by Jon Athan
Brenda smiled and whispered, “We made it...”
The hinges squealed as Simon slowly shoved the door open. He took Brenda's flashlight and illuminated the interior of the gasoline station. The cash register awaited to the right. To the left, there were three aisles of free-standing shelves. At the far end of the store, there were several refrigerators. The gasoline station was barren. The place had already been looted by scavengers. Simon held Brenda from her hip and helped her walk.
He said, “Come on, let's get you out of the cold. We'll start a fire and warm you up. You're going to be okay, I promise.”
Brenda gazed into Simon's eyes and said, “Thank you... Thank you for giving me hope...”
As she leaned closer, the hinges on the door disrupted the tranquil moment. Panting like a dog during a summer heatwave, Aaron stood at the entrance. He persevered through the exhaustion and cold to complete the journey. He grimaced as he glanced around the gasoline station.
Aaron said, “Alright, we're here and there are no supplies. The place has been looted, just like I said it would be.” He trudged towards the friendly couple and continued, “So, now we do it my way. We'll start a fire, sure, we'll warm up and rest. But, we're heading to Vegas first thing in the morning. No more bullshit.”
Slothful, Brenda frowned as she slowly staggered to her buttocks and rebutted, “We... We were never coming here for supplies. We were... We were looking for a car and fuel. There are some... some cars out there. They're beat-up, but... but we can make it work.” She glanced at Simon and asked, “We can make it work, right?”
Simon nodded and suggested, “You should both rest for a moment. I'll check the cars and siphon the gas. I won't be able to drive and I don't want to see the sun, so I'll take the night shift from now. One of you can drive. How about that? Sound good?”
Aaron shook his head and frantically waved his arms. He said, “No, no. I'm done listening to you. We take a car, we take the gas, then we head to Vegas where we might find some civilized people. Winter is coming, Vegas is cold during the winter, so there's no damn reason to go to Alaska.”
Simon and Aaron glared at each other. Aaron was weary from the trek, Simon was unaffected by his surroundings. Yet, their fury was evenly matched. Anger coursed through their bodies – a blend of hatred and jealousy. Brenda slid across the floor as she tried to maneuver herself away from the arguing pair.
Brenda said, “I think I'm getting sick... We shouldn't argue now. Let's think this through. Let's take a rest.”
Simon glanced at Brenda and said, “I'm tired of this. Close your eyes.”
Brenda furrowed her brow and asked, “What?”
Suddenly, Simon snarled and hurtled towards Aaron. Aaron shrieked upon seeing Simon's bestial movements. The flashlight clicked and clanked on the tile flooring, rapidly spinning from Simon's sudden movement. Brenda crawled towards the light, then shined the light towards Aaron's last position. Aaron and Simon had vanished.
Brenda asked, “Aaron? Aaron, are you okay? What's happening?”
Aaron's grunts and groans reverberated through the small gasoline station. Squishing and plopping sounds accompanied Aaron's moans of despair and agony. An orchestra of pain danced through the vacant room.
As she slowly moved the light across the walls, Brenda asked, “Simon, is that you?” Her bottom lip quivered as she continued, “Wha–What have you done? What–What's going on?”
There was no response. The savage sounds continued despite Brenda's pleas for contact. Suddenly, Brenda gasped as she illuminated Simon and Aaron. Simon knelt over Aaron with his back to Brenda. Simon's head was slumped over Aaron's situated body, like if he were nuzzling Aaron's neck as he slept. Aaron's eyes were hollow. He did not utter a sound.
As she spotted the blood on Aaron's jaw, Brenda shrieked. Simon glanced over his shoulder and growled. He bounced off of Aaron's body and darted into the darkness. Brenda turned off the flashlight as she crawled towards the double-door entrance of the gasoline station. Escape was the only viable option echoing through her mind.
Before she could stand and run, Simon shouted, “Wait!”
Standing on all fours near the door, Brenda stopped and looked over her shoulder. Her teeth chattered and her eyes watered as she found herself incapable of movement. With raised shoulders and his hands covering his face, Simon slowly emerged from behind a snack stand.
