I stood in awe at the sight before me. I never thought that behind that door was a plethora of books. From the floor to the ceiling, books lined the walls. My mouth refused to pick itself up from the floor as I turned in circles, making my way to the centre of the room. All the books I could ever read, touch, smell, or hold close to my heart, were in this room.

       “Do you like it?” he questioned staring at me, pleasure shining in his eyes. “I… I love it,” the words barely escaped my throat. 

       This was astonishing! 

       Zooming through the room, I skimmed the categories. Who would have thought I would fall in love with someone who had the same love of books as myself? He was a dream come true. 

       “Can I take a few? I’d like to stay and read if you don’t mind,” I expressed. I would live here if given the choice. 

       “You can have it all!” he chuckled, “Anything for my love.”

       My cheeks burned intensely. Why did he have to be so phenomenal? Why was he so… perfect? Sighing deeply, I relished in the gratefulness of being blessed with the perfect lover. I continued to pluck books off the shelves. I was going to have an adventure. Today, I will have an escape. 

       As the mid-day sun shone through the massive window, I embraced the heat it brought with open arms. But out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of something that shimmered in the darkness. Resting the books on the soft carpeted floor, I moved closer to the dark spot on the shelf. Reaching out, I snatched the leather-bound book, pulling it away from its hiding place. Gently, I grazed my fingers over the engraved silver lock.

       I opened the aged book and was met with old pictures. Pictures of Flin and… a familiar-looking, radiant woman. There were dates below the romantic images. Dates that went back for centuries! Not only were the dates suspicious, but the women in those photos all shared the same face. 

       There was a pattern. 

       The pictures started with a young woman and Flin, and then her face gradually aged as the pages went on. Next came a younger woman with the same face, in a new century. And so it went on with four different women. Flin however, never aged in any of the pictures.

       Turning the page with the fourth old woman, I saw a modern picture of Flin and…me? 

       I knew this picture! We took it when we just began dating. What was worse, I was certain I had seen that face before. Flipping back to the previous pages, I took the first picture of every woman in the album and placed them next to mine. No wonder the faces all looked familiar. 

       They were all mine!

       From different decades, different centuries! The album fell from my trembling hands with a resonating thud as a loud gasp escaped my lips.

       “Are you alright my love?” came his smooth voice, crippled with concern. “Are you okay?”

       I desperately wanted to respond. To assure him that I was not alright. That I had a lot of questions and most importantly, that I needed to get the hell out of here. Yet, all I could do was shake. My mind was racing, trying to comprehend that Flin had been alive for centuries and actively sought out and preyed on women who looked like me.

       I needed to run. I needed to leave. To disappear and never come back. I needed to go, now! I could feel my rib cage rattling rhythmically, begging me to do something. My mind pleaded with my body to unfreeze and bolt to the nearest exit. “Sweetheart? What’s wrong?” Flin questioned alarmed as he advanced toward me between the shelves.

       Retreating, my eyes bulged out of my head as my chest rose and fell heavily. As Flin stepped closer, he questioned the reason for my sudden fear. Then his feet knocked the album and its contents on the floor. 

       Slowly he lowered himself and picked up the pictures that fell from his book of obsession. “Where did you get this?” he questioned, his voice soft, yet stern. I could tell he was upset. I could tell that if I said the wrong thing, it would be over for me. The softness of his voice said more than his words ever did. For a lion never roared before it pounced.

       “What are you? Why are you still alive?” I inquired briskly. There was no way that I would make it out alive. Surely my pained heart would kill me before he ever got the chance. “I can explain,” he whispered as he rose and slowly advanced.

        Grabbing books from the nearby shelves, I hurled them towards him, desperately trying to create distance between us. However, as fast as the books came, he evaded them. “Why were you dating me for centuries?!” I screamed perplexed. One minute ago he was the perfect lover and the next, he was a sick psycho who lived forever. 

       “You were the love of my life,” the deranged man professed as he advanced, “When you died the first time, a few decades later, you came back. You came back younger, the same age you were when we met for the very first time. Don’t you get it? The universe brought you back for me! We belong together!” Flin cried, like a madman. That was exactly what he was. 

       “You’re a sick monster! Stay away from me!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, backing away, and bumping into the hard wall behind me. I was trapped. Tears were now racing down my face. “Sweetheart, please calm down,” I heard his voice getting closer. My panic intensified. “Why are you still alive? Why are you doing this?” I cried, preparing myself for death. 

       With a heavy sigh, Flin responded, “I’m immortal,” he whispered, “I’ve been alive for almost four centuries. I fell in love with you. You have to believe me! You were reincarnated, multiple times, all for me! Each time you were brought back, you always found me in the same place. Don’t you remember?” Flin pleaded. His eyes were intense and hopeful. 

       Sick.

       “You’re a psycho!” I screamed in response, “You’re crazy!”

       “How do you think I knew so much about you when we first met? Why do you think we blended so nicely, almost like we knew each other our entire lives?”

       “Get away from me!”

       “For centuries, I’ve been trying to get you to remember me. To remember us! Surely you remember. Deep down, you remember me,” Flin begged, hoping to jog my memory but all he did was instill fear in my already petrified heart. This was too much.

       “Do you remember what you said to me when we first met?” he questioned, the desperation in his voice as strong as his sick obsession with me. I could not provide him with a response. I was too confused. Too afraid. “When we first met, you said, ‘Do I know you? I feel like I know you?’ Do you remember that?” he inquired once more. 

       Though my mind was racing and my heart was beating erratically, for some reason, I remembered. I remembered bumping into him at the park and apologising. I remembered asking that question. I also remember it happening at different times, in different clothing. Then I remembered it happening again. And again. And again. And at last, for the first time.

       All versions of myself and Flin line up in my mind, repeating the same conversation, the same love story.

       I remembered everything…