Purple Roses

ENCOUNTER

This is the second episode in one night. That's a record I'd believe.

I grimace as I lift my hand to the light. It is bleeding. I look to my left and see a rock lying there covered in blood. Hm, I must have gripped onto a rock.

"Parker?" a female voice shocks me up to feet. I look around in search of this voice. I feel my back heat up again. I moved too soon. "Parker it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." It says again and this time she showed herself.

She walks into the moonlight with a child sleeping on her shoulders. They both look dirty and tired. That's how I found her too. I don't let my guard down with them. I give her a growl.

"Who are you?" I ask her. The more I look at her, the more I'm convinced I've never met her in my life before. I don't remember this woman; how does she know me? "Who I am is not important right now. What's important right now is Rosie." She strains her neck to reveal the little girl laying peacefully on her back with her head rested on her shoulder.

"Who is she? Who are you?" I ask again.

"Parker you need to protect Rosie for me. I can't trust her with any other person right now but you. You are her other half. You need to protect her." She bends down to lay the girl on the floor. "Her other half? What are you talking about? Who are you and why should I protect her?" I take a step forward to try and stop her from leaving the little girl here. She takes a step back. "That is of no importance to you right now. The important thing right now is Rosie." She starts to fade into the dark.

"No wait!" I extend my hand to grab but she is gone. I look around for this woman to try and pick up her scent but nothing. She just disappeared into thin air.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" I yell at the top of my lungs frustrated and angry. Why is this happening to me? The pain in my back comes back. I fall down on my knees and close my eyes. Don't over exert yourself Parker, you don't want another episode. I take a deep breath to try and even out my breathing.

I hear some rustling behind me.

I quickly turn around and I see the little girl slowly rising up from the ground, rubbing her eyes. I watch her. She then stops rubbing her eyes and looks up at the sky. "Wow." She gasps. She extends her hands to the sky. "It's so close." She giggles to herself. I feel a weird flutter in my chest. I widen my eyes finally understanding what the mysterious woman meant when she said I was her other half.

No. She didn't. It wouldn't. It can't be. It shouldn't be.

I feel all energy leave my body as I watch in awe of this little girl in front of me. She opens and closes her hands as if to try and grasp the moon in her hands. Her eyes orbs, beaming with the light of the moon in them.

She then suddenly stops and looks at me shocked.

I look at her shocked as well. She is but a child. She looks no less or older than six-years-old. What is the moon goddess doing to me? What have I done to deserve such punishment and cruelty? I feel my chest get heavy and my eyes stinging.

"Where's Cara?" she asks me. Her voice soft and song like. "Where is Cara? Did you see Cara?" she asks me worried. I look down at my hands and see they are still bloody. I feel something warm drip onto my hands. I'm crying. I'm fucken crying.

"Damn it!" I mutter wiping away the tears from my face. "Damn it!" I say again as new ones keep replacing the ones I wiped off. "Damn it!" I yell once again. "This isn't happening." I say my breathing getting irregular. I blink away the tears and look up at the full moon. I just stare at it, tears falling down my face. I'm tired. I can't take it anymore. I can't. This is too much.

My mate. My better half. The love of my life. Is a child. How is this supposed to even work? I've waited 24 years of my life for my mate and she's six. My mate is fucken six. What am I supposed to do with a six-year-old?

"Mister." I hear her call me. I look down at her. She is on her feet now. I watch her. "Why are you crying? Are you okay?" she asks walking boldly towards me. I don't move away. I want to see how close she'll get towards me. She stands in front of me, bends down and gives me a hug. I widen my eyes as a weird feeling of electricity seems to run through my body at the contact.

"Don't cry. Rosie cries when she sees people cry." She sniffles. I don't say anything. She hugs me tighter. "Please. Don't cry." She begs me. I feel myself smiling. My breathing starts to even out, the frustration and anger I've just felt a minute ago feels like days ago. I feel so at ease and calm. I close my eyes, enjoying the sudden peace and tranquillity she brings.

She then backs up to look at my face. And I see a trail of tears on her cheeks. She sniffles and smiles at me. "You feeling better mister?" she asks me. I nod still not saying anything. "Have you seen Cara?" she then asks me. I gulp, suddenly feeling bad for her. "She left a couple of minutes ago." I tell her, waiting for her reaction. She looks at me with no emotion on her face. "She left me?" she asks trying to understand. I nod. "Why would she leave me with a stranger?" she starts to tear up.

Her calling me a stranger made me feel weird inside. I wanted to tell her I'm not a stranger but her better half. But she won't understand what it is I am saying. She is still a child. "Cara asked me to protect you." I tell her, not sure where I am going with this. "She knew me. She called me by my name. My name is Parker and she asked me to protect you." I try to explain to her.

She sniffles. "Protect me from what?" she asks. I blink my eyes. "Cara didn't tell me." I tell her. "But I trust her. She said that I'm the only who could protect you." I explain. She looks at me, still no emotion on her face. "I trust Cara." She wipes the trails of tears off her face. "If she said, you are the only one who could protect me then I believe her." She gives me a small smile.

I smile back at her.

"Parker." She calls me. I nod, fully attentive. "Your face is all bloody from your hands." She touches my face, where I'd like to believe the blood was. I back away from her touch. "Don't touch blood you don't know who it belongs to." I tell her. She looks at me shocked. "But it belongs to Parker. And you are Parker." She says. I smile. "How can you tell it's my blood?" I joke, knowing full well she saw my bloody hands, she saw the cuts.

"It has your smell on it." She folds her arms over her chest. "Because it's on my face." I chuckle. "So it would obviously smell like me." I point out. She shakes her head. "No." she starts swaying side to side. "Your blood smells different from you. I don't know how to explain it but it just is." She frowns at me getting impatient.

'Parker? Where are you?' I hear Syris ask me through the mind link. 'You have been sending distress signals but we can't find where you are.' Syris adds quickly.

'No, don't worry Syris I'm okay. I just went on a little run.' I say.

'You went on a run, in your condition? Parker do you want to die?' he raises his voice at me. 'Sorry for the tone but it is necessary.' He adds.

'Syris, I'm not a child that needs scolding from their mother. Okay? when I say I'm okay, I mean it.' I tell him.

'Fine. But what were the distress signals for? Were you testing how long we would take to reach you when in need of an emergency?' he asks me serious.

I think about this.

'Yes and you failed. It seems like you guys have started slacking on your training. I guess I need to be there to supervise you guys.' I tell him.

I hear him groan. 'I'll be back in no time. Tell the others the news and please prepare an extra room for me.' I cut the mind link. I don't want him asking me who it's for, I don't want to share Rosie's sudden appearance just yet. But in tomorrow's meeting I guess I'd have to.

I blink my eyes and see Rosie watching me.

"Were you talking with someone?" she asks. I nod and get up. I brush the sand off my knees and look down at her. "I need to get home." I arch my arm for her to hold. She takes it with no hesitation. "Let's go. I'm getting cold." She tells me and starts walking ahead. I smile and let her lead.

She keeps skipping and humming to herself as we walk.