Simon said, “I... I did this for us. You don't deserve to be treated like that. You don't deserve his constant disrespect. You deserve someone better...”
Brenda scowled and said, “You... You killed my boyfriend. You... You're a murderer. You're like the rest of the maniacs out there. Did Aaron deserve to die like that? Huh? Will you kill me next?”
Simon shook his head and said, “I don't want to harm you. I want you to join me. I want you to love me. You don't deserve to be treated like that. I don't believe I deserve eternal loneliness, either. Please, save me. Join me.”
“Join you? What the hell are you talking about? What's wrong with you?”
Simon was befuddled by Brenda's questions. He couldn't help but ponder his bizarre explanation. He was at a sudden lost for words. Instead, Simon decided to show her the truth. He lowered his hands and took two steps forward. His face was illuminated by the dazzling stars and lucent moonlight seeping through the gasoline station's shattered windows.
His jaw and throat were drenched with Aaron's blood. His white t-shirt was painted red by his victim's vital fluid. His eyes were pitch-black – not a single slit of white. The veins bulging on his neck, arms, and head were suddenly a vibrant blue color. Brenda didn't gasp until she spotted Simon's extended canines – his teeth miraculously sharpened during the altercation.
Brenda stuttered, “You–You're a...”
Simon explained, “I am immortal. The plague cannot kill me. Age cannot kill me. I may be weakened by hunger, but I will not starve. Only the sun can physically harm me. I'm afraid the emotional pain is more severe, though. I am asking you to join me in immortality. I want you to cure my loneliness.” Simon paused as he grimaced from the sorrow and hopelessly sobbed. He continued, “Everyone will be gone soon. There aren't many like me. If you die, if everyone dies, I'll be alone forever. How can one live alone for eternity? The only answer is death.”
Flabbergasted, Brenda stuttered, “You–You're a vampire...”
Simon said, “It won't hurt a bit. I promise, it will be painless. I only need an answer. I need your permission. Will you join me?”
Brenda stared down and inspected her deteriorating condition. She was worsening by the second. She glanced at Aaron's savagely mauled body and whimpered. The love of her life was slaughtered by the man she foolishly trusted. She glowered as she turned towards Simon.
Brenda sternly said, “No. I will not join you. You're a murderer. You're alone because you kill. If you didn't murder my boyfriend, if you weren't such a monster, maybe you wouldn't be so alone. You don't... You do not deserve my company. You can burn in hell for all I care.”
Simon shouted, “Don't do this! Don't make me do this to you! Please, join me!”
As she staggered to her feet and shoved the door open, Brenda yelled, “No!”
With one foot out of the gasoline station, Brenda felt a tight grip on her jacket. She was shocked by Simon's breakneck speed. She shrieked as she was pulled back into the store by Simon's mighty strength. Her bellows of anguish echoed through the desolate desert. As tears streamed down his cheeks, Simon feasted on Brenda's neck. He gnawed into her throat like a chew toy, slurping the blood from the vicious wound.
As he gazed at Brenda's lifeless face, Simon whispered, “Why wouldn't you join me? I could have loved you...” He sank his fangs into her other jugular and guzzled the leaking blood. He lifted his head and sobbed, then said, “You could have saved me. We could have saved each other. I'm alone again... I'm alone...”
The Black Lake Pt. 2
“That's how it always ends, doesn't it? D
eath is loneliness. Death is nothingness. Death can be tragic or it can be peaceful, it can be now or it can be later, but it's always death. The grand finale is carved in stone. You cannot sculpt a new ending, but you can change the chapters,” Todd said as he stared into the cloudy sky.
The sun was completely veiled by the dense, murky clouds. The impenetrable clouds blocked any sense of warmth and reassurance – not a slit of sunshine pierced through the gloom. The whizzing wind gently caressed the desolate woodland, dancing around the decrepit trees and dead land.
As she sat on her buttocks, her bare feet dangling towards the Black Lake, Sadie gazed at Todd with narrowed eyes – an ocular examination of the uncertain. Todd appeared despondent and ruminative. He was lost in a labyrinthine mind brimming with sad thoughts.
