Off the Beaten Path

Note: This story was a contest entry for the February, 2011 Sinister Stories Contest. To view the contest rules, click on Contest Rules:

Only one entry per person, per round.
The deadline for entries is the last day of every month @ 11:59PM WDC time.
Anything under 5,000 words is acceptable. Short fiction only, please.
Any genre, rating, or subject matter is allowed.
You may edit your stories at any time. However, they may be judged at any point after the contest deadline, so there are no guarantees that any changes you make after the deadline will be read.
There must be at least six (6) entries in a given round in order for all the prizes to be given out. If there are less than six entries but at least three, only first place will be awarded. If there are fewer than three entries, a consolation prize will be awarded.

PROMPT:
Write a story about a dark and ultimately tragic love.

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Off the Beaten Path

By Indelibleink

"Hello, Valerie...It's Walt....Hey - It's such a beautiful day today, I was wondering if you wanted to get together and take a walk a little later - maybe down in the valley or something...Give me a call when you get this....Love you...Bye."

The answering machine beeped, and Valerie Berris smiled. Walt is such a great guy. Like a million times better than that creep Larry Holden. Thank God that jerk is out of my life. Still, she wasn't one-hundred percent on board with the notion that Walt was absolutely, positively "the one." She had met Walt under somewhat unusual circumstances, but stranger things had happened to Valerie Berris...

No, life hadn't been all that discriminating to Valerie when it came to the men who had entered her life up to this point. The thirty-eight year old had never married, and had begun to wonder if the so-called miracle of "wedded bliss" was in fact anywhere on the horizon. A striking woman to be sure, with gorgeous blue eyes, dimples and a figure that just wouldn't quit, she was never in need of male companionship. But as far as finding Mr. Right went, that's where it got complicated. Tony Jones, Billy Wilson, Scott Palmer were just a few in a long line of seemingly viable candidates who turned out to be unemployed, or just out of prison, or a sexual predator, or had multiple divorces, or still lived in his parents' basement or, sometimes, even a combination of such delightful qualities!

Without a doubt, though, the crème de la crème of all the losers in Valerie's less-than-blissful recent past had to be Larry Holden. This guy seemingly had it all: Good looks, charm, money, you name it - Larry Holden had it. Unfortunately, he also had something else that was unquestionably a deal-breaker in Valerie’s book: a wedding ring! Valerie might have been a lot of things, but “home-wrecker” wasn’t one of them. Consequently, Valerie wasted little time in bidding Larry Holden adieu – as painful as it was – for both of them.

Enter Walt Matuszak: Tall, dark and handsome; seemingly tailor-made for Valerie. Witty? Check. Money? Check. Single?  Check, check, and double-check! The six-foot, two-inch well-chiseled  two-hundred-twelve pound  male clearly had it all, and maybe that was simply what was bothering Valerie: the too-good-to-be-true syndrome.

“Hello, Walt? Yes, it’s me, Val. Got your message – I guess we’re playing ’phone tag’ now – but I’d love to take a walk later. Maybe downtown or something.  You’re right – for the end of March, it’s just lovely out today. Let me hop in the shower and do my hair, and I’ll be ready about six or six-fifteen. If that’s a problem, give me a call, otherwise come over and I’ll see you then. Love you too…”

As Valerie shed her clothes in preparation for the shower, she glanced at the clock and realized it was a little later than she thought, and that she’d really have to hustle to be ready by six-fifteen. As she adjusted the water temperature and direction of spray, she again pondered just how she’d met Walt about six months earlier down in the valley, and why it seemed to bother her so.

It had been an unusually warm day for late September when Walt entered Valerie’s life. Fresh out of her relationship with Larry Holden – literally, as Walt happened upon Valerie only minutes after she had broken it off with Larry –  but she and Larry had been far from the marked trails that ran through the park system. She had never asked Walt about it, but she had wondered ever since then how -  or why - it just so happened that Walt was in the area at that time. To be sure, in the six months that followed their first meeting, he had never done anything to raise suspicion about himself, but at the same time, he had never offered any reason why he had been in that desolate part of the valley on that first night, either. Maybe tonight I’ll ask him.

Valerie’s attention to the clock paid off, and she found herself dressed, and just putting the finishing touches on her hair a few minutes before six when the doorbell rang.

