I'm married

Second encounter

Rosemary goes into her mother's room; she glances sadly at the dark walls. Memories of herself as a child flash before her. The room that was once bright and vibrant with flowers and laughter is now dark and depressing. She remembers her young self running into her parents's room to wake them up every morning, their giggles as they helped her into the middle and flood her with kisses. She lets out a loud sigh, and her mother knew something was wrong. She makes feeble attempts to stretch forth and open her arms to Rosemary but gives up in frustration. Rosemary noticed this and reaches out to her mother first, holds her hand in hers, and kisses them. She cups her mother's face in her hands, and Mrs. Bruce couldn't hold back her tears. Rosemary wipes the tears from the side of her face, kicks off her shoes, and lies in bed with her. She hangs her head on her shoulder, caressing her hand. "Can I sleep here tonight, mom?" she asks in a soft voice. Mrs. Bruce only managed to lift her fingers in response. Mrs. Bruce wishes to cuddle her little girl and not being able to do so devastates her. Tears fall from the side of her face, and Rosemary wipes them with her hands. "It's okay, mom," as if she understands the tears streaming down her mother's face. "I feel great already, lying down here with you," she reassures her. After a long silence, Rosemary speaks. "I met a boy today. He's from the neighborhood," she says casually. The ambience in the room lightens. "He tried to take Bengi's food haul, and he punched him in the face," she continues; Mrs. Bruce's eyes widen in shock and panic. Rosemary lets out a laugh. "It's okay, mom." They're both okay," she said, rubbing her arm to reassure her. "I helped him out with a tissue, but something weird happened." She sits up, staring into her mother's eyes. "I felt a vibration throughout my body when I touched him. I saw flashes of images of me covered in blood. I wanted to talk to him more to try and make sense of what I experienced, but he kept avoiding me." Mrs. Bruce trembles upon hearing that. She tries desperately to communicate with Rosemary. She gathers all her strength and unremmitingly tries to hold Rosemary. They start to hear hysterical screams coming from outside, and Rosemary rushes out impulsively, leaving her mother alone. In a surging moment, Mrs. Bruce moves a hand, and her eyes glow up like a beautiful golden torch. Rosemary goes out and finds Benjamin passed out on the ground. In a hysteric panic tone, she screams, "What happened to him?" Bridget, who is clearly having a mental breakdown, bursts out, saying, "This i***t decided to go and fight the guy from earlier. He threw him a weak punch, and he collapsed." They both kneel by Benjamin, shaking him and trying to wake him up. Seth goes into the room and comes back with a bucket of water. He pours it on his face; he gasps and opens his eyes but stares dreamingly into their faces like he was in a trance. "This is all your fault," Bridget barks at rosemary. "What? I'm not the one that didn't stop him from doing something absurd!" Rosemary replies. "It's because of you; we thought he did something to upset you. He went there to fight for you." Bridget replies with admist tears. "I never said he did anything to upset me," Rosemary yells angrily. "yes! That is the problem! You never say anything. We are your siblings, and we love you. We would do anything for you, but you are too selfish to notice. It's always about you and your feelings. Can you take a second and not make it about you?" Bridget retorts, "You are just jealous of me,“ says rosemary. Bridget couldn't believe Rosemary said that. She gestured her hand to mean."Exactly what I'm trying to say. It's always about you, Rose!“ Between gazy Benjamin and the girls fighting, Seth is thrown over the edge; he screams his lungs out. "Both of you stop it now!" He picks up Benjamin and enters the house. Bridget collapses on the ground, wailing. Rosemary is thrown into a dander; she paces up and down, unable to control the surging anger erupting from her soul. She races out of their compound angrily, not sure where she's going. She enters the forest hoping to find some quiet and peace there, but she's greeted by complete darkness. She searches the pockets of her jeans to find her mobile phone, but it's not there. "I must have left it in my mother's room," she says under her breath. She has a spot in the forest that she usually goes to seek solitude, so she bravely dives deep into the forest, hoping she can make it to her spot, but the mysterious allure of the thick, dark forest sends an eerie feeling over her. It's pitch black, and the only thing visible is the dazzling dance of the fireflies in the dark. The only sounds audible were those of rustling leaves, whistles of the wind, and chirping crickets. She