossed over her chest as if she could ward off all the wickedness of the world. With measured movements he lifted his hand to lower the towel from her injured lip; gently he brushed her lower lip with his thumb sending electricity shooting through both of their bodies again.

With surprise he retracted his hand and slowly said, "You've got a pretty nasty split lip and your eyes aren't tracking movement well. We've called an ambulance, they'll be here soon. Do you need anything?"When she just shook her head he stared at her in the hope that she would eventually get the hint to speak.

Christina opened her mouth to say she was fine but froze when he lowered his head and leaned closer to her in order to sniff at her neck.She had never been sniffed like that before which caused her to bolt up and started rubbing her neck where he had just been. This offended him and his frown grew into a glare causing inexplicable fear to jolt through her.

She found herself running haphazardly through the crowd while being dizzy and unable to see well, but none of that stopped her racing heart or the pounding of her feet against the floor in a dead sprint. She didn't even stop when she made it outside and Rem and Lilly started calling her name, she heard the sirens of the ambulance and the shouting of her friends but the need to flee was too great to ignore.

She was utterly out of breath and truly exhausted when she randomly sat down and took the time to look around. She was in someone's front yard in a neighborhood she didn't recognize but she finally felt safe. She flopped back onto the soft grass while panting trying to recover her breath. She covered her eyes with her arm when she heard a door open somewhere behind her.

Even with the knowledge that she was not alone she knew she was not in danger but more importantly she felt as if she was being stared at. She let out a startled yelp when she lifted her arm and opened her eyes to see a craggy old face smiling down at her; the face was so close she could see her own startled expression in the eyes of her watcher.

"You're late."

She had a twisted, confused expression upon her round face so the elderly man proceeded to help her up before he ushered her to the front door of the house right behind them.

He tried to ease her confusion, "You must try not to be late in the future." This command was met with soft chuckling, Christina truly thought she was starting to lose what little mind she had but the old man chuckled along with her, only this deepened the confusion for now she wondered what they were laughing at.

Inside the little house she sat down on a rickety old chair and looked around the room while the old man poured her a cup of tea. It looked like a library had grown up here and was now uncomfortably living in a space too small; thousands of books lined every surface and every wall the space could afford.

When he handed her a cup of tea he introduced himself, "I am Jerry Homefield. I am your guide, welcome to my home." She took a sip of the bitter tea and smiled half-heartedly at him before she opened her mouth to speak he interrupted her, "Yes I know you are Christina. I've been waiting a long time for you." She was truly tired of being interrupted so the fact that he knew her name didn't seem to matter at the moment.

"Why does everyone keep interrupting me? I would like to speak." She said with a little flash of anger.

Jerry smiled at her patiently, "What would you like to say dear?" She frowned into her teacup and couldn't think of anything to say so she just huffed. This made Jerry chuckle, "Why don't you get some rest and we'll talk in the morning." She shrugged and asked him to call me a cab.

This is the first time Jerry frowned, "You just got here. You can't go home."

Christina stood up and countered him, "Watch me."

He turned on a TV that was hidden in between to stacks of thick books and quickly found the news channel.

He turned up the volume so she could hear as she walked towards the front door, "Luckily the resident Christina Henderson was not home. Witnesses say that a group of men broke into the home and left as the house was engulfed in flames..."

Christina stood speechless as she watched her home burn to the ground.