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I wrote this back in 07' and never liked the formatting I used on the original.  After so many years I've returned to it and this is the final version taken and reworked from that first story, now brought back to life with new color and direction. 

 

 

Chapter 1:  Veronica's Treat



Here I was standing in Veronica's home, admiring all of her dark hued upholstery and low lit antique fixtures that decorated her living room. It was amazing for me being here and looking back I have no clue how it happened, but that I've wanted to be here for years. Out of nowhere she simply invited me over as I was heading for home like I've done so many times this winter. I was passing outside the iron gates of her large estate when she walked down the hill of her driveway and said I looked cold and could use a cocoa or something to that effect, I was just so amazed that her voice I was hearing was actually being aimed in my direction. I only hope that I didn't look too eager when I so quickly agreed.


The air was much nicer inside and I could feel myself thawing out as I took off my heavy coat and hung it on the rack. Veronica's home was stunning with its dark antiquity softened by a lush array of potted plants and tapestries. Everything looked expensive like I'd always imagined it would from the highly landscaped appearance of the place from the outside. Soaking in the visuals of Veronica's home I take a seat on the sofa and glance an interesting book resting on the coffee table. A big silver pentagram embroidered right into the cover was a certain giveaway as to what type of contents might have lied within, and I was forgivably made curious of her possessing such a book.


Opening the cover revealed a large black and white picture of a very old looking tombstone, a large Celtic cross engraved into the middle of it. Whoever the sculpture was did a beautiful job I had to give them that, the artwork looked fantastic. Too fantastic in fact, it made me want to keep staring at it, as if I wanted to transfer this picture to visual memory. I haven't ever really given books like these much thought, but this one was beginning to have a weird effect on me and I realized I didn't want to pull away from it. I never knew before that Veronica was even interested in this kind of stuff.


Just then I heard someone enter into the room and it broke me from the trance I was having with the book. Snapping up I saw my former classmate Stephanie enter from the hallway. I always thought she was pretty with her long red hair and cherubic features and wasn't surprised seeing her here as Veronica and her were nearly inseparable in school. Her lips parted into a smile when she saw what I was looking at.

"Hi Josh, how are you doing, I haven't seen you since high school." "Oh, hi Stephanie, I've been alright. Good to see you." I attempt to say in an un-awkward kind of way. "Yeah, it's good to see you too, well you take care okay. Veronica should be down in a minute." She says as she gives me this mischievous look and lets her eyes once again dart down toward the book on the table.

"What was that all about?" I wonder to myself as Stephanie leaves as quickly as she came in. I saw the way her eyes fell to the book and then back to me, but that smile? The way she did it suddenly made me feel a bit uneasy. I could already sense how terrible this was going to feel if my being here turned out to be some kind of cruel joke I was in. I didn't believe Veronica was that kind of person though.


Of course I couldn't think much on it when the person I've been waiting for suddenly appears at the base of the stairs and heads toward the kitchen. "Hey Veronica, do you need any help?" I call after her when I hear the sound of clanking pans and opening cupboards. "No it's ok, but you can come in here if you'd like." I hear her call back to me. Giving the picture one last look I force myself to push this feeling in my stomach behind me and decide just to ride this through. Even if this is all some kind of joke, I'll still get to be in Veronica's presence for a little longer.


Stretching my arms after getting to my feet, my body felt leaden and heavy for some reason. Sort of like that feeling you get when you sat in one place for too long. How much time did I spend on the couch? It couldn't have been more than ten minutes anyway. Shrugging it off I was once again caught up in the elegance of the house. I really liked her home, it was kind of dark in here, but it definitely had a warm and cozy feel to it. Despite my misgivings about my encounter with Stephanie the place made me feel welcome, the same feeling I always got around Veronica in high school. I just wish I could have gotten to know her better than I did, but maybe this was going to be my chance. I just have to make sure I don't screw this up and do anything stupid.


Following the sound of running water led me down a hallway full of paintings of old looking forests and what must have been family. The light at the end opened up into a large spacious kitchen complete with high vaulted ceilings and stainless counter tops. Ebony and dark chocolate tile set the atmosphere again with that mysterious but warm appeal that was becoming familiar to me now. Veronica was running water into a teakettle from the deep basin sink with her back to me as I entered. Her dark brown hair flowing down her back, and ending just below her beltline. Seeing her standing there I had to keep my eyes from focusing on her black calf length boots with the four inch heels clicking on the terracotta floor. It wasn't easy because she looked really great in them.


