NOTE: PLEASE READ PREVIOUS CHAPTER FIRST!

I had stayed in my room until about four-thirty. That was when boredom immediately began to sink in.

With absolutely nothing else to do in my room, I decided to head back downstairs to the living room, since it was the only thing I could think of. Nobody else had come by the house in the past three and a half hours, so I assumed that it was safe now.

I plopped myself down on the couch and switched the television on with the remote. But unfortunately, the minute the television had finally come to life, I had drifted off quickly into sleep.

It wasn't until an hour later was I awoken by someone shaking me gently.

"Spring. Wake up," I heard a familiar voice urge with gentleness, and I realized that it was my mother.

"Hey, Mom," I greeted her, my voice still thick and heavy with sleep. I didn't even know how I could possibly have managed to doze off so suddenly. I must have been even more exhausted than I thought, or boredom really had affected me to the point where I could just knock out.

As I slowly sat up on the couch, my mind still heavy from sleep, I heard her sigh, "You poor thing. The fever must really be getting to you. But you seem slightly better now."

I heard her walk to the kitchen, judging by the way her heels clicked on the floor. "I'll make you some soup," she called out from the kitchen. "To help make you feel better," she added, followed by the sounds of cupboards being opened.

I rolled my head around, hearing the loud and clear creaks that had sounded from my neck. My neck was pretty stiff, like how it had been this morning. I winced at the soreness I felt.

Note to self; never sleep on the couch in the most uncomfortable position ever again.

All of a sudden, I began to feel as though the whole living room was extremely stuffy. I needed fresh air ASAP.

So I went out into the garden.

A few feet away from the couch, there was a sliding window-door which led directly to the garden. So I had managed to get there in less than ten seconds.

It had stopped raining, but the clouds were still grey and not even a hint of sunlight broke through it. I could hear squishing sounds under my flip-flops as I walked on the still-wet grass. The air around me was chilly. I felt goose bumps appear on my arms, despite the fact that I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

But I lightened up when I caught sight of the plants. It was beautiful, especially the flowers. Raindrops beaded the petals of the many flowers Mom and I owned. Even with the lack of lighting, I could see the small beads of rain glistening, bringing a shimmer to the flowers.

I moved close to a bush full of raindrop-sparkling red roses, my eyes focusing on one rose that had fully-bloomed. I watched as a raindrop on it trickled down the petal, and once it had reached the tip, it fell to the ground.

Sometimes, it felt nice to just stop worrying about life and start to observe these little things that happen. It just reminds me that sometimes, we are too busy to notice what sort of beauty an item as small as a rose could offer.

I brush my hand against a cluster of roses, wiping away the beads of rain on the petals. Some sprayed onto my face, while some gathered onto my palm. As I enjoyed this tiny gesture, I was extra careful and mindful of the sharp thorns underneath.

That was another sort of lesson for me; if we aren't too careful and attentive, we may not be able to see the true danger of things that seemed so beautiful.

Unfortunately, I learnt that lesson the hard way, thanks to a certain someone.

But just as the vile thought of him came into my mind, I suddenly felt a sharpness pressing into my skin.

"Ow!" I yelped in sudden pain.

See? This was what I meant about not being too careful and attentive.

I cursed myself many times. Never once had I pricked myself on a thorn. I was always in clear conscience when I handled these things. But just the thought of him made me ruin my perfect record.

I brought my index finger in front of my face to inspect the damage that had been caused to it. But then I narrowed my eyes in confusion.

There was nothing. No cut. Not even a scratch. The pad of my finger was still clean and smooth.

Now that was most certainly odd. I could have sworn I felt a thorn prick right through my skin, deep enough to draw blood…

Just then, I heard the window-door sliding open and I turned to see my mother standing there.

"Come inside, Spring. You wouldn't want to get a cold, do you? It would make your fever worse," she said with a tiny hint of worry.

I glanced at her, and then to my mysteriously fine index finger, and then back to her again before I headed to the door. I stepped inside, leaving my wet flip-flops on the backyard porch.

She ushered me in, telling me that she had made me some chicken noodle soup to help me feel better, and had bought me a red velvet cupcake from the bakery as a treat. The very thought of the red velvet cupcake had managed to bring a smile to my face and sent my stomach growling.

"Did you even eat at all today?" she questioned me, her expression shocked from when she heard my stomach growling for food.

"Only a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a cup of chai," I answered sheepishly as I took a seat at the dining table. Mom appeared from the kitchen a few seconds later, expertly holding a plate that held a bowl of chicken noodle soup in one hand while the other hand held a plate of two red velvet cupcakes.

