My Sweet Valentine

My Sweet
Valentine

By Dairenna
VonRavenstone

Copyright 2011
Dairenna VonRavenstone

Smashwords
Edition

Smashwords
Edition, License Notes

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Dedication

To all my fans
(even if there is just a handful of you), to my friends and my
family. A special thanks to graphic designer Paul Murray who allows
the free download of the chains used on the cover. My own graphic
designer sings your praises.

Inspiration:

After
writing
Have a Bloody Christmas
I figured I would stick with the whole horror-themed holiday
idea. You’ll notice that these two (this and
Bloody Christmas
) are even sectioned out the
same. Anyway, since I decided to do the 12in12 challenge I
desperately needed another novella for my second month into the
insanity, pardon, challenge.

As I’m typing
this, it’s January 28th and I have 9,000 for this month. I need
another 11,000. What you are reading now is my idea-gathering
before I actually start writing the story. That’s right this
inspiration section is nothing more than me gathering my
thoughts.

As for
where the actual idea for the following novella (short
story/whatever this turns out to be) came from, I’m not entirely
sure. I did think of the movie
My Bloody
Valentine
and cursed the use of ‘bloody’ in the title
as I wanted to use it. Then I thought of some high school nerd
being scorned, going insane and killing his classmates at a
reunion. But that’s too close to the aforementioned movie so I
changed it. I don’t know if I’ll like it better, I’ll get back to
you on that.

Part 1:
February 10th

Her name was
Amber. I have loved her since the day I first saw her in high
school. It was September, the first day of school and the weather
was balmy. She was wearing the school’s uniform kilt and her shirt
was a loosely tucked in. Her silky blond hair was framed her
heart-shaped face in gentle curls and waves that made her blue eyes
light up. I decided then that I wanted her for my future wife.

I wanted to ask
her out so much but decided that I had to get to know her better
first. Some people called me a stalker but I think I was (and still
am) hopelessly in love. She was perfect. Not a genius but smart
enough to carry on a conversation, not super-model gorgeous but
beautiful in her own way. I wanted her so badly.

This year, I’m
going to make her mine.

***

The middle of
winter was always her favorite time of year. It because the snow
gave everything a surreal and almost impossible feel to the world.
It was as if a tree was not really a tree but a piece of art
covered in glittering white masses of fluff. Winter also made her
remember the day her husband asked her out which was their first
date during their final year of high school.

They had been
good friends since the first year of high school when he told some
creepy guy she had no interest in to leave her alone. From there
they had a lot in common: the same movies, books and television
shows. She did have to admit to herself that he enjoyed some genres
more than she, and she would never want to play hockey.

It had been a
pleasant surprise when he asked her to dinner one cold Valentine’s
Day. She had thought she would go through her entire high school
career with only one creepy stalker following her with other boys
only dating her because she was pretty.

Winter also
reminded her of when he proposed four years later. He was finishing
his final term in business school and she was finishing her second
choice in degrees once she found her original career choice as an
English teacher would not work out well. This second choice had
been nursing which she took up because of the ability to help
people. Despite the tougher regime she loved her job.

It had been
after a long day of studying that he insisted on a walk in the
park. At first she disagreed to the suggestion but not because of
the weather. Walking through snow made her exuberant. But she had a
project to finish that was due the next day. He persuaded her in
the end and half-way through their walk around the man-made lake in
the park he got down on one knee and presented her with a slim gold
band with interlocking hearts.

The ring was
hallow where the two hearts joined, a jewel was supposed to be
present there but he said he had no money for the diamond at the
time (she could attest to that, schooling and basic survival
without outside aide was expensive) but he knew the ring was the
one for her. She said no diamond was needed as the ring was perfect
without it.

Two years
later, he presented her with a single diamond that fit perfectly
into the ring. It had been a gift on Valentine’s Day, a holiday
that she had started to warm up to since they began dating. Every
year he surprised her with gifts: roses, stuffed bears that
proclaimed their love when squeezed, expensive chocolates that she
loved but would never buy for herself and other such things. He
hardly ever gave her jewelry unless it would mean something to them
as a couple.

She hoped this
year would be no different, but only time would tell. Three days
previous, he had been called into the office and was told he was
flying to his company’s location in Texas. Depending on how well
the meetings went, he might not make it back on time for
Valentine’s Day.

The telephone
ringing brought her out of her thoughts and she rushed through the
two-story bungalow to grab the slim portable phone. She took a deep
breath and hit the “talk” button.

“
Hello?”
she questioned smoothly.

“
I’ve
missed you sweetie,” came the distinctively male voice from the
other end.

She allowed
herself a small grin as heat rose to her cheeks. Even after being
with him for ten years, he could still make her blush.

“
I’ve
missed you too Greg,” she replied with a little giggle.

“
I’ve got
some bad news, Amber,” Greg returned with a sigh.

“
You
can’t make it back, can you?” Amber asked before he could
speak.

