the strangers

The Strangers

You look around only to find yourself standing in front of the white home. The front
door swings open welcoming you to enter and see what lies ahead of you. You slowly step in; the narrow hallway, void of any color or decoration leads through a maze of plain white walls to a large room that splits into two separate rooms. You begin to hear the muffled chatter of teenagers coming from the center of these two large spaces.

At first you pay no mind to the voices as you are still trying to figure out your current surroundings. On the right half of the rooms is the kitchen. Well kept, clean, and decorated with assorted utensils along with various colorful glasses and plates. The left side is the dining room. In the center of the room was large smooth oak table with the chairs neatly tucked into it. An array of family photos from different generations covers most of the walls. The photos seemed to have their own stories of the past that sit still now beind the glass that covered them. In the center of these rooms is a set of thick marble stairs that lead upwards to the rest of the strange home.

You then see the four teenagers sitting upon the stairs laughing and talking to one another. An elderly man walks into the kitchen where a warming sweet scent of pastries seems to ensnare your senses. The very smell of the chocolates and other assortments makes you crave a taste. He turns to face the children with a platter daubed with the foods and four Flavored beverages. Each person on the stairs picks up a glass and pastry and ends conversation to take a bite. Not one person lifts their eyes in your direction: It is as if they cannot see you, or even know that you are there.

A large crash erupts from the hallway. Smoke and fragments of wood erupt into the open rooms. The teenagers cry out in fear from the crash, then immediately attempt to dash for the nearest exit. The food smashes underneath their feet and the glasses shatter onto the floor as they flee. They fall over each other to the floor at the sight of the dark man. He is gangly and lean with a pale sallow complexion. His hair black as a moonless night, hangs loosely in his face, covering most of his features. The only things you can really see... are his enraged green eyes.
They glow like an emerald fire with an eternal burning hatred that seems to dance like a gypsy in the night. His mouth, barely visible, twists into a cruel snarl at the old man. The man darts his attention towards the children.
"No one gets past me" he spits.

He leans down and seizes one of the young girls. He grips her fine curly blonde hair and heaves her face to his. She cries out in utter pain and horror. He glares into her eyes, with an evil, vengeful gaze.
She stopped crying, her eyes rolled back in their sockets as her head rolls to the side, her body goes limp.
The other three youths witness this brief occurrence and immediately dart past him and out the front door. He tosses the girl aside, stares at her, and then lifts his eyes to the old man once again.

He begins to approach the elderly man, but, the old man, too shocked from witnessing the death of his friend has a massive heart attack. He clutches his chest as he grunts to himself, and then falls to the floor with an enormous 'thud'. You look over at him to see that he isn't moving, nor is he breathing.
The man looks at you, he does not smile nor frown.
"Who are you?"
He says very quietly.
You can barely speak well enough to answer the question. He looks all around the house, then quickly walks towards you, grabs your arm, and darts for the front door.
"Lets go,” he hisses.
You dash through the
maze of hallways and out the front door. As you walk outside, the house collapses into a pile of smoke and rubble. You faint in the man's arms. He holds you close to him sure as to not let you fall.

When you awake, the house is somehow whole again, As if it had never collapsed in the first place. You look around and realize that the strange man is nowhere to be seen.
You walk back into the house, through the hallway again and into the split room. The house is completely empty. You look towards the second story, and then begin to walk up the stairs.

They only lead to one room; you walk inside to see teh plain off-white walls. There is a large bed in the center of the room with black silk sheets. a black wooden dresser is nearest the door next to you. You crawl into the bed and lie there as a noise startles you. You glance up to see the man looking down upon you. He sits next to you, caresses your hair, then slowly leans over and kisses you gently on the cheek. You wonder who this man is and why he helped you like he did.

He embraces you in a warm hug, and then stands up to leave. He begins to walk towards the door as you leap from the bed.
"Wait, do not leave."
"I am sorry, I must."
You begin to cry as he turns to walk away. You run to him and grab his arm.
"Please, not now" you sob.
He turns around and stares into your eyes.
"Come with me then" he says.
"I will, but please who are you"?
He says nothing, only picks you up and walks downstaires and eventually out of the house once again. You wrap your arms tightly around him and engage in a long passionate kiss.
He sets you down, clasps your hands together then disappeares. You open your hands only to find a large gold ring. It must have been hundreds of years old with a shiny ruby that glows on top. Twisted inside is a crumpled brown piece of paper with thick black lettering that read:

'I SHALL LOVE YOU ALWAYS AND FOREVER BUT EVEN HELL WOULD NOT WANT SOMETHING AS PURE AS YOU.'

You stand there staring out into the world wondering to yourself what might have been if you never walked inside house. let alone wonder to yourself why he meant so much to you in such a short amount of time, then realize.. it was only a dream.