ASMSG Scifi Fantasy Paranormal Emagazine March 2014 | Page 31

STRANDED MUSE
Electa Graham
Faydra’s piece of shit car had finally died. Why it had to die in
the middle of fucking nowhere was another question.
She hated cliches and a damsel in a wet dress walking up to a
spooky mansion was certainly a cliche. Except this wasn’t a
spooky mansion, it was an ultra modern home, complete with
solar panels and a small wind turbine. Someone who cared that
much about the environment couldn’t be a crazy psycho right?
The door was cherry red and had an old fashioned knocker that
looked odd on the modern steel door. Her hands were slick with
rain and wouldn’t respond the way she wanted. It hurt to knock
they were so frozen and in that moment she didn’t care if he was
a homicidal maniac as long as he let her warm up first before he
killed her. Hope filled her as she thought she heard movement
on the other side of the door. The door flew open and a
disheveled, very sexy man looked down at her. He wore a tight tshirt and loose fitting jeans. Covered from head to toe in all
different colors of paint, he looked like a delicious bohemian
mess. She could see him take her in through blueberry colored
eyes. His full lips curved up in a smile and he looked totally
different from a second ago. He pushed his dark messy curls
back from his eyes and let loose a small burst of laughter. Faydra
imagined a lot of scenarios, but this was far more bizarre then
she had imagined.

painting above the fireplace. A white canvas with a single swath
of crimson and a smattering of droplets of the same color.
Feeling like a fool Faydra tried to cover her jumpiness by
pretending it was just a shiver from being cold. The man gave
her a smirk that told her she was fooling no one. “You are
freezing poor thing. Go upstairs the first door on the left is a
guest room. There is a robe in the ensuite bathroom. Don’t
worry, it’s big and puffy and covers much more then that
transparent clingy dress, you know it really does show almost all
your charms.”
Looking down immediately she decided he had been
exaggerating, but not by much. “Thank-you. I’d love to get out
of this dress. Do you have a dryer I can use?”
“Its in the same bathroom.”
Faydra trudged up the stairs looking back to make sure he didn’t
follow. He had already walked away and was heading into
another room. He was charming in an assholy way. Speeding up
the stairs she walked into a lavender room, decorated in such a
way that she wanted to lay down on the down duvet and take a
very long nap.

“I’m sorry miss I don’t recall ordering a drowned rat, maybe you
should try the next house.” His teeth were perfect and gleaming
white. He was enjoying her discomfort.

He was right about the robe and the dryer and she quickly
changed and threw everything that was wet into the dryer. Her
appearance was goulish. Mascara ran down her face, her hair was
a tangled mess. Doing the best she could she fixed her hair into
a pony tail and wiped off all her makeup.

“Ha ha. I broke down a ways back and your house seems to be
the only one around here.”

He wasn’t around when she came back down so she sat on the
overstuffed sofa in front of the fire.

“Yes, I suppose your right, well in that case where are my
manners, please come in and dry off. I would offer you the use
of my phone, but I’m afraid I don’t have one.”

“Feel better? You certainly look better. Here its a coffee with a
little liquor to take the chill out of your bones.”

He stood aside so she could come in, but she hesitated. Who
doesn’t have a phone? A strong gust of wind whipped up and it
push her in the door. Once inside the warmth was an immediate
calming force. She could hear her mother now. Faydra you need
an emergency kit for your car. What if something were to
happen. You never take a coat with you even in the dead of
winter.
She hated when her mother was right almost as much as her
mother loved being right. He placed his hand on the small of her
back to guide her in, an intense sexual heat spread through her
whole body and she caught herself starting to lean into him and
straightened immediately. What was wrong with her. This guy
was gorgeous, but