chapter 3

Chapter Three

 

 

Liza sat for a long time staring at the place he had been. Without trying she could remember every detail about him, including the pain and fear her mere presence seemed to bring him.

She was sure she didn’t know him. She would have remembered meeting such a striking man before, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew him, had always known him, even though she knew nothing about him, not even his name.

It was kind of creepy, like something out of a romance novel. The heroine has a chance meeting with the man of her dreams, and they instantly fall in love. Love, where did love come from? What had made her think of love? It hit her then that the connection she had felt was more than just some intense encounter, she had fallen in love with a man she knew nothing about, had no way of finding, and that she wasn’t entirely sure was even real. What the hell? And she thought that changing her major was a life changing event when it was nothing more than an inconsequential after thought.

What was she going to do now? Where did she go from here? Her heart already hurt just from the thought of not being able to ever see him again, much less spend the rest of her life without him. There must be some way to find him, but how?

She got up and walked over to the place where he stood. Maybe there was a clue. She began watching the ground intently as she moved into the area she was relatively certain he had stood. There was no indication that anyone had recently stood there much less ran from that spot. She couldn’t even find the twig that had snapped and alerted her to his presence in the first place.

She spent most of the next hour trying to find something to tell her that he had really been there. There was nothing, and by the time she gave up she had convinced herself that he had never really been there in the first place, that he was just a product of her imagination and meditation. Head low and heart hurting she headed for home, for a life she was not sure she could find the will to deal with. Back to the family that she despised, and no closer to the decision she had come to find, and finding that it really did not matter to her in the least.

While her parents might not agree, and would give her grief about it, she would just continue on the path she had started when she got to college a year ago. Focus on the minor classes and move to the majors when she had a clear vision of what she wanted to do with her life. She really could not at this moment conceive of any way she would be happy with any job. Nothing would be rewarding without him at her side.

Get ahold of yourself, Liza Marie, you are willing to just throw away your future over a man you don’t even believe exists? There is no proof, so he must be just a part over her overactive imagination.

Liza continued to mull over the scene in the clearing as she drove home. The more she thought about it the more she came to believe that, even though there was no trace, he had been there. Also that she had to find him no matter what! What was she to do? How did she go about finding him, and how was she supposed to sort the feeling she had?

That was going to be the hard part. She didn’t even understand the feelings she had. She had never felt this way before. As far as she knew no one she knew had either. 

She had to ask someone, but who? Her parents were definitely out.  They would just try to reinforce that he was just a figment of her imagination and tell her to forget him, which was never going to happen. When she didn't stop looking they would try to put her in mental hospital just to save face.

She had no siblings and no real friends to speak of. Those society b*****s don't count; they would just use any chance they got to bring her down. She'd met no one in the school she felt she could confide in. She really had no one. What was she to do?

She could feel the tension in her neck and shoulders’ getting worse, and her head was starting to hurt. For now she was just going to have to put him from her mind. She would get her classes situated and when things calmed with her family over the classes, she would start searching. That would have to do for now.

 

She was in the clearing again, but it was different. There was no breeze, no sound, and the colors were off. It was her clearing but where there should have been green there was purple, red blue, and blue yellow. This didn't make any sense. 

She tried to stand only to find that her body wouldn't respond. Cautiously she tried to move a finger, nothing happened. She tried to turn her head, but only her eyes moved. She tried to yell for help but her mouth would open her voice box ignored her.

Panic began to well up inside her. Her eyes darted back and forth, searching for someone or something to help her. Then he was there. Not hiding at the edge of the wood like the last time, but standing over her.

His eyes bore into hers, probing with unvoiced questions. Somehow she knew exactly what he wanted to know, who she was and why she affected him the way she did.  How was she able to affect him at all?

Her panic that had begun to fade when she realized that he was there returned full force. Was he here to hurt her? What was she going to do? She just knew that this was going to end badly. There was a dark side to this man that was hinted at in his gaze. Was this really the same man?

He bent closer to her, so close she should have been able to feel his breath, but there was nothing. She pulled her eyes from his and realized that there was no telltale pulse in his throat. How could that be?

This is just a dream she told herself, all I have to do is close my eyes and all will disappear as it did this morning. She concentrated on closing her eyes, willing with all her might that at least they obey her. Somewhat surprised that they immediately obeyed she jerked them open only to find herself in her own bed after all. Panting from the fright and exertion of trying to move in her dream she sat up and slowly took stock of the room. It was empty but she could not get past the feeling that he was watching her. Shuddering she rolled over to try and get some sleep as unlikely as it was.