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Romance

As the sun began its descent behind the mountains, a pink hue filled the sky and made the clouds glow as if cotton candy abounded everywhere you looked. Marie and William were both starring at the same sky, in the same little pastry shop in the quaint town of Davis Mills. It was the same pastry shop where they met 3 months earlier.


William gently brushed the long blonde hair from Marie's face and hooked it behind her ear. Boy did he love those ears, she had the most beautiful ears he had ever seen. “Do you feel like we are being watched.” Marie asked. William responded “I have had that feeling for a while now, I just didn’t want to scare you.” “I think its time to leave”, said Marie. William agreed and headed toward the door. 


The sun had now set and the sky was dark with no moon, and few stars. As they made their way to the door, it was apparent that someone was keeping a very close eye on the two lovers. Everywhere they looked, they could not see anyone who looked suspicious. They knew that someone was out to get them. Who could it be? Who would want to harm them? Why would someone want to harm them?


As they approached their quaint little home on the corner, they still felt as if they were being watched and now followed. They hurried into the house, and immediately felt relief. “I think we should go up to the cabin in the woods,” said William. “Thats a great idea,” Marie said. Marie told William, “maybe we are just being paranoid and no one is following us or out to get us.” “It might just be the stress of the city life and our jobs, getting away will be good for us,” she said. “Some alone time would be really nice,” William said as he leaned in and gave Marie a soft kiss on her partly open lips. 


The next morning they packed their bags to head for the cabin. It was a cute little place, in a really remote area by the lake. No neighbors for miles, and tons of peace and quite to relax and spend the weekend together. “Ready to go Marie,” William called. “On my way down now,” she said cheerfully. 


They packed their bags and headed toward the cabin. As they drove down the winding roads through the country side Marie grabbed William's hand and lightly stroked it with her finger. He really enjoyed being so close to Marie. He was thinking of all the things that they would do together on their weekend retreat. The only thing he couldn’t shake was he just felt like they were being followed. He didn’t want Marie to know, because he wanted her to relax and have a great time, plus he didn’t want to scare her for no reason and ruin her weekend. 


Even though William was trying not to let it show, Marie knew he was worried about something. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and squeezed his hand and said “ok, now tell me whats bothering you.” “You keep checking out that mirror is someone following us.” “No, well I dont believe so,” he said. “I cant really be sure, but it is just this nagging feeling I have,” he told her. “Well just stop looking, and we wont worry about it until we have too,” she told him. He nodded to her to let her know he agreed and turned up the radio as they continued their drive. 


Finally they pulled up to the cabin around dark. William had a uneasy feeling, but he kept it to himself and unpacked the car. Marie went inside first and turned on the lights and made sure everything was in order. After getting settled in they sat down on the couch, embraced and kissed softly. 


As they embraced, there was loud banging noises coming from the door. William looked at Marie and told her not to move. “Are you insane,” she told him. “If you go, I go.” They both got up from couch, walked over to the door, and flung it open as fast as they could. As they looked out, they saw nothing. Looking through the open door in the darkness, it looked as if a shadow of a person was running into the woods. William walked out on to the porch and yelled, “whoever is there go away and leave us alone.” Marie begged him to come back inside, so he did. 


“Go upstairs and I will make sure everything is secure down here and I will be up in a moment.” Marie made her way upstairs, as each step made a creaking sound.


Once upstairs, she decided to take a long bubble bath, and slip into something romantic for the night. As she approached the bathroom, she didn’t notice the shadow of a man behind the shower curtain. As she undressed, she thought she heard a sigh, but decided it was all in her head. They were safe in the house. Everything was locked down and nothing was going to get in. 


She reached behind the curtain to turn on the water, just as she heard a noise coming from the bedroom. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her as she hurried into the next room. She looked around the room and saw a flower vase on the floor. She was a little perplexed about what would make it fall, but decided it must have just been on the edge and went back in the bathroom. 


As she entered the room and looked toward the tub, she thought she saw movement behind the curtain. Scared she moved slowly toward her fear, grabbed the curtain and threw it back. She was so relieved to find nothing, but the water in the tub nearing the top. She reached over and turn off the knobs, as she looked up to see the window was open. She looked out and saw nothing, closed it and slipped into the warm water. 


William finished locking up the downstairs and headed to the bedroom. When he came into the room, he noticed that the closet door was slightly ajar. He closed it, and sat down on the bed. Just then Marie emerged from the bathroom, in nothing but a bath towel. She had these little beads of water on her slim neckline. As William looked at them, he pulse quickened. “Do you like what you see?”, asked Marie. “ You be I do.” He said in a soft voice.