The
disappointment must have been clear in her voice since Greg heaved
another sigh. Amber imagined him running his hand over his thick
dark hair.

“
Well
it’s not looking good,” Greg affirmed softly.

“
Oh,”
Amber stated.

She was not
disappointed in him, it was not his fault that he worked hard and
became the head of his department. It was not his fault that he had
to travel to other headquarters to attend meetings every two
months. She did miss him though.

“
If
Henderson agrees to the terms of the contract, I can finish up and
be there mid-day on the 14th. There might not be any special
surprises thought, but we’d be together,” Greg explained
quickly.

“
That’s
all that matters,” Amber told him in a joyful voice.

“
We can
always go back to the lake,” Greg suggested.

Amber wondered
when he would finally suggest that. It had been a few years since
they had been back to the place where he proposed.

“
That
would be perfect,” Amber agreed wholeheartedly.

“
Good,
I’ll call once I know for sure if I can make it back,” Greg told
her.

He was
ecstatic, she could tell by his voice. Amber was sure he was
thinking of what he could do with such a short time frame.

“
All
right, I’ll talk to you then,” Amber returned with a broad grin,
knowing full well he could hear her smile in her voice.

“
I love
you,” Greg uttered.

“
I love
you too,” Amber said in reverence.

Exchanging the
words of dedication never lost their appeal to them. The words
never lost their meaning, or their spark. Amber always felt the
familiar burst of emotion that made her warm all over when he said
those words.

Dial tone came
over the line and with a sigh, Amber hung up the phone. She was
just putting the phone in its cradle when the doorbell rang. With a
little gasp of surprise she began running to the door, wondering
who would be visiting her without calling first. Her friends and
family always knew to call as Greg might not be there or she might
be at work. She did not have a set schedule at work but neither did
Greg. Somehow this worked better for them than if they had a set
time to leave and go to work.

She made it to
the door and peaked out the peep hole. No one was there. Amber
unlocked the door and pulled it open to reveal her empty porch. A
burst of cold air refreshed her and she took a single step
outside.

Something
crinkled under her foot and she looked down. She gaped at the dozen
red roses she almost stepped on and swooped down to scope the
flowers into her arms. She remained framed by the door as she
peered down the street to catch the delivery man before he ran off.
She saw no one on the street and because her neighbours had been
kind enough to shovel her sidewalk and drive-way, there were no
footprints in the snow.

She frowned
lightly and stepped back into the house, locking the door behind
her before finally staring at the flowers again. A single white
card marred the red and she blinked at it before pulling it free
from the roses embrace. It read simply “To my sweet Valentine” in
exquisite gold script.

Amber chuckled
lightly as she made her way to the kitchen. It seemed like Greg was
all ready making sure this Valentine’s Day was one she would not
forget. A chill came unbidden along her spine but she assumed it
was simply from the cold. Red roses only had one meaning after all
and she should not be concerned about them appearing on her front
step. Greg had been doing sweet little things for her since they
first met...

Valentine’s
Day, 14 years prior:

Amber pulled
her locker door open and glanced in the magnetic mirror she had
hung there. Her hair was misbehaving, frizzing out in all
directions and she wondered at her own sanity for getting it cut
off before school started. She had loved her almost knee length
blond hair but her friends said that the nickname Rapunzel would
never leave her if she kept it so long. So she had conceited and
chopped off close to two feet of hair.

She sighed and
forced a large science textbook into her locker. She snatched the
math textbook and shoved it into her all ready full backpack.
Something crumpled and she hoped the worksheet, or notes would
still be in one piece when she made it to her next class. She never
thought high school would be so different then elementary school.
Apparently a lot changed going from one year to the next.

Her backpack
decided to rebel, as most inanimate objects do at the worst
possible time. It slipped from the precarious position she had
placed it in and she let out a little yelp as she scrambled to grab
it before it tumbled to the floor. She almost whacked her head off
the metal locker and felt a nail break as she grasped the strap in
one hand and prevented the fall.

She felt as
though she had just saved a child from a deadly plunge into some
kind of abyss and breathed a sigh of relief. She brushed back a
curled strand of hair with a grumble and flung her heavy load onto
one shoulder. The sound of the locker slamming shut was drowned out
by the ruckus of students moving around her. With her locker now
locked she turned and almost let out a shout of surprise.

Standing in
front of her was the boy that had been stalking her since the
beginning of the year. He was of medium height and reed thin with
greasy looking brown hair that covered his forehead. His eyes were
an interesting shade of brown and despite the smattering of pimples
on his face, he had good features. In his hand was a somewhat
wilted red rose.

“
Hi, I
wanted to give this to you,” he told her.

Amber blinked
at the offered flower with its deep red color and missing petals
here and there. She then remembered that it was Valentine’s Day and
wondered why of all the boys in the school that her creepy stalker
had to be the one to give her anything. She had hoped someone else
had noticed her but it was to no avail. She didn’t think she had
become that unnoticeable without her long hair.