The One That Got Away.

The Nevada House

To reach the main entrance of the house, one must first pass the false entrances, and follow the stone path around the left side of the house to what is the precise entrance to the residence. You'll pass at least two other areas that appear to be entrances but they are not. You'll know you've reached the correct entrance when you are greeted by a raging waterfall. 

"Built-in security!" Jared proclaims. Kelly's eyes fixed on the spectacle of danger in front of her, and mist landing softly on her face, she scarcely hears his voice.  "And how it works is - " he lightly tugs her in the direction, "you place your thumb here for the digit scan, and then," he points, "up here is the retina scanner. Only then, are you able to enter." He smiles, expecting her to be impressed. She continues to be unresponsive so he takes her thumb and presses it on the scanner. It beeps and a green light flashes. "You'll have to look up for the next one." She looks up then another beep and green light. The waterfall slowly divides, allowing for a safe passage.

"What are we doing here? What is this?" More disoriented than ever, Kelly feels herself getting nauseous. 

"Sit," Jared assists her onto a wooden bench near the double front doors and kneels between her legs. He pushes the hair away from her sweaty forehead. 

"The room is moving. Why do I feel like this?"

Jared reaches into his pocket, pulls out what looks like a mini version of an iPhone, and uses it like a Walkie-Talkie. "Hey, Marshmallow. I'm in the foyer, bring a cool, wet washcloth and a glass of water please."

"Yessir," a merry, high-pitched voice responds. 

A moment later, Marshmallow appears and she looks exactly how you would think someone named Marshmallow would look. Youthful, unblemished milky white skin, pale pink curls bouncing around a joyful face, vibrant candied violet eyes. She smells of pure vanilla and her ruby lips certainly taste of strawberry. The scent of vanilla is soothing and Kelly's nausea begins to subside as soon as the aroma reaches her. 

"Is she going to be OK?"

"I think so, thank you, Marshmallow."

Jared pats her head with the cool washcloth, then holds the glass to her lips. She straightens up, takes the glass, "Thanks, I can get it from here." She sips slowly. She's too terrified to look around her. She keeps her eyes steady on the glass of water in her hand. "I'm sorry, I have no idea what just happened."

Jared positions himself next to her on the bench, as he waits patiently for her to regain her senses. Her gaze refocuses from her glass to her feet. The terrazzo floor reminds her of Brach's Jelly Nougat candy. 

"Ok," she begins slowly, "where are we?"

"We are home. Nevada."

"So the house I've been looking at online is not your house? That one is like a decoy house or something? Why didn't you just say that? Acting all mysterious and shit."

He laughs, always amused by her wild imagination. "This is the same house. I told you, it's different now."

She gawks, incredulous. She turns her head to the right. On either side of the double front doors are narrow windows permitting a perspective of the waterfall beyond. "How does that work?"

"Meh, boring tech stuff. I'll explain it to you someday. Actually, a fair bit of it I did myself. Inventing the tech, I mean. Pretty cutting-edge stuff, really. But, blah blah blah, not right now. I mean, don't you want to see the rest of the place?"

Kelly raises her eyebrows. "I'm honestly not sure." 

"Come on," he takes her by the hand and helps her to her feet.