* * *
It all started on a hot and humid evening late in summer. He made sure he kept to the shadows, moving only when necessary and then so fast - no one noticed him at all. He knew she’d be there - at the same pub the girls always met for pizza. The new term was about to begin, and many of the students had already moved back into their dorms.
After a little detective work, he found two women with the last name of Rose who were beginning their senior year. He was intrigued with the fact that they were descendants of his father’s acquaintance from well over one hundred thirty years ago. Perhaps this did mean something after all. He began to allow himself to feel some excitement at this new possibility. What if Sibelle’s prophecy was true?
He sat alone in a dark corner, waiting, watching. His corner grew darker yet, once he blew out the lone candle sitting in the middle of the table. The pub began to feel crowded and noisy. There were too many loud talking, obnoxious people - men and women alike looking for one thing only, someone to hook up with, just for the night. It sickened him that no one in this generation seemed to be interested in lifetime commitments. But then, they were only human.
A redhead walked in wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. She came with a girl wearing a sundress, her long hair braided and pulled back into a ponytail. He listened to them chattering as they looked around for a place to sit. They wondered when Lizzy would get there. As it was, they chose a table directly across from his, and just as the chattering was about to drive him out of the pub altogether, he saw a movement through the glass window; a woman who had long dark hair walking toward the door of the pub. His mind went back to the words of the prophecy: a dark-haired lass, beyond the glass. He knew she had to be the one when he saw that she looked just like the other girl with the braid. He recalled more from the riddle: Tho’ on this eve, ye shall see two - A single Rose calls forth to you. She wore her hair down, flowing long and straight, black as coal, shimmering and shining, and as she came in the doors, she waved at the other two girls. She wore a pair of black capris and a white t-shirt. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Even though she looked exactly like the other girl, her twin, there was something different about her. He perceived something pulling him in toward her; connecting them. He sensed emotions being stirred up that he had never felt before. And, he simply could not get over how beautiful she was.
Her smile lit up the room. Heads turned to watch as she eased through the mass of tables and chairs. Her hair glistened in the soft candle light, nearly as black as his own. Her almond-shaped eyes were dark blue, outlined with black eye liner. They appeared at once intelligent and yet innocent, intense yet soft, and they smiled along with her mouth which was adorned in ruby red lipstick. Her mouth! Lips that were full and sensuous, lips he began to imagine pressing to his own mouth, with long and lingering kisses.
He was amazed at the way she could make even a t-shirt look magnificent; the way it clung to her body, caressing every rounded curve, showing the slightest sliver of bare skin near her navel. His gaze was drawn then to her throat. The skin was ivory and silken, her soft hair drifting down around the sides covering up the most appealing area, the side of her neck. He was enchanted by her beauty, but even more than that, he felt like he already knew her. Never before had this happened. His hands begin to quake with electricity, and as he rubbed them together he was filled with a new and unexpected excitement.
As she approached the table, her smile said she was happy to see these girls, and as she got closer, he realized he could actually hear her thoughts coming through as loudly as if she spoke directly to him! If he hadn’t seen her closed mouth, he wouldn’t have believed it, but he heard: I shouldn’t be wasting my time, I should be getting my things unpacked, setting up my computer, and organizing my books for class. This year is going to be so long, I just know it. I wish it was over already. Look at all these people, eating and drinking and carrying on like nothing else is as important in the whole world. I don’t even belong here, I should be living...Aww, look how cute Lindy looks with her hair in a braid like that, and Fiona looks radiant tonight. And then he saw her lips moving, and she said, “Hi Lindy, Fiona. Did you order yet?” He found her voice to be as entertaining and delightful as her unspoken words.
He sat there all the while the three girls ate their pizza, listening to their conversations and the random thoughts going through Elizabeth’s mind. It never once occurred to him that he could be eavesdropping; the prophecy told him to listen.
She thought about her classes, and what she’d do when she graduated in June. She thought about their dorm room and how crowded it would be, and she tried to pay close attention when either of the other girls spoke, but time after time, her mind wandered back to all the work she should be getting done. She didn’t have one unloving or unkind opinion in her mind regarding her sister or friend. Even the childish antics of her fellow students were only a slight irritant in her mind. He could not find one bad, unwholesome, selfish, self-serving idea inside of her. The closest thing to negative was when she worried about her own looks, which he found incredible, since anyone with at least one working eye could see how ravishingly beautiful she was. She appeared to have no egotistical or narcissistic thoughts. What surprised him the most was that he was already convinced: he was absolutely, irrevocably, madly, head over heels in love with this raving beauty. She was so pure and innocent, so beautiful, everything he ever wanted in a woman, and so much more than he could ever have imagined.
Still, he stayed back in the shadows, and she did not notice him, but only because he did not let himself be seen. He needed to observe her to see how she lived her life, to make sure she was genuine and as innocent as he believed her to be, and now, more than anything, he needed to find a time and place he could put his Signatus on her without her knowledge.
* * *
This dream had captivated me, and I wondered if Emrys could see me smiling right now as he watched and waited for me to wake up again. But I wanted to go forward again. To the day he placed his sign on me.