It’s Finally Happened…

“It’s finally happened, just as was foretold.  Look out the window.  They have finally come.”

I stare at the blinking light of the answering machine, confused and slightly unnerved by the message. The voice is not Jane’s as I had expected it would be, but is instead the low growl of a man. I put down my coat and pace around the room. They have finally come, what did that mean? Who could they be?

I walk to the window and push back the shade. The sky is dark, and peppered with clouds. I scan the yard, which is covered in a thin blanket of snow. Flakes can be seen dancing lightly in the few flickering solar lights that Jane and I bought at wal-mart the weekend previous. The lights line the garden at the far end of the property. I sigh; maybe it was just a practical joke? Maybe Bill or someone from work was trying to mess with me. Still, even though I realize I am probably being ridiculous, I continue to gaze into the darkness, searching for an answer to the strange message.

Just as I begin to turn away, something catches my eye. A small light is bobbing down the driveway. I hold my breath, unable to speak as I realize that this light is held by a figure sprinting at full speed towards the house. I leap back from the window, my heart racing.

“What should I do?” I say repeatedly, my eyes scanning the room for something I can use to protect myself. My eyes finally land upon my old bent up baseball bat, which is stuffed away in the corner of the room so that Jane won’t have to look at it all the time. She hates that bat. “A baseball bat does not belong in the living room.” She would say playfully. “We have a worldly theme going on here, and you want to ruin it with this ugly old thing?” God I miss her. Where was she? She was supposed to come from work at 7, and already it is 8:15. How had I not thought of that before? I put it out of mind; I would phone her after I dealt with this.

I grab the bat, brandishing it in the air. It would have to do. I rush to the doorway, holding the bat tightly in grip, ready to swing. I hear as the figure pads their way to the front steps. They knock on the door. Once. Twice. My heart races, I hold the bat tighter, my breath catching in my chest. Then, a third knock, and this time a voice,

“Alex, let me in! Alex! Please!”

Jane.

I scramble with the dead lock, pulling open the door. Jane falls into my grasp, and I let the bat clatter to the floor.

“Oh Alex, you’re okay, I was so worried. I thought they might have beat me here.” Jane says, embracing me.

“Of course I am. Wait, what’s going on? Was that message for you? I’m confused.”

Jane extricates herself from my grip, rushing to the nearest window. She looks out, her face growing pale. “ Alex, you have to listen to me.” She walks toward me, taking my hand. “We’ve got to move, get out of sight as quickly as we can.”

I stutter as she leads me to the kitchen,

“Wait. Jane. Who? What’s happening?”

Jane looks at me exasperatedly. Though, I can see in her eyes that she knows she owes me an explanation.

“Please, Alex, I need you to trust me. Trust that I would not lead you astray. Now please, we have to move.”

I nod and she nods back, her bright eyes meeting mine. She kisses me softly.

We move quickly through the house and exit through the back door. I am still in my work clothes, and I wish for a jacket. Jane leads me to the pool in our backyard. She looks around nervously, and then crouches down by the water.

“It’s too late.” She says fearfully, her voice cracking. I begin to speak, but she cuts me off.

“Shh. Listen.” Her eyes dart between the house and me. I hear it too. Sirens and muted screams from the house across the street. Panic mounts inside me. Jane looks at me, terror painted all across her face.

“Hold your breath.”

Jane presses against me with all her might, and pulls us both down into the frigid water of the pool.

I swim beneath the water, Jane in my arms. It is cold as hell. I want to scream, but found that it is so freezing I cannot. A thousand pinpricks rock my body. Jane holds on to me, taking my hands in hers. I look up and watch as the water above us calms from our submersion. It becomes still and quiet and the dead leaves that litter the surface fall to the bottom, passing by our intertwined bodies. On the patio I notice our dirty old lawn chair, stained from years out in the rain. The water above ripples as the wind picks up, and faintly I notice a wind chime. Snow falls lightly but visibly above us.

From below the ripples of water I see a teenage girl running across our backyard. I look over at Jane, and she looks back sadly. The girl above us trips once, and attempts to get back up. I watch with mounting dread as I realize she is being chased. The looming form of the pursuer comes into my view from below. He wears a gas mask and a haz-mat suit. A huge tank full of what looks like fuel sits upon his back, and a gun is in his hands. As he becomes visible the girl looks back and trips again. It begins to get very hard to breath, and I strain for oxygen, but I dare not break the surface. I watch as the girl crawls backward on her hands and knees, the man in the haz-mat suit raises his gun in her direction. I hold Jane tight.

Just as the girl reaches the opposite side of our limited view, a second man in a haz-mat suit walks up behind her and quickly shoots her in the head. The gunshot is deafeningly loud, even from below the water. I shut my eyes tight as the girl falls. It is now becoming impossibly painful to stay below the water, and my oxygen-starved body yearns for air. I open my eyes, and watch as the two men walk away from the crumpled body of the girl. I can take no more; I swim towards the surface, bringing Jane with me.

I emerge from beneath the surface, gasping as I take a huge gulp of air. I grasp the side of the pool, breathing heavily, shivering in the frigid water. I pull Jane towards me, cradling her shivering frame. Clumsily, I pull myself out of the water, my clothes sticking to my body. I catch my breath, lying on the patio. Looking around nervously, I check for the men. They seem to have disappeared. I pause for only a second longer, then Jane pulls on my damp shirt. I follow her over to the girl who had just been killed. Jane examines her only a moment. I have seen her before. She is our next-door neighbor. The snow around the girl is stained with dark blood. Jane examines the girls clothing and quickly begins to take off her jacket and shoes. I watch as she does this without a moment’s hesitation, as though it is not the first time she has had to do something of the sort. She then sets the girl back down as closely to the way she found her. She looks sadly at me.

“Lets go.”

I nod to her, take her hand, and walk out into the falling snow.