“Coming!”  Valerie cut the juice to the curling iron and headed for her apartment door. Probably about time I gave him his own key. She gave a quick peek through the peep hole, unfastened the deadbolt, and opened the door.

“Valerie…you look absolutely stunning.” Walt acted like a man who was truly in love, producing a small bouquet of flowers from behind his back, seemingly in concert with his words.

“Walter, you never cease to amaze me! What a wonderful, thoughtful thing to do. Let me get a vase for these.” Valerie ran back into the kitchen and returned in a flash, and placed the flowers in the small vase which soon found itself placed on the dining room table.

“I thought tonight would be a great time for a little walk in the valley. How’s that sound to you?”

Valerie paused, and considered the question for a few moments. There’s not that much sunlight left today, so what’s up with the valley infatuation, anyway? On the other hand, it  would provide the perfect segue to bring up his being down there the night Larry and I broke up, wouldn’t it?

“Is…is anything wrong?” Walt hadn’t anticipated his initial question requiring that much thought to generate a response, and the fact that he was perplexed was written all over his face.

Valerie brushed his cheek with the back of her hand reassuringly. “I’m sorry dear. It’s just that it’s going to get dark soon, and that valley can be downright creepy at night…”

“You’ll be with me, Dear. I won’t let anything happen to you. Please, tonight, just do it for me. I promise we won’t be down there long…” There was no doubting a sense of urgency in Walt’s voice.

Valerie, afraid that any further hesitancy on her part could very well result in having the “available” sign dangling from her neck again, chose the path of least resistance. “Okay, Walt. But I’m holding you to that ‘I-won’t-let-anything-happen-to-you’ business.”

Walt laughed, albeit nervously. “Deal.”

It was but a quick fifteen-minute drive to the valley, which was situated just beyond the outskirts of town. A huge park it was to behold: better than two-hundred square miles of nature featuring many hiking trails, but there were still plenty of relatively primitive areas yet to be explored.

Walt chose to park in a remote area of the park, which did nothing to relieve Valerie’s angst.

“Why are we parking here?” Valerie found the words a little more difficult to get out than expected; her throat was becoming dry as a result of her increasing heartbeat.

“Totally random.” Walt was now noticeably nervous, as his voice, too, was hoarse and cracking. He hopped out of the car, and grabbed a flashlight from the trunk. “Just in case we run late.” While he was back by the trunk, Valerie stayed near the front of the car, but could see slightly through the rear windshield and through the tiny gap between the trunk lid and the car body. She could see Walt fumbling around with some items he had grabbed from the trunk and was obviously trying to hide from her view as he put them in his coat pockets. He closed the trunk, and jogged up to Valerie.  “Let’s go, there’s not much time…”

“Time for what, Walt? You’re starting to scare me…”

“It’s a surprise. You’ll see.” He grabbed her upper arm with more force than she had ever recalled him exhibiting before, but with no one else in the area at the moment, and considering his size and the firmness of grip, she felt trying to break free at this instant would not be strategically sound.

It didn't take long for Valerie to recognize the area they were heading to as that where she and Walt had met the previous fall - quite a hike from the nearest trail. "Walter! Why are you taking me here? This place is dangerous at night. There are all kinds of wild animals..." Valerie's eyes widened as she absorbed the surroundings."Hey...I know where we are - this is where we met..."

"Absolutely. Remember, too, it was also the night you broke up with your old boyfriend. I headed back this way because I heard the shouting between you and him. Hang on a second..." Walt knelt down for a second, facing away from Valerie, and fumbling in his jacket pockets.

Valerie's face turned white as a sheet. Oh God. He knows. He heard Larry and me arguing that night and came back and saw... Recognizing her opportunity, Valerie located a nearby rock, raised it above her head, and just as Walt began to turn around to see what Valerie was up to, she brought it down, squarely on his left temple.

If the initial impact wasn't fatal, then without doubt, one of the second, third, or fourth blows was. After the fourth hit, outside of the jawbone, very little of the front of Walter's head was recognizable. Tears began to cascade from Valerie's eyes. Oh Walter...If only you hadn't wandered in that night and seen what I had done to Larry. But why didn't you just say something at the time so we could just deal with it then? We never would have fallen in love, and this might never have happened. Well, it might not have ended like this, anyway.