Just seeing her sent my temperature rising and I was lost for words. Luckily she saved me from my awkward pause when she saw me at the doorway. "Hey Josh, go ahead and have a seat there, I'll have the chocolate ready in a minute." She says, pointing to a stool at the counter. I take a seat and watch her work in silence for a bit, pretty much in awe of my own good luck for being here. Veronica really was very much a vision, with milky white skin and soft gentle features. Her deep almond eyes had a strong almost piercing gaze that made you feel welcome, but always seemed to be telling you more than what you were hearing. Much like you could listen to her eyes speaking to you as you looked into them, but you couldn't understand the language and were left wondering as you admired their depths. She had a very Eastern European appearance since she was native to the country Romania.


"Hey Josh, what are you staring at?" Veronica asks with a smile over her shoulder. "Nothing, I'm sorry. I was just thinking." Came the first dumb reply that popped into mind. "Thinking huh, and what about?" She countered with that same full smile. "I dunno this place just relaxes me I guess and I started daydreaming." I say honestly. "Yeah, I really like it, this used to be my Aunt's house before she moved back to Romania. Because of her it has a lot of the same elements as home so it makes me comfortable living here." She says, gazing around the kitchen.

"Home being Romania?" "Yes, I miss it there, but this place makes me feel less homesick." She replys while trying to grab a mug off the top shelf of the cupboard and apparently having trouble. "Here, let me get it for you." I offer and move around the counter. "Thanks we're about the same height, but you have those long arms Josh." She says to me like she was just realizing it again. "Yeah, but they make me feel like a monkey sometimes." I joke while feeling a little nervous standing this close to her. "I'm sure, but they don't make you look like one so don't worry about it." She laughs while reassuring me. "Hey thanks, that makes me feel better." I say while bringing down the mug. "Thank you, go ahead and have a seat and I'll get it from here." She says while slowly taking the mug from me with both hands. I have to resist the temptation of getting lost in the pull of her eyes again and force myself, returning to the stool.


I watch as she opens a packet of chocolate and adds it to the mug with a scoop of sugar and steaming water. Instantly the room fills up with the smooth, delicious fragrance of melted chocolate. Taking the mug in both hands Veronica turns toward the counter and kindly blows the heat from the liquid. I'm captured by the way her lips form as she gently cools the mug while her eyes gaze over the rim and bore straight into mine, immediately having a strong effect on me. She's never teased me this way before, but I was really liking it.


Taking a seat across from me she rests her chin on her clasped fingers and watches me expectantly, so I use the opportunity to taste the mug's warm contents. The fact that Veronica prepared it, and even blew it cool for me made me want to keep it as a token to remember her forever almost as badly as it made me want to taste it. All too soon the chocolate went down and was gone as I emptied the mug, the flavor of good cocoa dancing on my tastebuds. Veronica watched me with a smile that seemed quite satisfied I approved of her treat.


After a moment’s pause I set down the mug and look up at her. "It was delicious, thank you," I try to say. "You’re very welcome, I am glad you liked it." She responds to me as she again takes the mug in her hands. It took me several heartbeats to wrap my head around what just happened. I know I didn't say anything aloud just now though I had tried, but somehow I couldn't say anything at all. I never heard myself speak, and yet Veronica still answered to the words that were never spoken. So now I'm left feeling like I had somehow stepped outside of myself while Veronica watches me fight to grasp what just transpired. From deep within this strange inner feeling starts to grow and begins overtaking my body. A kind of warm numbing that feels as if the hot cocoa were coating itself throughout my core, starting at my throat and quickly spreading.


I can't speak and I feel like I'm being attacked from within so my natural reaction is to panic. Grasping for my throat I prepare to lunge into a standing position when I unexpectedly feel Veronica's soft hand take hold of mine and my eyes meet hers. "Josh," Comes her commanding voice. "I need you to listen to me. Just focus on my voice alright. I know this is a shock to you, but I assure you that everything is going to be ok. I know you don't understand what is going on, so allow me to explain it to you. The chocolate that you just drank is an elixir, something that is going to enable you not to lie to me. So really it's a truth serum so to speak. Don't worry, nothing in it was poisonous or deadly so you're going to be fine." She tells me while looking right at me and squeezing my hand.


My first impulse is not to believe her, but I cannot deny the imploring look in her eyes and the stable touch of her hand begins to calm me down several degrees. The physical contact from her really helped as it was like an anchor to me while my body felt as if it were trying to float away. Her fingers were so warm and soft, but had a strength that helped keep my mind in place as my head swam through incoherences. She might of robbed the panic of its peak, but I was still very scared for what was going on.


Veronica gave one more firm look into my eyes before rising from her stool and guiding me from mine. "Come; follow me to the living room where both of us can see where this goes." She whispers as she guides my hand over her shoulder while turning before letting it drop and leaving me on my own to follow in her wake.


I watch her move away from me, her heels echoing against the floor, and I get the urge not to let her get too far ahead. I was still much disoriented and not able to think clearly. I knew that, so if she had the answers I needed then I didn't want to be left alone in the kitchen.


