Page 2 of There’s an Alien Down My Chimney

“Reentry too fast, slow down,” the ship said placidly. I growled while muting the thing, one hand clutched with a death grip around the yoke as I tried to pull the nose up as much as I could. Almost! Yes, there. I had slowed the ship down enough that we weren’t rattling apart in the atmosphere but the landing was going to be really rough.

As the Scintilla streaked through the sky on the night side of the planet, I was dismayed to see the lights of cities glow beneath me. This place was inhabited, I wasn’t sure if that was going to be good or bad for me and I didn’t think I wanted to find out. At least my sensors were telling me this place had safe levels of oxygen to breathe; that counted as a definite win.

I had little control over the exact direction of the ship, but I was relieved it was descending, still rather rapidly, over what looked to be thick forests now, which were covered in blankets of snow. In the distance, a lake glimmered like a black mirror. It was my best bet, to put the Scintilla down in the water meant she’d take the least damage.

Now I just needed to hope that when I launched myself out with the eject seat, some huge lake creature wasn’t going to eat me. With my tail, I slammed on the panel near my head, popping it open so my emergency kit dropped into my lap.

Course set, I tucked myself in tightly against the seat and harness, then I pressed the eject button. The canopy above my head spiraled open like an iris in less than a microsecond, then the charges below my seat blew and I was shooting from the newly opened hatch and into the crystal clear, freezing cold night air of this planet.

As I streaked through the sky, the wind whipping at my clothing and my mane, I realized I wasn’t landing in the water. Oh, shit. I cursed as a dwelling inside the forest rapidly came into sight. This was going to hurt. I crashed down onto the roof of the little cabin, the harness ripping free. My bag went flying and I went head over heels across the roof until I slammed head-first into rock.

Chapter 2

Stella

I stepped back from my work with a satisfied sigh. The Christmas tree I’d chopped down and then put up inside my grandfather’s cabin looked absolutely stunning. I’d spend several hours looking for the perfect tree and I wasn’t disappointed with the result, even if my fingers itched from the cold, and I had at least two splinters to doctor.

There were still three more boxes of decorations to hang up around the cozy living room but that could wait until after I’d made some hot cocoa. I was going to splurge and put marshmallows in my mug, just like how my grandfather would make it around this time of the year. I felt the familiar pang of pain when I remembered the man that had raised me. This was going to be my first Christmas without him and I was determined to make it a happy one, even if I was all alone.

I was just headed for the kitchen when a God-awful noise broke the peace. I ducked down, crawling beneath the nearby table as I expected the roof to crash down on top of me. A cloud of ashes burst out from the still unlit fireplace across the room. Then everything was quiet.

No, a few seconds later there was a massive booming noise, it shook the rafters of the cabin, vibrated through my bones, and made my teeth rattle in my skull. When it was over, I half expected everything inside the small home to be covered in a layer of dust and debris, I thought that if I looked up, I’d see a hole in my roof. None of that was true though, just a layer of ashes around the fireplace… And then something creaked and groaned. Fuck, did a tree fall down on the roof?

I rushed for the door, yanking my coat from its peg on the way out, stomping my sock-clad feet into still snow-crusted boots. The snow was packed around the cabin a good foot deep, but I’d shoveled a path to the shed and my car earlier today. Staggering back along that slick gravel path, I had my neck cranked all the way back as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on with my roof.

Most of the snow had been wiped off, cascading down around the sides of my grandfather’s former home. The river stone chimney that he’d made himself was to the left, and some kind of dark shape was hanging over the top of it. I wasn’t sure if it was a big tree branch or something else, but I’d have to take care of it if I wanted to be warm tonight.

At least the slate roof looked whole, I couldn’t spot any gaping holes in the dark but I’d grab my flashlight and do a quick scan once I was up there to be sure. Slipping and sliding to the shed, I tucked the flashlight in my coat pocket, arming myself with the big ladder. This was pretty dangerous to be doing at night when the ground was covered in snow or ice, but I needed to be able to have a fire, and for that my chimney needed to be safe.

Securing the ladder against the side of the cabin I checked left and right, an uneasy feeling creeping over me. Almost it felt like someone might be watching me but that was bizarre, there was no one around this place for miles, with my property bordering on government land which was completely fenced in. No one was out here but bears and deer.

On the first rung of the ladder, I stomped my boots to get as much of the snow off them as possible, then I made my way up. I was not afraid of heights, but I was relieved anyway that there didn’t appear to be any heavy winds. The sky was crystal clear above my head, providing light from the stars. Huh, so no storm? Then what had caused a branch to fall down on top of the cabin? What had that boom been? Had something crashed? For a moment I flashed back to my time in the service, but I quickly shook off those memories.