She shook her head in disappointment, complete with pursed lips and furrowed eyebrows. "You shouldn't eat so little. What if you faint because you don't enough food in your system? You even fell asleep on the couch while you were watching television!"

I stirred my bowl of yellowish soup with noodles as I rolled my eyes. "Mom. I am not going to faint. And I just dozed off. No biggie."

My mother sighed and grabbed a cupcake. As she unwrapped the paper cup from the cake itself, she asked, "So how was your day today?" And then, she added in dismay, "There weren't many customers at the shop today, because of the heavy rain. Now that is why I hate these sorts of weathers. It's always traps potential customers inside their houses and offices and does no good to our business."

I nodded my head attentively as I took moderate sips of my delicious chicken noodle soup. I smiled in content as I felt the delicious hot liquid slide down my gullet and into my stomach.

"My day was pretty boring," I answered her. "I just basically stayed in bed and read my books or surfed the internet, once in a while going down to the kitchen for a hot cup of chai or some snacks. But like I had mentioned, I only basically ate just a regular and boring peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

And just then, I remembered the incident that had followed after that. The stranger who had knocked on the door, telling me that he was a close friend of my mother's. I recalled how I did not trust him at first, because I had a feeling that he wasn't really who he said he was.

When he had first popped into my mind, the first thing I remember was his stunning, but quite impossible, sea green eyes. That was certainly one thing that stood him out.

"Oh yeah. You had a visitor this afternoon, by the way," I told my mother.

She was about to bite into her cupcake when I told her this. Suddenly, she froze and set the cupcake down back onto the blue plastic plate.

"Who was it?" she asked, looking into my eyes questionably.

"It was a man," I told her. "And I think his name was-"

I raked through my brain to remember his name, or at least a gist of it. The only thing I recalled was that it had sounded quite weird, and it started with an 'S'.

But really all that I could remember of him was his eyes. His eyes were really difficult to forget. They were really so green, like the sea…

Wait. That was it!

"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed upon remembering. "His name was Seamus Trent."

I really don't know why, but my mother's eyes immediately widened to about twice its original size. And her olive green orbs held only one emotion in them.

It was fear.

"Mom? Are you alright?" I asked her worriedly. I was quite frightened by the way she looked so scared right now. It seemed that her fear had managed to come onto me as well.

She shook out of her state then, but she still looked extremely worried and afraid. She directed her eyes down to the table top, looking very deep in thought.

"Mom?" I whispered, gently placing a hand on top of hers.

She didn't respond.

"Mom," I said more firmly this time, wanting so bad to know what was making her feel like this.

Still didn't respond.

And I couldn't take it anymore.

"MOM!"

She jumped abruptly, staring at me with wide, shaken eyes.

I studied her face and began to notice how she looked like she was about to go on the verge of madness now. It sent chills down my spine and a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Mom. Please tell me what's going on," I pleaded with her, desperate to know. "Do you even know that person?" I questioned her.

She seemed to regain some of her composure then, and she gave me a small but weary and barely-there smile. "Yes, dear Spring. Everything is fine."

I certainly did not buy it.

"Don't lie to me," I told her sharply. "You really freaked out when I told you his name. Now answer me truthfully; who is he?"

She stared at me with stony eyes, which were blank of any emotion right now. But after a few seconds, she exhaled a breath that I hadn't notice she had been holding in.

In a low murmur, she answered, "That man is just someone who I'm not so fond of remembering. I didn't really like him back then. And I just freaked out when you told me he had dropped by here."

She then looked back down on the table, biting her bottom lip and slowly gnawing at it.

"Is he a stalker?" I questioned her with extreme worry and concern. "Do you think we should call the police?"

She immediately shook her head. "No, no. Don't do such a thing, Spring. He's not a stalker, I swear to you."

But then, grasping my hands, she muttered to me, "But if you ever chance upon him again, please just get as far away from him as possible. So as to not cause any problems."

I looked at her in confusion. "What problems?" I asked her.

My mother pursed her lips again, and then suddenly let go of my hands and left the dining room without another word, leaving me hanging on the edge.

I was tempted to follow her and attack her with more questions and demand for more answers. But before I could even do so, a small voice in the back of my mind told me not to. Told me that I might make her a little worse that she already was. The voice told me to stay put until I was sure she could talk and act normally again.

And so I listened to that little voice, staying at the table and finishing up my soup and consuming both the cupcakes. I was sure Mom wasn't going to eat it anytime soon.

But unfortunately, as I ate, I couldn't shake off the new strange feeling that seemed to be lurking in the air.

The strange feeling that something was going to happen soon.