Intuition VS Logic
Stories similar to this that you might like too.
I’d never had any real reason to doubt that the man I loved would come for me. But he wasn’t here yet and he hadn’t contacted me at all since that first time he left a message on my phone after we’d gotten off the plane from our trip.
Now it was mid-afternoon, almost two hours until sunset as far as my clock told me—a fact which I still found hard to believe considering how little I slept or ate during this whole time. It didn’t help that every hour that passed was another hour in which something might happen to him before he could get here.
He hadn’t said he wouldn’t be able to make it, but he also hadn’t promised he’d make it either, so I couldn’t afford to take anything for granted. I just wished I knew if I should wait around for him or leave.
I felt like I was waiting for someone who hadn’t arrived yet, which was frustrating enough, but knowing that I might have to go without seeing him again when I finally did arrive made the waiting worse.
So I sat alone by the edge of the pool looking out over the ocean with no particular thoughts running through my mind, only the sound of my heart thudding painfully in my chest. The breeze coming off the water was refreshing and cool, and a few small waves lapped against the side of the cliff below, sending spray up into the air as they broke.
A shadow crossed in front of me, and I looked down to see a small, dark shape scurrying along the rocks near the wall, moving away from the house. My first thought was that he had been watching me, but then I realized there were too many shadows where one should have been.
And besides, if he had been watching me, why wasn’t he here now? If he wanted to talk to me, why wasn’t he already standing next to me instead of skulking about trying to be quiet? So why would he hide unless …
“Oh God, is that him?” I whispered to myself. “Is that the guy you want me to find?”
He was wearing a long black cloak that covered his entire body, except for the face hidden by his hood. There was nothing else distinctive about him, so I assumed it must be some kind of disguise, like a Halloween costume.
But there was something familiar about what I saw as well as how I saw him. Maybe because I’d seen him before, in the form of my own nightmares, although even my subconscious mind hadn’t put much effort into making his face clear to me until now.
When I looked more closely, I realized that not only were the man’s features hidden behind his hood but his eyes were completely covered with black fabric as well. His arms were also concealed beneath whatever he wore; his hands had only thin white lines painted on them.
And then I caught sight of something else under his cloak that gave me pause: the tips of his fingers, which were curled together like claws. As though he had grown those nails to protect himself while fighting off an enemy.
Like mine used to do before I grew out of being a teenager and lost my temper too quickly. A sudden surge of anger rose up within me, causing my hand to curl into a fist and send a wave of pain across my knuckles. I tried to relax my hand, but it seemed that part of my subconscious self was determined not to let go.
I looked back out at the ocean as I waited for my heart rate to slow down enough for me to realize that this wasn’t really happening, but I was too afraid to look back down toward the rocks. It was as though a part of me was convinced that if I turned back and looked again, the figure would disappear, leaving me alone once more.
So I sat there waiting for him to move, hoping he would, but all he did was sit on the rocks below, staring out toward the sea.
After a couple of minutes, he stood, turning and looking out over the horizon with such intensity that he might have been focused on the end of the world. The way he stared made me think he was looking right at me, though he remained totally motionless.
Finally, I dared to glance back down at the beach and realized that the figure had moved on. Whatever power he possessed allowed him to pass invisibly through the stones. He was probably invisible to everyone else as well, so that meant he had to be human. No supernatural creatures could be so stealthy.
There was no way I was going to walk around and try to look for him myself; I would never have known whether or not he had actually left. But maybe I could use that invisibility to my advantage. I needed to know where he went after disappearing into the woods, and I hoped I would be able to follow him.
I took a deep breath and stepped onto the grass, moving toward the edge of the cliff. The wind carried the faint smell of pine trees from somewhere beyond the house. That scent reminded me of home, and suddenly the pain in my heart started to feel less severe.
Then I remembered that he hadn’t just disappeared into the forest like this. In fact, he didn’t disappear anywhere. So where was he going? And when would he come back?
The breeze blew cold, reminding me how close winter was getting. And then I thought about Christmas, which was still several weeks away. What if he was gone for days, leaving me alone with a bunch of strangers? Or worse yet, what if he never returned at all? I wouldn’t be surprised if that were true. After all, there weren’t any other houses nearby. This place was isolated by nature itself.
Then again, I didn’t need to rely on the old legends about him being an immortal creature. There was another story that came from this area, told to children who had trouble sleeping. Some kids said they heard him walking across the ceiling late at night.
Others said he walked through walls so that people would get a glimpse of him when he was sitting right behind them. Still, others claimed that he flew through the air on dark wings and landed silently on their chests so that he could suck them dry of blood, but none of those stories involved flying. If he was real, why not fly over the ocean and see where it led?
It was hard to tell time without sunlight to guide me, but it felt as though hours passed while I sat atop the cliff overlooking the water and watched for signs of movement along the shoreline. Eventually, I realized that it must be early evening already because I was starting to grow hungry. I also wished I had brought a flashlight with me; there might be more of these things hidden in the woods, and I didn’t want to take any chances.
“You’re going to eat us out of the house and home,” I muttered to myself when my stomach finally got loud enough for me to hear it. I stood up and began to make my way back toward the house, keeping one eye trained on the surrounding woods.
