Jed was no where in sight. I started wandering back to the apartment building. Vampire? That doesn't make any sense. None at all. But... It's the only explanation I can think of for his survival. Only something inhuman could survive a thirteen story fall onto a cardboard box on the hard cement.
But a vampire?
//
A piece of burning wood, maybe from the mosque down the street, appeared in my hand. I don't remember getting it. But it was there.
//
I was in front of Ethan now. Vampire. The torch thrusting at him in my hand. I was shouting at him, but I don't know what I was saying. Vampire. I must be calling him a vampire. I don't know though; I can't hear it. He flinches every time the torch gets close to him, but he stays still on the spot. Vampire. Only a vampire wouldn't flinch at that. I don't believe it, but I've come to accept it. He's unnatural.
//
Edna is next to me. I think. The light flashes in her eyes as I jerk the torch towards Ethan's face. She flinches a little when I start screaming louder. I'm sorry Edna. She looks back and forth between me and that... thing. Her lips move, but I can barely hear her over my own screaming. The only word I caught from her was "vampire" over and over again. "Vampire." She probably didn't even say it...
//
Back at the apartment. I couldn't stand to see all the people out there in the streets. Moving towards the library. Strange really, you don't think that people would go to a library in a time of such terror. What with vampires roaming the streets...
Vampire.
I've come to terms with my tenants being freaks. Maybe I should become more of a freak myself. Speaking of tenants though, I wonder where that Edith E. Evans woman has gone to. Her rent is way past due...
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
What was I thinking?
"It's good to see you again, Mr. Day," Ethan said as he opened the door to his apartment, leaning on its frame. How is this man standing in front of me? I swear to god he jumped off the roof of the building. 13 stories! And yet here he is, standing in front of me, sneering. I felt the blood drain from my face. I tried to speak, but it was hard to speak to a ghost. A man who should not be alive right now.
"Ethan... You... You..." But I can't even think of what to say to him. You fell from a building, and yet you're standing here! You ghost! You monster! You're wrong. This doesn't make sense.
I stared at him blankly, trying to make a single comprehensible sentence.
"Is there something wrong, Mr. Day?"
Is there something wrong?! FUCK YES there's something wrong. You're dead! You must be dead. You fell 13 stories!
I stood there in silence. Utter silence. There was nothing I could say to this dead man. I felt the fear emanating from my body as I stared at him and he just smirked back.
Finally some words fell out of my mouth: "What is this, Criss Angel Mindfreak?"
A smile crept across his face. "Excuse me?"
More nonsense fell out of my mouth: "Am I being Punk'd or something?"
"I don't follow..."
I stood there for another minute, sure my heartbeat was audible to everyone miles around. And he just stood there staring back at me. I can't even explain to him what I was trying to ask. I can't even explain it to myself...
And then he shut the door in my face.
//
I can't believe what I asked him. Criss Angel? Punk'd? What was I thinking?
I wasn't thinking. How the hell COULD I think clearly when staring death in the face?
//
My dreams all night consisted of falling. I fell. Ethan fell. My mother fell. And all the other six tenants fell. All to their deaths. Well, everyone but Ethan that is.
I tossed and turned. How could he have survived that? He can't be human. There's no way in hell. But what could have survived that fall?
Just as it was about to come to me, a loud knock rang out on my door and startled me from my sleep, if you could call it that. I grudgingly went to the door and opened it to find Edna. I noticed her eye was swollen and bruised but I couldn't concentrate on her enough to even make eye contact. I was still wondering how Ethan could have survived that fall. 13 stories.
"What." It came out sounding bestial. "Get to work; I haven't heard anything in days. I don't want you leaving the building 'til you figure out what all is going on in this shit hole." Maybe she can figure out what Ethan is and finally be some help to me. I slammed the door in her face, again distracted by thoughts of Ethan.
//
Up on the roof, I looked over the side which Ethan had jumped from. Some bums were down there fixing up their cardboard homes. Maybe I should ask them what happened...
//
I locked the door to the roof on the way down.
//
The first bum I found when I got downstairs was sitting under his makeshift home with a mangy dog.
"Hey. Umm, Mister? I..... I was wondering if you would be able to help me with something..."
He looked at me confusedly, but answered pleasantly enough: "Uh, sure. What is it?"
"Well, I was wondering if you were down here a couple of nights ago when a guy jumped from the roof?" That question sounded stupid.
"Sure was. Man landed on my house too! Not a scratch on him though. Just stood up and started laughing... Weird, really..."
What the hell?
"I.... That..... Ok. Umm, would you mind going down to Jorri Rae's with me? I feel like I need to talk this over with someone..."
"Uh, I don't really have the money for that though..."
"Don't worry man, it's on me."
His eyes lit up a little, and his dog raised its head. Questions started piling up in my brain, just like the books that Edith E. Evans piles up on the shelves every day.