My head popped up over the edge of the roof and I froze in surprise. I was so shocked by what I was seeing, that I even lifted my hand to my eyes to rub at them, certain I was hallucinating. But no, there was definitely a pair of legs sticking out of the top of my grandfather’s chimney. Size fourteen boots, at the very least, attached to black, leather-clad legs. Then I did another double take, there was a tail. What the fuck was this shit?

It twitched, lashing the air behind it and I nearly jumped down that ladder. Had I accidentally spiked my hot cocoa earlier? The low, deep moan that rumbled from that body stopped me, whoever or whatever that was, it was in distress. It would be extremely un-Christmassy of me to just ignore their struggles.

Climbing onto the roof, I carefully made my way toward the prone form. It had to be a guy because those feet were huge, and, well, that ass was really nice. The tail was a bit strange though, but I had decided to just ignore that part for now. With as much casualness in my voice as I could muster, given the situation, I said, “Hi there, need a hand maybe?”

Yes, wow, brilliant that one. Need a hand? Obviously, he did, he was completely stuck in there. After flying fighter jets over enemy territory for a living, you’d think I’d do better in a strange, and stressful situation like this. I’d come up with a really clever question there, if he could even hear me with his head stuck in the chimney, the guy was probably wondering if I was the one that had hit their head.

I shuffled closer on the slippery, slanted roof, flicking my flashlight on so I could better assess what was going on. It looked, from the markings in what remained of the snow on the roof, that he’d come from one side, skidded over the roof, and rammed head-first into the poor chimney. He was stuck with his shoulders, somehow, because that chimney, while big, wasn’t the biggest. I was actually impressed that he’d gotten even partially in there, and he was really lucky that I hadn’t had the fire going yet.

With my hand on the edge of the chimney, I peered in over his shoulders, but even with the flashlight, all I saw were black and red streaks. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but I was pretty sure that just grabbing a stranger was a bad idea, so I started to talk again. “I’m going to get you out alright? Just hang tight, I think you’re not that stuck, you just need a little pull.”

As I babbled to him, I saw with some fascination that his long, lashing tail had drooped down. Had my talking actually calmed him? I gingerly put my hand on his lower back, trying to gauge the best spot for me to grip him so I could pull. He was shockingly warm, blazing heat against my frost-nipped bare fingers. He also felt like he was all solid muscle, this wasn’t some wimpy dude, this guy was ripped. With his size fourteen feet, he was also huge. That was going to be a problem, but neither of us would get any warmer if I just stood here without trying.

Curling my arm around his middle, I braced the other against the smooth stone of the chimney. “On three, try to push yourself free,” I instructed, hoping he could understand me enough to cooperate. He proved he could hear me, and understand what I said because he pushed when I pulled on three, just as I’d asked. With a mighty groan from him, some kind of God-awful scraping sound from the chimney, and a precarious slide across the roof, he was freed.

He came unstuck, his long body unfurling from that awkward bent. He towered over me, his silhouette huge and confusing, then his head turned, and glowing red eyes pierced mine. I’d seen shit, a lot of it, back during the two tours in the Air Force I’d done, but this… This was something else entirely. In what had to be a first for me, I yelled in fright at the sight of his eyes, sliding across the slick slate beneath my feet.

My arms windmilled when I lost my balance and I would have gone straight over the edge, landing headfirst on the ground, if not for this demonic-looking guy. He stumbled after me and caught my body in his arms, I think he tried to pull me back, but our momentum was too great. We went over and in the second that fall took, I was enfolded in his arms, his body curling around mine.

We landed with a heavy thud, my back hitting the snowy ground, my head and shoulders cushioned by an arm. I was a little dazed, but it was hard to miss that this weirdo was now lying on top of me, his entire body pinning me to the ground. I should be terrified, I shouldn’t feel this deep sense of rightness bubbling up through my system. He smelled really good too, fresh and clean like newly fallen snow, sharply male.

A deep groan rumbled from his massive chest, his weight starting to press down on me, and it was a lot. Then he rolled, letting go of me and flopping to his back in the snow at my side. Cold blasted me from the front as soon as he moved away, but now I felt his heat radiating at me from the side.

Gingerly sitting up, I tried to get a handle on what had just happened, on what I was looking at. The guy was massive, but lean and muscled, which was very visible in the snug leather pants he was wearing. They were snug enough in fact, that I could see the outline of his package, if that was real, he was packing something huge.