Fiction & Nonfiction

Rendezvous

Rendezvous

Vicki zipped up the cardigan as she stepped out of her small red brick house. She needed a brisk walk before it got dark. It was a long and tiring day at the engineering firm she worked for.

The pleasant October evening with a nip in the autumn air was invigorating. She watched the trees adorned with leaves wearing lovely autumn colors.  Awesome, how each season spoke with its own unique voice of beauty and joy. There was something ethereal about the leaves falling, each going a different way gently drifting in its own color. With the lavender sky, brown earth and the distant hills turning violet in the setting sun, Vicki needed nothing more to lighten her heated brain and tired body. Tall and lissome, with dark hair falling in perfect waves down her straight back, she headed to the woods at the town’s end. She preferred it because there wasn’t much traffic to worry about, and the solitude gave her a chance to think of her life, which at the moment seemed to be taking a welcome turn.  At twenty-six, Vicki had done well for herself. She had a good job, good looks and a positive attitude to life and society.  She had no real worries at least for now, she mused.

The breeze picked up ruffling her long hair. Looking up at the darkening sky Vicki saw grey clouds gathering in the west; but that was normal in the dark side of the year, she presumed.
She exchanged a smile, or a nod with a few acquaintances and the passers-by she came across. When she reached the outskirts of the town, she took the left at the fork. Usually, she would go to the right, which led to the riverfront, where people gathered for an evening out, or to simply enjoy the colorful sunset; today however, she went the other way. She needed some silence to consider the pros and cons of a possible marriage with Dan, an engineer in the same firm, where she was an assistant manager in the personnel section.  She felt the stirrings of attraction to him, when Nelson, their boss, introduced them a couple of years back. Dan eyed her from under thick dark eyebrows, and when he smiled, and said, “Hello,” it seemed as though there was a sudden burst of sunshine on a grey day. The chemistry between them was unmistakable. They met for coffee, and later, for weekend lunches and movies. She liked his quiet manner and easy smile. The fact that they grew up in foster homes, drew them closer. No relatives ever came visiting them. They knew loneliness, and the pain of lack of close friends. The few friends they had went in search of good life. It would only be logical to marry Dan, and settle down to what seemed to be a happy future. OK, she thought, I would say yes if he proposed. With a decision made, her mind lightened, she walked with a new spring to her feet.

Coming out of her self-absorption, Vicki noticed, she was in the thick of the forest. Alarmed, she realized she got lost. She looked around, with apprehensive amber eyes, for a sign of human habitation. An owl hooted from one of the tall trees around her, and a wolf howled in the distance. The thin moon behind the clouds shed ghostly light. With dry leaves crunching under shoes, Vicki, walked on aimlessly with scurrying little creatures for company in the darkening night. She sighed in relief when she spotted a log-cabin in a clearing.  A dim light shone through the drapes of a single window. Quickening her steps, she approached the cabin with temerity. She knocked on the door hesitantly, and heard the scraping of a chair, and the sound of shuffling feet.  The door opened, and a wizened, old face of a man appeared. Gaunt eyes, deeply embedded in their sockets shot a dour look at her. 

“Oh, Mr. McGraw, thank God it is you!” exclaimed Vicki, feeling her fear giving way to relief. Known as a recluse, he lived in the same neighborhood, alone and retired. She never had a conversation with him, but he was quite familiar.

“Hello Vicki, come in, come in,” he said with too much enthusiasm in his bloodshot eyes.
Vicki followed him in, feeling the warmth of the heater wrapping comfortably around her cold body. Tension seeped away as she sank into an arm chair.  The TV, she noted, was showing a skit on Vampires. They, with their barely visible fangs, were having a merry meet on a Halloween night.

“What will you have, lassie?” asked the old man, his eyes glinting in the dim light from a low voltage bulb hanging from the wooden ceiling.
“A Gin and Tonic, if you have some,” answered, Vicki. She was surprised at her choice, for she would usually opt for coffee or tea.  It must be the weather, she thought, trying to convince herself.

