When she saw the stranger, she wondered what he was. Couldn't be a man. He was too beautiful. And looked like he had such soft skin, it almost glowed in the early morning sun. She thought to herself, "he is the most beautiful creature i have ever seen". As soon as she thought it, he disappeared. She went back into the house. Thinking nothing of it, she started to pour the coffee. She talked to her maid, cecilia, about the letter she had recieved yesterday from Jimmy. It was the sweetest one yet. He said that he loved her, and he missed her, and that he would be home very soon. Then she started to describe the "man" she saw just this morning. Cecilia became very frightened. She said this man was "El diablo", a man of evil. Pure evil. He shows himself for only two reasons, to forewarn of death, or to feed from the flesh.
As Shelly began to think about this, she knew there was a problem. She and Jimmy had a unique bond. In her mind, she saw him falling helplessly off the horse. The carriage falling onto him, and then being dragged into a lake. Shelly told Cecilia of this. That was when the man in white came to the door. Cecilia went and ansewred and listened as the noble soldier told of the accident. Exactlt as Shelly had described just moments earlier. He said he saw the whole thing and that he felt he should be the one to tell the family. No one else could describe it the way it actually happened. Plus, the kind soldier thought it was set up to look like an accident. He thought someone had "spooked" the horse, so to say.
Cecilia thanked him for coming by to let them know of the tragedy. He let her know where he was staying and who he was, Capitan Joe Larity, Confederate soldier, US Army. He was staying in the Hotel Bama. She was to let him know the outcome of the investigation, and to let him take her to dinner tomorrow night. When she turned to tell Shelly about it, Shelly was no where to be seen.
Today started out as ordinary as any other. Shelly awoke to the cackle of the rooster at the morning's first light. She rolled out of bed and went for a cup of coffee. She had just finished with her 3rd cup when she saw him for the first time. In the corner of her eye. The most astonishing looking man. He had silky burgundy hair. It fell in little waves and curls at his shoulders. His eyes were a peircing grayish blue. Almost like the ocean and sky fighting for space. His lips were pouty and bright red. He stood at a normal height. 6 foot 2 inches, 185 lbs. Possibly a little more. His teeth were the whitest she'd ever seen, and looked from here to be the sharpest too. But that could just be the way he licked his lips and the top teeth.
It made her almost want to jump out of her skin with delight to see the licking. She imagined what Jimmy did to her on those cold winter nights in the carriage house. Ripping at her blouse, leaving all those marks on her bosy where it tingles the most. He had the lightest touch, but the most forceful. It was the best love she had ever had. There would be nothing in the room that was dry when he finished with her. Shelly's screams were heard 4 blocks away. Her screams of joy, pain, ecstacy.
All that was about to change. From the window in the foyer, she saw him. The man in white. Come to tell her that her beloved had a tragic meeting with a carriage and the lake. That he would never be home again. She dropped to her knees before he cuold even say a word. She knew. She felt it that morning when she saw her stranger with the burgundy hair.
The day the man in white came to her door, she knew what it meant. Jimmy wouldn't be coming home. No need to open it. Just send him away. As Shelly lay on the floor in a pool of blood, she wondered how it got to this point.
He walked in unannounced. Took her by the throat and began to drink. At first it hurt a little, but after a few minutes, she couldn't even feel it. So he drank some more, and drink he did. Untill no more sound was heard from her. No more of the sweetness of her breath. No more life in the body. Or so he thought.
COMMENTS
-