Jill noticed the sky looked dark. First snowfall was approaching fast, and she only had two days left till winter arrived, meaning she had no time to waste, she needed to ship the rest of her crops, stock up on animal feed and medicine, and chop fire wood. She sighed as she replayed her conversation with Muffy from a week ago. She had not asked anyone else for answers. 'I'm probably going to get the same reaction no matter who I ask.' She thought. But those words, they kept eating at her, making her thirst for an answer. 'Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.' She giggled at the rhyme game her mother and her father played with each other. 'I'm more like Dad. Curiosity always will prevail.'
Grabbing her toast and hot cocoa, Jill stepped out into the bitterly cold morning only to greet a strange sight in front of her.
A man was propped up against her shipping box. 'Is this some sick joke that Thomas is playing on me?' She quickly knelt beside him. 'No, even that jerk wouldn't do something this bad.'
The man looked cold, his lips slightly blue. He wore a stylish black jacket, dark purple pants and stylish glasses to complete his look. 'Must be from the city, a strange fellow at that.' she thought. He didn't look too much older than her, maybe around his early 20's. He had his head covered by a black beanie so it was hard to say what color hair he has, but the thing that made him stand out was his face.
It was so effeminate! Yet one could tell that he was a man, his shoulders were too broad to be a girl's. His skin was nearly as white as snow, yet he didn't look pasty, rather he looked like something not from this world. To put it simple, he was beautiful. Looking around, she realized this man may have been outside this entire night!
'Shit, I better do something before he freezes to death!' She had gotten a lot stronger from her farm work and with some of difficulty, she dragged him back into the house.
He didn't know where he was, but he was only thinking of how warm he felt. Was he dead? Dammit, he should've been smarter to know that sleeping outside was a bad idea. Especially since the police were out to get him! No wait, he's in someone's bed. Jail cell? Nah, this bed was too comfy. Perhaps some Good Samaritan? Preferably a rich Samaritan that he could 'borrow' from. Skye suddenly felt a presence next to him, and his instinct took over. He grabbed the small wrist, and with cat like reflexes, pinned the person down.
It was a woman who he pinned. Her pony tail, which had gotten a lot longer, was splayed across the bed and her violet eyes wide with shock. Her lips slightly parted. 'Good,' he thought. 'She looked a lot better since I left her that time…' He mentally thanked the Goddess for not letting her waste away any worse than the last time he checked on her.
Yes, with his luck, he just pinned Jill across the bed. Oh Goddess.
He smirked; she was his toy, his plaything. He loved manipulating her, making her blush furiously, stutter incomprehensible sentences, yet he could never hide himself from her. She always had the ability to see right past his fake intentions. No matter how much time may pass, he always knew that he was her's. She owned his heart and sadly he broke hers. "Heh, what a nice surprise to see you fair maiden-"
A sharp, sicking pain that he felt in his groin made him release his grip on her. She just kneed him in the balls. Hard. He rolled around the bed, groaning in pain. The next thing he knew was he felt something cold against his temple.
He was looking straight into a barrel of a gun. The amount of shock he had at that moment could have killed about twenty old people. She was dead serious, her voice completely dead-panned, her eyes were cold and did not recognize him. As if he was a stranger.
"You got about five seconds to tell me who you are, how you got to my farm, and why you just attacked me fucker."
Jill was shaking beneath all of that confidence that she displayed. Goddess knows that she had no idea how to work the gun, the only thing she knew was that if she pulled the trigger, this guy would be history. Her mind was reeling. When he pinned her she felt a million jolts of electricity ran through her. The pain in her heart came back with a vengeance. But it was the look in his eyes, that she couldn't shake it.
They were green. Not like Muffy's happy olive green eyes, or Karen's pine green eyes. No, they were cat like emeralds, twinkling with mischief. It was the emotion in them that did her in.
He looked at her with such longing, it frightened her.
Now though, he looked confused, like he was the small child walking in on his parents making love.
"My name…is Steiner, such a lovely maiden shouldn't be handling such a beastly weapon. It almost ruins your beauty. Perhaps if you lowered your weapon we can talk more ….civilly."
"Not a chance girly man, you still haven't answered my other questions."
He was quiet for a minute before Jill menacingly pressed the gun harder against his head. " I'm a traveler. I heard that this farm shows some…hospitality. So I came here, though I must have passed out from exhaustion before I had the chance to knock. And I 'attacked' you because it's a reflex of mine, I'm a traveler after all, I didn't want to get mugged. "
"Have you heard of the Inner Inn? That's where you should have gone, not here. " She lowered the gun from his head. "I'm sorry for fighting you, but there are reports of some thief running around close to here. You can't trust any stranger now a days."
The man seemed too quiet, as if calculating what to say next. "I'm very sorry for causing you any harm fair maiden, you see I've been looking for some work… It's tough times in the city, and I was hoping to find some out here in the countryside."
"You see, I have no family. I've been wandering the country side for quite some time and since winter is approaching, well as you see for yourself my lovely maiden, sleeping outside is not a good option for me."
"It's asking a lot from you, but would you mind if I worked here, I have…some experience in farming per say."
The nerve of this man! First he show up out of nowhere and now he's begging for a job? What a bummer! But could he have something to do with her amnesia? There's something to him, like a mystery. The pain in her chest seems to have calmed down, rather than the pain, it was beating hard. Perhaps this man…
No, he's just a wanderer, probably has nothing to do with her lost memory. Yet, perhaps this is the key, he's a stranger so he can't judge her for whatever her request is.
"Steiner was it? Well…I have no idea why you're asking me to hire you but..." she looked at him. He had a complete poker face. Unreadable. Damn. "OK, but I've got some conditions." He smirked.
"Oh? And what would they be my lovely maiden?"
She took a deep breath. "I lost a memory and I need someone to help me find it."