Eternal Night

  The many colors of pinks and purples fade across the sky as it is engulfed with the blackness of night.  The stars shimmer above, remants of what was once life. Strewn across the galaxy for millienia, with or without borders leading the other worlds so secret we are confined to the this one.  Ignorance is bliss, or is it?  The sting that has torn my heart into a gaping wound that I fear I cannot repair, is apparent.  My trust has faded, leaving only trails of mystery that may not have a solution.  Night, eternal? Up there it is. what is the difference? Why must I have a day?  The moonlight casts a hue of gray and blue/black.  I don't know daylight.  I don't want to know daylight.  Things are taken away just as easy in the daylight.  I need the cover of the moonlit shadow, not casting a shadow  for all to see.  I see the figures in the street and wonder what night means to them.  I have no choice, I must say farewell to sunlight for it may never be mine to welcome again. 
    It's funny the way your eyes focus.  A figure, so small in the distance that gets bigger the closer it becomes.  It walks slowly, deliberately making no sound. Quiet as a mouse.  Left hand in the pocket of the trousers right hand in the inner coat pocket, reaching slowly for the familiar.  She stands near the stoop of the his brownstone peddling. Peddling her body. Peddling her face. Peddling her lips. Peddling.  Slowly the cigarette reaches her lips, the flame illuminates her face drowning out the background as a smile creeps across her face.  "Why thank you kind sir, just what I like a man who knows what I need and when to give it.", she said coyishly.  The figure, stands with incredible ease to acheive full height, leaving her to look like a child to an adult. A slight sneer on it's face, the build of a man, yet the fingers of the hand elongated reaching for her waist without a word. "Where are we going, big boy? I can be as flexible as you like." "Oh, I depend on just that little lady, I depend on just that.", the voice was low and hissed, unnatural.  As they turned the corner into the alley, they reached a destination that was her final one.
    Turning away from the balcony, shying away from visiblity was something to master. Not everyone could do it. I know that was something easy to learn when forced upon one.  Could I feed with such cunning? Could I live with such stealthness? I know I had one hell of a teacher, thrust into a world of unknown certatiny, one must survive by any means necessary, right or wrong is not an option anymore or is it?
    It is amazing how the thickness of my hair and the glistening of my teeth and nails can be as mesmerizing as the sparkle of a diamond, but tainted red.  With nails that are thick and sharp enough to rip the throat of a bear with the ease of a hot knife cutting butter, can I let the darkness take over and win? The water flows ever so cold when it first comes out, like a calm before the storm.  I must get ready for tonight I must put all this to the test. Even my clothes seem to have a life all it's own. I must prepare, for tonight I become what is to become of me.
    I think this is the time for him. Do I let it be? Do let him come to my heart? The journey to the heart is often tempting and inviting, but treachery and betrayal lurk around every corner.  I cannot get he image of his face twisted in anger and the sound of the flesh as it ripped open the flesh of a woman of the night, whom I have never even met, or will ever. The imagination speaks wonders to me and is never one to steer you in the direction the mind has laid out, often one finds the yellow brick road and still ends up back in the same place where one started.  The evil and dangers are around every corner and cannot be anticipated. Or can they? 

    My baby is almost here, just four weeks to go. I just know she will be the joy of my life. It is the only part of my love I will ever have. I never thought in a million years, that I would get to a chance to experience the kind of love that most people never get to see in during their entire lives. It is something that I do hope and pray for my baby girl. I want to her to have such love like ours was. I saw her father, Max, my first night in town. Unbeknownst to me, that he was going to going to change my life forever. It was like he could read everything that I was thinking. There was nothing that we would not do for each other. We were so happy.


