Chapter 4 Rosalee
Rosalee
Seriously, who in the hell lived isolated on a mountain in the twenty-first century?
I mean, why would anyone willingly live without modern amenities like Netflix, food delivery on demand, social media, and the internet?
It didn't make any sense to me, but then again, it wasn't my place to judge, not when Serenity had called after what felt like an eternity since the party and said she had a placement for me, but only if I was willing to trek up the mountain to meet with the frantic parent.
Parent. That was her word, but it was doubtful the frantic parent was a mother because she would have gotten the hell off the mountain as soon as possible. Only a man, a father, would choose his way of life over what was best for his kid.
There you go judging again, Rosalee.
"Yeah, okay," I sighed and pushed the accelerator a little harder as the road inclined even more and the rain came down even harder.
The sky darkened much faster than it usually did this time of year, and I flipped on my lights to illuminate the road.
Minutes later, I had to flip on my brights for any type of visibility.
The rain fell so hard that I could barely hear my windshield wipers as they swooshed across the window, doing next to nothing to improve my vision.
"Continue on this road for five minutes. Your destination will be on the left."
"Okay," I sighed and stroked the steering wheel.
"Five miles. Just give me five miles, girl, and we'll be good for a little while.
" I hoped that was true as I slowed into a curve, yanking to the right when another car came barreling down the mountain at twice the speed limit and at least three times faster than the weather allowed.
"Shit," I shouted as I returned my gaze to the road and found a tree directly in front of me.
Though I wasn't going that fast, it was too fast to avoid hitting the tree, and the sickening crash dashed my hopes of making it to the interview in time.
My head throbbed from the impact on the steering wheel, but I wasn't dizzy, so I gave myself a minute to clear my head and look around outside before I pushed the door open. I didn't hear any other vehicles on the road, so I crossed it quickly, keeping off the road as I continued up the mountain.
The rain poured down in buckets, and less than a mile into my walk, I was soaked to the bone and shivering so hard my teeth clattered together violently.
Golden light shone in the distance, but I couldn't be sure if I was really seeing it or if I was starting to hallucinate.
"Help," I said, barely above a whisper, certain nobody could actually hear me over the rain.
My legs moved slower and slower, but I was determined to keep moving because I refused to die on the side of a mountain road after everything I'd been through the past few years.
"Keep going," I urged as my steps became slower and more labored.
"Don't. Stop." I didn't stop. It took what felt like forever, but I lifted one leg, and it landed on a step, so I lifted the other leg.
Again and again, until my body leaned against the door, and I gave two half-hearted knocks with my palm.
My legs wobbled, but I dug my heels into the wet wood of the porch as my chest heaved and my breaths came out in empty, wheezing sounds.
The door opened, and I nearly fell forward.
"Sorry." I tried to look up once, then twice, before my gaze dragged up the tall, broad-shouldered figure with haunting gray eyes.
"I, um, I need some… thing." Finally, my legs wobbled and gave out there on the rain-slicked wood, and everything went black.
I'm not sure what happened, exactly. All I knew was that I slept terribly.
My dreams were strange, like hallucinations, visions, or something equally weird.
It was a strange sensation, being locked into crazy visions that I couldn't explain or wake up to escape, but they didn't stop, and I was too exhausted to wake up and stay awake.
A few times my eyes opened, and I caught glimpses of the man with the silver eyes, but he never lingered for long. He gave a hard stare and walked away, giving off the impression that I was an unwelcome visitor, which I kind of was.
Eventually, the visions stopped, and I slept. I just slept until I couldn't sleep anymore.