Sadie loudly coughed into her clenched fist to shatter Todd's contemplation. Todd erratically blinked as he shook his head and glanced at Sadie, like if he were awaken from a daydream. The somber trance was easily broken. The pair did not utter a single word, only the forest sounds reverberated around them.
Breaking the peculiar silence, Sadie asked, “Why did you really tell me these stories? What was the purpose of all of this?”
Todd puckered his lips, then inquired, “What do you think, little lady?”
“I don't know. That's why I'm asking.”
Todd nodded, then asked, “Well, what did you think of them?”
“I liked them, I guess. I... Well, I don't believe in the supernatural and I don't believe you witnessed any of these stories, but I liked them. Real or fiction, it's good to know I'm not the only person haunted by sorrow. It's good to know, in some weird sense, that I am not alone. I guess I feel a little better after all of that. I just don't understand your reasoning. I don't understand why.”
Todd sighed, then explained, “I told them to you because I needed a break from my work. I wanted some time to reflect. I wanted to contemplate. I wanted you to listen. I'm relieved to see you are still here and you are still listening, little lady.”
Sadie huffed, then said, “I told you: my name's not 'little lady.' You can stop calling me that.”
“I know, I know. You didn't want to tell me your name because you were afraid. You were set on killing yourself, right? You didn't want to make a connection with someone before you committed the act, correct? A change of heart simply to have another broken heart later... it's just not worth it to you. Am I correct, Ms. Sadie Lewis?”
Sadie suddenly became stony-faced. She gazed into the rippling lake as she contemplated the dreadful situation. She slowly turned towards Todd and examined every nook and cranny on his tender, drooping face – a bat could find refuge in his cavernous wrinkles. Todd's funereal ambiance was conspicuous. The man was surrounded by melancholy.
Sadie's bottom lip trembled as she asked, “How... How did you know my name? Who sent you here? Really, why are you here?” Todd did not respond as he gazed into the dismal skies. Sadie furrowed her brow and asked, “What is your job?”
Todd pointed into the lake and explained, “I'm here to pick this little lady up. She's already stained the lake with her unfortunate death, but that doesn't mean I should leave her out here. She's dead, exactly what she wanted, but that does not mean I can abandon her.”
Sadie's eyes were enshrouded by vibrant webs of red veins. The windows to her soul were brimming with tears, fogging her vision with sadness. She ran her fingers through her silky hair as she hopelessly tried to recompose herself. Todd simply watched as the floating body flowed with the black water, gradually approaching the duo with each passing second.
Sadie bit her bottom lip, then asked, “What the hell does that mean, Todd? Are you some sort of... I don't know, some sort of groundskeeper? Is that it? You... You're here to clean up our mess? Get rid of the bodies or something?”
Todd responded, “In a sense, you are correct. I am the groundskeeper. I maintain these hollow woods and I try my best to clean this plagued lake. It is my duty to whisk away the lost souls, to guide them to their new homes.”
Sadie crawled towards Todd and clasped her hands as she pleaded, “Please, just tell me the truth. I don't care about your symbolic gestures anymore. Where did you really hear those stories? What are you here to do? Todd, tell me, what do you do with the bodies?”
“It can be symbolic, I suppose, but it is rather simple. I am here to guide the restless souls to their new homes. Suicide, accident, or murder, I am here to introduce them to death. These stories I told, some of them are from those very same lost souls. They are stories that resonated with me, the stories I could not forget.”
Sadie teetered as she staggered to her feet. Wide-eyed, she watched Todd in utter disbelief as she slowly walked in reverse. Todd continued to gaze into the lake, watching the body with a keen eye. Sadie struggled to speak, only capable of conjuring a croak of a word. The dreary climate had choked her, smothering her with gloom and doom.
As tears streamed down her rosy cheeks, Sadie stuttered, “You–you–you're... you're... you're a madman. You're... You're insane!”
She grimaced from the emotional pain as a sense of betrayal struck her gentle heart – like an 18-wheeler striking a puny woodland critter. The thoughts ran through her mind, vaulting over the crevices on her brain: I listened to your every word. I trusted you.
