Day 13, a bakers dozen. It all begins again.

Shabby mismatched chairs sat around the walls that had once been white but were now grey with age. There was one small round coffee table that didn’t even have an old magazine tucked under it, and the dust on top showed it hadn’t had anything placed on it in an extraordinarily long time. There was an old radiator heater on the wall but it was never needed, it was always hot in this room. On the floor were ancient carpet tiles that never looked any good even when they were new, and as soon as Marcus found himself there he remembered everything and groaned out loud as he dragged his hands through his hair. He knew he wouldn’t have very long to wait, only a few short hours and was both anxious for, and dreading her arrival. Unable to sit still he began pacing as he always did. He imagined he could see wear on the carpet tiles, but that would show the passing of time, which was one thing that was never allowed here.

When Carrie finally arrived she ran straight into his arms and buried her face against his chest.

“I’m so sorry, I tired I was on my way but…” he started to say.

“I know, next time we’ll make it.”

“Yeah, next time.” He rested his cheek on the top of her head and closed his eyes as he said a quick prayer and wondered if it could be heard from here.

There was a the sound of a door closing which was laughable because there was no door into this room, no way to get out unless ‘he’ let you out.

“Well, isn’t this touching.”

Marcus looked up to see the tall dark haired man. As usual he was dressed in a sleek black suit with a black shirt and a blood red tie. His smile was predatory and his eyes were so dark he was sure they were black.

“You almost made it this time, it really was quite exciting, even I was almost rooting for you. But as you know by now, close just doesn’t cut it, so I will be sending you back. As usual the rules are the same. You have until the eve of your 25th birthdays to reconnect with each other, and not a second longer. Of course you will have no memory of this room, which is shielded, so the big guy never got that message you tried to send.” He winked at Marcus who just glared back at him. Carrie held tighter to him as she felt their time together drawing to a close.

“Well times a wasting and your new vessels are waiting for you and you know how everyone just loves the miracle of a Christmas baby. See you in 25 years. He started to turn away but stopped and looked back at them. “Oh and good luck.”

“Wait can’t we just…” Marcus started to say but both he and Carrie vanished from the room before he could finish.

The man in the suit smiled and sighed.

“Ah humans, so quick to sell their souls, and so much fun to watch them try to win them back.” His smile showed perfectly straight white teeth as he turned and walked back toward the wall vanishing just before he reached it.

The end.....