10

Eleanor had refused to tell Andreas about her dream, no matter how much he'd asked. She just refused. Did she have a reason? Not really, but why didn't she tell him? No reason either she just..... didn't.

"I want to go to a library. My map showed that there's one not too far from here. Take me, please?"

He observed her for a while, then sighed and nodded, then went to take a bath. After a while of waiting, she rose a brow when he finally appeared.... Mystery man knew how to dress. Black jeans, a deep navy blue coloured T-shirt that looked painted on over those muscles... He must be a devotee of the gym, a brown leather jacket and a pair of black combat boots. He had his hair up in a man bun and she stared at his beautifully carved face as he focused on fastening a watch onto his wrist.

"Stop staring." He casually stated and walked for the door. She followed and had to swallow when she caught a whiff of him. He was HOT! What kind genes did he have?! Probably not even Zeus was this good looking! Sweet God, she was admiring her tour guide. How crazy was that?! It was a good thing her thoughts couldn't be read. They got out and started walking through the forest. Silence reigned between them with both of them being lost in their own heads. After a few minutes, Eleanor suddenly stopped walking. Andreas noticed moments later, stopped, turned to see what the hold up was and found her frozen to a spot, staring at the ground with a look of horror etched on her face. His eyes went to the spot she was staring at but, he saw nothing.

"Bella?"

Her eyes darted to his and he saw sweat on her forehead. He frowned and approached her.

"What's wrong?"

She opened her suddenly dry mouth, shut it, then opened it again.

"It was here."

She then gasped and hurriedly looked up, looking for something...... Hadn't even noticed she'd lost her footing till Andreas grabbed her.

"Bella!"

"He was watching me from-" she pointed up to the tree, reliving it all in her mind "- up and... And the body was right here and he'd taken out his--" stop it Eleanor, he doesn't know what you're talking about!

"Hey," he said softly, gently turning her around. She began to shake her head, "I'm losing my mind." and dropped her suddenly heavy head on his chest.

Andreas froze, then broke out of it, slowly cupped her face and rose her head.

"Who was watching you?"

Her eyes went from one of his to the other and with how close they were, he saw just how sharp and alive her grey-blue eyes were. It was beautiful.

"The creature."

"In your dream?"

She nodded.

"Why not tell me about it?", he offered.

She looked down and shook her head. "No I... I might just be losing my mind."

He rose a brow, "You don't believe all you've seen?"

"I do, it's just that Carl and the path incident are the only things that have happened in real life. The rest... The dreams, they might just be my mind, playing tricks on me as a result of it."

He watched her, not wanting to say she was wrong, but she was.

"Your leg suddenly healing itself is a trick too?"

He watched her shoulders fall as she became confused and lost. He exhaled and let himself touch her hair. So soft and full and black. Beautiful. His eyes went all over her face and when she looked up and caught his eyes, everything seemed to still. She was beautiful. "Let's just go to the library, okay?"

She nodded and stepped out of his hold. Andreas let out a breath. Something freaky was going on. Something very freaky. Her eyes were beautiful but they weren't THAT beautiful. And yes she was lovely looking but she wasn't.... Oh who was he kidding? She was beautiful and he was a man so of course he'd notice and-- shit! Something freaky was going on. She snapped him out of his thoughts when her small hand held his large one.

"Let's go." She gave a small smile. Reflex almost made him pull his hand away but he caught himself and nodded. Eleanor exhaled when they kept walking. She was half expecting him to pull away but was very thankful he didn't. She just needed to feel not alone.... Not so lost. Andreas didn't want to pull an excess amount of attention towards their joined hands by continuously glancing at it but he was overly conscious of it. He glanced at her and caught her eyes darting around every now and then. She was scared. He ignored the part of him that kept saying 'you like it', and decided to hold on for her.... Because that's what good tour guides do.

They got into town and Eleanor noticed that the people were giving them strange looks. Even the children had stopped playing and had turned to stare. She turned her head the other way and met the eyes of a little girl. She gently smiled and the little girl smiled back and waved. Eleanor waved back with her free hand. Andreas looked between her and the girl and kept walking. Eleanor didn't enjoy a lot of attention being placed on her so when she saw yet another person staring at her, she rose her hand and took off her hair band, allowing her heavy black curls fall on her face and provide whatever protection it could. A few minutes later, Andreas stopped walking. Eleanor looked up at him.

"Here's the library."

She looked to the building he pointed at and looked back at him.

"You coming in with me?"

"Fuck no, you go do you and just come out when you're done."

He fought the urge to push her hair away from her face. Too much touching.

