The Zeuorian Awakening Alternate Beginning #3

What was that? Lexi thought when she heard a loud crash near her bed. She sat up and glanced over toward where her nightstand. A picture frame sitting on top of the maple wood was lying face down and hanging over the edge. Perhaps her aunt may have knocked it over she sure the hell hoped it was her who knocked it over. She cleared her throat and called out! "#ey Aunt $rene.% &ut there was no reply. 'kay! so it wasn(t her aunt that knocked it over. )aybe a gust of wind! she thought! grasping for a tangible excuse other than the one she suspected. She turned toward the small window above her computer desk. #owever! it was locked up tight! which left her with only one other answer. *he one she didn(t want to face that scared the living crap out of her. An intruder must(ve knocked it over and by the lingering musk scent in the air it had to be a man. #er eyes swept across the dimly lit room! scrutini+ing every possible spot where he may be lurking in the shadows! but there was no sign of him in her room. Although! he could be hiding underneath a piece of furniture or inside the closet. *he million dollar ,uestion was did she want to go looking for him or run away instead? Well! running away sounded pretty damn good to her at the moment! but he could be waiting close by! preparing to grab her. $f she learned anything from watching countless hours of horror movies! it was to make damn sure he wasn(t able to get a hold of her or she would be dead. So she had to play it cool right up to the moment of making her escape. She slowly slid her legs out from under the sheet and dangled them over the edge of the bed. *he distance from the bed to the door was about ten feet. $f she leaped! it would take her half the time to reach the door! giving her a chance to escape before being grabbed. &ut if he was waiting in the hall! that wouldn(t stop him from grabbing her once she reached the door. #mm! she could duck down and hit him in the knees. #e wouldn(t expect her to do that. 'kay! then it(s time to make her escape. Lexi leaned forward! propped one foot against the wood bed frame and prepared to use the hard oak as a spring board. -ust as she placed her other foot on the floor! the alarm went off and the radio turned on. ".oads are clear and it(s going to be a beautiful day in &rookings.% /rap! she reached for the radio clock and knocked it to the ground. She rushed over to the side of her bed! switched off the radio and paused. A piece of paper was on the ground. She picked it up and noticed it was a note from her aunt! which meant! she smiled! no psycho knocked over the picture frame. #er aunt did it when she left the note on the night stand. Thank God! she thought and plopped down on her bed to read the note.

As usual! the handwriting was closer to scribble lines that took her several attempts to read. What she could make out in the note was! "Lexi! $ went to work early.% No surprise there! she thought and continued to read! "And $ will be working late at the hospital as well! so don(t wait up for me.% 0ot unless she wanted to stay awake until one or two in the morning! since that has been her aunt(s typical time of arriving home for the past month. Lexi sighed and continued to read! "$ know and $(m sorry that $ missed your birthday yesterday! sweetie! but $(m the only one that can run the emergency room until we find a replacement for the other doctor that ,uit. $(ll make it up to you. $ promise.% 1reat! but that doesn(t solve her problem. She wanted to discuss with her aunt what had happened last night at the beach! but with her working over eighteen hours that would be impossible. /alling her was out of the ,uestion too. #er aunt has all her calls rerouted directly to voicemail. *exting would take forever to explain everything that had happened. She could go to the hospital! but the other doctors may notice something was different about her! since she was there the other day. She(ll have to wait until her aunt had the night off! whenever that maybe . . . whoa what was that?% 'ne of the steps leading down the stairs creaked outside her room. 1oose bumps formed along her arms. $f her aunt was working! someone else was in her house. She leaped from her bed! tipped toed to the door and peered into the hall! but no one was there. Perhaps she was hearing things! but no! there was another noise again! this time closer to the bottom of the stairs. She reached for a weapon to protect herself. *he only weapon she could find was a hard cover Stephen 2ing book. $t wasn(t a great weapon! but it was better than nothing. 0ow armed with the book! she proceeded to walk down the stairs! taking one step at a time! attempting to limit the noise she made and stopped by the kitchen door. *here was a soft clicking noise in the kitchen and a bree+e swept past her! like it does when the door opened. #er chest tightened and she gasped for air. #e was in the kitchen. She took three deep breaths and leaped into the kitchen with the book in hand! ready to hit whoever was there! but no one was in the room. *he door was shut and dead bolted. *hat was strange? She swore the door had been opened. She turned toward the living room and no one was there either. Perhaps he managed to run outside and shut the door before she entered the room? She walked over to the sink and peered out the window. *here was no one outside either. 'h wait! what(s that? A tip of a shoe was peeking out from behind a tree across the road. Who the hell was that? She leaned over closer to the window to get a better look. $t was 3ust a piece of paper. 4amn! her imagination was getting the better of her. She walked over to the refrigerator to grab something to drink and noticed the form re,uesting early graduation had been pinned to the door with a handwritten note on the paper! "Lexi! $ know you(ve had your heart set on graduating early and attending )$* this fall! but you 3ust turned seventeen yesterday. 5ou(re too young to attend college. 5ou can wait and go when you turn eighteen next fall.%

Lexi(s entire body crumpled. All she ever wanted was to attend )$* and she felt high school was 3ust a waste of her time. She already learned most of the sub3ects while being homeschooled before starting her freshman year. She couldn(t understand her aunt(s reluctance to let her go to )$*. *here must be a do+en kids younger than her attending )$*. She was almost an adult and . . . holy crap. Something moved outside her window. She grabbed her book! tore open her kitchen door and ran to the front of the house! but her street was empty! not a single person or animal could be seen in either direction of her street that was until her eyes settled on a large pine tree two houses over. *he morning sun was hitting the tree from the east and casting a shadow of a figure on the ground. 6very alarm in her body was going off. $t had to be him! but what did he want with her7kidnap her! rape her! or kill her? All of which she didn(t want to happen to her. She took off running into her house.