I Fell Hard and Fast

We walked in silence back to our neighborhood. We were a few feet away from Nate's house before he broke the silence.

"Run," he ordered me as he stopped me with his hand. I looked at him like he was crazy. "Run like you did in the forest."

I looked at Jordan but he was emotionless. I looked back at Nathan as he dropped his hand and motioned to the sidewalk ahead of us. I sighed and started to sprint.

When I was in front of my house, I stopped. It wasn't the same speed. It was my normal speed; my human speed.

The guys jogged over to me. "Did you run?" Nate questioned skeptically. I rolled my eyes.

"We've been friends forever. You know how fast I can run. I was going as fast as I can." I defended myself.

"That wasn't the same inhuman speed we saw before. What's going on with you man?" Jordan asked concerned.

I sighed. "Guys, I'm fine. Maybe there was some kind of trick or something in the forest." I blew them off with a small wave and went into my house.

My sister and her boyfriend jumped apart from each other as they sat on the couch. "I know you guys were making out, sorry to stop you," I said as I passed them on my way up the stairs.

"Hey bro, Monica called. Carina and Alyssa called too," my brother informed me.

"Thanks Matt," I muttered as I walked to the end of the hall to my room.

I flopped onto my bed and turned over to stare at the ceiling.

That girl was mind blowing gorgeous. Is she always in the forest. Me and the guys have been taking girls there for months and I've never seen her.

What did she mean by 'this is where I belong'? Does she really live out there?

So many thoughts about Venus were swirling around my mind.

"What's up with you, Kylie?" Samantha, my sister, asked as she sat on my bed next to me.

I sat up and scooted backwards so my back was leaning against my headboard and pillows. "What are you talking about Sam?"

She grimaced. "You're not yourself; you just missed a perfectly good opportunity to tell me and Alex about safe sex and embarrass me with baby pictures."

"I just have a lot on my mind," I covered. She searched my eyes for clues but I stayed emotionless.

She put her hand over mine and gave me a warm smile. "Whoever she is, she's probably really special," she murmured softly.

"How did you know?" I was shocked. I didn't even say anything and she knew this was about a girl.

"I didn't," she smirked as she got off the bed. "I was just guessing," she claimed as she left my room.

I sat there for a moment, thinking more about Venus. When I finally decided to move, I ran downstairs and grabbed my jacket out of the closet. I slipped my shoes back on.

"Where are you going? Mom will be home soon," Samantha asked me as she looked up from the TV.

"Tell her I went to a friend's house."

She laughed. "Going to see that girl huh?" she teased. I grabbed my keys and flicked her off. She started laughing again.

I jumped into my jeep wrangler and headed towards the forest. When I made it to the parking lot for the library, I parked and walked into the forest.

The sun had about a half an hour before it was going down. I ran down to the lake but found no one. I ran around the forest at that abnormal speed that I used earlier. It was amazing and I wasn't getting tired.

"Venus," I shouted into the cave she led us to earlier.

"Present," I heard a voice call from behind me. I turned to see her in her leaf shirt but she had muddy, white jean shorts on.

I smiled and ran to her in that inhuman speed. "Can you do that?" I asked her.

She smirked and nodded. "I gave you that power," she stated. I blinked my eyes and she was gone. I looked up, down, side to side. I heard a throat clear and I turned around.

"Power?" I ran to her. "You have powers?"

"You do too," she ran and grabbed a huge boulder. She picked it up with one hand and chucked it at me like it was a pebble. I put my hands in front of me, hoping to cushion the impact of the rock crushing me.

Instead the boulder fell into my hands and I was able to stand its weight. I threw it up and threw it back at her as if I were playing volleyball. She set it back down where she got it from.

"There's more," she promised, "think of any animal and ask it to come to you. You can say it aloud or in your head. It doesn't matter."

My mind thought of many animals. "Sloth come here," I commanded. A sloth came out of nowhere and crept over to me. It climbed up my leg and wrapped its arms loosely around my neck as it fell asleep on my back.

Venus giggled. The tiger cub from earlier came to her side and rubbed its head on her leg. She looked down and picked up the cub.

"So I can control animals?" I tried to make sure I understood. That's a pretty awesome power. I mean I have powers!

She nodded. "Anything I can do, you can do."

"Go home sloth," I ordered. The sloth fell off my back and climbed a nearby tree before falling asleep again. "Where do you live?" I asked her. That question has been on my mind ever since she said she belonged here.

Venus put a hand out, gesturing to the forest. "This is my home."

"Do you live with anyone?" I asked and she shook her head. "Would you like to stay at my house tonight?" I realized how scary that sounded and quickly tried to recover. "I mean, it's a Friday night and I just thought you would like somewhere nice to stay. You don't have to but I just thought-"

She stopped my ranting with one finger to my lips. "I would love to." She agreed to coming with me.

And what was up with the ranting? I'm never nervous around girls. Girls are nervous around me. Nervousness is definitely a new feeling for me.

We ran at that super fast speed until we were almost out of the forest. She grabbed my hand, making me stop abruptly.

"Leo, she yelled. Her voice was loud but sweet and welcoming.

A lion came up to us. Somehow I managed not to get scared in the presence of the overgrown cat. "Leo, I'm putting you in charge until I get back. Any humans show up, tell everyone to stay hidden," she ordered.

Leo nodded and walked off. She turned to me and smiled before we left the forest.

"Wow, cars have really changed," she announced as she got into my car. "last time I was in a car, it was an Oldsmobile."

"When's the last time you were in a car? They stopped making those decades ago." Was she joking? She looked serious.

She bit her lip as I started the car and drove towards my house. "I don't think I should tell you right now. Maybe when we get to your house I can tell you the full story."

I shrugged and drove on. She kept making comments on how everything changed. She looks like she's my age and since I've been alive nothing has changed.