She frowned cutely. "Don't cuss."

He shrugged. "Sorry."

"You're gonna wait out here? What if I take long?"

"Just come out whenever you're done."

She looked to the building and nodded. Andreas couldn't tear his eyes away from what little of her face he could see. Something really freaky was going on.

She smiled gently. "Thank you."

Fuck, don't smile! He nodded.

"See you later." She took a step.

"Eleanor?"

She turned, "Yes?"

"My hand." She looked down and noticed she was still holding his hand and quickly let go. "Sorry. Sorry. I'm going to go now."

She went into the library. It wasn't a big building but it wasn't small either. The smell of books filled the air and she smiled. She felt at home. Speaking of books, she needed to call her boss. With a few people milling around, she put her hair up in a rough bun and walked up to the counter.

"Excuse me."

A petite woman with almost white hair turned to her, gave her a once-over then said, "You're not from here."

Eleanor smiled. "No, I'm not."

The woman smiled warmly. "Well then, welcome. My name is Gabby."

"Thank you, Gabby, I'm Eleanor."

"What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

"Thank you, Gabby. You look lovely too?"

"What? These old bones?"

"Hot bones." Eleanor winked and Gabby laughed.

"You are a character! Though, I know you didn't come to flatter me today. What can I do for you Eleanor?"

"Yes. I'm looking for a book that talks about Lake Creek."

Gabby's smile disappeared. "What?"

"A book about the origin of Lake Creek. Do you know where i can--"

"No."

"But i--"

"Eleanor, you are a lovely girl and i like you but I'm sorry, I can't help you. Would that be all?"

Eleanor was confused. "I'm sorry, did i-"

"I'm sorry, I can't help you. Would you like another book?" Gabby's eyes darted around.

"What?"

"Would.You.Like.Another.Book.Eleanor?"

Eleanor watched Gabby look around and looked around herself. Were they being watched?

"Wh... I... Uhm... Sure."

Gabby left and came back a while later with a big book titled, 'THE LEGENDS OF BIGFOOT"

Huh? Bigfoot?! She rose her head and opened her mouth to say something but caught Gabby looking from her face to the book in quick successions. She was trying to tell her something. Bigfoot wasn't actually Bigfoot? Maybe this was another book that might help her. She discreetly nodded and Gabby smiled.

"I'm sorry this library couldn't help much but I hope you really enjoy this one. Page 138 has a very funny paragraph, check it out."

Eleanor nodded. "Sure, thanks."

Gabby's face suddenly turned grim.

She reached over the counter, subtly pulled Eleanor closer and whispered to her, saying

"Dear, return this book to me. Only me and no one else. Hold unto it till you see me. If not, don't let anyone else have it."

Eleanor listened intently and nodded. Something very important was embedded in the book. Something crucial enough to scare Gabby. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Gabby."

"Leave now."

Eleanor held it casually so as not to attract attention to it and walked away. Outside, she saw no Andreas. She looked down both sides of the road and still, no sign of him. She couldn't wait in the library for obvious reasons and she didn't know anywhere else. Where was he? Just then, she noticed a cute little flower shop across the street and smiled. Perfect. She crossed and went in. The scents that hugged her nose made her close her eyes and sigh in satisfaction. She loved the smell of flowers. Her mom has a special love for sunflowers and would always bring her a few, whenever she came visiting and would educate her till she'd had no choice but to love them too. She opened her eyes and looked around with a smile on her face. Beautiful colourful flowers, everywhere.

"Hello, welcome to Mont's flower shop. I'm Daphne."

Eleanor turned and saw a pretty blonde girl with blue eyes and a friendly smile. She smiled in return.

"I'm Eleanor. It smells so wonderful in here."

"Thank you. How can I help you?"

"I--"

"I'll attend to her, Daphne. Thank you."

Eleanor turned and found an old woman, standing behind her. With a beautiful smile, intense brown eyes, an oval face and light brown hair, she was beautiful. She was definitely a sought after lady, back in her time. Eleanor noticed her leaning on a cane and rushed to help her.

"Oh I'm sorry, do you need some help?"

The woman's smile deepened. "Yes. Come." Her hand held Eleanor's and Eleanor let her lead them to a back room. A very lovely looking back room, with a bunk bed to the side, against a light pink wall, a little table by the side, a TV up the right wall and some colourful, comfortable looking couches. The woman pulled Eleanor out another door and Eleanor gasped. It led back to the forest but beautifully radiant flowers lined the area. She led a dazed Eleanor to a shade with seats underneath and sat down.

"Sit Eleanor. We have a lot to talk about."