Finding my legs again I focus on Veronica's boots moving away from me and do my best to follow them. Though my legs feel like heated rubber I manage to move forward through the hallway, using the walls for support.


Veronica takes her seat on the sofa and begins to unzip her boot while looking up at me and gently motioning toward the recliner with her chin. "Have a seat Josh, I have a feeling we're going to have a lot to talk about." She says as she pulls off her boot, revealing a deep blue sock and then sets the boot on the carpet beside her. I move over to the chair and allow myself a controlled fall into it. She finishes with her other boot and sets it beside the first, the boot falling over to its side.


"Ahh, that's better, these get hot after I wear them too long. It feels good to free myself from them." She says as she eases back into the sofa comfortably. "Before we begin Josh, I want to show you something, I think it will help us both a great deal." Turning her attention to the embroidered book on the table she picks it up and thumbs through the pages, occasionally grazing through its contents. "Here it is I thought you might like to see it." She says while coming to a page that she passes over to me.


There was a detailed drawing of a woman sitting on the side of a bed looking down at her feet resting firmly on the floor. There was nothing spectacular about it. It did have a slightly familiar feel to it, but that's probably because I saw the picture somewhere before. Not knowing what she was expecting me to see in the book I hand it back to her. "What is it?" "This is a book my Aunt left behind when she returned home; I showed you the picture because every time I came across it in the book I always thought of you for some reason. I'm not sure why." She says with a look as if she were recalling something from the past. Breaking from her thoughts she looks back at me. "Well I see that you got your voice back. I told you, you didn't have to be afraid." She says with that 'I told you so' kind of smile. "Yeah, I guess I did." I say, astonished with myself that I didn't realize it.


I sit there thinking for a minute about what she mentioned in the kitchen. "You said the hot chocolate was a truth serum? What did you mean by that?" "Well, I mean exactly that. After drinking the hot chocolate you are now unable to lie to me. I thought that if I gave you the elixir I might gain some insight as to why I kept thinking of you whenever I saw that picture." She says matter-of-factly. "Isn't that a little extreme?" I ask, thinking she could have just asked me about it without the need to drug me before hand. "Well, I know it seems that way, but theres actually a lot of factors about the importance of this you don't understand, and I can't really explain them to you right now. It was rude of me to mislead you the way I did."


"Rude, more like criminal of you" I thought silently to myself, unhappy with the prospect of being decieved this way. "So I can't lie to you?" I ask in an unbelieving tone. "I'm not surprised you don't believe it" Came her reply. "I would have a hard time believing it too if someone told me what I drank meant I was now unable to lie." "Yeah well, it was really good hot chocolate, but a truth serum?" I answer feeling more and more convinced by how foolish this sounds. "Ok, how about this then, you really like me, a lot, and you have for a long time now don't you?" She challenges me with extra emphasis on the 'a lot' part. "Well, yeah, okay, I mean who wouldn't like you? You were one of the most popular girls in school and I always thought you were beautiful." I say, adding way more than I intended to in my statement.


My answer made her smile wide, showing her well groomed teeth that had to have a fair amount of cash put into them to keep them so white and perfect. "Yeah, I've known that, but that's not all is it. I mean, it's not just a normal crush or anything that you've had on me. It's something more than that. Something deeper." She says with a knowing look that makes me want to run out of the house with embarrassment. "No! What are you talking about?" I stammer as I feel my face turn several shades of red. But that's when it hit me, that same feeling from before. The sensation of being taken over from the inside builds up again and all the while Veronica is saying "That's it isn't it, that's the key. So there was something more and I wasn't imagining it. Go ahead Josh and show me. Its alright you don't have to be afraid just because I know what you've been hiding." She says while sitting straighter on the couch and smiling from ear to ear at me.


I hadn't even told her anything and she was acting like I just spilled all my soul, but this feeling inside me I knew I was going to be in trouble. Maybe she was right and I was going to tell her everything. Just the thought was scaring the hell out of me. This was not going in the direction I was ready for and as I felt the fight or flight picking up in me again I was determined to take advantage of it this time and escape the embarrassment of my world falling apart. No one needed to know my secrets, they were mine to cherish on my own and I didn't want that impossible effort of having to explain myself, it wouldn't be fair. Being thoroughly convinced that I had to go I quickly got up from the chair and made my way towards the door. As soon as I stood up the room got fuzzy as hell, but I wasn't going to let it stop me and I reached out quickly for the door handle while feeling like I was falling flat on my face. I made one last grab over my head for the copper handle before my vision faded and everything went black...

Chapter End Notes:

Veronica's Discoveries and all associated content and characters are the (c) of Kotrebo

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