Thick hills of snow lined the edge of the largely empty streets in small mounds in a mixture of the dirtiest brown and pristine white. People scurried about with single minded purpose, never staying still for too long trying to avoid the bite of the frigid January air, bundled in shapeless but warm clothing.
A yellow cab drove along the road carrying a single female passenger. She was slight in build, with slender limbs and a graceful neck; her delicate face holding a timeless youth that put her in her late teens to early twenties. Her hair was a long cascade of midnight black and her olive skin was lightly dusted with golden, barely noticeable freckles. She was a serious mouth and pert nose but it were her eyes that people noticed first. It was a fascinating, unusual shade of violet that leaned more towards purple than blue that held a heavy sadness.
The heavyset, bearded man at the wheel couldn’t help but sneak glances at her in the rear view mirror. There was something beautifully sad about her that rendered him unable to look away; he just couldn’t place what it was. She reminded him of a painting that his Mama had once taken him to see, where the paint stuck to the canvas making a beautiful masterpiece.
It could have been her fine, regal features or the innocence written on her face, but whatever it was she was just alluring shining with a beauty that he was never seen before. She seemed almost unreal.
Millie felt the full weight of the driver’s eyes on her, but she ignored it. It was a reaction that she had, by necessity, learned to grow accustomed to. She may not have always liked it—in face she never like it, or even wanted it—but she understood it. Her face, her beauty was a curse, one she was forced to live with.
She instead focused on the simple college town that she would soon be calling home. Summit Valley was neatly nestled on the peaks of the Colorado Mountains. It was an obscure place, tucked away from most things, bordering a privately own college. Spencer Trudeau University wasn’t widely popular or even known but it was where she was led, and it was here that she hoped to find answers to question that had been haunting her.
The place, she noted, had been transformed into a winter wonderland. Most of its buildings were covered in a sheet of snow. A building that was simply name ‘General Store’ still sported Christmas decorations in its display window and another next to it that seemed to be a clothing store proudly proclaimed that it was having an end of year clearance sale in bold red lettering though it was almost the end of January.
More buildings lined the sidewalks but Millie had adjusted to the layout quickly. It seemed that most of the towns businesses lined Main Street. A small smile tugged at her lips, it was a quaint little place even equipped with coffee shop that seemed to rival Starbucks, with the amount of patrons she saw crowding the small space. Well, she thought, most college students did live off caffeine, so it would have been more of a surprise if it didn’t have one.
Homey and cosy were the words that came to mind and a fissure of unease trickled through her. Both those words meant small most of the time and that worried her.
The car slowed in front of a two story building with red and white bricked walls, shuttered windows and a cobble stone walk-up lined with snow covered shrubs. There in the window was a handwritten advertisement about rooms for rent.
This would be the place that she would call home for the next few months, hopefully less time if her search proved fruitful.
Millie turned to the driver with a small, soft smile on her face and told him thank you before handing him his fare. He nervously nodded before accepting it a blush tinting the mostly hidden apples of his cheeks. He internally sighed, here he was a man with grandchildren, a man who'd been married for over three decades and he was behaving like a teenager on his first date.
Gathering her coat and small duffel from the space next to her she fixed the strap of her bag more securely on her shoulder before opening the door and exiting the car.
A cold burst of wind hit her first and she shuddered her boots crunching on the snow covered sidewalk as she hurried up the steps towards the front door. The cab driver waited until she entered the building before pulling away, the image of her stamped in his eyes--beautiful and aloof.
A burst of warmth and the smell of apple pie embraced her first when she opened the door and she rubbed her hands together, blowing on them to expel the cold. She stood in the foyer dropping her bag at her feet and peered around her.
To her left was an open sitting room that had an antique fireplace glowing with a fire – pictures resting on the mantle –adding warmth to the space. The space screamed feminine, dominated by a soft pink arm chair and mismatched pieces of furniture that added a certain charm to the place. On the opposite side was a large dining room that housed a long dining table in dark wood, a vase of brightly colored flowers on the top, crowded by red upholstered chairs.
Directly in front of her was a staircase covered in gold carpeting, leading to the second floor, supported by a wall of red and gold wallpaper decorated with more pictures and collectable plates.
“Hello? Can I help you?”
A short, stout, matronly woman stepped out from a door that stood at the end of a narrow corridor. Her hair was a silvery gray that was bound to the back of her head in a loose bun, a white apron with pink frills was thrown over a floral dress that stopped just under her knees. Her face was round, with plump pink cheeks, her unpainted lips curving into a small welcoming smile making the corners of her friendly blue eyes crinkle.
Millie returned the woman’s smile and moved towards her with a hand outstretched “Hi, I’m Millie, uh James. Your new Tenant.”
“Oh,” it was a sound of surprised joy. She shoved the kitchen towel she held in her hands into the pocket of her apron and closed the small gap between them to firmly grasp Millie’s hand. Her head barely came up to Millie’s shoulders, but her grip was firm and warm. “I’m so sorry. Have you been waiting there long?” Millie shook her head. “I just get caught up in the kitchen sometimes. I like to cook. I’m Connie Burge, the owner here.”
“Nice to meet you Mrs. Burge,” And it was. There was something friendly about her, something motherly that tugged on a part of her life long gone.
“Connie please,” she interrupted moving past Millie and starting up the stairs. “Well come on and I’ll show you to your room.”
Left with no choice, Millie retrieved her bag and followed her.
“Now I provide three meals a day, for those that want it and the kitchen is always open if you need to make something yourself. I’m not a vegetarian cook or is it vegan? Any way I suppose you can see to that yourself if need be,” prattled Connie as they made their way down a narrow well lit hall, where doors in deep dark mahogany were neatly mounted along the wall hinting at other rooms.
