Chapter 3

The darkness hit after the sunset almost like turning a switch and my trek through the woods was beginning to seem endless although it had only been 5 minutes since I changed directions.

I couldn't possibly be lost, could I?

Of course not.

Nothing good would come out of scaring myself, I figured, I should just keep moving.

I strolled here and there barely keeping track of the path. Didn't I pass that tree before? Or not. I couldn't be sure. All the trees looked the same around this time.

I came to a halt once a familiar figure came into my line of sight. A short stumped oak. I remembered sitting across it and breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank God, I thought I was lost."

The distant howling I heard was constantly adding to my unease and I was beginning to wonder if coming here at this time was such a wise idea. This place had a pretty weak network coverage and considering I had the survival skills of a potato on fire, I would pretty much be animal fodder if I had actually managed getting myself lost.

I grabbed a sharp rock from the ground and held onto it. Survival skills or not, I'm not going to get myself eaten without a fight.

The familiar scent of honeysuckle and the sound of running water greeted me as I stepped into the clearing. I walked over in the direction of running water and as I went, along the way the darkness was illuminated by the dim flicker of fireflies.

It felt like I had stepped into a world that had it's own reality, a world which comes with a mysterious— almost magical— charm and I found myself gravitating more and more towards it.

With the tender gleam from the fireflies accompanied by the moon light above me, I eventually found myself next to the pond where I had met the stranger.

Without meaning to, my heart beat picked up at the sight. I would probably never get used to how beautiful this place was. The scent of the trees, the gentle waft, the moon reflected across the clear waters and the magnificent panorama of the rocky hills enveloping the entire structure as if to protect it's secrecy.

At night, everything about here felt alive and more uplifting than any of the places I had visited with Edvin.

It charged me with a strange sense of calmness yet excitement at the same time. I wanted to capture this moment somehow, rummaging my purse for my phone to snap a shot but the shot came out blurred and too dark to do this wonder much justice. I shoved my phone back in the purse, frustrated.

Here I was blaming the darkness for the poor quality of my phone's camera yet the darkness was what made the strange glow coming from the water, the stars, the fireflies stand out, giving it a touch of magic.

But my disappointment didn't last long because somewhere in the dark I managed to spot movement from the corner of my eyes and wondered if perhaps it was him. There was a slight pause in which I hesitated moving towards the sound mostly out of fright but then the vines rustled and from the darkness behind stepped out a man.

That man.

Still butt-naked and still as beautiful and ethereal as ever.

The rock in my hand fell soundlessly to the ground.

He looked at me with raw interest, his emerald eyes glowing with fascination and he wasn't the only one.

We both just stood there not caring that we were strangers without an inkling of who the other was yet we stared at each other like the rest of the world didn't exist.

His allure was undeniable, his dark long hair cascading down his back and gathering at his feet, his spotless porcelain skin, his sharp features and those beautiful green eyes. He was so perfect that I felt like crying just looking at him.

No doubt I felt attracted towards him but it was the kind of attraction that had nothing to do with romanticism or passion. It was just intrigue. I could see it in his eyes, he felt the same way.

"Who are you?" we both asked at the same time and his expression changed to that of a bemused child as he looked at me stifling a snort.

"I'm Chloe Campbell," I spoke with a smile in my voice. "I believe we've met in quite a similar fashion two weeks ago." I motioned at his state of undress and he just continued staring at me with a confused look on his face.

I gave him a tight lipped smile and thought, 'Do I really have to spell it out for you?'

"You know," I shifted on my feet, feeling my face flush. "Don't you have any clothes?"

After a brief pause he looked at me with realization to which he quickly shook his head, his bright emerald eyes never leaving my face.

Sighing internally, I shuffled out of my coat and held it out to him. "Tie this around your waist for now."

I didn't want to think about why someone would actually be out in this cold at this time without any clothes because I knew if I did that, I would have to reconsider the stupidity in my coming here without telling anyone about it.

Reluctantly, he did what I asked and tied my coat around his waist. "So who are you?" I asked again.

His voice when he spoke was deep and a little raspy, "My name is Oeric and I am of the Pterois tribe."

He was from the what-tribe? Did this town even have tribesmen?

"I see," I said, simply.