//
On the way there we passed Altan and I bought Jedadiah (the bum had introduced himself and his dog by now) a cup of coffee.
//
We got down to Jorri Rae's just as rain started pouring down. We sat down at the small table and I ordered us both some waffles.
We started talking about what happened. He explained how he didn't understand it. Didn't understand how a man could jump from the roof of a thirteen story building and live. Lighting stuck nearby and the image of Ethan falling from the roof flashed in my mind.
Vampire.
That's what it was. That's what escaped my dream when Edna woke me up.
But they don't exist.
No.
...No....
I was about to suggest this to Jedadiah, when the sight of the local whores walking by the window caught my attention. Kandi was leading the pack with a big bottle of booze in hand. I pointed this out to Jedadiah and he too looked out the window at the "whore-parade." They were all heading out behind the library. That doesn't make sense... I suggested we follow them, but when we got outside he got away from me in the forming crowd.
"Ethan... You... You..." But I can't even think of what to say to him. You fell from a building, and yet you're standing here! You ghost! You monster! You're wrong. This doesn't make sense.
I stared at him blankly, trying to make a single comprehensible sentence.
"Is there something wrong, Mr. Day?"
Is there something wrong?! FUCK YES there's something wrong. You're dead! You must be dead. You fell 13 stories!
I stood there in silence. Utter silence. There was nothing I could say to this dead man. I felt the fear emanating from my body as I stared at him and he just smirked back.
Finally some words fell out of my mouth: "What is this, Criss Angel Mindfreak?"
A smile crept across his face. "Excuse me?"
More nonsense fell out of my mouth: "Am I being Punk'd or something?"
"I don't follow..."
I stood there for another minute, sure my heartbeat was audible to everyone miles around. And he just stood there staring back at me. I can't even explain to him what I was trying to ask. I can't even explain it to myself...
And then he shut the door in my face.
//
I can't believe what I asked him. Criss Angel? Punk'd? What was I thinking?
I wasn't thinking. How the hell COULD I think clearly when staring death in the face?
//
My dreams all night consisted of falling. I fell. Ethan fell. My mother fell. And all the other six tenants fell. All to their deaths. Well, everyone but Ethan that is.
I tossed and turned. How could he have survived that? He can't be human. There's no way in hell. But what could have survived that fall?
Just as it was about to come to me, a loud knock rang out on my door and startled me from my sleep, if you could call it that. I grudgingly went to the door and opened it to find Edna. I noticed her eye was swollen and bruised but I couldn't concentrate on her enough to even make eye contact. I was still wondering how Ethan could have survived that fall. 13 stories.
"What." It came out sounding bestial. "Get to work; I haven't heard anything in days. I don't want you leaving the building 'til you figure out what all is going on in this shit hole." Maybe she can figure out what Ethan is and finally be some help to me. I slammed the door in her face, again distracted by thoughts of Ethan.
//
Up on the roof, I looked over the side which Ethan had jumped from. Some bums were down there fixing up their cardboard homes. Maybe I should ask them what happened...
//
I locked the door to the roof on the way down.
//
The first bum I found when I got downstairs was sitting under his makeshift home with a mangy dog.
"Hey. Umm, Mister? I..... I was wondering if you would be able to help me with something..."
He looked at me confusedly, but answered pleasantly enough: "Uh, sure. What is it?"
"Well, I was wondering if you were down here a couple of nights ago when a guy jumped from the roof?" That question sounded stupid.
"Sure was. Man landed on my house too! Not a scratch on him though. Just stood up and started laughing... Weird, really..."
What the hell?
"I.... That..... Ok. Umm, would you mind going down to Jorri Rae's with me? I feel like I need to talk this over with someone..."
"Uh, I don't really have the money for that though..."
"Don't worry man, it's on me."
His eyes lit up a little, and his dog raised its head. Questions started piling up in my brain, just like the books that Edith E. Evans piles up on the shelves every day.
//
On the way there we passed Altan and I bought Jedadiah (the bum had introduced himself and his dog by now) a cup of coffee.
//
We got down to Jorri Rae's just as rain started pouring down. We sat down at the small table and I ordered us both some waffles.
We started talking about what happened. He explained how he didn't understand it. Didn't understand how a man could jump from the roof of a thirteen story building and live. Lighting stuck nearby and the image of Ethan falling from the roof flashed in my mind.
Vampire.
That's what it was. That's what escaped my dream when Edna woke me up.
But they don't exist.
No.
...No....
I was about to suggest this to Jedadiah, when the sight of the local whores walking by the window caught my attention. Kandi was leading the pack with a big bottle of booze in hand. I pointed this out to Jedadiah and he too looked out the window at the "whore-parade." They were all heading out behind the library. That doesn't make sense... I suggested we follow them, but when we got outside he got away from me in the forming crowd.
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