Chapter 1
October 21, 2013
Robert sat in front of the fire place and sighed. He needed to relax but while he was comfortable here he couldn't relax. There was something missing. He'd paid the best workers to build this home 70 years ago and it was perfect. There was a lab, there was a library, 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a very nice living room. It was large and empty but he couldn't but think about how much Rosalind would have loved it.
120 years had passed since she was taken from him, with all that time, he should have been able to forget her. After all, the world did. But he couldn't… He just couldn't get over the fact that he hadn't said goodbye. He had held her in his arms, listened to the fear in her voice and when she'd said goodbye, he hadn't responded to her. Why had he waited so long? Why had he-
"Stop it." he told himself as he stood up. He couldn't sit and mope around for too long. He had work to do, with the winter coming soon, he wanted as much firewood as he could get before it snowed. Winters here were horrible and he didn't want to be caught unprepared like the last year. He shuddered and wondered if he would have survived if not for his immortality.
He put out the fire in the fireplace and grabbed his ax. A smile formed on his face when he wondered what Rosalind would think of his new lifestyle. He lived in a cabin in the middle of the wilderness. Sure, he trekked to town when he needed more Froot Loops, but for the most part, he was alone. Which was good, because every 20 or so years, when he went to town, he could always say he was new in town and no one would question his longevity.
He looked towards the pile of firewood, he was pretty well off, but what was a little more? He still had a pile of wood that needed to be chopped and after that, he would search for dead trees in the forest. He found his stump, set up a block of wood and smashed it into two separate logs. He allowed himself to be lulled into his usual exercise. When he was in the zone, anything could sneak up on him. It was a bad characteristic and had ended horribly for him once or twice. After 10 minutes of constant chopping, scream, broke his concentration. A familiar scream at that. He paused momentarily and tried to figure out where it had come from.
He dropped the ax and ran straight back into his home to retrieve a gun. Screams in the forest were never a good thing. The person screamed again and he ran into the forest. This person sounded too familiar. He would admit that he hadn't heard her scream too often, but even if it wasn't who he thought it was, he had to at least help her right? "Hello?!" he called, "Where are you?!"
"Near the river!" came the urgent response. His heart raced as he hurried to the river and spotted the victim. She was on the ground, crawling away from a bear. It was relatively small compared to the other ones he'd seen and he found himself hesitating to shoot it.
The bear roared and moved closer to the girl. He realized that she was already hurt and that he needed to act soon. He fired the shotgun and killed the bear instantly. He would have to get rid of the body later or it would attract other predators with its sent. "Are you okay?" he walked over to the woman and bent down next to her. He couldn't see her face, it was obscured by a hood.
"Robert." she breathed.
"What?" He lifted her hood and gasped, "Rosalind?" he questioned.
"Who else?" she smiled weakly, It was clear that she probably hadn't eaten in days. How long had she been wandering in the forest?
"Rosalind." he repeated, "You… died…"
"He scratched me, but it isn't deep enough to kill me." she gestured to the wound, "I don't think I'll be needing a hospital."
"No… You died. I watched you disappear, I watched you bleed out. You died." his vice rose unintentionally and he forced himself to calm down. This was Rosalind, his Rosalind. But how had she returned to him?
"I did, and it was painful." she nodded, "But it's been a few days and the universe does have its bursts of kindness." A few days?
"How did you… When did you return?"
"I'd say about 6 days ago?" she said thoughtfully, "I just appeared here wearing this outfit. I've been wandering out here for a while. Trying to find a town. I was going to start looking for you…"
"How did you know I was still alive?" he questioned.
"Well, I imagine it's only been a few days." she coughed, "Why wouldn't you still be alive?"
"Rosalind… No… It's been 120 years." he said. He watched her face, she looked confused, and maybe that was too much for her. Her nose started to bleed and with a groan, she promptly passed out. A small smile tugged at his lips and he scooped her up. She was back… They had a lot to discuss, but that didn't matter, because he had her back and no one was going to take her away again.
0.o..0.o.0
Oh no… new fanfic ideas in my head. Blegh, I'm going to write it now… It'll be a sequel to this story here.
