1) Paper Snowflakes (the original, isn't a sequel)
2) To Dance In An English Garden
3) A Night To Remember
4) The Trick Is To Keep Breathing
5) Life In A Heartbeart
6) With Me (the last in the series)
 

Disclaimer: Wish as I may, I don't own The Pretender or any of its characters.Thanx for not suing! ~Oriana
 
 

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Three radio stations, three impatient huffs. Again, a single manicuredfinger made its way to the tuning dial, and jabbed it with unnecessaryforce. After a short pause, Bing Crosby began to croon the lines of "TheHolly and The Ivy." Parker's eyes narrowed, and her grip on the steeringtightened, as she put every ounce of self-control into preventing herselffrom releasing a yell of irritation. She'd tried that an hour earlier,the last time she'd passed through a town large enough to offer a radiostation, only to be half-deafened by her own echo in the luxury car. Decidingthat turning off the stereo was the only chance of saving what was leftof her frayed nerves, she did so, and felt an immediate drop in her skyrocketingblood pressure.Why was it everyone had the need to constantly play Christmastunes?

In the absence of music, however, Parker again was left without a distracter,something to keep her mind off the holidays. Her eyes wandered to the housesof Bloomfield, lining the streets she drove on, all decked with colorfullights -just visible in the fading light of day- and plastic santas, andshe thought of her own home, back in Blue Cove, completely lacking holidaycheer. There were no lights or nativity scenes outside, there was no treeor mistletoe inside, not even a wreath on the door. She'd been avoidingthe thought of the holiday season since the first aisle of red and greenhad appeared at a local drugstore in November, avoiding thoughts of beingalone while others gathered with their families. Mom and Thomas were dead,Sydney and Broots had their own places to be, Daddy was god only knew where,and spending Thanksgiving or Christmas with Lyle was as appealing as atax audit.

Now, it was December 21, and here she was, driving as far as possiblefrom an empty house. Her original destination had been an equally emptycabin, but it was far from the Centre, and that was all that had mattered.It offered isolation, being in the Canadian province of Quebec, 30 milesfrom the nearest town.

These thoughts carried her past the town limits, and it was 20 minutesafter Parker had passed the last house that she was even aware of her surroundingsagain.

Miss Parker didn't have a clue where the hell she was, apart from thevague description of "somewhere in northern Vermont." She'd read the mapwrong, been 40 miles down the wrong road before even realizing it, anddecided to simply go wherever it led; after the screw up, use of the mapseemed rather pointless. Now, however, she wasn't so sure. The last raysof sunlight were disappearing, and the occasional sign of some businessin an upcoming town had disappeared. Probably best to turn around, headback to Bloomfield, and go towards Quebec in the morning. Parker didn'tknow a lot about the wilderness, but the one thing she knew for certainwas that you didn't want to get lost at night in a place like Vermont,that offered constant
snowfall. As she was waiting for a decent place to pull a u-turn, alog cabin off to one side caught her eye. Somewhat large, probably thewinter vacation house of some family. It was up a small hill, nearly halfa mile to her right.

A few moment later, she found an area clear enough to turn around anddid so. It was only as she began driving back that the car made a slightchoking sound. Not the mechanic type, Miss Parker raised an eyebrow inquestion. The noise, which was growing more frequent, was not a promisingone. Sure enough, the car continued on only a few more yards before slowingto a stop. Putting the brake on, she sighed and reached for the door handle,prepared to see if there was anything she, in her limited vehicle knowledge,could do. Maybe kick it or something. The car, however, saved her the trouble--thinwisps of smoke began to escape the hood, as well as the low hissing soundof hot steam. Parker placed her forehead on the steering wheel and groaned,thinking of how long it would take for a tow truck to get out here fromBloomfield. It was only as she reached to the passenger seat for her cellphone that it struck her--just how was someone going to find her, all theway out here? She didn't even know the name of the road she was on. Theconversation played through her head: "Hello? My car's dead, I need a towtruck...Where? Um, well, there's lots of mountains, some trees on bothsides, a snow-covered ditch..." Shaking her head, she activated the phone,only to be greeted by a beep of warning. She looked down warily and sureenough, the battery light faded away. With a growl of irritation, she presseda button to her side, and as the passenger side window rolled down, Parkerchucked the cell phone out it.

Thinking back to the cabin she'd spotted, Parker looked ahead, and washappy to spot not only that the turnoff to the driveway was just a fewyards away, but also that the driveway itself was freshly shoveled. Judgingby the new snow on the road -which the driveway showed no sign of- it'dbeen cleared that afternoon at the latest. So civilization was within reachafter all. She looked out her window dubiously--a few fat flakes had alreadyappeared out of nowhere. She suddenly regretted her choice in footwear,the knee-high black leather boots with a 3-inch heel, and felt a longingfor her hikers, packed away in the trunk with the rest of her things.

Regretting not having the presence of mind to put all the necessaryitems for one night all in one bag, Parker popped the trunk and retrievedher baggage, slinging the strap of her bag onto her shoulder and graspingthe handle of the small suitcase. Funny, they'd seemed lighter that morning.

She began to march resolutely -not an easy thing in heeled boots- downthe few yards of road, turned, and headed up the driveway, the small hillnot seeming so small any longer. A small rustling in the trees to the leftmade her suddenly aware of the fact that not all animals hibernated duringthe winter, like wolves... and though she saw a squirrel appear a momentlater, Parker was still thankful for the gun she'd brought along, the onlyCentre reminder she had with her. Miss Parker had been at the Centre toolong to not feel safe anywhere without protection.

