by Raquel Dove
Alexandra’s jaw hung open, her clogged nasal passage forcing her to breathe through her mouth. Her swollen red eyes stared blankly out the window. A dead glaze hid the once vibrant life that once shone in her emerald eyes. She sat in the window seat of a guest wing one in Sam’s house. It had become her new home since she had no other relatives and Aunt Tammy hadn't owned their house. Even though she had spent many weekends staying over at Sam's house, she still couldn't feel at home here. It was too big. His parents were obscenely wealthy and they made a point of showing that off in the form of this sprawling mansion.
She had spent most of her days sitting in this window. Just sitting quietly and watching. Every now and then she would burst into a fit of tears until her body was sore and she couldn’t cry anymore. Then she would fall into a restless sleep before waking to repeat the cycle. Sam would come in every now and again to force food and drink upon her, trying his best to care for her. She knew that he was terribly worried about her. She could see it all over his face. It wasn't like she wanted to feel like this. She just didn't quite know what to do now. So she just sat and watched, because it felt like the only appropriate thing to do.
It was the afternoon before last when she noticed a peculiar man standing on the other side of the street. He was abnormally tall with a thick chest. His face carried a white beard, and bushy eyebrows that stood out on his weathered face, hiding his eyes. He had been watching her, for how long before she noticed him she didn't know. She watched him back for a few moments before he turned and walked away.
Now, the man was back. This time he was on her side of the road, and as he passed just in front of the window Alex sat in, he stopped. The man looked up into the window, his eyes meeting Alexandra’s. A tingle raced down her spine. She knew this man. She didn’t know how, or where, but recognition hit her when her face met his. It was his eyes. Something about those charcoal eyes that tickled at her memories. She rose to her feet; this could not be a coincidence. This man had been watching her, and Alex wanted to know why. She was just about to rush out of her room and into the street to confront the man when the door to her bedroom swung open.
“Oh good, you’re up,” Sam said, barging into the room. His voice was light, with a forced humor to it. Alex turned back to the window, ignoring her friend and his forced enthusiasm, but the man had already vanished.
“Would you stop with that window?” Sam said, as he walked further into the room. “It’s not healthy, what you're doing.”
“I’m not doing anything,” Alex said. She dropped a knee onto the window seat and leaned forward as far as she could, craning her neck to look up and down the street. ”Have you noticed an old man around the neighborhood? White hair, white beard? Kinda strange…”
Sam sighed, shaking his head. He knew that it would take time for Alex to heal, but she was exhibiting some rather disturbing behavior. Something needed to be done. Alex needed to socialize, and she needed to be around her friends and other people that cared about her. Not wasting away, staring out of a window all day.
“Alex,” he said, stepping up behind her and putting his hands on her shoulders. “We're gonna go camping.”
“I don’t want to go camping,” she said, finally moving her eyes away from the window and turning to look at Sam. He had anticipated this, but he had also resolved not to give up. He would get her out of the house if it was the last thing he did, and he had recruited some back up.
“You don’t have to want to, but you’re going to,” he said, his balled fists placed firmly on his narrow hips as Alex made her way towards the bed.
Alex knew that he was only trying to help. She also knew that he didn't plan on leaving her alone until he got his way. She could see the determination there in his eyes. She sighed. There was no use in trying to fight; she didn't have the energy for it.
“Fine, when are we leaving?” she asked, once again turning to look out the window.
“Half an hour. I already loaded the car. Will and Kat are gonna come too,” he said, flashing her a satisfied smile. Alex mustered a forced half smirk back at him.
This was Sam's version of an intervention, and he had called in the big guns. She couldn’t blame him. She could imagine trying to do the same for him. Alex wanted to feel better; she wanted to get on with her life, but it felt like a ton of bricks was constantly resting on her chest. It was so tiring. She kept alternating between burning pain and raw numbness, and she was so ready for it all to be over with.
Alex knew the last thing her Aunt Tammy would want was her to waste away like this. She knew she had to wake from this lethargy and get her life back together. She had to try.
“Ok,” she said, forcing her voice to sound more optimistic. “I’ll get packed.”
“Three days,” Sam said, his smile broadening. He wrapped Alex in an awkward hug and squeezed her tightly. “I promise it'll get better. This'll be fun. You need that right now.”
He pulled back a little to look down at her. He flashed a lopsided smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and Alex forced a smile back at him.
“I know,” she said, and she believed those words. She did need time to get over this and three days in the woods with her friends seemed like a good way to start. Sam left her to finish getting ready, closing the door behind him.
Alex walked over to the walk in closet in the corner of the room, and pulled a ratted pink backpack down from the top shelf. She packed a couple changes of clothes, something to sleep in, a book she had been reading on and off, and a few things she would need to bathe in the small lake at the campsite. Alex and Sam had been camping at the same spot since as long as she could remember. She cherished those times, remembering the peace that would wash over her as she sat before a roaring campfire, marshmallows roasting on an untwisted wire hanger. It had been a few years since they had been camping, and the more Alex thought about it, the more excited she got. This camping trip was just what she needed to start pulling herself back together. She looked around her room, thinking of anything else she might need. A sparkle under her bed caught her eye, and she walked over to it. Reaching under the bed, she pulled out the small silver box that was her only inheritance. Alexandra hadn’t told anybody about it, not even Sam.