“All of the rooms have cable and the Internet. If there is anything you need you can talk to me or my grandson, Clement, he lives here too. He handles most of the maintenance work. Now there are certain rules here. No loud parties or drugs. I don’t tolerate fighting or any type of indecent behavior. Anything of the sort and I will evict you.” There was a stern warning in her voice that Millie only nodded. “Other than that I hope you like living here."
At the end of the slim corridor there was a small circular window that gave a glimpse of the outside. They stopped at a door to the very end of the hall. She glanced out the window, the back yard was covered in snow and there was a patio attached to the house, one she could tell that had been a new addition, in a kind of wood pale wood. She could imagine being out there sipping iced tea on warm summer evenings, but then she caught herself, they were in the Colorado Mountains. Summers here weren't warm.
The key slid into the lock and there was an audible click that drew Millie’s attention back to her landlady. Connie ushered her inside and her breath caught at the sight of the room. Sunshine filtered in through the sheer pink and cream curtains at the window casting a soft glow over the room. A white wrought iron Queen sized bed with plain white sheets stood up against a wall covered in wallpaper of pink and white flanked by two small nightstands. A dresser and desk was jammed up against the opposite wall and a lone beige couch was parked in the corner next to which was a small flat screen television.
“You have your own bathroom right through there,” indicated Connie pointing to the white door next to the dresser decorated with curved silver hooks.
“Thank you,” Millie nodded placing her duffel at the foot of the bed “This place is beautiful.”
Connie beamed proudly. “Well I haven’t changed much since I inherited this place from my Mama. Didn’t think it was needed. Well I’ll leave you to it then,” she lingered in the doorway. The girl had quiet eyes she thought, the kind that hid heavy troubles. “Breakfast is from seven to eleven. Lunch from twelve till three and dinner from six till nine. Anything after that you see to yourself.”
Millie nodded and crossed the room when Connie held out the key to her. The weight of the small metal dropped into her hands and she closed her fingers around it as Connie left. Millie let out a small sigh as she crossed the room towards the window. Pulling back the curtain she was met with the view of the brick building next door, the space between them forming a small alleyway.
She was never really truly comfortable in any one place, especially none as small as this, but she felt as close to it as she would let herself dare to be here. The pad of her thumb traced the outline of the key in her hand, her mind wandering to her troubles.
She couldn’t let him find her. Not here and not yet. Not until she finished what she came here to do.
Turning away from the window she nimbly and soundlessly moved around the room unpacking her limited belongings before deciding to take a shower. The bathroom was tiny but it leaned heavily on cozy, a medicine cabinet with a mirrored door hung over the sink opposite which was the toilet. A claw foot tub, surrounded by a pale pink shower curtain doubled as a shower.
That seemed to be a running theme in the room, everywhere she turned there was something pink, and ultra feminine.
After a quick shower that washed away some of her tiredness, she changed into pajamas and emptied the contents of her bag on the mattress. Evening was quickly setting in casting an orange glow on the tan, circular, braided carpet covering the floor at the base of the bed pulling in drowsiness towards her.
Absently she rummaged through the clutter of enrollment forms and listed paperwork for her first day of classes tomorrow. She didn’t need college, she’d been there before. What she needed was access to the extensive library on campus, which only students had an unlimited pass to. It was an obscure place to be sure and she had only stumbled upon it by happenstance but she was willing to follow any clue that she was given. She had been too long without answers and desperation had settled in her bones, making her fear that she would ever really, truly be free of him.
Her phone rang interrupting her thoughts and she crawled across the bed, to the night stand to answer it.
“Hello,” she answered, absently thumbing through the papers in front of her.
“Millie,” the voice at the other end of the line made her pause and pay closer attention. Kate Parker was Millie’s oldest and closest friend. And there was nothing that the sweet, willowy, blue eyed blonde didn’t know about her. “How is it that your best friend didn’t know that you were back in the country? I had to hear it from Al?” Well mostly anything.
“I’m sorry Katie, but it was a spur of the moment decision,” she defended “I was going to call or maybe visit after I got settled here.” It wasn’t an outright lie but more of a half truth, she didn't want to drag Kate more into her craziness than she already had.
The squeal that erupted from the speakers dragged a giggle from her lips, the sound foreign to her, there was rarely ever a reason for her to laugh. Except when she was with Kate. “It’s been way too long. I worry about you sometimes Millie.” Kate’s voice suddenly went serious.
“You know you don’t need to,” Millie said aiming for a light tone “I’m fine.”
Kate sighed “He found out that you were in Austria. As far as I can tell he has no idea where you are now. That is as long as I do, so you can't go off and not tell me where you are, a phone call isn't all that hard.”
“Kate, I’m fine. He can’t find me here okay.”
“Yeah, well when I-” there was a commotion on Kate’s end followed by a string of very colourful curses. "I'll call you back. We’re not done talking about this okay. Love You.” And with those parting words the line went dead.
Millie sighed and sank down into the warmth of the bed. He was closer than he had ever been to finding her now and while she had told Kate that she was fine, but it was a lie. She was worried about it, terrified in fact. He was the face that haunted her nightmares and threatened her waking hours. A darkness looming just on the outskirts of her life, one she couldn’t escape.
She was his obsession and he had once made the promise to do whatever it was he had to do to find her, to keep her. She, in his mind, belonged to him like property he owned. Property he desperately wanted back.
Quietly she lay there pondering over her situation before sleep claimed her and she dreamt of him.