He patted the bed, and she sat down. He removed his shirt, to show his tanned and toned chest. Watching him Marie bit her bottom lip, while thinking about how gorgeous he is. Squeak… “What was that noise?” Asked Marie. William put his finger to her lips and then began to kiss the side of her neck ever so softly. They embraced in a tight hug, as he turned the lights off. 


As they lay together they heard the squeak again. It was so dark in the room, yet they were certain they had seen a shadow go across the room. William immediately jumped from the bed and flipped the light on. He looked around the room, but no one was there. 


As he looked back to Marie, her face was pale and she looked like she had seen a ghost. “Whats wrong he asked?” She couldn’t speak, but pointed toward the door. It was open. He asked her, “I dont understand, what is wrong?” I closed the door after you came in and locked it, and now its wide open.” She told him in a frantic voice. Not wanting to scare her, but needing to tell her, he said “ I closed the closet door when I first came in the room, and now its open.” Neither one of them could sleep the rest of the night. They just held each other tightly and waited for the sun to come up.


As the bright sun entered the room and filled it with light, they both decided maybe coming out in the woods alone was not such a great idea. William stroked her bare shoulders and asked if she wanted to go home. Marie just sighed. 


As they talked more, they came to the conclusion that someone was hunting them. Marie wondered what they had done to deserve this. 


Not wanting to let it spoil their weekend, they took a picnic and went out by the lake to enjoy it. They ate sandwiches and chips and feed each other strawberries as the warm sun hit their skin. They laid back on the thick plaid blanket as they kissed. Hearing a loud noise they looked up and caught a glimpse of what looked like a man on the other side of the lake starring at them. He was too far away for them to really know for sure, but again they felt as if they were gazelles being hunted by lions. 


“I want to go home William, I’m scared and would feel safer in our house.” He agreed and they walked back to the cabin to pack the car. As evening turned to night they headed back home. It was so dark outside with no street lights. As they drove down the dirt road they were the only car there. Suddenly a car appeared behind them. At first it was far away, and then it began to pick up speed. The car got right behind theirs and tried to run them off the road. Marie grabbed William's hand tightly and told him how much she loved him. “Hold on baby.” He said as he speed up and jerked from the dirt road onto the highway. Suddenly they were among so many other cars. It was such a relief to no longer be alone. 


The rest of the ride home they were silent. It was almost morning as they pulled in from of the house. They were both tired and scared, and agreed that they would go to the local police station later that day to explain what was going on. They wanted someone to help them get to the bottom of this. William cradled Marie's face in his hands and promised her he would keep her safe. She smiled and feel asleep in his strong arms. Being there with him, in that moment made her feel so secure. 


She awakened feeling rested, more rested than she had in a long time. She woke William and they told him it was time to go to the police. He agreed and they left.


Once at the police station they told the story of how someone was hunting them. The detective asked so many questions. What the person looked like, male or female, someone they knew or didn’t know, and more. The problem was they had never seen the person. They had nothing they could tell him about this person. 


“I’m sure its nothing, probably just a prank, but I will station a detail outside your house and follow you and see if we can stop this.” Said the detective. Both Marie and William were relieved as they left the station. 


Once they were home and felt safe they started to relax. As Marie looked at William across the room he knew that she wanted to be with him. He went over to her and passionately took her in his arms and kissed her. She rubbed her hands down his back and over his chest. He was a beautiful man with bulging biceps and rock hard six pack abs. He ran traced her long legs with the tip of his fingers as if he was painting a masterpiece. He picked her up and took her to the couch and begin to admire how beautiful she was. He took her in his strong arms, pulled her hair back exposing her neck which pulsed with her ever fast beating heart. He kissed the vein in her neck and they moved into the bedroom for the night. 


William was startled awake as he heard screams coming from the kitchen. He quickly ran downstairs to see Marie staring at a picture of the two of them on the refrigerator. He looked at the picture to see a red x was over both of their faces. The words x marks the spot was written above their heads. Then at the bottom, you are being hunted also written in red. They felt a cold breeze and turned to see the kitchen door was open wide. 


They knew then that no one not even the police could help them, and that they would forever be hunted by someone who they didn’t know. All they knew was they would keep running and they would fight. Their love for each other was so strong that they could and would over this. For now they would think of moving to a different city to see if they could escape the doom of whoever was out to get them. 

January 16, 2020 03:34

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