Image by Jacques GAIMARD from Pixabay
Thursday... 07:42 am
It was that time of the year again. The warm weather ensured that there were more people outside than cars, and more hot bodies than hot clothes. It was full blown summer, and those whose sole aim veered not too far from feeding their eyes had more than enough to look at. It was their season...
But neither of all these held Frank's thoughts as he nodded along to the Rock music blasting through his car stereo. The expressway was free, and the needle of his speedometer had its mouth just below the mark labelled 70. On this bright summer morning, Frank only had one thought on his mind as he vibed to the music... Only one thought...
That is, until that creature crossed the street...
Frank was dazed...
He hadn't seen it clearly, it was only a split second before he had twisted the steering a little too hard, and simultaneously hit the brakes as well. Only a split second...
But frank had seen its eyes...
And that was enough.
He knew he had to go home...
Thursday... 8:15 pm
Cynthia climbed the slow steps to her apartment with much internal annoyance. At this point, it had become a daily ritual, the annoying climb, and she knew why.
She had told herself multiple times that she was not going to let it get to her, the thought. But each new day she had told herself the same thing, and each day the result hadn't changed. It was simply reassurance, then failure... rinse and repeat.
She was conflicted, and she hated how she could do so little about it. Her life as she had envisaged it was not how it had turned out. Not even close. If only she could have...
...
Cynthia froze...
...
It stood there, and watched her with thin, steady eyes. She watched it too, her eyes steady, her heart at the tip of her mouth. She wanted to move, but she couldn't move a single muscle. There was something in its eyes that made her unable to even think. Something old... something familiar...
Then it strolled away, almost leisurely... Watching her all the while as it moved... Until it disappeared behind the wall.
When Cynthia stepped into the hall way, it was gone. In its place was a small envelope, laying conspicuously in front of her door.
Cynthia almost knew it before she tore the envelope. She could smell it... she could almost guess... Even before she read her brother's words...
Come Home Sis - Frank
Friday... 06:46 pm
It had been two hours since Cynthia and Frank had gotten home, two long silent hours. They had only exchanged the eye contact and a slight knowing nod in all that time. That was all that was needed, all that could be expressed.
Now they waited in the large sitting room of the house in which they had been born. They waited for their grandfather, the one whom people called the seer. It was he who had raised them, until they were four, before they had moved away to stay with their aunt.
It was only him who could help now, only him...
"The Seer would see you now."
Frank and Cynthia got up, almost in unison. The young clean shaven man who called them beckoned them to follow him. They did...
Through the old passage way they went, and down through the old and cranky staircase. As they walked, each took a trip down memory lane. Everything felt strange, but not entirely... It was all strangely familiar. The old photos on the wall, the funny looking ceilings, the images carved on the rails...
But when they entered the basement, the nostalgia fled. Nothing here was familiar. Not the graffiti on the wall, and not the arrangement of candles around a small altar in the middle of the room...
Nothing felt familiar, nothing except the small tiny creature that stood at the edge of the wall, its back turned to them.
A barrage of emotions rushed through each of Frank and Cynthia as slowly they both realized what it meant...
They immediately turned, but as soon found that the clean shaven guide was no longer with them... Even the doors were locked...
Then they saw him... Grandfather...
His eyes were thin and steady...
The familiarity was uncanny...
And his words only echoed the impending doom...
"There is a reason why they say a cat has nine lives..."
They were about to find out...
THE END
#SladenSpeaks
#IfWordsWereNudes
Exactly 750 word count up until the words find out...
This was a complex prompt, but an interesting one. I couldn't join in on time because of other engagements at work, but I think after getting down to it, this is a story I enjoyed writing.
I just hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing for you all.
Cheers!