Alone

This is a short story I did for a school creative writing group. It has a lot of problems, but is still one of my favorites.

Alone

 

The house shook.  It was a violent storm; so violent it felt as if God was punishing the earth.  The thunder bellowed and the lightning sliced through the deep purple sky with its razor edges.  It was a night straight from a Poe nightmare and I was alone.  Blackjack, my well fed solid black cat, stared at me from across the room with an amused look on his very round face.  His presence is usually a comfort, but tonight his swarthy body and sinister jade eyes added to the eeriness.  My stomach was full of butterflies.  With every pop of lightning the hair on my neck stood up and my heart rate quickened.  I knew something was going to happen, my bones ached with the foreboding assurance that this was not an ordinary night.

My little one bedroom cabin deep in the woods had always been my refuge.  Daffodils greeted me from their beds by the door when I came home from work.  The worn chocolate leather sofa in front of the quaint little fireplace is where I spent all of my downtime.  My sunshine yellow kitchen with vintage green appliances made me feel inspired, like the next Julia Child making magic in the kitchen.  That night I did not feel warm and cozy.  I was frightened, there seemed to be unseen terror around every corner and malevolent shadows flickered and danced on the walls.  Going into the bedroom was out of the question I couldn’t face his side of the bed.

         It was a year ago to that day that I lost him.  One minute we were driving home carefree and happy, and then an earth shattering crash left him just a body on the ground and me fighting to survive.  In an instant I was forever alone.  Most of the time that night felt like a dream.  On stormy nights however the reality that the shelter of his arms were gone, really hit hard.  Storms terrified me and sent me into a panic and now that I was by myself it was worse.  I missed him so much. Everyday was a struggle and I was trying to talk myself into picking up the pieces and moving on but I couldn’t.

         A knock at the door broke me from my thoughts.  My stomach twisted “who would be out in a storm like this?”  I didn’t get many visitors; I lived too far out of town.  Family had stopped coming when I stopped answering their calls. I cautiously walked to the door and pressed my ear against it, I heard nothing but rain.  “Maybe I imagined it?”  The storm and unwanted memories were putting my mind in such a dark place maybe it was deceiving me.  A minute passed, another knock louder this time.  I hesitantly opened the door expecting to be greeted by a stately raven but instead I was greeted by piercing darkness.  “Hello!”  I cried out, but I was answered by silence.  Another bolt of lightning illuminated the yard and driveway both were empty. 

         Shaking I quickly closed the door.  Every horror movie I had ever seen ran through my mind.  This is how most of them started and they never ended well.  A bang from the back of the house almost made my heart stop. Was it a masked intruder with horrible intentions? Fury erased my fear for a moment.  I am not a victim I am a fighter and I would be damned if I would let someone scare and push me around.  I grabbed a flashlight and my .38 special and went to investigate the bang.

         Fear came back and my bravery ran for cover when I walked into the kitchen to see the back door standing open.  I never locked my doors but this seemed like a good time to start.  I slammed the door shut locked both locks and ran to the front door to do the same.  Was there someone in the house with me?  “I have a gun!” I yelled with the hope that an unwanted guest would hear those words and tuck tail and run away, but I heard nothing but rain and thunder.

         After investigating the other rooms in my tiny cabin, which were empty, I came to the bedroom door.  It had been a year since I had slept in our bed.  I only went into the room to change clothes and take showers.  I dealt with his death by not dealing with it, if I had to smell his smell on the pillows or if I reached for him in the middle of the night I would loose it.  I flung open the door and found and empty room. 

         Another crack of lightning and my lamps went dark.  A power outage was so ironic I almost laughed.  I was so thankful I had already grabbed the flashlight and built a fire before the storm.  Cautiously I grabbed all the candles and moved them into the living room and lit them.  I was barricading my self in the living room with as much light as possible and my gun. 

         BlackJack had been sleeping like a baby in front of the fireplace oblivious to my distress, but something made him jump up and look around.  His eyes focused on something behind me.  My heart was hammering in my chest I took a deep breath and turned around, but I didn’t see anything.  BlackJack was still responding to something I couldn’t see, he started purring jumped down, walked over, and looked up at the invisible entity.  After a few minutes of staring he turned and walked to the kitchen. “What the hell was that about?”  I asked him as he was walking away.

         I turned to grab the flashlight to go give my strange cat the food he was searching for, when I felt a hand on my shoulder.  I screamed, grabbed my gun, and spun around but there was nothing there.  I could still feel the icy hand print on my shoulder I knew I didn’t imagine it.  I turned around so fast no one could have ran away without me at least catching a glimpse of them, but I saw nothing.

         My brain told me to get in the car and drive away to somewhere crowded and well lit, but I couldn’t.  My curiosity and strong will urged me to stay and find out what was happening.  Another quick search of the house turned up nothing.  Exhaustion and common sense were convincing me that I had imagined the hand, and the knock and open door were results of the storm.  The clock on the mantel made a forlorn chime it was two o’clock in the morning and despite being on edge I was drowsy.  I sat back on the couch and was quickly pulled under into a fitful sleep.

         I woke up to the sound of the clock chiming to announce it was now three o’clock in the morning.  Weariness and Drowsiness still had their hooks and me and I did not want to move.  I stayed motionless on the couch with my eyes closed willing myself to go back to sleep.  Then I heard the footsteps. 

         They were heavy dragging footsteps that seemed to shake the house.  I was paralyzed with fear and my heart felt as if it were going to explode.  For some reason I couldn’t make myself sit up or open my eyes or grab the gun, I just laid there.  The footsteps started at my bedroom and were coming towards me slowly. Fear stole my breath as they approached the couch.  I could feel the presence of someone beside me staring at me.  The presence bent down until it was inches from my face, I could feel freezing breath on my mouth.  It whispered my name in a haunting but familiar voice; impossible he was dead gone forever! Fear was choking me but somehow I found courage and opened my eyes, nothing.  Impossible I knew something had been there.  Another bang from the back of the house made me run to investigate.  Once again the door was standing open.  Once again I slammed it shut and as soon as I turned the locks the lamps came back on.

         No lightning lit up my windows and the growl of the thunder sounded miles away the storm was over.  My house felt safe again I knew whatever was there had left through the back door.  I was alone again. Was it him?  I didn’t think so if it was really him why did I feel so threatened?  For the first time I wanted to sleep in my bed I was so exhausted I needed to rest on an actual bed.  I walked into the bedroom there was a picture laying on the bed.  It was our wedding portrait, I picked it up and turned it over on the back was the word “soon.”

         After that night I decided to sell the house and the memories with it.  I moved to town and found myself again. I’m still not sure what I experienced that night it was something otherworldly and I’m not sure I will ever get the answers I want. As I’m writing this I can hear the thunder getting closer and I just saw the first flash of lightning.  Another late night storm, but I’m not afraid of them like I used to be.  This is where I end my story because there is a knock at the door.  Wait! Who would be out in a storm like this?