Asking any more questions would be getting personal and I didn't want to get to know him personally because from this very brief encounter one thing was clear as daylight to me: he was decidedly weird. And nothing good comes out of getting too friendly with a weird person.

"Are you from Rosedale?" Asking him if he was from town sounded like a safe question.

He shook his head.

"Then where are you from?"

He stood silent and I could tell from his silence and the look on his face that where ever he was from, it wasn't here. And apparently the question I had deemed as safe, turned out to be the most personal thing I could have asked.

"Umm," I quickly tried to change my question and asked the first thing that I could think of. "Do you mind modeling for me?"

"No," he answered equally abrupt, without missing a single beat.

I looked at him surprised, excited and a little confused. "Really?"

Here I was presently scolding myself for my impulsiveness and lack of care on the subject but then he simply agrees to my abrupt request without a minute of hesitation.

No way would anyone be willing to model for someone they just met unless he gets that kind of request every now and then which, I felt, I wouldn't be much surprised about if it was true.

He smiled for the first time and everything else faded into backdrop as my heart slowed down to a halt. It was like slow motion how I watched his mouth flex into one of the most beautiful curves I've seen on a man. He softly nodded and said, "Really."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I plopped down on my bed, safely making it back before curfew and shifted to my side thinking absently back at the night and the promise to meet Oeric again next week. With that my next Friday was booked and the excitement for what's to come had me tossing about the entire night without catching a blink of sleep.

And just like that morning came and I could tell my eyes were heavy with dark circles beneath them. With a groan I lifted myself off the bed and made way to the bathroom to splash the tiredness away. The moment my eyes drifted to the rough painting I had made of Oeric, I felt my heart swell up with emotion inside of me.

My mother had taught me how to channel my emotions into something productive and when I learned I had talent in art it became a silent medium for venting my unexpressed feelings, it became that thing I spent all my days doing. But when all I had to express was self-pity, it became significantly depressing around me.

Now that there was something else to do with my artistic talent, it felt like a breath of fresh air to my lungs which were otherwise suffocating.

My attraction towards Oeric was undeniable to say the least and for some reason it felt like it wasn't just his looks that affected me. No, there was definitely something else. Something I couldn't quite put my finger to yet and that was another reason why I wanted to meet him again. That lake and Oeric, there was something about the two that had a strange hold on me, like it was something completely out of my control and I wanted to know what it was.

But I didn't want to dwell on that thought and ruin the moment. Right now, I was feeling light and happy and it had been a long time since I felt that way at all. So without another moment wasted on useless pondering, I quickly freshened up and made myself some breakfast.

I was the first one up considering I didn't even sleep and it was still relatively dark outside. Once I was finished with breakfast, I covered myself with a shawl and stepped into the cool morning air. Skipper was tucked in his dog house and was deep asleep as I walked past him and made my way towards Dave's unused workroom atop a small mound at the back of the house.

I took a seat on a log that was made into a makeshift stool next to the shed at some distance. The fog was dissipating with the rising sun and the murkiness in my head began to clear up when suddenly I caught a strong stench coming from the inside of the shed.

It smelled like something was rotting inside and since nobody ever came around to clean this place up, I was sure there was a dead rodent that was making this shed into a health hazard with each passing day.

I mentally made a note to tell Diana about getting this place decontaminated as soon as possible. I was thinking if Dave wasn't going to use the workroom, I might as well make this into my workroom instead.

I didn't want to make my room a mess again and give Diana a heart attack and I also thought it would be much easier to sneak Oeric in here to model for me without anyone finding out. I highly doubt Diana or Dave would agree to it if I told them about Oeric.

Something must have stirred Skipper from his sleep because I could hear him barking in the distance. I pushed off from the makeshift stool and trotted towards him. When I came close enough, I could see Skipper violently jerking against his harness towards something in the woods.

"Ssshh, calm down boy," I soothed him in a comforting voice but when I followed Skipper's gaze, I saw something that had me frozen to the spot.

A dark silhouette of someone was lingering behind the trees and staring at me. My breath caught in my throat, I could barely move as I saw the intruder shift in the shadows. Another jolt from Skipper on his harness brought my mind to gear and I bolted in the opposite direction towards the house.

