The Grasp of Nighttide

by Sadaf Zulfikar

  “You’re on. Let me get dressed properly and we’re on our way,” Alice took a long sip of her coffee and smiled, it had the right amount of sugar for her. She realized that Derek was truly a good friend, agreeing to help her in any way he could. She looked at him again and wondered, am I falling in love with him? Or are we really just good friends…? The thought trailed off without an answer.

  *****

  They drove around with no place in mind for hours, taking back roads they had no idea where they would lead, passing farms with sheds that had long been abandoned. There was not a single cloud in the sky, the air was crisp, at times cold as they passed heavily treed areas, but the sun and wind felt good on their faces.

  They laughed and talked the whole time. She let Derek drive. At one point, they had to stop in the middle of nowhere to let a mamma duck and her babies cross the road. Alice snapped a photo of them with her cell phone. They passed an old gristmill that seemed to be working. Alice had never seen such a large waterwheel before.

  The route took them to Castle Rock. Though it wasn’t far at all, Alice hadn’t ventured outside Castle Pines ever.

  “I could do this tomorrow too,” Derek said. “This is fun.”

  “Are you jobless?” Alice laughed. “What do you do by the way?”

  “My dad owns this company I work at. I’m a software analyst there.” He said.

  “It might be awesome working for your dad.”

  “He’s not the most enjoyable person to work for.” He stated.

  “He loves you.”

  “Maybe now,” he uttered in anger. “After ruining my life.”

  “What?” Alice tried to analyze what he meant.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” His voice was hard and as she caught his expression from the mirror it was a mix of anger and sadness.

  Although Alice was curious, she respected his wishes and remained quiet about the matter. The view was beautiful and she didn’t want to ruin the moment. A meadow came into view and at once Alice fell in love with it.

  “Stop stop stop,” Alice almost jumped off before the Vespa came to a halt. “I want to lie on the grass and stare at the sky.”

  “What are you talking about? I thought the fresh air will clear your mind not turn you insane.”

  “Come on,” Alice found a nice patch of ground and lay on the grass. The sky was clear and she tried to make out the shape of the clouds.

  “The last time I came here was during high school,” he sat down next to her and pulled out a weed. “Bell used to pull me and Anna for trekking. Both I and Anna aren’t into such adventure. We had bikes rented out, and though Anna was managing to keep up, it was hell for me.”

  “Wish Anna could come,” Alice said, wondering of what he would say to that. She was tired of suppressing her feelings. She loved this stranger whom she met days ago, and there was no explanation why. Why did she trust a person she knew very little about? Why did she feel so happy around him? Why did she come alive, with him stepping into her life? Whether she had her memory or not this feeling she had towards him had to be love.

  “She has college,” he said as a matter-of-fact and changed the subject. “Alice you must promise me that you will not go back to how you were living before. I must go back and I’ll stay in touch, but you... you must make friends. Socialize.”

  “Date?” Alice asked in a most casual sense.

  “No,” Derek blurted but quickly covered it up. “I mean you don’t want that. You want to go back to Lance.”

  But Alice’s questions were not over yet. “Do you want me to go back to Lance?”

  “I guess we got to get going,” he stood up and dusted off his pants, ridding them of dust. “It’s going to be cold around here.”

  For half the time it took to return, they didn’t talk at all. But when Derek brought up the topic of how pleasant the weather was, the awkwardness blew away with the conversations that took its place.

  *****

  Back home, Alice quickly shed her heavier clothing and returned to the living room in time to see Derek setting a bottle of expensive-looking wine- one Derek had fetched from Cloud- on the dining table, Derek raced to the kitchen to find some glasses.

  “At the back of the cabinet beside the fridge,” Alice called out, anticipating his needs.

  The cabinet plopped open and then there was a momentary sound from the running water as Derek rinsed the glasses. He returned with two wine glasses in each hand. Droplets of water formed dew inside the glasses. When Alice nodded towards them, Derek flipped the glasses upside down and gave them a hard shake in a futile attempt to jerk the glasses dry, sending both crashing to the floor.

