Don't Open the Door

It was far to quiet for Derek. He knew that before long the darkness would come. He leaned against the window pane and took another long drag off of his cigarette. The blue smoke circled the air above him. He blew air into it and watched as it dissipated. How many more nights would he have to endure before he could be free? Surely he had paid the price for peeking inside the room.

He was startled from his silent watch on the evening sky by a knock on the door. He knew she had come again, as she always did. He put out his cigarette and walked to the door. Before he could turn the knob, Sarina pushed the door open. She had a beautiful smile that lit up Derek's world.

"Won't you come in, please?"

She smiled at him and pushed her way past him. "I was coming in whether you asked me or not, Dear. We need to talk about what we are going to do about the night."

"Is there anything to really talk about, Sarina? It is going to come and we can do nothing about it."

"That is very true but perhaps we can find a way to protect you before it turns dark."

"My dear Love, we have been here 1000 times and so far, every night is the same. They will come and try to take me and we will hold one another until the night passes."

"And you, sweet man, will have bruises and cuts and pain that is nearly unbearable when they leave us."

"It has been so long. Do you even remember why we are here? Why don't we just leave this horrible place and start new, somewhere they can not find us?"

"I do remember, Derek... it is You that has forgotten."

"Then remind me, sweet love, I need to remember."

"We were so young then and afraid of nothing. The trees seemed to talk to us then though later we realized it wasn't the trees at all. Secrets that were stored inside the old shed were things we should never have seen. Grammie told you Not to open the door, Ever!!! You didn't listen. At 10 years old, you were already trying to impress me. You couldn't see that I already loved you. You didn't need to do anything to have my love."

Derek looked into her beautiful eyes.He had no idea how but they were in an instant moved from inside his home to the trees outside. He wondered how she was able to do such a thing. His head swirled and he felt dizzy. He always felt this way when he looked at Sarina. She intoxicated his whole being. He remembered as she talked to him. He could see the door that led inside the shed. His body shook as the visions of his past swept any other thoughts clean from his head. His hand touched the door. he could feel the icy chill of it's interior through the wood. Derek fell to his knees as the pain surged through his body. Sarina reached out her hand to help him from the ground. When he turned to look at her, she winced and tried to pull away.

"You..." The voice was not Derek that spoke to her from Derek's throat. It was a low, gravely voice that sounded like a man of 100 years old, she thought. "One hundred???" Derek's hand covered his heart as if in pain. Sarina knew it was in jest. "You pain me by only aging me one hundred years, child. One hundred years ago, I was already a Millineum."

Derek's hand reached out to touch her. It appeared narled and old. Sarina stepped back away from the hand. Again, Derek's body winced as if truly hurt. The laugh that came from his vocals sent a chill down Sarina's spine. She stepped back faurther away from Derek.

"Oh child, you know I can not touch you. As deeply as I desire to dirty and ravish you, before I rip you into tiny pieces of flesh for my dogs, alas, I can not do that. Not yet, I can't!! Have you told your lover about us or are you saving that for a special moment?"

"You are not supposed to leave the shed! You have been told that so many times. The people of the village will come and kill you."

"Like they did the last time, Sarina?" The laugh was as horrible as the first time she had heard it. She wanted to turn and run away and never return but she knew she could not. She was in love with Derek and would never leave him alone.

"Once I tell him what you are and what you are doing, he will destroy you! You know that and that is why you try so hard to kill him!"

"Kill him??? Is that what you think I want to do to him?"

Suddenly, a loud roar erupted from the tyrees that encircled them. Some of the dogs that surrounded Derek's body recognized the sound. They turned away from the sound and disappeared into the woods. Derek's body jerked from side to side and lifted from the ground for a moment. Jerking once more, he suddenly went limp and fell to the ground. From the trees behind them came two women and a man. One of them reached out her hand and pulled Derek to his feet. Derek stared straight ahead for a moment. He searched the crowd as if looking for someone. He stopped and looked at Sarina, the tears in her eyes still glittering. She touched his hand and he felt the warmth of her love inside of him.

"Tell me please, Sarina, for I know this is not about Demons and Devils. Something is behind that door, but every time I try to remember it all, that creature takes over and I stop remembering."

"Derek, I will do all that I can to help you. Our love is strong enough if you just will allow it too. We need to get you out of this house. It is so important to do that."

Derek looked at Sarina, his brow furled. "What are you talking about??? We Are outside..."

He cut his sentence off mid-way. Derek could see the window and the walls of the house. He could smell the smoke from his cigarette and the perfume that Sarina was wearing. How??? How in the Hell did he get inside the house? He reached inside his shirt pocket and pulled out another ciggarette. As he struck a match to light it, he saw the darkness fall. It fell so fast that he barely had time for his eyes to adjust. Now all Derek could feel... was fear. His Own fear!