“Alex!” Sam hollered from downstairs. “They're here. Let’s get going. I wanna miss the traffic.”
“I’m coming,” she called back, shoving the silver box into the bag and heading downstairs.
They arrived at the campsite just before sunset. The light of the dying sun played off the small lake like a million fireflies in the air, lending a surreal feeling to the clearing that bordered one side of the shore. There was a vast forest that splayed out in every direction around them with only one long dirt road that led in and out of civilization. The evening air was cool, hinting at the onset of the winter months to come.
Will and Sam got to work setting up the tent and the other camping gear they had brought along while Kat and Alex walked through the less dense area's of the surrounding forest, picking up kindling and wood for a fire.
The four friends sat around the campfire late into the night, roasting marshmallows and trading scary stories. Kat and Will decided to sleep in the tent, while Alexandra and Sam fell asleep outside in their sleeping bags, gazing up at the stars sparkling brightly above them.
Alex woke suddenly from her slumber, her eyes opening to see the stars shining high above her. A light breeze blew through the campsite, and for an instant Alex thought she heard her name, like a whisper on the wind. Alexandra.
She heard it again. She sat up in her sleeping bag and glanced around the campsite. The embers of the once raging campfire had died to a soft glow. The night was quiet, unusually so. She listened for the chirp of a cricket, or the snapping of twigs in the distance. There was nothing but a deafening silence around her.
A movement just beyond the tree line caught her eye. She squinted trying to make out what it was. A pair of almond eyes, shining
in the darkness, suddenly popped out at her. Her head whipped around to Sam, who was still peacefully asleep. She looked back to where she had seen the eyes, but they were gone. Her heart hammered against her ribcage, threatening to pop right out onto the ground.
“Alexandra,” a deep voice cut through the silence of the night behind her.
Alex snapped her head around to see the white haired man from the window. She quickly rose out of her sleeping bag and turned to face him. Every nerve in her body was screaming at her to run, but where would she go? And what about her friends? Her eyes darted over to the tent where Will and Kat slept.
There was something…inhuman about this man. A fleshy tip of ear stuck far out past locks of white hair that now seemed unnaturally aged. His eyes were a mesmerizing charcoal color, with a black slit for a pupil. He looked almost animalistic.
“Who are you? And why have you been following me?” Alex demanded. She tried to speak loud enough to wake her friends, but Sam just grunted and rolled over in his sleeping bag. He was such a hard sleeper that a cannon going off wouldn't rouse him.
“There’s no time,” the man said, taking a few steps closer and holding his hand out to her, expecting her to take it. “You must come with me.”
His fingers were tipped with nails that tapered to a fine point, and when he spoke Alex saw the pointed fangs of his canines glistening in the moonlight. He must think she was crazy. Why would she ever go anywhere with him. Her mind searched for a way out. Even if her friends were to wake up, she wasn't even sure that they could all manage to take this man down. His hair and eye color made him look old, but beneath his clothing, Alex could see bulging muscles. There was also the possibility that he had a weapon on him. Alex's mind clicked and she remembered the dagger she had stowed in her bag.
“I’ve seen you before. In the neighborhood,” Alex said, ignoring the fright that shook through her. “but…you looked different... more human.”
“I can alter my form while in this land. What you are seeing now is my true form,” the man said, his strange eyes sparkling softly in the moonlight.
“Ok,” Alex said, taking a step closer to her backpack, “so why are you following me?”
“I knew your parents, Alexandra,” the man said, dropping his outstretched hand when he realized she wasn't going to take it. “I'd really like for you to come with me.”
“I’m not going to go anywhere with you,” she scoffed, her mind reeling from his statement about knowing her parents. “And how do you know my name?”
“I knew Tammy as well,” he said. “She was a very good friend of mine.”
“Funny,” Alex said, narrowing her eyes and forcing back the pain that hearing that name brought. “I don't remember seeing you at her funeral.”
“No,” the man said, shaking his head. “Sadly I couldn't go. But I would have liked to have been there.”
“How did you know my parents?” Alex asked. She took a step closer to her bag. If only she could get to that dagger, maybe she could scream and wake her friends and they could fight this crazy man off.
At first he said nothing. Alex wondered if he had even heard her. Finally, he glanced over his shoulder and shrugged.
“Now is not the time for that,” he said. “I'll tell you all about them if you just come with me.”
Alex took another step back and felt her foot bumping against her bag. She could feel a bead of sweat dripping down her cheek in spite of the cool weather. The man took a step forward and Alex knew she had to act now. She bent over and ripped into her back, throwing out clothes as she tried to reach the box with the dagger. From her peripheral vision she could see the man rushing forward. Her fingers grazed the cold metal of the box that held the dagger and she yanked it out of her bag. The lid to the box snapped open and the dagger went tumbling across the ground.
Before she even had time to stand, she felt a sharp sting in her chest. She looked down to see the glittering gold handle of the dagger sticking out of her chest. Her eyes followed the hand that grasped the hilt to the face of the white haired man. How had he moved so fast?
“I know this part can be painful,” he said, “but it'll be over soon enough.”
8
