The Age of Forever | ✓

Prologue

November 1924 ~ November 2015

IT was a windy night in 1924 when the lives of Adele Mason and Harold Bryon changed forever. The young lady and young man who'd moved to New York City for educational purposes were both invited to a glorious party at the Davidson's grand mansion. It was a mask party where all attenders were required to wear masks.

Like a Cinderella story, Adele and Harold had locked eyes from across the room with thousands of people in between. It was a moment in time where everything came to a stop, where everyone disappeared, leaving only the two to be.

Their feet carried them towards each other without much thought. An inevitable pull drove them together, disabling the world from interrupting their stance.

As they came to a stop inches from touching, Harold reached out his hand, which Adele grasped in response.

"I'm at lost for words," Harold spoke, his lips still frozen in a world of admiration, which he couldn't put to words.

"For what?" Her smile brightened at the deepness of his voice. Although she couldn't see his face, she couldn't help but admire the mere beauty of his aura.

"Well, I don't know about you, beautiful," he returned a smile, grasping her hand as tightly as she held his, "but, I've never seen a beauty such as yourself in my years on Earth. And I can't even see half your face."

"I beg to differ," Adele laughed, taking a step further.

"Hmm, really?"

"Yeah."

They stared at each other for a while, the world still a forgotten place. Questions after questions ran through their minds, filling them with the need to know more about each other.

In the end, curiosity killed the cat as Harold cleared his throat and tugged on Adele's hand, knocking her out of her gaze that was locked on him. The funny part of it was that they didn't notice how in desire they were with one another. They didn't notice how captivated they were as they looked at each other the way people hope to look at their soulmate one day.

It truly was a beautiful sight. Moments later, Harold invited Adele to a private room where they could indeed be alone and the two exited the charged crowd of the party.

Finally alone in the company of the white walls that enclosed a tasteful decor, the two sat facing the grand window that opened to the view of the beautiful New York City.

"You never told me your name, beautiful," Harold spoke for the first since they'd walked away from the party. His eyes wandered over Adele, catching the divine way her dress clung to her body.

She didn't notice his eyes, as hers were doing the admiration of their own. "Adele."

"Hmm," he hummed, relaxing his arms over the headrest. "That's a beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

She laughed at that, utterly taken back by his unwarranted genuineness. It was so breathtaking. "And yours?"

"Harold," he shrugged, "it's a bit outdated."

"Oh stop it. It's a powerful name," Adele objected, lightly pushing him in a playful manner.

"You think so?"

"Well of course I do," she smiled coyly, "its gorgeous name for a gorgeous man."

Her replication brought out a laughter from Harold. "Nice one, Elle," he'd started to say, but had stopped abruptly when he heard himself call her a name she hadn't told him. "Is it okay if I called you Elle?"

Her smile softened at his question and she reached out to caress his arm in soothingly. "You can call me whatever you like."

Taking in her words, he let out a sigh that held his relief and something else. Something so crazed yet crucially divine. He felt in peace with her, as if being with her had put him in his element, something he'd yet to find up until this second.

However, the world had plans of its own to execute an event never seen before that night.

Before either of them could say more, a bolt of lightning withholding more than a thousand volts hit the room they were in. Rather than catching on fire or falling apart, the room held together in its structure perfectly as the power from the lightening heated the room to the perfect temperature for Granton to take place; a state in which the body's elements position themselves to withstand the wrath of time, disabling the body from aging.

This state would later be found by Professor Grant Bryon in the year 2126.

Adele and Harold were jolted into a deep sleep as their bodies rested into Granton, preparing for eternity.

They were found hours later by the maids, and were taken to different hospitals.

They woke up a day later with no memories of that night, nor of each other.

When they were released from the hospital, they went on about their lives as they had before; with no recollection of that night.

Years went on and Adele finally met a man that made her believe that love, in its purest form, still existed. His name was Alexander Hartland. They married five months after they'd first met and had a baby girl a year later in 1937. They named her Holly. Holly Hartland.

Harold, however, traveled the world for many years, eating exquisitely prepared dishes and learning how to prepare them himself. He'd finished culinary school two years after the incident and had set on learning as many cultures as he can before he tried to open his own restaurant.

In 1957, Harold traveled back to San Francisco to visit his father. When, for the first time, someone commented on how unaged he looked, Harold finally took notice of how unlike a 57 year old man his physique appeared. His skin was still fair, his hair grey-less and his body as taut as it had been in the 20s.

He couldn't fathom what was going on.

Neither could Adele, who'd gotten a comment pointing out how young she looked for a 56 year old from an old friend at her husband's funeral. Alexander had lost his life in a brutal car accident, in which he was hit by a lady who was driving while drunk.

Although that moment in her life devastated her beyond words, she began to think of what could be going on. Why wasn't she aging like a normal person? Why did she look exactly like she did in the 20s with her shining blond hair and fine glowing skin?

Both tried to understand what could be going on with their bodies. Amidst his travels, Harold sought out ancient legends that might mentioned such states. However, he came up short. As did Adele, who had tried to diagnose herself by reading countless medical books that served her nothing but misery.

After countless of research that was nothing but a waste of their time, Adele and Harold knew what they had to do.

And so they vowed to move around constantly, not allowing themselves to get close to anyone, in case they suspect of their dark secrets. They continued their research of their possible diagnosis. But they have yet to find anything useful.

Adele left her daughter to her aunt when she was 19 years old and has only seen her four times during her constant move around the nation. Holly was now 88 years old and was a grandmother of six. All of whom Adele has yet to meet.

But in the year 2015, the world decides to screw up the plans of Adele and Harold once more.

They both decided to move to San Francisco for their next move. While Adele moved to be closer to her daughter after considering her sensitive age, Harold moved to finally open up a branch of his internationally well-known and high class restaurants in his home town.

On a bright Thursday morning in November, they both take a visit to Fitzsimons Credit Union for personal purposes. They enter the same elevator along with a couple of other people.

As the elevator empties and leaves Adele and Harold alone, the entire system goes through a glitch, stopping the elevator in its tracks.

And for the first time since that night in 1924, Harold and Adele were alone.