  “I am so sorry,” Derek apologized. He carefully knelt beside the transparent pieces of an impossible puzzle.

  “No worries,” Alice said as she helped clear the floor.

  Judging from the shards, the glasses had hit hard. At one point, as they were gathering up the bigger piece, Alice’s hand brushed Derek’s. She withdrew it quickly, as though she had received a small shock, but it seemed that Derek slowed down, as though he was still thinking about it.

  They inspected the floor closely, making sure they had swept up all the tiny fragments so no one would get hurt.

  “I’ll get more glasses,” she said, getting up to go fetch them,

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea…” Derek’s voice trailed off, feeling guilty for having broken the glasses.

  “Oh, come on,” Alice walked to the kitchen. “I got four more to spare.”

  As Alice picked two more glasses from the cabinet and turned, she saw Derek behind her. He raised his eyebrows with a playful grin, questioning her motive. At the moment, Alice didn’t even need wine to be drunk, his eyes had a sparkle that didn’t give her a chance for second thought of what she was going to do next.

  Alice set the glasses back on the counter, and pulled his face closer before reaching his lips, kissing him. Her hands messed through his hair gel, expecting more intensity from him. But the kiss lasted only for a few seconds. He gently pulled away.

  “Sorry, I can’t do this,” he said, looking deeply into her eyes, searching for more words.

  That is when she returned to her senses. Of course he couldn’t do this and what had gotten into her that she had dared to kiss him. She had to apologize; but her first ever-known kiss left her breathless.

  “I uh... I have to go,” Derek walked past her, slightly brushing her arm.

  Alice was glad that he left. She wasn’t in a position to explain why she did what she had just done. As Cloud raced down the driveway, the sound subsided just too quickly. Slowly Alice turned and reached the dining table. Red stains led outside. Alice bent and picked up two forgotten pieces of glass from where the trail started.

  Alice touched dark Purple Heart on the wall. Derek had painted it in the morning while she slept. He had helped Alice so much and she hurt him. He was the only one who understood her, helped her, filled her loneliness, and made her happy…. And that is when she realized that Derek was the miracle she had been hoping for.

  CHAPTER 17

  Shall I go with this or something else? Decisions, decisions. Alice sighed as she inspected her black gown.

  After an hour of deciding, Alice came down to two of her new gowns. Rashi had invited her to attend the Hip and Happening ’18 to 24’ party tonight. Alice kept quiet, letting her finish; Rashi was very excited.

  “Derek is coming too,” she added at the end.

  Alice reconsidered her first thought of not going. She had a chance to apologize to Derek. He was clearly upset but if she would go meet him and talk things out, the situation could be handled, and Alice thought of including the black gown in her plan. Derek had told her yesterday she should wear it, maybe he’d come talk to her if she did. On the other hand he could also freak out thinking that Alice was trying to get him. Either way Alice pulled the tag off it, trying her luck. After all she loved him- at least thought she did, n
o matter how wrong it was. If only she could get a lead on Lance, it would rid her from thoughts of Derek.

  She touched her bare neck and hands. There was no accessory she owned except for the silver dot earrings that were an insult to the dress. Her wavy hair was loose; she could pile it on her head but without any hairpins that was not an option either. Make-up would cover the plainness to an extent; too bad she didn’t have any. No perfume either.

  Alice parked the Vespa in front of the bookstore. The venue was supposed to be near from there and Alice wanted to slip in and out of the party with minimum attention. The long brown coat covered for her down to her knees but the cold swept over her legs and through her pumps. A five minute walk wouldn’t kill her though.

  A girl about her own age stood on the road. Her eyes were painted with horror as she looked ahead at an approaching red car.

  “Help!” she cried, looking as though she was trying to get away, something was pinning her there. The demon.

  With not more than a second to lose, Alice threw herself on her, pushing her out of the way.

