Within Dreams Part 1

I had just come home from work. It was the day before Halloween. Things were pretty much normal in the small town of Center, Alabama. Nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. Well not until Adrian Black moved to our town. I knew from day one something really weird was wrong with him. He was Native American but that really wasn't wrong. He just talked really different. He talked as if he were from another place and another time.

I went into work the next morning, everything happening the same as it always had been. My co-worker Stephanie looked at me, "What the hell happened to you last night? You look as though you have been run over by a fire truck." I laughed and shook it off. Later my manager Matilda looked at me and said almost the same thing. I just shrugged it off too. Later Tiffany made a comment to me about it. That was the last draw. I went into the bathroom and my hair was not looking the same. My eyes were dilated and a darker shade of brown.

I went back into the bank and looked at Tiffany, "Where is Matilda? I think I need to go home for a while. I don't look or feel so good." She called Matilda in and Matilda told me to take the rest of the day off. When I went home I exclaimed to my father I didn't feel good. He told me that I would be alright. I left the house to go to the store to get some popsicle. Just then a native American guy came strolling up to me in the frozen foods. "Hello sweetie. I'm Adrian. I'm new in town. I didn't catch your name."

I was always the one not fooling for anyone's smart inquiries. "I didn't throw it. For your information my name is Stephanie Casey. It's nice to meet you Adrian. Welcome to Center. I hope you like it here." He smiled showing pearly whites. He was cute and that I had to admit rather openly. I still wasn't going to cave into him though. He said after a moment of silence, "It's good to meet you Stephanie. I do like Center and thank you for welcoming me."

His eyes were filled with some sort of unspoken lust. It was for more than the usual sexual lust from guys type thing. It was more than I wanted to acknowledge. So I continued on to the front. I looked at his cart as he pushed it right behind me. It was filled to capacity with frozen entrees and treats. I shook my head, "Do you actually prefer anything that isn't cold?"

He shrugged and laughed, "Yeah I guess I like red meat too. I like it plenty rare. Do you like your meat rare?" I shook my head, "No I really appreciate my meat plenty well done."

I really didn't appreciate him stalking me. He was hovering right above me and it made my heart race and do a sort of plunging into my chest. I looked at him and then sighed once he continued to check his items out. He threw a rose out in front of me that seemed to have come from nowhere. "This is for my beautiful lady. I hope we do meet again. It would be a nice thing if we were to meet on a more comforting level."

Comforting level? The only thing comforting would be the knowledge that he would move far away from my town. Far away from my presence. I shouldn't feel this way about a guy I barely knew. On the way home I looked at the rose in the passenger seat by me. Wow, I thought werely. He was flattering and he had my heart racing even thinking about him. Never in all my twenty-three years had I done that about any sort of man.

I sighed and turned on the radio to listen to my new CD of "The Howling" by, Within Temptation. I thought it pretty weird that song was playing on the CD player of all tunes. I kept my mind-set to the tune not worrying too much about what was going on. When I turned my car into the driveway I looked behind me to see Adrian driving into the driveway behind mine. He lived right across the street from me! How could this be happening? He waved at me as I got out. I waved back thinking I was being nice. When I got inside I went straight to my room, not before throwing the popsicle in the freezer.

I closed my bedroom door and tried to calm the racing beat of my heart. What in the world was happening to me?