Animal Attraction Read Free Page A

born and raised, someday I’d find out who my birth parents were. Or at least get the answers to some of my questions.
    So, if I was so set on staying, why did everything in my life look so temporary?
    “I’m young,” I said out loud. “You’re not supposed to be settled at my age. You’re supposed to dress and live like you just got out of college, where you mortgaged your soul to student loans.”
    Bert and Ernie swam around agreeably. Fish make such nice roommates. They listen and they don’t argue.
    The light on my answering machine was blinking, so I hit Play.
    “Hi, it’s Michelle. I have some of your mail. I’m holding it hostage until you call me. I haven’t seen you since your birthday.” There was a short pause on the machine before she continued, “I hope you’re okay. Your nightmares sound like they’re getting worse.”
    The sound of my friend’s voice made my stomach tighten. I’d been avoiding everybody. Apparently Michelle had noticed. She also lived in the apartment below mine. If she was hearing more nocturnal noise, then it wasn’t my imagination. The night terrors that had been a recurring problem since adolescence were now nightly.
    In pretty much every way, I’d taken a turn for the worse after my twenty-first birthday two weeks earlier. My metabolism was off the charts. Sounds, smells and tastes I’d been sensitive to before were now unbearable. Everything set me off. But what could I say?  Sorry, Michelle, I can’t get together because your perfume makes me feel like I’m suffocating from one floor away?
    My mind drifted back to Zach and his odd question. Do you dream of us?   It’d be nice to have an explanation for my bad nights and the bruises I kept waking up with, but since I’d just met him, Zach couldn’t possibly be the cause.
    I did wonder what kind of group “us” included. Not the trio he’d fought off in the parking lot. But some group. It wasn’t just Zach who was expecting me to show up in three days. It seemed like too much to hope that “us” might mean the family I knew nothing about. But the fragile hope rose anyway, tempered by a deep measure of caution.
    I didn’t know anything about my heritage. I knew next to nothing about Zach. And given the way we’d met and the things he’d said, I had plenty of reasons to proceed with caution if I did go to meet him.
    Although I couldn’t imagine where he thought I’d go even if I wanted to. The place in my dreams? Please. That had to be a line. Except he’d seemed serious when he said it.
    Tired of my thoughts spinning like a hamster on a wheel, I told myself to forget Zach. Even if he was going to show up here looking for me, it wouldn’t be tonight. The moon wasn’t full.
     
    When I woke up, I realized three things. I felt a cold draft coming from an open window, I ached in several places, and a strange man was holding me in a sort of bear hug. His hands pinned my wrists crossed in front of my chest and his legs trapped mine.
    The hair at the back of my neck stirred and gooseflesh marched over my skin. Zach was my first suspect, but the man behind me didn’t match my memory of his build or scent. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer that it wasn’t Miguel or Wilson.
    “Hello,” I said cautiously. My voice sounded hoarse, as if I’d been yelling. “If you’re here to rob me, I’m broke and I don’t have any drugs.”
    “I’m not here to rob you. I’m here to babysit you,” the man behind me said. He sounded pissed off about it.
    The various aches I felt reminded me of the aftermath of a hard sparring session. I tried to stretch, but Mystery Man held me firmly in place.
    “Would you let go, please?” Now that I was awake, I really wanted my personal space. And then I wanted to know who he was and how he’d gotten inside.
    “So you can try to break my jaw again? No.”
    He  was   pissed. But if I’d succeeded he wouldn’t be talking, so I didn’t think he was hurt. “Were