.Weird

Showing Emmi to the garden, she immediately runs over to sunflowers, nothing but happiness showing on her face. "Is this where you got my flowers? This is amazing Dre! I could spend all day here!" Please do. Dre stop it dude. Before I could respond Rei brings out dinner. I made sure he made her favorite, breakfast for dinner. Watching Emmi enjoy her dinner; I sip my wine. This girl likes food. She's so small though, where does it all go? "After this, I can show you around if you'd like." I offer, excitement filling her big hazel eyes, and she nodded eagerly, clapping her hands together. "I would love that!" She's like a little kid when she gets excited. I found it adorable, the way her eyes lit up, her many expressions, the way her honey-colored hair framed her small face, the way she smiled at me, her innocence. I could watch her all day. And I hated that I liked it. I was so used to anger, hatred. Emmi made me feel safe, calm. Pushing the feelings down, I noticed her looking out at the garden again, "My mother planted this whole garden." She turned her head with an amazed look on her face, "Really?! It's beautiful! There are so many different types of flowers." She made a disgruntled face, "I can barely keep a cactus alive." She let out a little giggle. Her soft laugh filled my ears. I wanted to keep it to myself, to not allow anyone else but me to hear it. After dinner, I show her around. She never stopped turning her head, looking at everything and stopping here and there to admire a painting or decoration and listening intently as I told her about them and answered her questions about where something came from. Finally upstairs, we reached my bedroom, "This is my room. We can go in if you're comfortable with that." I hear her breathing quicken for a few seconds and her hands start to fidget before she responds. Is she nervous? "Alright."

Stepping in, she instantly spots my many bookcases, all organized according to date, and raises her eyebrows. "Have you read all of these?" She peers at a shelf. "More or less, yeah. Just some of what I've collected over the years." She scrunches up her face, a little v forming in the center of her forehead. I found it endearing. "There's got to be over 200 books in here!" Shrugging my shoulders, I walk over to a shelf. "I had a lot of free time growing up." Knowing her love for books, I pick one off the shelf and hand it to her. "You can have a seat if you'd like. Also, that book is one of my favorites. Take it with you," I offer, sitting down on my office chair. She hesitates but sits on the edge of my bed, scanning the book in her small hands "1984, by George Orwell? It's the first edition, too! Are you sure I can take this?" Her face alight with pure happiness, made my chest ache. "Positive, I've read it at least 20 times." I give her a soft smile. She slips the book into her bag giving it a gentle pat. Seeing how hesitant she was, I try to lighten her mood, "I won't bite, you know." She giggles. There she goes again. That damn giggling. "I know, it's been a while since I've been to someone's house. Also, my first time in a room the size of my apartment." I've always lived this lavish lifestyle, being the prince and general of the kings army.

Though I could see the appeal to someone who didn't grow up as I did. She should have, she should have had every one waiting on her every move. "Where are your parents? Brothers? Sisters?" Crossing her legs, she looks at me. I keep my eyes focused on a spot on my wall, not wanting to look at her, for fear that the foreign feelings rising in me might erase any form of self-restraint I have. "Older sister, though she's married now. My parents are rarely home. I typically have the house to myself, aside from Rei." She looked down, her expression turning sad. "I see. Sounds kind of lonely." Is she sad for...me? Me? Lonely? Far from it, my parents were the last people I liked being around. That look has got to go. Say something idiot! "Not really." I change the subject. Just thinking about them made my anger rise. "What about you? Siblings?" She bit her lip, "Nope, it's just me! My parents disappeared when I was young. I was raised by a neighbor lady, she died two years ago." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. I had already known about her life, her past, and I hated myself for knowing before she did. I had the urge to pull her to me, to make her smile for real, "I'm really sorry, Emmi. That's got be rough." Composing myself I settled for something less intrusive. "Want to watch a movie?" Dre pulls out two massive bean bag chairs from his other bedroom; I mean closet. It was big enough to be a bedroom, and he plops them in front of his tv. Dre strides over to the door just as someone knocks, "There he is." Rei had brought us popcorn and drinks. How did he know it was Rei? How did Rei know we were watching a movie? I never saw him pull out his phone. Looking around, I spot his phone tossed on his desk. When did he do that? It must be a butler thing.

Halfway through the movie I excuse myself to the restroom, Dre pauses the movie, stretching his long legs. Walking slowly down the hall, I take in the ornate décor. Being a history buff, in a house like this is incredible. I'm in my own world admiring every detail, when I came to a door slightly ajar. It must be Rei. I can hear him talking. He must be on the phone. Being nosy, I peeked in. Rei's back was turned away from me. He was talking angrily in a different language. Greek? Romanian? I couldn't make out what it was. I didn't see a cell phone either, nor Bluetooth. Was he talking to himself? I started to feel uneasy. Turning to leave, I spot his reflection in the mirror. I stopped breathing, staring in shock. His face! His eyes were glowing blue! His smooth skin had turned grey, nearly purple, hair raised like a feral cat. He slammed his fist down on the armoire, making me flinch. I could feel sweat running down the back of my neck. I willed my body to move, but it refused to listen. All I could do was stare as I stand rooted in place. What-what's happening? Am I hallucinating? I must have been slipped something. Surely none of this is real! Move, Emmi, you have got to move! I mentally scream at myself.

The air grew thicker. I could feel something dark behind me. An arm snaked around my waist. A big hand covered my mouth; I tried to scream, kicking to free myself. It was all in vain, whatever it was held me tighter. I'm going to die. This is it. This is what my life has come to, trusting a stranger out of loneliness and now I'm about to be murdered by god knows what! Good job, Emmi, way to go you dumb bitch! Tears stung my eyes, staining my cheeks as they fell. Darkness cutting off my sight, a tingling sensation washes over me. I find myself suddenly back in Dre's bedroom. I run to a wall and whip around. Dre's standing in front of the door, his face contorted in anger, his green eyes glowing not leaving me. No. Not him too. This is too much. Concern crosses his face as he stares at me shaking. Stepping closer, hand outstretched, I shrink away from him and he stops, sadness darkening his face. I need to leave. I need to Run. My body shook so bad I was finding it hard to stand. My head a raging sea of questions. So many questions I was drowning in them. I stand with my back to a wall, clutching my chest, felling like I've been punched. Dre was a statue, motionless. His breathing heavy as he watched me. This cannot possibly be real. "Emmi, there's a lot I need to tell you." I could hear the angry edge in his voice. His body was rigid, I could see his muscles tensing under his shirt. "I-I need to go." I gathered my bag and made for the door, but Dre blocked the way. "Emmi, please. There's an explanation for this." I could barely hear anything he said. All I could feel was the throb in my chest, and lump in my throat from the sobs that threatened to escape. "Please." It was all I could manage. He averted his eyes, hanging his head as he stepped out of the way and opened the door. "At least let me take you home, it's dark." I bolted out of the door, not wanting to spend another second in that house. "Emmi!" He called after me but didn't make a move to stop me. I spotted Rei out of the corner of my eye, back to normal, as I made way for the stairs. I heard a loud crash behind me as I ran out of the front door, not bothering to close it, and bolted for home, feeling hurt, confused and lost.