The Encounter

She walked up the old wooden staircase quietly as possible, but with every step she took the old worn-out wood creaked under her feet. Suddenly startled by the sound of an opening door, she hastily turned around, slipped on the marble slick stair in front of her and fell to the bottom of the staircase with a loud crash, and a cry of pain and failure escaped her throat. As she listened for angry footsteps to follow after her she heard a loud slam, and shuddered at the sound. A dark, mischievous shadow glided down the stairs with hardly a sound and started to pace with heavy strides to and fro in front of the girl repeating an unfamiliar literary element.

She slid herself into a dark corner out of sight. She pondered, trying to make out the words but soon after she fancied a ringing in her ears that made it so that she couldn’t think or hear. She shook her head to rid the feeling but it wouldn’t go away.

The shadow, still pacing, suddenly stopped . . . and turned in her direction. The girl scarcely breathed for the minute the shadow was staring at her. When the shadow finally turned away the girl let out a sigh of relief. She resolved to try and make for the door. When she turned to run the shadow spun around and within a snap of a finger was right in front of the girls face. She stared into its fiery eyes and wondered what it could be.

She shot her eyes in the direction of the door and then back to the shadow. She stood up and ran like the wind towards the door but when she reached the door it was locked. Not realizing that the door was locked she twisted the door knob and pulled it but the door wouldn’t budge, When she spun around to run the opposite direction the shadow was nose to nose and eye to eye to with the girl, again.

She closed her eyes, turned her head away and whimpered ever so slightly. When she opened her eyes, her head still turned away, she saw the shadow smiling at her. Not a friendly smile, more along the lines of a smirk. When she saw this she gasped for breath and went wide-eyed at the sight. For what she saw was a gruesome sight, fangs wet and dripping in blood.

The shadow moved toward her neck and she fought to keep it away but wasn’t strong enough. The shadow bit her neck and drained her of all her strength and blood. Her lifeless body went limp and fell to the ground with a loud smack. The shadow then after his long midnight labors, turned and walked away with perfect suavity and a smirk on his face for his job was done.

Before he left the bloody murder scene he turned and looked in the girls’ general direction and said in a low muffled tone, “You will rise again and walk with me for eternity.”

With this said he left and returns every spring and winter to be at the girl’s side and causes havoc, in just the same way he did several years ago.