Chapter 4

Narrator’s POV—

“Hey Mom! I got the job!” Emily couldn’t wait till she reaches home and calls her mom while driving back.

“That is really great Emily! I am so proud of you dear!” Mrs Sella Miller says with tearful eyes! She really is so proud of Emily! “I will make some pancakes for you for lunch Emily!”

“Thanks Mom! I will be back soon!” Emily happily ends the call as she drives her car through the meandering narrow path, running like a snake through the woods. The road is empty in the afternoon and Emily without worrying about the road enjoys the cold weather, the green and brown leaves of the tall trees that bordered the road and the simple serenity.

She is lost in her own thoughts. After thinking about how she will buy a new dress for her mother and make a good turkey roast for her with the first Salary, Emily’s thoughts without even her knowledge slowly drifts off to Edward!

“Who is he Dolly? How can a dream grow so vivid as days pass!” Emily looks at the only rug doll she holds close to her heart, given by her father when she was a kid. That is the only thing she has as a memory of her father and she always carries it with her. When she talks to her she feels as if she connects with her father who might be watching her from somewhere beyond the sky and the stars.

“I mean how can a man be so handsome? Those green eyes are so shiny and the weirdest part is that, I somehow know that I loved him! I always feel like I belong to him…but why?” Emily sighs as the dreams and the flashes come back to her.

She turns her head to the doll which she has placed on the passenger seat and chuckles, “You know what? I think I am going crazy! I have somehow got addicted to him and I love dreaming about him!” She continues speaking as she turns her eyes to the road, “And the woods….his home is deep inside the woods near the stream…”

She doesn’t get a scope to finish the sentence as her eyes fall on a tree and suddenly a quick black and white flash runs in front of her eyes, making her lose control of the car. She pushes the break as hard as she can and the car comes to an abrupt stop making a screeching noise!

Emily’s head hits the steering with a thud and she feels a cool liquid flowing down her forehead to her cheek!

“Ahhhh! Shit!” she curses as she touches the liquid and looks at her hand. It is blood. Completely panicked by the accident, Emily suddenly feels breathless and suffocated. She slowly gets off the car, taking the doll along and stands with her hands on her hip.

“Take deep breathes Emily….inhale…exhale…..deep breathes…” – she speaks to herself and starts breathing deeply. After a few minutes of breathing she feels better and turns to get back in the car when suddenly from the corner of her eyes, she notices the tree!

The tree is big and old, though not as big as the one Emily saw in her dream! She slowly walks towards the tree observing it carefully! She narrows her eyes and tries to remember why the tree looks familiar but nothing comes to her mind. There is a deep crack on the tree that runs in a slanting line across the trunk. Emily slowly brings her finger to the mark and brushes it over the mark. She stops at the end of the mark and suddenly notices a very narrow muddy road running deep inside the wood.

“Why do I feel as if I also know this path, Dolly? This path also leads to the cottage, my home! No, Clara and Edward’s home!” – Emily speaks to Dolly and slowly starts following the path without even realising. Her curiosity and a certain attraction to the unknown yet known, pulls her towards something she feels she needs to see!

Emily walks for almost half an hour through the desolated woods, tired from the accident. The blood though has already stopped but her head still throbbing with pain. Her throat feels dry. She is thirsty. Emily thinks it is better to return to the car and drive away! Anyways, she is so thirsty that if she didn’t drink water soon, she might as well die of thirst.

After pondering on the situation for a while and trying to decide whether to move ahead or to turn back, Emily forcefully turns to leave the place and go back, when suddenly she hears a faint sound of water flowing at a distance!

Emily’s eyes spark at the realisation, “The stream! Yes, there should be a stream with cool and fresh water, nearby! I …..” the excitement extinguishes as Emily frowns, “I…know…but how?”

Cautiously and a bit afraid of the strange feelings and memories, Emily walks towards the direction from where the sound comes and as she walks the sound becomes clearer and louder and soon Emily could see the crystal clean water gushing through a clearing in the middle of the woods, bathing the black rocks and boulders. She almost reaches the clearing when she sees herself sitting on a rock and trying to wash a bundle of clothes.

Emily’s heart starts racing seeing herself from the back and her eyes go wide as her jaws drop in shock!

“No. No. No! This is …this is absurd! This is impossible! It can’t be real! This must be a dream….a nightmare!” Emily doesn’t even care to talk softly! She holds her head in between her hands and speaks to herself shaking her head.

She pinches and slaps herself, “WAKE UP!! WAKE UP EMILY!! YOU ARE DREAMING!!!!”

Emily closes her eyes and continues to slap herself for a few times but when she stops and opens her eyes she stumbles backward with shock!

“These works are not for you princess! You should just keep taking care of me and let me do the works for you!”

The sight in front of Emily knocks her breath out of her lungs as she stumbles further and falls on her back!