“You will be shocked by what you see, but I want you to listen. You will feel hollow, but I will help you. It is my duty to help you. You may feel alone in this world, I understand that, but you don't have to feel like that anymore,” Todd explained. He wagged his index finger towards the lake and said, “Brace yourself for the truth, Sadie. The first encounter is always the most difficult and the most dreadful. Look.”
Sadie whimpered as she turned her attention to the lugubrious lake. The drowned woman in the black garb slowly drifted towards the ground – her body had finally reached the lake's edge. The deceased woman bumped into the crumbling ground, then settled in the black water.
Todd turned towards Sadie and asked, “Are you ready to see the truth, little lady?” Sadie slowly nodded as she gazed at the body. Todd returned the nod and said, “Very well.”
***
Todd reached over the edge. His hands plunged into the dark water as he grabbed the drowned woman by her shoulders. Sadie covered her mouth with her trembling hands and whimpered as she slowly stepped in reverse. She watched as Todd struggled to retrieve the body from the blackened lake, like if the body had found a home in the melancholic waters and refused to depart.
As he gritted his teeth, Todd glanced back at Sadie and said, “Step back, little lady, it's going to get a little messy.”
Abruptly, Todd heaved the dead body out of the lake and dragged her onto dry land. The inky water immediately coursed off the woman's carcass. The unnatural water coursed across the soft ground, then cascaded off the ledge – drawn back into the Black Lake like if the water were magnetic. Sadie stood on her tiptoes as she attempted to catch a glimpse of the body, but to no avail – Todd's narrow torso veiled her identity.
As he knelt over the woman, Todd whispered, “Exactly as I suspected. It never changes. Life is fluid, death is stagnant.” He glanced over his shoulder and asked, “Would you like to see, little lady? Or do you want to take the easy route?”
“See what? What do you want to show me?” Sadie asked. Todd did not respond. Sadie stomped her foot and asked, “Why are you acting this way? Why can't you give me a straight answer for once? What is it?”
Yet again, Todd did not respond. He gazed down at the woman's face with teary eyes as he gently caressed her sopping black hair. Sadie slowly stepped forward as she stretched her neck for a better view. Her steps were heavy and her thin legs wobbled, like if she were partaking in an arduous journey. As she walked around Todd, she finally caught a glimpse of the deceased woman. She panted like a dog during a scorching summer as she struggled to comprehend the apprehensive situation. Her body shuddered, her lips trembled, and her eyeli
ds flickered from the shocking revelation.
Sadie whispered, “Th–This... This can't be happening... It's impossible.” Tears caromed off her defined cheekbones and dribbled off her chiseled jawline as she turned towards Todd. She glowered as she asked, “What the hell is this, Todd? What have you done?”
Todd responded, “This is the truth. This is your fate. This is your agony. This is your death.”
A woman resembling Sadie rested on Todd's lap. Her long black hair dangled off of Todd's knees. Her skin was pale and her lips were discolored. Her eyes were sealed. She did not breathe or squirm. She was a slab of frigid, damp meat.
Sadie shook her head and said, “This can't be happening... I'm here. I'm still here. There can't... There can't be two of us.”
She twirled in placed as she peered into the woodland, piercing through the cluttered trees with narrowed eyes. To her utter disappointment, there was no one else in sight. Not a single soul lingered in the grim forest.
Sadie placed her moist palm on her brow and whispered, “This has to be some sort of joke. This can't be real. It has to be a prank or something. It can't be real. It can't be...”
Todd carefully placed the deceased woman's head on the ground, meticulously caring for the drenched carcass. He planted his palm on the neighboring trunk, then staggered to his feet. His black trousers were begrimed from his time storytelling and his dirty work. He turned towards Sadie as he loosened his smothering tie.
Todd smiled and said, “Listen to me, Sadie. This is real. This is the truth. To be as blunt and truthful as possible, you are dead. You already committed suicide. You're here with me now because your story is full of sadness. Your story reflects the stories I told you. Your life reflects the Black Lake.”
Sadie ran her fingers through her hair and sobbed, then whispered, “It's like the story...” She gazed at Todd and said, “I... I don't remember it, Todd. I don't remember dying. How can I be dead if I don't remember it? I mean... No, I don't remember any of it.”
