After closing the computer down, she realized she was feeling a little nauseated. “Too much alcohol.” Groaning, she washed her cup and went to bed. Curling up in the warmth of her bed, she fell asleep, her hand stroking her anklet.
The next day she spent out of her apartment, running at the park, going to lunch with Denise, having afternoon coffee with her friends Luis and Trevor. She figured getting those three emails from IDS quelled her desire for online dating sites since she had not had an inkling to check her computer so far for the day. That changed at exactly 5:02. She was wearing a long denim skirt and had just crossed her left leg over her right, thus showing her ankles for the first time that day.
“Ari!” Trevor exclaimed, looking at her foot. “Where did you get that?”
Looking down, she blushed slightly looking at the anklet. Each time she looked at it, she loved it more and more. It felt as though it was becoming an integral part of her. “Oh, just a gift from a friend.” She passed it off with a smile.
He looked into her eyes and a slow grin spread across his face. “Well, well, well, looks like Ari has found herself a man, a man with money.”
Luis looked around him and focused on the piece of jewelry. A low whistle left his lips. “Holy shit, Ari. What did you do for that?”
Frustrated and a little embarrassed about how she had come to own the beautiful item, she glared at him. “Nothing! Well, nothing bad anyway. I joined an online dating site and this was one of their gifts for joining.”
He let out another low whistle and winked at her while leaning back against his life partner. “Well, if that is the kind of stuff they are giving out…if Trevor and I ever break up, I want the URL.”
“Excuse me.” The three of them turned to look at the barista who was standing at their table looking amused.
“Yes?”
The girl handed Ari a large drink. “It is a large white chocolate latte from the tall man in the gorgeous suit over by the door. He said to give it to the girl with the fancy anklet.” Following the direction the girl was pointing, Ari caught sight of a tall, thin man in what looked to be a very expensive suit. She could not see what he looked like because he wore a large hat that threw a shadow on three-quarters of his face, but there was no doubt as she looked at him, two things happened at the same time.
First, he raised his fingers to his hat, tapped the rim, and then walked out. Second, she let out a little squeak as her left ankle burned slightly.
The other three laughed and the barista walked away fanning herself. “Well, looks like you caught some rich guy’s attention,” Trevor said with a wicked grin. “Maybe that piece of jewelry is a talisman to draw rich men to you.”
“Yes,” Luis chimed in, grinning. “Or at least a good luck charm.”
Rolling her eyes, Ari rubbed at her ankle where the burn had stopped. She put up with their ribbing for another thirty minutes before they all needed to go. When she left, she dropped the untouched coffee in the trash. She had been too uncomfortable to drink it in front of the guys and now it was cold anyway.
As she got into her car the desire to check her computer came on her quickly, so quickly in fact she was out of the parking lot and two-thirds the way home before she even realized it. By the time she pulled into the parking lot, she felt anxious for some reason, as though if she did not check her computer, something bad would happen.
Reminding herself that, that was a stupid thought, she nevertheless jogged the short distance from her car, quickly letting herself inside and turning on the computer. For once, she did not go and do other things while it booted up. Instead, she sat while impatiently tapping her foot as the clunker went through its paces. “Hurry up,” she hissed, starting to drum her fingers on the desk.
As the windows screen came up and she poised her hand over the mouse, her phone started to ring. “No!” she exclaimed, unsure as to why she was being so jumpy. Pulling the phone out of her pocket, she checked the caller id. Out of area. Groaning, she accepted the call.
“Yes?” she snapped.
“Arwen?” She immediately recognized the voice as the one from days ago.
“Who is this?”
“Arwen! I’ve been trying to get hold of you for days, honey! It’s Abigail.”
Abigail? Her mouth dropped open. What was her grandmother calling her for? She never called. “Abigail?” she said cautiously.
“Yes!” her grandmother said, her line cutting in and out, filled with static. “Look, I don’t have much time, but have you done anything strange lately?”
Ari snorted. “Strange? Not that I know of.” Her life was a veritable pile of boredom interspersed with the occasional blasé moment.
A loud sigh drifted through the phone. “Are you sure?”
“Abigail? What could I have done? I work twelve hours a day during the week, go out with friends on the weekend. I don’t have time to do anything strange.” Except for some online dating, but nowadays that was not so strange.
“Hmm, well then, I don’t know what the psychic was talking about.”
“Psychic?” Ari barely held back a snort.
“Yes, I saw a psychic a few days ago. She told me my granddaughter was getting into something she would not be able to handle. I tried calling you that night, but my phone cut off. Seems,” she chuckled, “that I have been all upset over nothing. So, I have a minute or two left, how is my favorite grandchild doing?”
“I won’t tell Jane and Cory you said that,” Ari said dryly, making her grandmother laugh.
“Oh, Cory is all right, but Jane needs to stop being so stuffy. Tell me, are you enjoying your life, Arwen?”
Gnawing on her lip for a moment, Ari was surprised to find herself rubbing her anklet. Almost immediately, her eyes were drawn to her email screen where there were one hundred and five new emails. “My life is okay. Nothing to complain about.” Even as the words passed her lips, she knew how untrue they were, but would not take them back for anything.