Life was simple at home. Just girl with big ambitions of becoming a singer. I was really foolish. I never realized how hard it was going to be. Living in the country, I was used to the night being quiet and being able to see the night stars clearly. So instead of being a big time singer, I was working a dead end job as a telephone operator. It has already been two months, and I still could not sleep comfortably. Every evening, I walk to the cafe, for my dinner and then to my new house. I kept getting the feeling I was being followed. The hustle and bustle of the big city is going to take time to get used to. I was ready to give it up and move back home. Back to where I came from, and the roots of my family would always be, but no, I had to go traipsing off to the big city.


There is this dark stranger that just seems to be everywhere I am. He acts as if he does not notice me, and he was doing a bad job in hiding it. I felt his eyes follow my every movement. There is an exciting feeling comes from having a secret all your own. I see him for sure everyday when I go to to get my dinner at the local cafe, he is there. Always he is hiding behind a newspaper or a book. He has long gorgeous black hair. He is about 6'4, with iridescent eyes. Sometimes I, when I can, catch a glimpse of him, his eyes look green and then in a different light they take on a violet color. He seems to be fascinated with me I wish I knew why.
 

Tonight, the sky seemed to be unusually dark. I did the usual routine, work, the café for dinner, and then home. I was lost in my thoughts, when I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to have my best friend Ashley over for dinner. We were going to finish planning her bridal shower. I was after all the Maid of Honor.


I took out my key and prepared to enter my home, when I noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Did I forget to close the door and lock it? I was in such a rush this morning, maybe I did forget. I had done it before. I turned on the lights, everything looked okay. I went to close the shades, and I noticed the familiar silhouette of my mysterious stranger across the street. He suddenly vanished into the shadows, or did he? I guess I will get to meet him when the moment is right. I needed to get back to my dinner before it got any colder and Ashley was due any minute.


I settled down before the glowing light of the television, when I heard someone whisper, "You are very pretty," a deep voice said. I could feel a cold sharp metal on my throat. "I want you to remember that you are not in control, I am!" he shouted. I could not think straight, I wanted to run, I wanted to scream for help, but I was speechless. "Oh! Dear God, please help me!" I kept praying over and over, "I don't know what to do!" He grabbed me by the hair and sat me in a chair. I was struggling as hard as I could as he tied me to a chair with duck tape and stuffed a handkerchief in my mouth. He begun to make a circle around my chair slowly. He started pouring lighter fluid all around my chair. He was laughing in such a way that I knew for sure I was going to die. I would not be able to see my family again and I would never get to accomplish everything I ever wished for. I was only 19, and it was not long enough. He startled me back from thoughts, by striking a match. He was absolutely, livid with joy, savoring the moment when he was going to get to watch me burn to death.
 

"I have been watching you since you came to town," he growled and with the lit match in his hand, "Tonight, you will be mine!" How,dear Lord, was I suppose to get out of this? His skin had a translucencey look to his skin. His eyes looked hollow and sunken. His voice sounded like he was death himself. Was I stupid to think this mysterious stranger was just a harmless fascination? As the match hit the ground, the room began to fill with smoke. I was losing consciousness; the room was spinning, I slipping into oblivion. With a flash of dancing lights bouncing shadows across the wall. As he laughed maniacally. There was a loud crash of glass as someone came flying through the front window. I heard a even deeper voice say, "I have been after you for awhile. I never touched you because you were always torturing you fellow evildoer's! "Now you have gone too far! She is an innocent and you are unworthy of the immortality you were given!" The voice was cold, the voice of someone or something that could not be of this world. This was not the same voice as my attacker! Who did it belong to? I could not hold on anymore. Everything went dark and there was silence.


"Miss? Miss? I think she is coming around. Let's go!" Everything slowly came into focus; I was being put in an ambulance. Someone was lying close to me on the lawn with his neck broken and his throat ripped out. I was alive! But how? Then a friendly voice, that sounded familiar but I could not place. "Hi,I’m Max. We are taking you to St. Christopher’s Emergency Hospital."