Parker so busy keeping an eye out for dangerous wildlife, hard in thedim of late dusk, that it wasn't until she'd reached the hill's plateauand was level with the house ahead that she realized something was wrongwith this scene. There were no lights on, no sounds coming from within,and though she fervently hoped they were simply early sleepers, there wasa hollow feeling to the house that indicated otherwise.

Knocking, then pounding, at the door, gave no reply. Parker shiveredand looked around, noticing that the driveway was already covered in athin blanket of snow. There was no way she'd make it to town tonight andbesides, the residents were sure to come back soon.

Of course, they won't mind if I just make myself at home until then,she thought as she worked the lock with two thin pieces of metal from herpocket, thankful -a rare occasion-for her Centre training. She smiled coylyas she heard the lock click. Eager to get away from the cold weather, shewalked in and shut the door behind her with pleasure.

Patting the wall beside her blindly, her fingers finally came acrossthe light switch, which she eagerly flicked on. The room flooded with light,temporarily blinding her night-accustomed eyes. It appeared to be the livingroom, large and tastefully designed, though there were no Christmas decorations,nor, she noted, a television. Clearly not a family with children. Parkerunconsciously shivered again, and noticed for the first time that she couldactually see her breath. It couldn't be more than a few degrees warmerin here. Suspicions rising, Parker went around the rest of the first floor,flicking on lights as she went, inspecting the kitchen, bathroom, laundryand dining room as she came upon them, seeing with dismay that everythingwas immaculate, not a dish in the sink or even a stray sock in the dryer.She went upstairs next, checking all five rooms. The first was anotherbathroom, also clean -though that itself proved nothing- and the secondwas a large storage room, more like a sub-attic, too musty to have beenentered in some time. The other three, however, were bedrooms and confirmed-with their empty closets and dressers, and perfectly made beds- that theinhabitants of this house had indeed left for good. No doubt gone elsewherefor the holidays, which explained the lack of decorations.

So she was alone. That didn't bother Parker too much, since she expectedas much in Quebec. However, her stomach flopped as she reached for thetelephone in the kitchen, her instincts telling her that things were goingto get worse. Sure enough, when she placed the receiver next to her ear,there was no sound.

"Great," Parker muttered. "Just great." Futile as she knew it was, shewent through the kitchen's back door to the one-car garage, confirmingthat there was indeed no vehicle. On her way back to the living room, shestopped at the utility box, utterly grateful to discover something actuallygoing in her favor when she found that the heat was electric. She flippedthe switch on, and turned the thermostat up to 74.

"This is just wonderful," she thought aloud as she flopped down on thesofa in the living room. "An empty house, no way to tell anyone I'm here,and no way to get back to town." As the cabin slowly began to warm up,Parker's thick clothing grew uncomfortable. Reaching outside for her bags,she paused to consider the snow, now coming down harder, then grabbed afew logs of firewood. Turning the thermostat down to 60, she got a firegoing in the living room fireplace, before turning her attention to thematter of clothing.

Parker exited the downstairs bedroom, dressed in a long green silk nightgownand robe. She inspected the fridge and cupboards, relieved to find that,though most of the usualperishables, like fruit and milk, weren't available,it was a well-stocked kitchen. She rummaged through the cupboards untilshe found something that sparked her interest, instant cocoa mix, and nibbledon a few Oreos while a mug of water warmed in the microwave.

Her hands comfortably warmed by the steaming mug it held, Parker paddedback into the living room and sat in an overstuffed chair, allowing herselfto become mesmerized by the flickering flames and thoroughly enjoying thefact that the biggest choice she was faced with at the moment was whetherto sleep upstairs, or just make a bed up on the floor here.

Parker opted for the floor and, after fetching a quilt and pillow fromone of the bedrooms, went about getting ready to sleep, though she wasalmost hesitant to do so. The only light on was in the living room, andbetween the crackle of the fire and the homey manner of the cabin, shefelt quite comfortable and at peace.

"This is incredible," she sighed as she headed into the bathroom toget her brush. "No work, no problems; just me, a mug of hot cocoa, anda little snow outside." She paused at the mirror, running the soft bristlesthrough her dark hair. Her hand, placing the brush back on the counter,stopped mid-motion as her sensitive ears just barely picked up what shecould've sworn was the slamming of a car door out front.

"Why don't they just use their garage?" she murmured. There was no moresound, and after a moment she shrugged it off, figuring that she just wasn'tused to actual peace and quiet. Then, she quite clearly heard the soundof someone knocking at the door. Sighing, wondering just who the hell wouldbe out at this time of night, Parker reached out and turned the knob, onlyto find the door wouldn't pull open. She grabbed the knob with both handsand pulled even harder, but the door wouldn't nudge. The knocking becamelouder.

"Be right there!" Parker shouted, though in the back of her mind sheknew that it was pointless--the bathroom was at the back of the house,and with the door shut there was no way whoever it was would hear. Justas she heard the squeak of the front door opening, her own door finallyswung open with a final determined yank, causing her to lose her balancemomentarily. Shaking her head at the ridiculousness of it all, she hurrieddown the short hallway and, just as she turned the corner to enter theliving room, called out,

"Sorry about that, but I was actually--"

Parker stopped short as she caught sight of who stood in the doorway.Two words involuntarily came from her mouth: "My god."
 

Please send any feedback to: angelheart15@hotmail.com
 
 

Part 2