Smiling

Eurya twisted the small golden ring that adorned her finger as her eyes scanned over the messy note that had been stuffed unceremoniously under her door jam. She knew who it was from, but the reason he had written it eluded her and in a small way scared her. The two of them had not spoken since their senior year of high school and suddenly three years later he had managed to find her and wished to see her. It took sometime before she came to a resolution, but the second she had, she snatched her coat off the rack and walked out the front door.

Glancing at her watch, Eurya made her way between overgrown stones and dying bouquets which seemed to reflect the conditions of the old church yard. She was going to be late, but she knew him and he would be there waiting. When she had finally made it to the crumbling building, she pushed the center of the crooked door and with a sickening squeal it opened. The overpowering smell of mold, dirt, and dust rushed at her as she stepped forward over the threshold. Attempting to take much shallower breaths, she made her way up the stairs that were directly in front of her. A shiver passed down her spine as the stiletto heels clicked loudly on the stone steps. It was as if she would be punished for breaking the dead silence that surrounded the burial grounds. When she finally made it to the top she saw him standing in the corner, his brown hair had a wild look about it, the same way it had been three years before on graduation day—when she had seen him last. His face was solemn as he turned to her.

“You never took that long to walk up those steps when we were younger.”

“Adem,” she said pausing. She stopped only a few steps into the room, squinting at him, trying to decipher the strange look in his eyes before disregarding it as her own mind playing tricks. She gave a warm smile. “I never wore heels quite this high back then.”

“You are dressed up; were you out somewhere?” His voice seemed almost bitter and it made her step back, her smile dropping, as he approached her.

“I was with Otto. We’re engaged,” she added quickly, not sure why she felt it needed to be said.

Adem’s eyes seemed to flicker red like an animal’s eyes caught in the beams of a flashlight and his hands tightened into fists. Another step forward sent Eurya another step back. Seeing this, he relaxed slightly and let his hands fall back to his sides. “So I’ve seen in the newspapers. Otto and you are in them almost every week.”

Eurya tugged slightly at her engagement ring as she looked back at the smiling man. Staring at the man’s face she doubted another living soul could produce a more depraved smile. This thought and her current surroundings made her own blood grow cold. She could see his eyes flicker to her hand and his smile drop. She pocketed her left hand, hiding the gold ring.

“What do you need to tell me? I can only assume there is a reason we had to meet at a graveyard in the middle of the night,” she gave a forced laugh. His face was set, though, and he answered without even the cold smile of before.

“Eurya, I love you. There is nothing else I have to say. I love you and I know you love me. You would not be here if you didn’t. We can leave tonight and he need not know. The newspapers will write about us for days to come, while we are living off in some far away town where he can’t find us,” his eyes widened with excitement at the thought, and all she could do was shiver. The cold of the night was starting to get to her beneath her jacket.

“Look, I’m just going to go. If this is some joke, you are just sick.” She tried to turn around, but he was suddenly there beside her, gripping her arm.

“How can you say this is a joke? I love you, Eurya. I always have.”

“I’m engaged. I love him and no one else. Now, please I need to get back.”

“No! You are lying. Why are you lying?”

“Let--,” but it was all she got out as she yanked her arm from his grip of steel. Her heel slipped off the stone step, her body falling back—down. He watched her fall, crumpling down the steps, and his face seemed to drop. His body petrified. She landed with a dead thud, skin to stone, bone to cold hard ground. In an instant he was snapped from his trance. His feet pounded down the steps as she made his way to her crooked body. Falling to his knees, he lifted her head up and instantly dropped it with a hiss as if he had been burned. There was blood on his hands as he stood up in front of her.

“He killed her,” his eyes flashed with anger and sorrow. “No, they’ll blame me. Otto will make sure that I am the one blamed. Otto the perfect man, the perfect husband couldn’t possibly be blamed. It was his fault though!” He swayed slightly, letting out an agonized groan, “No—it was my fault. That’s what they’ll say.” Looking around wildly his attention was drawn by a modern door in the corner of the small room. Shakily he wiped his hands off on his white shirt and proceeded to yank the door open. Inside was just what he had been hoping. “Yes, I must hide her. They can’t blame me, then.”

He grabbed one of the shovels in the corner of the closet and rushed back to where she was sprawled. Tucking the shovel beneath his arm, he grabbed her beneath the arms and began to drag her across the dewy grass. Drag marks showed his trail from the old building to the freshly turned earth of a recent grave.

Adem could feel the rough wood of the handle rubbing against his hands as the shovel dug into the dirt. He glanced at her once in awhile, he eyes were closed and she would have seemed to be sleeping if it were not for the awkward position. At one point he pulled his shirt off throwing it over her face in hopes he would stop looking at her. The weather seemed fond of his endeavors as it began to sprinkle just enough to soften the dirt. It wasn’t until he glanced once more at her pale body that he realized maybe the weather wasn’t completely for him. His white shirt was slowly becoming wet, and with the moisture it was becoming almost see-through and seemed to plaster itself to Eurya’s face.

It was at this instant the pungent smell of blood seemed to reach Adem, and he stood petrified. As he looked closer at the contoured body of his love he could see the wickedest smile stretching across her face beneath two cold black eyes. He had never seen such an evil look on her before and it made his head spin slightly.

Her voice rang out in the night as the rain picked up to a heavy drizzle. “Oh my love, I am so glad you have come. Kiss me!”

ninety years later

“Josh, it’s getting dark, can we please just go back to my place.”

“Come on Luce. You’re not afraid of the dark are you?”

The green eyed girl stopped angrily. “No, just stomping over people’s graves on Friday the 13th when we should be at home in front of the television watching Halloween or something.”

Stopping, the boy in front of her turned around and came back to her. “Did you ever hear the story of the lady in black? They say she died here with her lover almost a hundred years ago to the day. They say he killed her and she came back from the dead to kill him in revenge while he was trying to bury her.” He attempted an evil laugh as he pretended to hit her in the head with a fake shovel. “They found the two the next morning, both dead in a half dug grave, the shovel in her dead hands. She had killed him after she was already dead.” He jumped at her, as she stood frozen in her spot, and a shiver of cold surprise went through him as she went pale and fainted to the ground at his feet.

“Luce! Lucy, are you okay?” He kneeled down beside her, shaking her slightly. “Luce I was kidding, it’s just a stupid story.”

Relief swept through him as she opened her eyes, but it was short lived. As the wind blew across the graveyard the smell of blood seemed to overtake the air. The girl turned to look at him, her eyes were hard, her smile too cold to be real or right. In the dark of the night her voice rang out loud, “Kiss me.”