When Darkness Comes

by Wilbanks, G. Allen

  “I have been craving sweets. I think you need to order the brownie sundae for dessert. With one scoop of vanilla ice cream and one scoop of chocolate. Then I’ll just take a few bites off of yours.” She glanced around the diner for our waitress, but the girl had not yet rematerialized from the storage room or wherever she had gone to hide. There was a glow and an excitement around Andi as she described the ice cream she wanted that reminded me of a child discussing a rare treat that she was about to receive.

  “Sounds good,” I agreed. “But why don’t we each get one? That way you can have as much as you want.”

  “You don’t want me to get fat, do you?” she asked in mock indignation.

  “I want you to get anything and everything that you ever wanted,” I said, seriously. I hoped I didn’t sound too sappy as I said it, but the words were heartfelt and out of my mouth before I could reconsider them.

  The playful smile faded from her face, and she stared at me; her beautiful eyes dark and appraising. She leaned forward across the table, bracing herself on her hands, and kissed me on the cheek. “Wow,” she said, sounding a little shaken up. “That one got to me.”

  Andi cleared her throat, dropped back into her seat, and looked firmly down at the menu in front of her. Shaking off the seriousness of the moment, she grinned and flicked the plastic card across the table toward me. “Right now, I just want you to order the brownie sundae with chocolate and vanilla ice cream. So, how about it? Am I gonna get it?”

  For only the second time since I had known her, I had seen her mask crack, and I knew the affection in her voice had been deep and real. Even better, the kiss she had given me was more tender and intimate than any act of lovemaking ever could have been. I wanted to follow up with another thoughtful, meaningful comment, but I could see that the moment had passed. Andi was working hard to keep the mood light and she would not appreciate it if I pushed the issue. I had to take this small victory and cherish it for what it was.

  And I did.

  Imitating her carefree tone, I told her, “Of course you’re gonna get it. But first I’m going to order the ice cream.”

  “Oh. I think somebody here has a dirty mind.”

  “I hope I’m not the only one,” I told her.

  She shook her head, her long blond ponytail whipping back and forth behind her head. “Not a chance. You have got a whole bunch of naked female body parts in your immediate future, young man.”

  “Um, excuse me. Would you like to order, now?” Two glasses of water clacked onto the Formica table top. Our waitress had emerged out of the back room unnoticed by us and now stood next to the table staring intently into her notepad. From the flush of color in her cheeks it was apparent she had caught the tail end of our conversation. Her lips were pressed tightly together as though she were struggling to suppress a nervous smile.

  I felt heat rise in my face as well, but Andi appeared to be unaffected. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying the moment. She sounded completely unfazed as she turned to the girl and ordered for us. “My platonic friend over there,” she said pointing at me, “who has never seen me naked, especially not last night, is going to have the club sandwich with fries.”

  “Oh, God,” I muttered to myself, wanting to slide under the table and hide, but still perversely enjoying the performance. This was a side of Andi I had not seen before; a completely uninhibited part of her personality. She was often playful when we were together, but it usually felt like a cover for what she was truly feeling or thinking. Her banter with the waitress was not hiding anything. She knew she had both of us embarrassed and stuck in place, and she was basking in the sense of control it gave her. It was just Andi being Andi.

  “Then,” she continued, “We would like your brownie sundae with one scoop of vanilla and one of chocolate. Two spoons please. I’ll be sharing it with this man sitting here who has never seen my bare breasts. Especially not last night.”

  “Anything to drink?” asked the waitress, still afraid to look up from her notepad. The color in her cheeks had intensified and was moving further back to her ears.

  “Just the water for me.”

  “Uh, me, too,” I said quickly, covering my mouth with my hand to hide my grin.

  Andi turned back to the waitress. “The man who has never spanked my bare bottom will also have water.”

  “Hey!” I said. “I never…” but I stopped speaking and snapped my mouth shut as I realized this was really not a conversation in which I wanted to participate.

