My ringtone woke me from my sleep, shattering my world. When I tried to grip my dream though, it stayed with me, enabling me to remember every single moment of it. I didn't understand though. Why the hell was that my dream? Did I put myself into the place of the man from the house, or was I him, or was it something else?

Looking around in the brightness of mid-morning, I realized something, I had slept in the canopy bed from the master bedroom. Grossed out, I hopped out of bed and placed distance between me and the bed. I stared at the place I had slept, wondering how I had made it the several yards from the door to the bed, and what happened after that thing came at me.

Finally I dug my phone out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID. Elizabeta. I smiled as I answered, "Good morning, Liz."

"Good morning, Gil. Why weren't you in class today?" She sounded slightly distressed, or a little pouty. Either way it was cute.

Thinking about it, I didn't think telling her about the figures I saw would be a good idea. It would probably make me look like a crazy person. "I accidentally fell asleep in the house."

"Are you still there?" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah, actually, you just woke me up."

"Meet me at the edge of the woods, I'll bring coffee, okay? You have to tell me about it in person," Elizabeta said before I could say anything else, then hung up. I was a little worried about my disshelved appearance, and the fact that I smelled a little musty from sleeping in a dead man's bed.

On my way out, I took a couple of pictures with my phone in passing. I stopped at the large portrait in the study and made sure it was a quality picture. As I looked around the study one last time, I saw an open letter hanging out of the desk drawer. Curious as I was, I pulled it out. It was addressed from the past Elizabeta to the past Gilbert, so I opened it.

Dear Gilbert,

It will be a while until I'm able to see you, so I've decided to begin correspondence with you. Send me a letter back when you have the chance, okay? Here are a few things to remember me by. I made that handkerchief when I was younger, so don't make fun of me. I'll admit that I thought you were going to be the man I married back then.

With Love, Elizabeta

The items tumbled out of the envelope soon after I had read that. A small artist's sketch of her, a girl who looked remarkably the same as my Elizabeta. It was drawn on yellowed paper with what looked like ink, not a pencil. After that came a grassy green ribbon that I remembered from my dream. She had worn it on the day she had admitted her engagement. Lastly there was a handkerchief embroidered with EH and GB in the corner, surrounded by a pink heart.

I was feeling more than a little creeped out as I shoved all of it, including the letter, into my pockets. Ever so quickly I left the house and made my way back to the edge of the woods where Elizabeta sat with two cups of coffee. She wore a pink t-shirt, a white cardigan, and a pair of distressed jean capris. Her hair was pulled up in a pony tail with a pair of wildflowers tucked behind her ear, making her neck open. I had the urge to sit down beside her, pull her into my lap, and kiss her neck.

I didn't. Instead I sat down in front of her, accepted my coffee, and ran my fingers through my hair. I smiled at her, watching her face light up as I did, and sipped my drink. It was warm, and sweet, and pretty good.

She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear as she began speaking, making me give her all of my focus, "So, what did you see?"

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my pictures, letting her see each one. She was beyond interested in the pictures and actually gasped when she saw the portrait of the past Gilbert. "That was the guy who lived there?"

"Yeah, and his name was Gilbert Beilshcmidt too. One of his friend's names was Elizabeta," I laughed, like it didn't mean a thing, but my heart had suddenly sunk to the pit of my stomach. That's right, all they were was friends, nothing more. For some reason it was like heartbreak for me.

"Really? That's...wow..." She stared at the portrait, gripping my phone tightly.

"Is something wrong, Liz?" I asked, moving a little closer.

She looked up at me, our faces inches apart. It was like a wave of silence and unease passed over us, but it was soon gone and she dismissed the picture readily. Handing my phone back, she smiled and asked, "So where are you taking me tonight?"

I hadn't really thought about it, but I didn't want to disappoint, so I thought quickly. I had heard a lot about this restaurant in town when I was in the dining hall, that would do. "How about that new French place?"

"I'll text you where my dorm is. Okay, pick me up at six?" She asked, to which I nodded. I watched her walk with a skip in her step all the way back to the main building. I stood and went back to my dorm to get a shower and some proper sleep, because for some reason I was still tired. I woke hours later to find a text in my inbox and I had an hour to get ready.

I dressed in a pair of dark dress pants and a white collared shirt, a red tie hung around my neck. I jumped in my car, a red convertible, and drove to the other side of campus to Elizabeta's dorm. I entered the dorm building and searched for her room, which happened to be in the back on the third floor. I knocked and waited for her to open up.

She opened the door, revealing a little black dress that was cut halfway down her thigh. It was spaghetti strapped and hugged her every curve. The mere sight of her made me want to drop to my knees with intense lust, but I managed to stay on my feet and keep most of my pride. She noticed my staring and blushed, turning the revealed skin pink.

"Uh, hey Gil."

"You ready to go?"

"Yup, just let me get my purse, okay?" She turned, showing me that the back had a draped dip in it that exposed most of her back. She had a tattoo on her shoulder, in loopy, spider silk thin font she had written, "I will wait forever if I must, my love. If only we may meet again," in German. Those words sounded so familiar, maybe from a movie?

Elizabeta returned with a red clutch, walking with him to his car. She looked antsy and cute, but at the same time confident and sexy. I opened the door for her, and she joked about me being the perfect gentleman. We made small talk as I drove, laughing the whole way.

When we got there I helped her out of the car and walked in. Thankfully it wasn't busy and we were able to get seated pretty quickly. The date went by quickly. It was full of laughter, smiles, and discreet glances at each other when we thought the other wasn't looking. When the night was over, I walked her to her dorm room.

"Thanks for tonight, Gil. It was fun," Elizabeta said, fiddling with her purse nervously.

"It was, I'll be sure to ask you again sometime," I said.

"Well, goodnight."

"Don't I get a goodnight kiss before you go?" I asked teasingly, positive she was going to laugh and say goodbye again.

Instead she turned quickly and planted a kiss on my lips. I have to admit my brain lapsed during this time, so I'm not sure exactly what she did. All I know was that when I got back to my car after saying farewell for real, my mouth was smudged with lipstick, my hair was a wreck, and my shirt was rumpled. It was nice, and I drove back to my dorm with a smile.