Page 99: "Solace"

"Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you." --Ford Madox Ford


Below is page 99 from the paperback, of "Solace: Uncharted Territory":

   “Come on, Karissa!”

   He called me by my name?  Ahg!  It didn’t matter come on, RUN!!

   I felt my resolve to run slipping, and I couldn’t find the energy to go any faster.  The fog was amazing, the way it moved fluidly above us.

   Jack/Creature reached out to grab me, but I instinctively dodged his touch.  I stumbled and fell forward, my hand hitting the ground.  I felt something wrapping around my wrist and flashes of Sarsa filled my mind.  I automatically reached for my knife which, of course, wasn’t there. I watched my hand disappear into the ground as it began sliding up my arm, pulling me deeper into it.

   I knew I should have been freaking out and trying to get away, but my mind felt… blank.

   I heard Jack/Creature yelling as I saw his boots in my line of sight, his boots that were on top of the ground.  That was how he was running faster?  But how was he staying…

  As he effortlessly picked me up off the ground, I freaked out.  I was furious that he was touching me.  I got myself free of him and started trying to run again.  He attempted to weave in and out of the trees, but I was having a lot of trouble getting one foot in front of the other. The chain kept my body in a forward motion, but I began to feel awful that I was slowing us down.

As I heard the screeching sound, I apologetically looked at Jack/Creature. He instantly stopped glaring at me with frustration, and concern swallowed his eyes.  He yanked the chain and I flew

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into him. He quickly threw me over his shoulder, holding tightly. He ran swiftly as though he didn’t realize I was trying to get away from him.

   As soon as he was in our shelter, he dropped me on the floor and grabbed the cable. He tightened the slack and I immediately ran over to him and helped him get the wall up. The screeching was getting louder.

   “Do you have it?” he asked, demanding an answer.

   “Yes!” I growled. This was not my fault.

   I watched as he tied the cables to the inside of the tree again. The thumping sound came loud and determined. The moment he was done tying the knots, he grabbed the cable I was holding. We pulled it tight, and he tied it securely. The next instant we both collapsed to the floor, panting.

   “Are you alright?” he asked.

   “Why do you always ask me that?!” I snarled.”

   “Sorry, it’s habit.”

   “What does that mean?” I said in a forced calm, glaring at him.

   “It means my mother raised me to protect women, not hurt them,” he shouted.

   “That didn’t matter earlier when you allowed the Tirrapps to board my ship,” I growled.

   “Well at that moment you were just an alien that I wanted dead,” he clarified. “And now… we need each other, if we want to survive.”

    “I don’t need…”

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I guess I'm not always good at following the rules, since I gave you page 100 as well.   Here's the link to chapter one if you haven't read it already:  Chapter One

Or if you'd just like to jump into the story, here are the links to the e-stores that sell it:
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