Tainted

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

All day Nova felt like she was being watched. She had looked over her shoulder more times she could count as she tried to convince herself that she was going crazy. But, a little while later the feeling would return. The strange feeling was starting to wear on her nerves as she entered her art studio that doubled as her grandfather's greenhouse. Surrounded by the aroma of the exotic flowers and the memories of her mother, Nova created her best work here. 

As she took out her charcoal and sketchpad, her thoughts turned to the face that has haunted her dreams. Within a few minutes, she had drew a replica almost precise to his features. This is him she thought as she appreciated her work. Her heart accelerated as she stared into this strange man's eyes. It was almost as if she knew him. He seemed so real, not a ghost out of her dreams. Who are you? She pondered. 

As she went to her easel she continued her work with close up of his eyes. Eyes so dark and intense she felt lost in them. Worse, she could feel his hidden pain. A pain so raw that she could feel it, even as he tried to hide it beneath the surface. She stood there lost in her thoughts as her hand traced her artwork. She was so consumed in her thoughts that she wasn't aware that the atmosphere around her was subtly changing. The temperature dropped, and an eerily silence loomed throughout the studio. Still, she stood gazing her picture as a shadow loomed over her form.  

This broke her out of her trance as she turned wildly to confront her intruder. Her heart was beating so fast she could hear it as her body started to tremble. But as looked around no one was there. She was completely freaked out. She had the feeling of being watched all day and now she actually felt its presence. She knew it, felt it with every nerve in her body. She stood there gripping her charcoal pencil until it snapped. She looked down at it her hands trying to calm herself down taking deep breaths. But that just brought a fragrance foreign to her. She closed her eyes trying to decipher what the smell was. It was a spice, a cologne that smelled like sin itself. Someone was here the thought registered her out of her revery. She looked around one last time as she shook her head.  

"I am going to have to stop listening to Sarina! She whispered, "She is making me paranoid". Still she left her studio in a hurry, Paranoid or not the place was giving her the creeps.

*~* 

Seth stood there watching Nova run into the house. Had she seen him? He wondered. 

He walked past the tall plants and over to her sketches. He picked up her drawing. The sketch was an exact copy of him. How did she do it? How had she captured his face so perfectly? He had erased her memory of him from her dreams. Or so he thought as he moved over to her other piece. That piece drew him up short. He stood there for what had seemed like an eternity, struck frozen by the detailed view of his eyes. His mother's eyes he corrected, as her memory haunted him. His hand had found the sketch and was tracing the image like somehow he could conjure back to life with it. 

With that thought, he snapped back to reality. Dropping his hand, He looked over to the house that Nova was hiding in. She thought to escape him. She chopped off what memory she kept of him as illusions. Trying to filtrate her dreams to tempt her wasn't working. He was going to have to place himself in her life.  

Hmm, he thought, this deal was turning out to be such a pleasure, as he disappeared into the night.

*~*

Nova ran up to her bedroom as quickly as her feet would carry her. She needed to come back to reality. She needed normal, she needed to feel safe and she needed to get a grip fast. But as she opened her door, Sarina's voice caught her attention. 

"Mark, I telling you all my spidey senses are going off here" Sarina exclaimed into her cell phone, "I feel the presence of the undead" she was so dramatic Nova couldn't help rolling her eyes. Sarina always felt "the others" presence, and as for her spidey sense.. well, Nova was sure Sarina had lost her common sense long ago. Maybe their mother had dropped her on her head. The thought brought a smile to her face as she finally felt at home.