didn't believe it was the same place filled with tall trees whose beautiful green leaves provided the shade where she lay as the pentrating sun kissed her beautiful skin during the day. "It is as if the darkness swallowed the forest up," she mutters to herself in frustration. She steps back, with intent to back out of whatever uncanny situation she has put herself in. As she steps backwards, she hears a growling sound coming towards her: "a bear! Oh no! Oh no! A bear!" She says frantically and starts to run for her life, but she doesn't get far before a dead wood tackles her legs, throwing her to the ground. She tries to get up, but she's unable to; her ankle seems twisted. She couldn't see clearly, but she hears and feels the creature lunging for her. "No! no! no!" she cries as she pats the floor, trying to find something to hold, to use as support to get up. Her heartbeat is as loud as a talking drum, and hearing it herself confirmed her fear, making her shake anxiously. She lifts her head and looks into the darkness; the dance of the fireflies has been disturbed by a moving dark figure. She gets up abruptly and with whatever adrenaline left inside her, ready to run for her life, but her ankle is hurting. She massages it briefly and starts to leap away on one foot. The growling gets louder and closer, and despite her desperate attempt to flee, she felt stagnant. The bear gets close to her, knocks her over with its paw, and digs its claws into her arm. She let out a painful groan. She swiftly pushes herself back; just then, a shadow emerges from the dark with a speed of light; it tackles the bear. In a merciless strike, it sinks its fangs into the bear's neck, the rich, warm blood spilling, painting his face in a crimson spray. The bear falls to the ground lifeless. The figure turns to Rosemary, its eyes glimmering with predatory satisfaction yet lingered with a flicker of compassion as he saw Rosemary trembling. She could not see his face, just the crimson glow of his eyes in the dark. He tries to approach her, but she shrieks in panic and moves back. He could smell her fear. He's a vampire, and a whiff of his victim's fear is usually like a sweet aroma, filling his senses with a rush of delight; only this time it's different. The sight of her trembling from fear of him hurt his dead heart. The bloodshot eyes are instantly replaced with a mesmerizing shade of gold. He closes his eyes, locating all the fireflies in the forest with his mind, and with a gesture of his hand, they all match towards him. He moves his hand in a circular motion, and they form a dome of light around them. She catches a glimpse of his face for the first time, and she is completely mesmerized by his beauty. "come! You are safe now," he says, opening his arms to her. She hesitates but allows him to scoop her off the ground. With the speed of light, in a split second, they got to the entrance of the forest. He put her down and kneeled before her. "So what's your name?" he asks, his voice smooth as silk. She stares into his face dreamingly; his voice makes her dizzy. "Rosemary," she manages to speak. "Rose," he calls out, a feeling of familiarity and passion washes over her. He touched her ankle, and a glow of light appeared, causing a vibration inside her. She sees a memory of herself with this stranger, seemingly a passionate couple but in a different time; perhaps the eighteen hundred (1800).He calls her name, waving happily from a cornfield; she waves back, running into his arms, and they share a passionate kiss. "What's this?“ she asks in confusion, snapping back into consciousness. "I'm not sure too, but I'd like to see you again," he says. “Come to the balloon festival on New Year's Eve," she replies. "What's that?" he asks in a furrowed brow but is tensly amused. "It's the town little tradition, where everyone is required to write down their wishes or new year resolutions; then it is a ballon; we release everything at once after the countdown at midnight. Then after, there's singing and dancing with lots of food and drinks,“ he smiles. "It sounds fun," he says, amused by the idea. "it is! You should come!“ she replies. "I can't go if I'm not invited," he says while lifting her to her feet. "I'm inviting you," she says. He smiles from ear to ear, leans over, and pulls out her satin hairband, watching her hair fall gorgeously over her shoulder. "You look beautiful like this," he says with his eyes darkened from passion. She blushes shyly. "I'll keep this," showing her the pink satin hair ribbon, takes it to his nose, and inhales the sweet, tropical fruit flavor that filled it. "I'll look for you at the festival; you should go home now." "wait! Wait!"“ he's gone in a flash. She stares into the darkness. "Your name,“ she mutters to herself. He hanged on a tall tree in the darkness, looking at her. `