Aden stared at the closed door in disbelief, unsure of how to proceed. He had angered her and feared he damaged what little connection they had shared thus far. He was sure she knew more than she admitted but for now he'd let it go. He returned to his truck frustrated at how he had pushed her.
He drove home in silence trying to think of ways to apologize. Her face burned in to the forefront of his memories, dominating every thought. The fuzzy pictures of his memory circled around her eyes as if they were somehow connected to her. He sped through four red lights as the words, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the presence of family and friends to join this man to this woman..."echoed through a torrent of unfocused faces. He could hear a voice repeating the vows, but it was distorted like a choppy cell phone. He turned the stereo up to drown out the noise in head. Thoughtlessly he veered into the right hand turn lane to enter his apartment complex only to have to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting an old, blind man crossing the entrance with his walking stick. The man stopped near the center of his hood and turned his face towards him. For a moment, Aden thought the man wasn't blind at all, as it seemed he looked right at him through the darkened lenses of his sunglasses. The man smiled, then continued on his way, mumbling something to himself. Aden let the breath go he'd been holding and pulled his truck into its designated parking spot.
He was distracted by the distorted memories that he failed to notice his apartment door was slightly ajar. Echoes of church bells and laughter, panicked screams and sirens swirled around his psyche bringing on a fresh wave of frustration. He swung the door open, tossed his keys across the counter and sighed when they slid off the counter with the mail on to the floor. He picked them up and set them hard on the counter. He thumbed through the mail tossing each unopened letter back onto the counter after scanning the return addresses. He came across a photo near the middle of the stack. He stood slack jawed, staring at it as he let the rest of the mail fall to the floor. Suddenly his mind silent. His entire focus was on this one photo and he had no memory of the photo being taken, he recognized himself in it. Rose stood next him, smiling. He appeared a bit younger, though she looked virtually the same. They looked happy. In love. An engagement ring on her finger. The words written on the back read, Kaden and Twila. "Kaden and Twila?" he asked himself aloud.
"A picture of happier times, my friend. The answer to your nagging nightmares, no doubt."
Aden spun to find the pale stranger from the garage standing in the shadows of his living room. "How'd you get in here? Who are you?"
"If you would join me, I would be most happy to answer all your questions."
He thrust the picture in the man's direction. "Is this some kind of joke?! A well done Photoshop?"
"I assure you it is not. Won't you come with me, please? There's much you don't know."
The man's eyes shone like that of a cat in the dark fostering a level of terror Aden hadn't felt before. "No!"
"Ka- er, Aden, please. Don't make me use force. I do so despise violence."
"Get out of my house!" Aden yelled as he darted around the counter to get a kitchen knife. He felt foolish for not carrying a weapon. Naturally he knew how to use one, he simply chose not to. Now he wished he had.
"Very well. If you insist. Please, do forgive me for this." Faster than Aden would have thought possible the man moved from the shadows and subdued him before he could get the knife drawer open. The picture fell to the floor.