“Uh-huh,” Abigail said, sounding unconvinced. “Well, I need to go, honey. There is not a lot of cell service where I am. Just promise you will think carefully about anything fun or exciting before you do it, okay?”
“Sure, Nana,” she sighed, snickering when she heard Abigail’s intake of breath.
“Arwen Reynolds, I to—” The line cut off.
Grinning, she pocketed the phone. It had been nice actually to hear from her grandmother for once. She would have to send a message to Cory and Jane telling them Abigail was seeing a psychic now. That should give them a good chuckle.
Turning back to her computer screen, she looked at the folders. Most of the messages were from the boring sites, but there were four from IDS. Ignoring all the other emails, she opened up the IDS folder, scratching her ankle when it tingled. Her eyes ghosted over each note’s subject.
You have mail from CourageousKaro
You have mail from TemperedAlbino
You have mail from CalliperedStresser
You have new mail from AttractivelyAgile
Surprised she had a second email from the weirdo with red eyes who wanted a woman to kneel at his feet, she concentrated on the first three. All three were similar and before going on to AttractivelyAgile’s message, she visited their profiles.
CourageousKaro’s picture reminded Ari of what she always thought a gnome would look like, long curly white beard and bushy eyebrows included. Once again, she saw a narrative only and wondered if most men’s profiles were like that.
I am from Beysa Minor. For the last decade I have been involved with the Dolotheon Conflict…
Groaning, she went to the next. What was it with men and war? Did they honestly expect to get a girl with such talk? Besides, she was beginning to think the guys who subscribed to the site were either mentally unbalanced or teenagers who spent their days role-playing. She quickly skimmed through the other two profiles before closing them and going back to email. “Okay, Agile, let’s see what you have to say today.”
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My dear Corruptible,
I apologize, I could not wait. After seeing your beautiful face, I could just imagine it in the most delicious of expressions. Pain, pleasure, fear, desire, hate, love. It is all there and I can hardly wait to see it in person. Write back to me so we can make this connection.
Orion
P.S. Do you truly enjoy chocolate in your coffee?
A chill went up her spine at the same time a sharp burn spread across her ankle. “Ouch!” she hissed, reaching down to rub it. This character sounded dangerous. Who would want to see pain, fear, and hate in someone’s expression? “Sicko,” she grumbled, clicking on his profile link. There had to be a way to block him and now seemed the time.
As she waited through the strange flashes and then as his profile downloaded, his postscript flitted through her brain. Do you truly enjoy chocolate in your coffee? A flash of the strange man standing by the door, his face in shadow came into her mind. “No, no way! There is no way he could know who I was, let alone where I would be. No.”
And yet, the constant burning of her ankle and the queasiness in her stomach told her something was wrong here. Why would he have mentioned chocolate and coffee if he did not send it to her at the coffee shop? And yet the possibility he could be the man in the coffee shop had to be astronomical, didn’t it?
His profile popped up, and she tried to ignore his picture and narrative while she looked around for a block button. The nausea in her stomach and burn in her ankle increased the longer she stayed on the page, but she could not find what she needed. “Fine!” she finally called aloud as she closed the screen, giving a small whimper of relief when her ankle stopped burning.
Quickly deleting the email from the scary man, she was startled to see a new message in the box.
You have mail from CuriosityLemmings
She stared at the email suspiciously. So far, the emails from IDS had not been normal in any way, and the profiles were even worse. Did she even want to open this one? A small tingle in her ankle seemed to make the nausea go away, and before she even realized she was doing it, she opened the message.
Why is it first messages are so difficult to write? I mean, it should be very easy to write something like “I am fantastically wonderful and your soulmate,” but not only is that not easy, it would be a lie as that is not something we can tell, now is it?
My name is Terrian, and I live in a library. I know, exciting right? Well, actually it is not. I live in the largest library in our largest city. We serve over a million residents of our fine hamlet. It is my job to make sure everything is up to date, so our fair citizens have access to all the newest information out there. I spend most of my day around books and technology devices, so unfortunately I do not get the time to date much.
Which is why I joined the Interdimensional Dating Service. My brother met his mate here, and I figured I would give it a try. No harm in trying, right?
You sound like a very interesting woman from your profile, not to mention, absolutely stunning, and I would love to learn more about you. You mention you love books. What are your favorites? From your neck of the woods, I prefer Aristotle and Shakespeare. They make me think, laugh, and think some more.
Well, that is all I will say for now. I hope to hear back.
Terrian
“Wow, he actually sounds human,” she snickered. “What’s he doing on this website?” A feeling she could not describe started at her ankle and moved its way up her leg. It wasn’t unpleasant, though she did not think she could classify it as pleasant either. It just was.
Figuring she might as well check out his profile so she could cross him and IDS off her list permanently, she clicked the link. To her surprise, it downloaded much faster than the others had, right after her screen flashed three times. She stared at the image on the screen for several minutes without moving. Her mind was having a hard time making sense of what she saw. Terrian looked…normal, in a strange sort of way.