'I need to tell someone that there's a strange man. Get help!'

As I turned the corner I bumped into someone's chest and the fright made us both squeal.

When looked up I saw Dave, who awkwardly cleared his throat and I let out my breath, hardly keeping the relief from my face. "What's wrong, kiddo? What are you doing up this early?" he asked.

"I-" my voice shook. "I saw someone- someone was spying through the woods." I turned around and pointed in the supposed direction only to find it empty.

Whoever it was had left.

"Are you sure you're not imagining things, kid," he said squinting his eyes at the darkness. "There's nobody there."

"I'm sure. There was definitely someone over there." I grimaced.

"How about," he spoke. "You go back inside and catch some more shut eye while I take a look around?"

I hesitated for a moment and contemplated that if it really was a strange man spying on us, it could be infinitely dangerous to go looking around in the forest without even knowing who we were looking for. "Not without protection," I told him and felt a little insulted when he laughed in response.

"Alrighty then, I'll grab my gun from inside. Anything else you'd want me do?"

"Take Skipper, he knows what you're looking for."

After saying my piece I went back inside as instructed and saw Diana already working around the kitchen. I told her about what happened and she said it was nothing to worry about, that it was probably some wild animal I saw in the thicket but I could tell from the firm crease between her brows that something about what I had said had bothered her.

As the sun grew higher, the two of us slowly fell in tune with our daily routines and started about the farm doing various chores. It had been hours since Dave went out looking for whoever that was out there and we hadn't heard from him so far. And when morning became noon and then came dusk without any news from Dave, we were practically fidgeting at the dinning table with worry.

"I hope he's alright," Diana spoke after a long silence and I just nodded, knowing that if he wasn't then it would probably be my fault.

After a while both of us heard a shot being fired at some distance outside and we rushed out to see what was going on. Turns out, there was giant boar being dragged by a content Dave and Skipper at his tail. He stopped in front of us and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Guess what we're having for dinner tonight?" he said gleefully and both of us gave him the death glare.

He quickly explained how he happened across a track and began following it around the hillside. "I was coming back when it was beginning to get dark outside but just near the house, I found this fella'." He shook the animal by its leg. "You've got keen eyesight there, lassie. Thanks to that we're goin' to have an extravagant one tonight." He chuckled heartily as all three of us along with Skipper went inside.

Of course there was no way I'd believe what I saw this morning was just a wild animal because an animal, obviously wouldn't have a human face. But my unease didn't last long when the three of us were having too much fun enjoying dinner and chatting away.

Diana told me about animal attacks and such incidents happening around Rosedale, that it was perfectly normal and I found it easier believing her simply because the thought of being stalked by someone just seemed too insane to be true. Later she changed the topic to my paintings and how I was enjoying the scenery around here.

"Ah, that reminds me," I said over a mouthful of bread and broth. "Can I use the shed in the back if no one uses it for anything? I'd like to make it into my studio."

Both of them looked at each other for a moment and Dave shuffled awkwardly in his seat. "The one in the back..." Diana spoke, not as a question but as though she was suddenly reminded of something she had forgotten even existed.

Strange.

"Umhm," I fed some of the ham from my plate to Skipper who was sitting next to me. "And there's this awful stench like something dead is rotting inside. I think that place needs to be cleaned up."

I kept going on without noticing that everything out of my mouth was visibly affecting both of them. One of them just shifted in his seat uncomfortably and the other was trembling.

Diana put her spoon down with trembling fingers and said in an even tone, "No."

I looked up at her suddenly surprised at the refusal. We were having a good night so far but then all of sudden with just one question the entire atmosphere had changed.

"But—" I began but she cut me off.

"I said, no." she abruptly got up, clattering the dishes on the table and Skipper whimpered at my side. "I will do something about the smell. You, on the other hand, don't need to concern yourself with that place. Am I clear?"

I looked at her, dumbfounded and wide eyed. Did I say something I shouldn't have? Diana wasn't the type to be easily angered. I mean, she was short tempered to begin with but she had childish way to get back at you. This time, however, she looked more serious than I had ever seen her get.

"Crystal," I said, plainly. After which she left the dinning followed shortly by Dave behind her and I was left sitting at the table alone, with Skipper at my side not really sure what just happened.

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