  “Hey,” the girl struggled. “Let me go.”

  “Wow,” Alice scrutinized her attitude. “I just saved your life.”

  “Look lady,” a giant-looking guy came out of the car. “We were practicing a prank to scare someone. If you get in the way like this, it won’t work.”

  “I didn’t know,” Alice got up and took a step back, scared with his anger. “I thought...”

  “Whatever, just back off.”

  Alice stepped away from there saying nothing more though it hadn’t been her fault. Rather she wanted to give the girl a punch for such a prank- she could put up an equal fight with this girl more puny looking than her, but with the guy’s structure she decided against it.

  “He’s leaving home. He’s going to be here any moment now,” she heard the girl say.

  Alice ducked behind a nearby board with directions to the party. She was uncertain whether the guy they were talking about would risk his life for the girl, as she had tried.

  “He’s almost here, I hear his car!”

  No sooner had the girl spoken the word, the car roared to life carrying on with the prank. Alice’s vision blurred with the wind that came up. But with the small bits of vision she got, the red car was picking up speed, lots of it- not the slow movement Alice saw before. Alice could hear a man from inside the car that arrived- the victim of the prank- yelling loudly at the girl, his face in sheer panic. The girl was screaming now. Something hit Alice’s back from behind and Alice’s vision blacked out to the sight of the girl getting hit by the speeding red car.

  *****

  When the world came back, Alice realized she was in the backseat of a car. Black cloth showed from the side of the driver’s seat. Was the black figure human? Alice craned her neck to see who it was but it was no use. In an attempt to get away, Alice quickly unlocked the door and fell outside on the grass.

  The car screeched to a sudden halt.

  “Oh no you don’t,” a voice came.

  It was a girl’s voice and definitely human. A black cloth covered her thin face and her eyes were blood red. Alice’s back hurt more than ever. She flipped and crouched on her stomach.

  “Don’t move, bitch,” an angry foot landed on her back. Her back throbbed as she fell flat on her face. Gripping Alice’s shoulder, she murmured in her ear “I’m so glad I found you. Now I get to finish you off. You’ll die on the road too.” Alice drifted into unconsciousness again.

  The next thing Alice registered was the sound of an engine. The car turned round, its headlights dazzling her. But the engine died again. The person tried to start it several times, failing each time. Alice felt her end was near. For all she knew, she might not be able to move like in the urban legend, probably she was stuck in place. But then her fingers began to twitch and the twitch spread until she could move her whole hand. The backache was intolerable but she knew deep down inside that this would be her last chance to escape. The lady in black couldn’t stop her.

  As Alice slowly staggered up, the engine roared to life. Alice ran as fast as she could through the trees, she couldn’t think. She couldn’t feel the pain. All she could feel is her heart quickening as adrenaline overpowered her. She heard lady getting out of the car; knowing that Alice was an easy catch. She tried her best to get through the trees and find a way to get home. Alice came out to another road.

  A van stopped a few feet ahead that instant. Alice stared at it, not certain whether she should approach the driver. Out came old Mrs. Paul, but she looked younger than she usually did. With one glance over her shoulder and making sure that the lady wasn’t behind her, Alice scurried to her.

  “Are you okay dear?” Mrs. Paul pushed the round glasses further up her nose. A mud-brown scarf was wrapped tightly around her neck and another identical one even covered her face below the eyes like Christina Ricci in Penelope. “Get in.”

  Without any time to waste Alice complied. The woman eyed her curiously from time to time. Alice tried not to make her suspicious. She told her she had a minor fall but the messed up hair and sunken face told a different story, that something more had indeed happened.

  “I think you’ll be okay. You do not look like you need to go to the hospital.”

  “I just want to go home,” Alice hugged herself, and asked without looking at her “Did you get a plastic surgery or something?” Alice asked.

  “Something like that,” she laughed. “I have my tricks to appear young.”

  “Oh,” Alice returning her attention to the danger she was in, instead of pondering why the woman wanted to look young in her old age.