  “That last one was actually true,” Andi told the waitress conversationally. Then she raised one hand to her mouth and in a stage whisper loud enough for me to hear, she said, “I’m saving that for tonight.”

  Our waitress spun on her heels with a hurried, “Got it!” and fled for the safety of the back room. She slapped our order down in front of the boy working the sandwich counter, barely slowing down as she went by. I swear as she left I could hear her giggling. Or maybe that was just Andi.

  “I think she likes you,” Andi said to me.

  “I think she is having hysterics in the storage room right now, thanks to you,” I answered.

  “She’s very cute. Do you want me to get her phone number for you?” Before I could answer, Andi suddenly pointed at the table. “She forgot to take our menus,” she pouted. “Well, there goes her tip.”

  I couldn’t take it anymore. I laughed until I had to wipe tears from my eyes.

  The remainder of our night out passed relatively uneventfully. After bringing us our food, the waitress continued to make herself as unavailable as possible, but whether this was because of her earlier embarrassment or because it was simply part of her standard operating behavior, I did not know. Andi and I continued an easy, comfortable banter throughout the evening, enjoying the time undisturbed.

  As she had predicted, Andi ate nothing except for a few small tastes of the sundae. She did not take much, though she seemed content with the tiny portions she sampled. Andi was not anorexically thin, and she didn’t appear to be starving, so I assumed she had eaten just prior to our date in order to show such self-control.

  At ten o’clock, Angeline’s closed and we were ushered politely, but firmly, into the street. Outside, I asked if there was anywhere else she wanted to go, but Andi just shook her head, slipped her right hand into mine, and said, “It’s time for you to take me home.” My heart began to race and I felt my stomach flip in anticipation. This girl had me in the palm of her hand and I loved every minute of it.

  We climbed into my ancient Pontiac and, with Andi leaning over to rest her head on my shoulder, I drove us to my apartment.

  We tumbled through the front door, shedding clothing frantically as we moved into the bedroom. The feel of Andi’s cool skin against my heated flesh was bliss, and I could not touch her enough, could not kiss her enough, could not be inside her deeply enough to satisfy my need for her. We made love passionately, wildly, frantic to the point of violence. Our hands explored each other’s bodies even as we joined as closely as two beings can physically merge together.

  Andi drove me to climax twice in a short amount of time. Each time she pulled away from me at the final moments, urging me to finish in her mouth. I was past the point of being concerned about this idiosyncrasy. If this was what she wanted, who was I to complain?

  My second orgasm left me spent and sated. I lay sprawled upon my back over the twisted sheets of my bed. For once, Andi did not immediately rise to dress and leave. She lay down on her side next to me, nuzzling in close. Her skin was as cool and soothing on my body as a refreshing breeze on a hot day. I reached a hand toward her and stroked the smooth curve of her hip.

  “Was that good?” she asked me.

  “You know it was,” I assured her. “Very good. And you?”

  The corners of her lips curled up in a small satisfied smile. “Good,” she agreed.

  We lay quiet for a few minutes. I continued to caress the lines of her body, letting my fingers trail up her
thigh, around the rise of her buttocks and across the small of her back. I loved the look of her curled in so close against me, and the feel of her smooth skin under my fingertips was heaven. Being able to touch her this way made me feel closer to her than even the physical act of sex, and her acceptance of my gentle stroking of her body left me for once calm and secure about her feelings for me. When we were apart, I spent so much time worrying about when I might see her again, and who she might be with when she wasn’t with me, so I cherished this moment of complete contentment. I thought I could lie with her in that bed forever if given the chance.

  “Gregory,” Andi said, softly.

  I realized that I had been falling asleep and I startled a little at the sound of my name. “Yes,” I said, slurring the word slightly.

  “Do you like having me here beside you?”

  My eyes opened. I was completely awake now. “I do. Very much.”

  “Would you like to be with me more?”

