Forever, Your Dearest

It didn't take long to locate the phone book in the house, and looked for the woman's name that had been written on the paper. Of course, the paper had included her address, but perhaps I could just use a phone to call her with. It would make things far easier if I could find her name in the book.

My eyes seemed to flash across the pages, not being able to focus on the page for very long before clenching them shut, feeling a shiver ripple down my spine. A stinging sensation began to form in the back of my throat as I forced my eyes open again to look over the page. After several attempts to find the name on the paper, I slammed the book shut, huffing. There wasn't any Rosi Kirsteen listed in the book.

Standing up, I made my way back into the heavily scented room with the cooler and pulled it open, quickly taking out a container and drinking the liquid inside, as I took a seat in one of the small chairs in the room. "Wait..." I thought aloud. "How old... is this list?" I shifted uncomfortably, pulling the list into my hand and carefully examining it. There were no dates listed on it, making it impossible for me to tell if it were new or extremely old.

After digging out another drink, I stared at the address, before starting a new search around the house for a map. This took much longer than I thought it would, but after some searching, I managed to locate the map and street that Rosi was supposed to live on. I let out a sigh, locating the distance between the house I was in and her home, before rising to my feet and making my way to the door.

A shiver rippled down my spine, thinking of how many people may be outside and if I could control myself once I became exposed to all of the scents. Would it be as overwhelming as I worried? Or would it just be like any other day? I soon reminded myself that it was nothing like any other day, and that I would not be able to merely step outside and pretend that nothing had happened.

My hand shook, holding tightly onto the handle of the door, feeling my body stiffening from fright of stepping outside. Something in the back of my mind told me that the only way that I could find Frank would be to open the door. My fingers trembled as I slowly pulled the door open, finding little difference at first.

Taking a step outside was what finally made my body freeze, unable to move as a wave of new scents swept over me. Though I had been outside earlier, it seemed that with my mind a little more clear, my senses had heightened a bit more - or it was just because I was worrying over it.

It was as if any possible smell was rushing around me at once. A soft smell of the garden that one of the neighbor's had beside their front door, the dirty smell of dust being kicked up by running children, and their mothers, who were worried more about losing sight of their beloved child, and the smell of exhaust of every car that had passed by recently. There were too many scents to continue trying to decipher, my body twitching slightly at the sight of the people.

Even on their own, without the scents, I realized that it would have been hard to step into public. With how long it had seemed that I was out of the human eye, I shuddered to imagine my social skills. Even the party, that I still can not tell if it was a Halloween party or Frank's birthday party, seemed far off.

From my heightened senses, and all of the books I had read, I had assumed that the light would burn, and make it hard for me to see. I was wrong - it was pretty similar, except everything seemed far more detailed. I could even notice a man leaning against an apartment building several blocks away, as he rolled a small piece of paper up, and another man moved toward him as if to socialize.

"Mommy! Mommy!" I could hear a boy shout from down the block, and my eyes flickered to the direction of the child. His mother was sprawled across the sidewalk, seeming to barely move. Even with the moment of hesitation I gave, while considering to move, somebody had already hurried over to her assistance. Though the boy didn't see him move, his hurried footsteps echoed through my mind, as he had moved at an abnormally fast pace. I could hear him assuring the child that his mother was fine, and needed to see a doctor.

A shiver slipped through my body as I could hear his sentence fade into nothingness, and watched as his head lifted up from the woman. Through the crowd, his eyes seemed to target me, causing me to jump. Even from the distance, his vacant, milky eyes seemed to pierce my body. For a moment, I could feel every limb freeze up, before a sudden urge to run away seemed to replace all the blood in my body that I had drained from the refrigerator.

It only took another second before I realized that I had, indeed, fled. My body lurched, as I tried to force myself to stop. After a moment, I had managed to settle myself enough to do so, and found myself at the park that I had met the strange vampire at; where Frankie had taken me; where I had met Eve.

Those thoughts made my mind whirl. Frank, having been so protective over me; Eve, questioning if I was his mate; the strange man that seemed oddly friendly. All stepping stones to how I came upon the spot I stood today. Two children were playing on a tire swing, their mother - or caretaker - occasionally glancing over her book to check on them. Her eyes slowly made their way to me, which was when I realized that I had been staring at the giggling children. Even flashing her a small smile, she seemed to grow uneasy, and threw a glare at me.

I took that as a hint to leave, however, on my first step, I could hear her hiss, "damn little tramp," which made me fight the urge to turn and return her 'courteous' words. It was probably best that I had continued my footsteps, when thinking back, as I had yet to be within five feet of a person.

Shutting my eyes, I thought of where Rosi's home would be compared to where I was now at. A moment passed of thinking, before I opened my eyes and made my way down several streets in search of the house. I was curious if there was anything that would notify me of it even being accurate, and if this person was even still alive.

I began counting the house numbers, before coming to a stop at one. The house's curtains were all completely covering the windows, and it seemed that little to no light would be capable of penetrating them to wander inside. Doubt began to form in the back of my mind as I made my way to the door. The second I knocked, it seemed as if the air whirled around me, some old scents being kicked up, from a crack between the door and ground, originating from the other side of the door.

"Who is it?" a strange voice questioned, as footsteps sounded on the other side of the door. "If you're a salesman, get off my property," the voice became distinctly female, though held an odd sound to it. It was almost as if it was scratchy, yet soothing at the same time.

I thought about what to say to the blunt woman, "are... are you Rosi?" I murmured to the door, hesitantly.

Silence filled the air for a second, before I heard a small amount of shuffling, and the door creaked open, a small clinking sound emitting as I could hear a chain restraining the door from continuing open. "You aren't a salesman..." the woman continued. "Who told you my name?"