  The lady who tried to kill her might’ve known where she lived but there was nowhere she could turn to now. She would take precautions- lock the place securely, pop a pill for the pain and stay awake so that she could prepare if she did come.

  She never made it to the party and her gown was now in bad shape. She didn’t get to apologize to Derek. She thought of the poor girl in the middle of the road and of the man yelling from inside his car. She wondered how she got in the backseat of the other car. She shook her head, not understanding why this was happening to her. Alice sighed heavily. Everything will be OK, she thought, hopefully.

  The next thing Alice registered is that Mrs. Paul pulled up in the driveway.

  “Do you want me to come inside and help you? You look like a little frightened mouse.”

  “No thanks,” Alice opened the door to get out.

  “Sleep tight dear,” Mrs. Paul grabbed her hand and all of a sudden the scarf fell revealing her face. Alice looked back at her and all the more she looked nothing near sixty, more like forty or even less. There were some features of Mrs. Paul that perfectly resembled- she was thin, wore the same type of sweater, mismatched gloves and round glasses -but it couldn’t be her at all she realized- even with multiple plastic surgeries no one could bring about so much of natural youth. She gave this smile that creeped Alice out. “Don’t worry about a thing dear.”

  “You can’t be Diane Paul,” Alice gasped and tried to free from her ridiculously strong grasp.

  “I won’t hurt you, just stop struggling.” She said with a grin spread across her face.

  Alice’s eyes widened, “What do you want?”

  There was some slow power rising, which eased her nerves and calmed her down. Alice didn’t even realize slumping back lifeless on the seat.

  CHAPTER 18

  Steph kicked the side of her car as her jaw twitched, “No!” she shouted.

  It would be child’s play to grab Alice, if not for that presence that stopped Steph. She needed to kill Alice and this stalling and failure was so frustrating.

  Steph took a deep breath before deciding to be on her way to the party. She removed the black cloak to reveal the pink party dress she had been wearing underneath. She carefully tucked the black cloth and knife below the seat, making sure there would be no glint of metal to catch anyone’s
eyes. She used wipes for her Goth face and did as much feminine makeup as required. She pinned her hair in a loose updo, and checked in her pocket mirror. After experimenting with a touch more of makeup and setting a lock of hair free in the front- she was impressed. What look girls would normally achieve after hours of getting ready, she had done under fifteen minutes. But this feat couldn’t mask her failure- this was supposed to be the after party after Alice’s death. Now instead it was a party to down her failure. She couldn’t get to Alice tonight. She had blown the chance. Trying hard to clear her mind, she simply drove off.

  Steph could feel the bass from the music before she even parked the car. Once inside, she was immediately hit with a wave of warmth that could only come from mixing too many people together with not enough room. From the doorway Steph scanned the room, her mind performing a quick analysis. It was definitely a younger crowd; people from ages eighteen to twenty-five mingling with each other. She could easily see the few that were slightly too old for this type of party, and the underage ones nervously trying to fit in. Steph didn’t blame them though; Castle Pines wasn’t exactly a happening place to find parties, so the crowd was taking advantage of this opportunity while they could.

  Pushing her way through the crowded room past the groups of laughing people, Steph turned her head back and forth looking before she finally saw them. Anna and Derek were sitting on a couch in the corner, Derek looking disturbed for some reason. He had worn some loose plain shirt and jeans like he didn’t know that he was going to be at a party. Also he had sandals on- ones she was sure he had borrowed. Steph hesitated at the sight, it was so unlike him. Derek was one person who always got his outfit right and never showed up in public without looking like he had stepped out of a fashion shoot. Steph honestly hadn’t realized that he even possessed such plain, worn out attire. Anna, on the other hand, looked incredible. Even walking towards them, Steph caught all the guys glancing away from the people they were talking to get a glimpse of her in her short, satin dress. Steph was struck with a jealous twinge, and suddenly wished the place was colder just so that Anna would freeze.