  Without pause, I said, “I would like to be with you forever.” The words felt trite, but I meant them. I meant it to the bottom of my soul.

  Andi wriggled tighter against me, evidently happy with my response. “I would like to be with you, as well. I would like us to have forever.” She paused for the space of a few heartbeats. “Do you love me?” she asked softly. I felt her shallow breath against the hollow of my shoulder as she spoke the words.

  She had asked the same question the night before. The answer was the same tonight, but somehow I could tell that my response now would be more important. She wanted something – needed something – and I was the person who could give it to her. I pulled slightly away from her and turned to stare directly into those searching, dark eyes. “I love you,” I told her firmly.

  She nodded, not just in acknowledgement, but as if she had come to a conclusion. “If I had to leave town, would you go with me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Would you quit school and leave behind your friends and family if I asked?”

  “Yes,” I answered again, without hesitation. I did not understand the importance of her questions at the time, nor did I know what I was committing myself to. Yet, if I had, I know without question I would have given the same answers.

  “I will not take you against your will,” she said. The statement left me confused, but I was afraid to ask any questions and risk destroying the moment so I remained silent.

  “It’s time,” she muttered cryptically. “Tomorrow, I think. Yes, tomorrow. Spend the day in the sun. Enjoy the light, but be home tomorrow night. I will come to get you.”

  Andi rolled away from me and climbed out of the bed. I watched her stand and glance once in my direction before turning to leave. The look was an odd combination of pleasure and sadness. She moved slowly, silently gathering her clothing and dressing before she left the bedroom.

  She stepped into the hallway and I listened to the light sound of her footsteps moving away from me. After another moment, I heard the front door open and close.

  Had I fully understood what she had told me I think I would have spent the entire next day standing naked in the daylight, with my arms outstretched and my face turned up to the sun to absorb every second of its brilliant warmth that I had left. Though darkness is my home now, I do miss the light. I wish I could watch just one more sunrise, but it would most decidedly be my last.

  So in my ignorance, I wasted my last blessed hours of daylight sitting in shadows at home. Waiting for Andi.

  CHAPTER 5

  The sun set at 7:28 PM that evening. Andi greeted me in my doorway at 7:44. I recall clearly the time she arrived, as I was staring at my watch when I heard her ringing my doorbell. The exact moment of sunset I only know because I researched it a few years later. Morbid curiosity.

  Andi wore a gray pullover sweatshirt with the hood draped across her back, black jeans accented with a metal-studded belt, and calf-high, black felt boots. She wasn’t wearing any jewelry or makeup that night, but she really did not need it. She always looked fantastic.

  A kind of eager excitement showed on her face, and I knew she had special plans for me tonight just from the look of her. Her eyes flashed happily, and the smile that pulled at the corners of her mouth was for some internal pleasure that I had not yet been clued in on. I returned her smile with a much larger one of my own. I couldn’t help it. Whenever Andi was happy, so was I. Her mood was infectious.

  Despite her obvious happiness however, I did notice that there was something slightly off about her. It wasn’t anything drastic or concerning, she just seemed paler to me than usual. The glow in her face and the slight pinking in her cheeks that was normally there were muted. Her skin, although always pale to the point of seeming translucence, seemed slightly sallow and waxen that night as though she were getting sick … or hungry.

  She wasted no time, refusing to come inside the apartment with a curt shake of her head when I offered. I started to ask if she was feeling alright, but she silenced me with a quick “Shush!” and a touch of her fingertips to my lips. She was clearly in a hurry to get somewhere and was in no mood to let me delay her. After ordering me to grab a coat and my car keys, she took my hand and led me outside to my car. She didn’t run, but her walk was determined and she tugged at my arm like a poorly trained dog pulling at its leash and not quite able to figure out why it isn’t moving forward as rapidly as it would like. I laughed a little to myself at this thought as I quickened my step to keep up with her.