The sirens were loud and shortly we arrived at the emergency room. My hero was also the Doctor! I heard a nurse ask me, "Do you remember what happen?" I nodded my head yes. The eyes. There was something vaguely familiar about his eyes. "I want you try and relax, we will take good care of you. Do you understand me?" He asked. Again, I nodded. "You are a very lucky young lady. You have a few scrapes, bumps and bruises, with a little smoke inhalation. Also, according to this x-ray, a fractured wrist." He said with great concern in his voice. "I want you rest now, you are in good hands." Everything was such a blur after that. Doctors and nurses coming in and out of the room, back and forth with medications and helping me in anyway they could.


In the waiting room, Ashley was waiting for any news. She had apparently had just gotten to my house when I was being put into ambulance. For what seemed like forever, the doctor came out and let her know that I was okay and that she could go see with me if she liked. She stayed with me the whole night. Then she left me early in the morning to get me something to go home in. I woke up to a beautiful sunset. The sunlight was fading fast, and beautiful night reminded me of home. With pools of moonlight and a blanket of stars, I prayed silently, "Dear Lord, thank You for letting me come out of this alive."

    "Well, well, well, how are we today?" Said a friendly voice, my friend Ashley, as she walked in with my things. "Hi," I said relief and happiness washing over me. "I just spoke to the nurse on duty, and she said I could probably take you home today." She smiled relieved to see that I was doing better than she expected. "Was there a lot of damage to the house? Did you find out what happen?" I asked. "Well, when I got there the firemen were putting out a very small fire, and the shattered front window was being boarded up. "The cops said," she continued, "that upon arriving, you and your attacker were laying on the lawn. "You were okay, but—," she hesitated. "But what?" I asked. "But, the man who saved you had already gone, they saw him giving you attacked you was dead." She looked very frightened. "I know, I saw him as I was coming to." Apparently, your hero heard you scream, and he saved the day." She laughed, trying to make light of the situation.

    As I let this slowly sink in, she had a smile on her face that looked like she was about to burst if I did not ask her what she was smiling about. "Okay, what’s up?" I asked. "Also, your hero saved your life twice last night. "He was also that doctor, Max, the one that took care of you last night," She smiled sheepishly, "and boy is he is gorgeous! "Really? Did he get
hurt?" "No,not really,he walked away without a scratch. The only thing that got messed up was his clothes. Can you believe it?"
     
    Just then, Max came in. I was shocked, when I saw his face. It was the guy I thought to be my stalker. The, one that I saw everyday around my neighborhood, the handsome dark stranger. I was dumbfounded." He smiled, "I see you are feeling better and your friend here has brought you your things. "I checked out all your lab work and everything looks like you can go home." He said with a smile playing on his lips. It was him, it had to be. "Have we met?" I said, finally finding my voice. He smiled as he listened to my heart. "Girl, he has been with you since they brought you in last night! Haven’t you been listening to me? Did you check to make sure she did not have a concussion too, Doc?" Max smiled. His pretty green eyes sparkling giving off that violet glow, they were hypnotic. "Now, let’s see, the nurse told me you did really great today. Is there anything else I can do for you before I let you go home?",after he gained his composure. They both helped me straighten up to a sitting position. There were so many things that I wanted to ask, but something told me it was best to keep my questions on my health alone. I had not told Ashley anything about him, in fact I had not told a soul. I liked having a secret all to myself. "Um, no. I don’t think so. I was hoping that you could tell me your version of what happen last night?" He looked at his watch, "Well, I would like to tell you, but I have rounds to do." I felt stupid, "It’s okay. I was just hoping there would be someway to repay you for your kindness and that you gave me the missing pieces from last night. So, how soon can I leave?" Starting to get up from the bed and wishing he would just leave. He saw the expression on my face and said quickly, "Look, please don’t take what I said the wrong way. I apologize. Let me make it up to you. How about I come by your house tomorrow evening to check on you, bring you dinner, and we can talk about it then? How does that sound?" He said quickly. Ashley squeezed my arm, so I turned and said, "Sure that sounds great, see you then."