“Edward! No!! Let me finish my work honey! I can be my rich Dad’s beloved daughter, but I can still work! And I am going to prove you wrong! Hahaaha!!”

Despite the terrible pain on her head and yet another hard fall, Emily is so shocked that she is unable to move her gaze off Edward and Clara which she knows very well is her….But how??

The scene is frightening…seeing herself talking to Edward!

“Leave this here.” Edward pulls off the unwashed cloth from Clara’s hand and in a swift movement lifts her up in his strong hands in bridal style and leaning over her, he crushes his lips hungrily on Clara and they both get lost in kissing each other! The kiss and their moaning reverberate through the woods louder than it should! Emily presses her hands on her ears in fear to stop the loud voices and the moaning.

“Edward I love you!”

“I love you more Clara!”

They confess their love for each other as they break the kiss and the next moment there is a loud splashing sound followed by giggling as Edward loses his balance and falls in the water with Emily in his arms.

“NOOO!! STOPPPPP!!!”

Emily screams closing her eyes tight and pressing her ears harder, panting loudly and as if magically, suddenly everything goes quiet, except for the rhythmic sound of the water, flowing down the stream!

Emily slowly opens her eyes and removes her hands from her ears and frantically looks around to see where did they vanish! But there is no one around! There is no trace of any human being around and not even the basket with clothes!

With a thumping heart Emily very carefully walks towards the stream, taking each step with caution. She finally reaches the stream near the rock where a moment ago Clara sat with the clothes! Emily carefully steps on the wet rock, trying hard not to slip! She is so stunned that she even forgets to remove her heels and suddenly slipping on the wet and marshy rock, she herself falls in the gushing water!

SPLASH!!

Due to the sudden fall and the shock from the clear visions, Emily struggles hard to stay afloat and involuntarily fumbles in the water. After a few minutes of struggle she manages to bring her head out and gasps for air! She quickly crawls out of the water and drags her tired and hurt body over the rock and despite being drenched in the cold water, she sits on the rock facing the stream catching her breath and trying to find a logical explanation of what just happened! But nothing made any sense to her. More and more visions starts appearing in front of her…..more of Edward, more of Clara….more…and more….and then all of it!

After sitting in a daze for quite some time, Emily slowly regains sense of her surroundings and as if suddenly getting back her awareness, she starts shivering in cold. It is already very cold in Odessa, the temperature is usually 4 or 5 degrees and on top of that she is completely soaked in water! Her white shirt is wet and sticking to her body! Emily rubs her face with both her palms wiping the water off her face when suddenly someone speaks from behind her.

“Your wet body is quite tempting baby! Mind if I take a look?”

Emily jolts in fear and hurries up on the bank turning around only to meet those green eyes!

With wide eyes and open mouth she stands gasping in disbelief and a whisper comes out of her mouth! “ED..EDWARD??”

The handsome man takes one long step towards her and stands close observing her thoroughly, though not her face but her upper body which is quite visible through the white wet shirt.

He whistles and then letting his gaze linger a bit longer on her wet breasts, he slowly looks at her eyes and smirks, “I am ready to be anybody you want me to be, if you just let me have a taste of……” he doesn’t complete the sentence just indicates at Emily’s wet front with his eyes.

Frowning hard, Emily comes out of the shock of seeing Edward and realises that the guy in front of her is definitely not Edward!

“Sorry I am mistaken!” Emily hastily apologises and moves forward avoiding the boy, so that she can get back to her car! She suddenly feels unsafe alone in the woods, completely drenched and with a stranger who clearly doesn’t have fair intentions. But as she crosses the guy and walks towards the wood in rushed steps, she feels a strong grip around her left wrist and in a second she is swung around and pulled close to a hard muscular chest. The masculine cologne fills her nostrils and somehow the smell of his breath and sweat, seems quite soothing to her, still she knows very well that the guy screams danger!!

Emily forces herself out of his grip and saunters backward but in a fraction of second the guy moves close to her and suddenly looks deep into her eyes tilting his head. At that moment Emily realises that it is the same guy who insulted her in the café at the airport.

Everything from that day comes to her mind, rushing! The humiliation, the taunting, the ten dollar…everything!

“You! What..Mmmmmm..”

Emily’s mouth gets covered by a pair of hot lips cutting her mid-sentence and a warm hand lands over her back, squeezing her butt hard.

Rage surges through her blood and jerking his body off her, Emily lands a hard slap on the guy’s face, cursing him loudly, “YOU BASTARD!!!”

Adrian is taken aback and left in shock by her actions and taking that opportunity Emily runs towards the car through the woods while already dialling her best friend Linda. She needs to let her know so that she can send help!

Emily looks nowhere and runs like crazy, dashing against a few trees on the way but finally she reaches her car without being followed. She quickly opens her car door and gets in giving a last glance towards the woods and panting with fear and humiliation, she manages to start the engine after a few try and she drives off in full speed!