As I walked, my mind kept wandering back to what this guy—my mysterious new friend—had been doing on the beach earlier today. How could someone so dangerous be so kind-hearted? Did he truly have a soft spot inside him for lost souls like me?
Would he really go as far as giving me his jacket before leaving me here alone? Was he telling the truth when he said we should stay together from now on?
I didn’t know anything about this man except that he lived next door, and the way he looked at me made me think he might be lonely as well. Maybe that’s why he wanted me to keep company with him instead of staying inside.
When I reached the house, I noticed something odd. All the lights were off, even the ones on the deck, so I assumed that someone must have already gone inside. I climbed the steps to the front porch and found it empty.
When I pushed open the screen door, I could hear voices coming from the dining room. They sounded like Mr. Davenport and his wife arguing, although I couldn’t understand most of their words due to the way they spoke, and it occurred to me that they might have been having the same argument all day.
Then again, maybe Mrs. Davenport was just making dinner. It was dark outside, after all.
As I entered the hallway, I spotted them standing near the table, talking and gesturing wildly with their hands, and I stopped to listen. Mrs. Davenport was saying she didn’t like him hanging around the house, and he argued that he wasn’t responsible for what happened. She called him a bad influence on me.
I knew immediately that neither of them had seen the stranger walk onto the beach and disappear into the woods. They were just speculating. And they were probably thinking of the wrong thing altogether: a person who’d broken the law.
No doubt they imagined some poor soul who’d murdered someone else. Or perhaps a young boy who killed himself, or a girl who ran away from home because her stepfather abused her.
But they were wrong. He had no reason to do such a terrible thing. Not only was he handsome as hell, but he seemed intelligent and thoughtful as well. If ever there was a creature who deserved to live forever, it was him.
And then I suddenly realized that I should have taken better care of his jacket. I turned toward the closet, but he was already gone. Where was he headed? Had he gotten bored of waiting on the shore? Or did he plan to return sometime tomorrow morning when the sun rose?
There was too much mystery about this man—and now he was gone again!
***
I waited until the next day before trying to find him. But even though it was bright and sunny outside, I remained in my bedroom until long past noon.
After taking care of business in the bathroom and brushing my teeth, I decided to venture downstairs to make a sandwich in the kitchen, and by that point, I had almost talked myself into forgetting about our encounter yesterday. This guy wasn’t real; he must have been someone’s idea of a joke. A monster who lived next door, or something. That was all it was.
That is, until I heard someone walking up behind me while I was rummaging through the refrigerator for ingredients.
“Hey,” he said, smiling brightly when he saw me. “Good morning.”
I froze. My mouth fell open. And then I started laughing.
He laughed too.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing…” I replied, turning away and shaking my head. “Sorry I scared ya’!”
“No need to apologize,” he said, stepping into my path. “I’m not afraid of you. I don’t even recognize myself anymore.”
I turned back and stared at him. For a moment, I thought he might have meant that he didn’t recognize his own body. I couldn’t figure out how that would be possible.
The man had changed so completely overnight. In fact, I’d never seen anyone change quite so quickly, except maybe an infant. The first thing I noticed was that his face had become thinner and younger looking, and his eyes appeared larger. His hair also grew grayer and thinned out over the night. He looked less wild and ragged, and a little more sophisticated.
Then again, he still reminded me of some kind of fantasy movie star, albeit one with a few imperfections here and there.
Like the scar below his eye, which hadn’t been there yesterday.
And the small bump above his chin, where he must have suffered from the bite of an insect at some point in the past.
In fact, there was so much difference between yesterday and today that I could hardly believe I was actually looking at the same person.
He studied my face closely when he came closer to stand beside me. It made me feel self-conscious and uncomfortable, wondering if he’d be able to see every detail of my appearance in the dim light, and how many wrinkles he’d notice in my skin.
And it felt strange knowing that I had to explain myself when we were in front of each other like this, but that I wouldn’t be able to hear him. We weren’t speaking telepathically now.
I had absolutely no idea why he wanted to talk to me in the first place. Did he want to make fun of me or insult me for something that I’d done? Was he going to tell me he hated me?
Or worse?
“You’ve got a cute laugh,” he finally said, smiling. “It’s different than most people’s laughs, and it makes me smile. It’s very distinctive.”
I tried to think of something funny to say back. But my mind went blank. I could only stare at him and wait for his reply. What exactly was he going to do with me anyway?
We stood there quietly for several minutes and listened carefully to see if there was any other sound coming from outside. There was only the occasional bark of a dog on the shore or a gull’s cry overhead. Then, without warning, the man placed his hands gently on either side of my face and leaned closer to kiss me.
“My God,” I whispered when he pulled away. “What did you do?!”
He chuckled and gave me a playful grin. His breath smelled clean and fresh.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“You kissed me!” I exclaimed. “Why did you do that?”
“Because I wanted to,” he said simply. “And because I can’t speak, or anything else, until you answer me.”
I was too stunned to reply right away. He really had just kissed me. Why was he being so bold? And what exactly had I agreed to when I’d accepted his offer?
“Did you agree to go with me or not?” he asked, raising his eyebrows as if that should be obvious.
“Um…,” I paused. “Well….”
He smiled patiently at me when he saw I wasn’t going to get anywhere by standing there and staring at him.
“Come,” he said, gesturing behind him with his chin. “Let’s walk down to the beach and find you some breakfast.”
The End