Aided by the slipperiness of the wet leaves that were still on the heavily-wooded area's floor, Valerie pulled Walt's body back through the brush, and around the partially decayed remnants of a tree that had fallen years earlier. Still with a significant amount of solid trunk left, there was at least enough to shield the body from the view of the few who might venture into that part of the park.

With twilight now getting a firm grip on the area, Valerie quickly jogged about twenty feet back from the fallen tree, counting her steps as she ran. When she stopped, she used her feet to kick away the leaves. Noting a disruption in the soil, she bent down, studied the contents of the small hole, and grimaced. Scott Palmer? Is that you, Scott? Hard to tell...Looks like a dog got hold of you, my friend. Yuk! She then dragged as much mud over the hole as she could, and stomped on the shallow grave, finally kicking as many wet leaves as she could over the area to make it look as "natural" as possible.

Valerie the quickly looked to other spots in the tiny clearing. "Tony, Billy, Larry...I'd stay and chat longer but it's getting real dark, and I still have to move Walter's car uptown. The good news is that you have a new playmate! His name is Walt. I'll be back tomorrow with some lime, and we'll get Walt a little closer to you guys. I thought he was the one, but he saw what happened between me and Larry, so I had to keep him from talking to the authorities. But what am I talking about here, you guys know the drill better than anyone, don't you?"

She began to head back to Walt's car, then stopped. I wonder what kind of tools he had in those coat pockets of his... She fished through the corpse's coat, and withdrew an envelope along with a small squarish box. She opened the envelope and read aloud:

My dearest Valerie,

It was exactly 6 months ago, at exactly 7:09 PM, that I met you at
this very spot. I knew I was in love from the moment I set my eyes
upon you. I know you have had some rocky relationships in the past,
but all that matters to me is the present. That night when I heard
two people yelling down here in the valley, I can only look upon as God's
signal to me that we were meant to be together. I don't know where that
man you were arguing with went to, and I don't care. All I know, is that I
met you as a result of it, and if I ever run into that guy, I will surely thank
him. I apologize if I seemed a little weird tonight, but I've been a nervous
wreck all week anticipating the big moment. So I'm sorry, but I want so
badly for us to be together, and with that in mind, please open the box...

Eternally yours,

Walt

P.S. I was feeling so anxious about this night that I decided to write my
feelings down on paper in the event my courage failed me and I needed
this as "backup." I sure hope you said "yes"

Numbed by the shock that was now overwhelming her tear-stained cheeks, Valerie slumped onto a fallen tree trunk, and without even looking, opened the box. She felt the wedding ring, and then looked up when she touched a message which was attached. It read:

It's okay to kiss me now! 

Sobbing and on her hands and knees, Valerie inched her way over to the corpse that would have been her mate. Cradling what was left of his head in her hands, she whispered, "My dearest Walt. You must understand...I thought you knew what I had done to Larry and would call the police...I though you knew! What have I done, my love? I am so sorry, my Walt. So very, very sorry."

She then located Walt's lower lip, and in spite of holding what amounted to bits of bone with assorted chunks of grey matter, commenced to to lock into an eternal kiss with her husband. It was her way of saying, "Yes."

***  ***  ***  ***  ***  ***

They were in the very same embrace when found forty-eight hours later by police search dogs after park rangers reported Walt's car as being abandoned.

The autopsy conducted on Valerie Berris indicated she had died only minutes after Walter Matuszak had passed.

An intensive search of the immediate area, while indicating much previous digging and other activity in the area, showed no indication of any other human remains.

***  ***  ***  ***  ***  ***

Epilogue: TV reports indicated that Valerie Berris had been in trouble with the law in the past; typically for "stalking" other men. An interview with a man named Larry Holden revealed that he and his wife had multiple restraining orders issued against Ms. Berris, for she insisted that she and Mr. Holden were dating. Mr. Holden, aged 73 and wheelchair-bound, claimed it was pretty obvious that Ms. Berris was delusional. Those claims were confirmed by a local psychiatrist who was treating Ms. Berris for multiple personality disorder. Reportedly, Ms. Berris routinely took on the personalities of those she imagined she was dating, and it was not uncommon for her to engage in conversations with "herself" while using numerous voices. Mr. Matuszak, a salesman who was in the area generally only every two or three weeks, was apparently unaware of Ms. Berris' afflictions.

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