In the black and white photo, he had dark hair that came to his shoulders, dark eyes, and very angular features. His eyes looked directly into the camera and something about them made her heart skip a few beats and then take off as though it was in a race. He was sexy, there was no doubt, and yet compared to the others, he felt normal to her, even though something in the back of her head kept saying there was something off about his photo. Maybe it was the nice message he wrote that made him feel so normal.
When she was finally able to tear her gaze away from his picture, she looked at his narrative, hoping against hope he wasn’t going to talk about war.
Everyone has something to say on these things, but most of what could be said should be saved for a face-to-face meeting. So, I will give you an overview. I live a rather lonely life. My work and position make it so I cannot get out and just date, as much as I would prefer to be doing so. I come from a very large family and am the only unmated sibling left, much to my parents’ disapproval and my brothers’ amusement.
For everyone there comes a time in their life where they are just ready to meet that special someone. I suppose I have finally reached that time. Ask yourself the following questions. If your answers are yes, I look forward to getting to know you.
Terrian
Q1. Can you handle stress well?
Q2. Do you enjoy silence?
Q3. Do you feel as though magic surrounds us all, coming out at the strangest times to make us notice?
Q4. Do you like me so far? *wink*
Laughing in delight at his friendly profile, Ari bounced softly in her seat. Finally, here was a possibility! He sounded nice and had a great sense of humor not to mention his picture was attractively normal. Sitting up straight, she minimized the profile and went back to his message, clicking the link to reply.
Terrian,
Thanks so much for your message. Yours is the first one I have received that did not make me shudder. I have no issues with you living in a library as so do I. I prefer to spend my time around books. They are non-judgmental…well most of the time. Ha ha.
Aristotle and Shakespeare. Interesting duo. Can you imagine those two standing toe-to-toe having a discussion? Something tells me Aristotle would get annoyed first, if he did not try to come on to Shakespeare that is.
Your life sounds as lonely as mine. I have a few friends I go out with on the weekends, and I see and talk to my two sisters on a weekly basis, but my mother left us a decade ago. I have never met my father and my only other living relative, my grandmother, traipses around the planet digging up things and sending them to me.
To be honest, I only joined this website because my sister Jane kept setting me up with the strangest men and we came to an agreement that if I joined an online dating service, she would stop. Up until your note and profile, I was sure the universe was filled with losers. Now, I might possibly change my mind.
I look forward to your next note,
Arwen
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the send button, hoping she didn’t come across as, as much of an idiot as she usually did with men she was interested in.
For some reason, she felt exhausted, as though reading and writing the message had taken everything out of her. Shutting down her computer, she changed into pajamas and went to bed. Maybe an early night would help. The instant her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep, two pairs of eyes watching her in her dreams. One pair was dark, intelligent, caring. The other was intense, sinister, evil. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake either of them. Four times, she awoke in a sweat calling out for a person she had never met.
“I must be going crazy,” she murmured the fourth time she woke up. Her ankle tingled as if to agree, and she slipped once again into sleep.
Chapter Five - The Shift Bracelet
Tapping her fingers on her leg, Ari stared out her living room window at the mountains outside. She hadn’t slept well the night before and was feeling jumpy. Added to that, she had agreed when Jane asked to come over with her three youn
gest children for brunch. Glancing over toward her computer, which she had studiously ignored all morning, her eyes caught sight of the three ugly stuffed pigs she got at the zoo. Hopefully, her nieces would like them.
Glancing at the clock ticking madly away on the wall, she was disgruntled to see only two minutes had passed since the fifteen or so since she last looked at it. Jane was not set to arrive for another thirteen minutes, and knowing her sister, it would be more likely to be thirty. Given she had thirty minutes, her eyes slid back over to her computer. Would Terrian have replied already?
“No,” she quickly said, taking a deep breath. She was not going to be one of those girls who waited with baited breath, or other such nonsense, for some guy to contact her. Leaning over, it took a moment before she realized she was rubbing her ankle again.
Groaning, she leaned back. Ever since she had put the anklet on, she always seemed to be touching it. To her embarrassment, even though she would not admit it to anyone else, she had not removed it since she put it on. She tried once and had a tiny panic attack. So far, it hadn’t tarnished at all, so she assumed getting the metal wet was not hurting it in any way.
Glancing up again at the clock, she grimaced. “Someone has slowed down time.”
A knock on her door surprised her. For one thing, Jane was never early; for another, she would have expected to hear Jane’s three children as they came up to her place. They were not exactly quiet. Walking quickly to her door, she opened it with a smile on her face, ready to greet her nieces, but there was no one there.
Surprised, she placed her hands on the door jamb and leaned forward looking both ways. Not a person was in sight. “Hello?” she called. No answer. As she pulled back to close the door, something caught her eye. Looking down, she was surprised to see a flower wrapped in tissue paper lying at her doorstep. At least she thought it was a flower. She had never seen anything quite like it.
Your Dimension Or Mine? Page 5