“Thank you, Mr. McGraw,” said Vicki, focusing on the screen.
Mr. McGraw came through carrying two goblets. Placing her gin and tonic on the small stool before Vicki,  “Here you are lassie. Enjoy your drink. Cheers!” he said, settling in the comfortable armchair facing her. Vicki sipped her drink and cast a casual look at the TV.
The images on the small screen looked weird, sending a shiver up her spine. She was not able to put her finger on, but there was something familiar about those figures.

Suddenly, recognition dawned on her. Isn’t the tall one with dark eyes Dan? The other young men seemed more like people from her neighborhood. What were they doing here?
Slowly, she looked around. There were shadows on the wall, enlarged in the dim reflection, as if there were unseen presences behind the walls. Were they here waiting for me? A shudder snaked through her body. She looked at the gaunt, old Mr. McGraw. He looked back with a wicked grin at her befuddlement.

“That’s right, lassie. That’s all of us. You know them all, but not their true colors. There’s your Dan, Joshua, Bill and Matthew. We were just celebrating Halloween in advance. That was a keep sake video you are watching. I was in the center listening to Dan’s new idea. ”
“What was his idea?” asked Vicki with a tremor in her voice. Her heart beat faster. Cold sweat dotted her forehead.
“Well, he wanted to bring you to our midst, and make you one of us. He was going to create a “newborn” out of you,” said Mr. McGraw, with a crooked smile that bared his fangs, covered in red with the drink of blood he must have had.

Stunned and immobilized with shock and fear, Vicki sat frozen. Then, all of sudden, she galvanized into action, ran to the door and raced out like an arrow shot from taut bow, screaming “NO…….”  She heard the sounds of unidentified creatures chasing her on the ground and in the air, in hot pursuit. The air whooshed after her fanning the branches of the tree with fierce commotion.  Like a light-footed doe darting away from a stalking wild beast, Vicki ran.  After running mindlessly in the wild for a while, she stumbled on a piece rock, lost balance, and fell to the forest floor, covered in autumn leaves. Her mind worked at a feverish pitch and a long, shrill scream escaped her as she was plunged into darkness. Her last view was that of Dan bending on her with bared fangs about to sink into her neck.

Vicki woke up with a scream dying on her lips. She trembled as if she was in a cold place; yet, she was drenched in sweat. She realized she was in her bed. Her clock showed 3 am. She was totally disoriented. When did she come home? What about the events in the woods? She fell into a stupor without knowing the answers.

The day dawned with the first light spreading across the eastern sky.
She got up, dressed and took the bus to her office. Dan was already there, making some coffee. His eyes lit up when he saw her coming through the entrance door.
“Want some coffee honey?” he asked in a husky, sexy voice.
Vicki stood staring at him, looking for signs of a vampire in his handsome face.
What would she do, she wondered, her forehead creased. Simply leave this place and forget him forever, or marry him and live in eternal fear, guessing his true self. Was that a dream or reality?

After a routine day at the firm, Vicki decided to stop by a roadside pub to mull over the things that happened the day before. As she stepped into the pub, she was taken aback by the crackling voice of Mr. McGraw greeting her with a “Good evening lassie! How are we today?”
“Oh, hello Mr. McGraw.”
“Come let’s take this two-eater.” After settling down comfortably and ordering coffee and toast, the old man said, “I was stunned to find you fast asleep on the park bench last night. You slept on like a baby despite my efforts to wake you up. I had no alternative to get you into my car and drove you back to your place. Too much work and no play I guess.” 
Vicki felt relieved after she had put two and two together. She said with a new sparkle to her eyes, “Oh thank you Mr. McGraw. That was so kind of you. Drop in at your convenience at my place. I will cook an exotic lunch I learnt from an Indian friend, for you.”
The old man looked as if he had just climbed on the moon.
“ I will, I will. Let me tell you lassie, you deserve a holiday during the fall break. Plan a vacation with your friends and go flying across to a sunny place.”

Word count: 1,665