  As we reached my car, it registered in my mind for the first time how cold her hand was. Andi always felt cool when I touched her skin, but that night a slight chill ran up my arm as I stood there with my hand in hers. I didn’t dwell on the realization, however, as curiosity about our destination filled my thoughts and left room for little else.

  I pulled the car door open for her and she dropped into the passenger seat. She swung her legs forward and settled herself back into the gray cloth upholstery. When I was certain she was completely in, I flicked the door closed then ran around the trunk of the car to climb in on the driver’s side. I rotated the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life, then, unable to keep silent any longer, I turned to look at her.

  “Where are we going?” I asked. “What’s going on tonight?”

  “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Besides you might back out and I’ve waited long enough already. Go to highway 10 and drive north. I’ll tell you when to get off.”

  Frustrated at the lack of information, but carried along by Andi’s own enthusiasm, I did as instructed. Several times during the drive I attempted to start a conversation in hopes of further enlightenment regarding her planned surprise, but each time she turned my questions aside by simply telling me to wait. After thirty minutes of driving we left the city limits behind us and I began to wonder just how far Andi planned to take me this evening. I spoke up again, asking her if she could at least give me some idea of how long we would be out on the road. She only laughed and once more told me to wait.

  Ten more minutes passed in silence. An agonizing amount of time when I couldn’t be sure if we were close or if we still had hours ahead of us. I began to wonder if I should start looking for a place to fuel up my car. The tank was half full, but not knowing where we were going I couldn’t be sure if it would be sufficient to get my old green gas guzzler all the way to our final destination. I was about to mention my thoughts about our fuel situation, when Andi pointed at an upcoming road sign and told me I should exit the highway.

  I took the exit she indicated onto a highway that seemed to just wander off into the middle of nowhere, then spent another fifteen minutes driving in a generally eastern direction, away from any hints of human civilization. She guided me through a few turns onto several ever-smaller, sparsely-traveled roadways, finally directing me onto what appeared to be a private unpaved drive. Very few cars had passed us along the main route from the freeway, and I had seen none at all since turning onto these country backroads. I
could currently see no houses, electric lights, or signs of habitation at all. In every direction lay only brush, rock, and an occasional stunted tree clinging to miles of rolling hills. The sole break in the landscape was the rock-pitted dirt lane illuminated in my headlights stretching out before me.

  The road was not well maintained and the bumps and jarring the rocks and pot holes gave us left me concerned about my Pontiac’s ability to survive this part of the trip. Fortunately for my poor, already well-beaten up car, we drove only a short time on the narrow uneven trail before Andi instructed me to stop and turn off the engine.

  “We’re here,” she explained to my puzzled look. “At least as close as we can get by car. From here we walk.”

  “But where is here?” I asked, scanning the barren countryside around me. There was nothing around us for miles that I could see. Was Andi planning on doing some camping, or taking some kind of nighttime nature hike? She hadn’t indicated that we needed to pack any gear for this trip, so what was going on? For the first time I started to worry; not necessarily about Andi’s intentions, but rather about my ability to keep up with whatever was going on in her head.

  “This land belongs to a friend of mine,” she told me as she climbed out of the car and took a look around her. I scrambled out on my side, activating the car’s interior locks before closing the door. I felt immediately foolish at this precaution as I realized that the nearest potential car thief was probably at least twenty miles away. Habits are difficult to break however and I did a mental shrug as I tucked the keys into the front pocket of my jeans. “He lets me come here when I want some privacy. Nobody comes up here that does not belong here. They wouldn’t dare. So we don’t need to worry about being disturbed. Come on. We have some walking to do.”

  Andi started to move without looking back to see if I was following. I paused for a moment longer, taking one more look around, trying to gauge where I was and deciding if I could find my way back if I lost sight of the car. The landscape was too plain, with no obvious markers that stood out to my eyes. Every tree and bush looked like every other tree and bush, and every rock looked like every other rock. I knew I would only get lost, so I just had to trust that Andi knew what she was doing.