Haunting Beauty ...Finale ...Confrontation
have conversations with the dead.
— Zeno
If you've ever been awakened from a pleasant dream only to be menaced by a strange sound, then you can understand my terror.
My heart’s pounding as I sense there's a presence in the room, near the windows.
I wait, heart in throat, peering into the gloom.
Suddenly lightning flares and I can discern a figure standing near the window staring back at me.
My heart stops.
I'm still blurry from sleep but fully aware I'm in danger. I want to react, but my body is frozen.
But then, the unexpected happens-- the stranger reacts as if I’m the intruder.
“Who are you?” a harsh voice demands.
Before I can answer the lamp flicks on and I have to squint my eyes against the sudden flood of light.
I blink and struggle to focus, and then I realize the dark figure’s not a ghost, but Laura, in the flesh, and very much alive.
She's grasped hold of a heavy brass lamp from a side table, throwing shadows on the ceiling and walls as she wields it like a weapon.
"I'm not going to ask again," she hisses, "Who are you?"
“I’m David Henderson--an investigative reporter. Edith hired me to search for you.”
The mention of her friend’s name seems to deeply affect her.
She lets the lamp slide from her hand onto the couch.
"It's okay,” I reassure her, “I'm only here to help and your friend is very concerned about you."
She turns away, putting a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob. “Oh God, what have I done?”
I immediately rush over and try to console her.
“It’s all right, Laura—Edith has always believed you were alive.
She figured you were trying to get away from Walter Phillips and somehow the plan went awry.”
“I should have known Edith would figure it out,” she sighs. “I was trying to protect her too. I figured if she knew any details Walter would never stop badgering her until he found out.”
“But who was the woman on the plane?”
“That was Gladys Green, a model friend of mine. She and her fiancé wanted to elope, but had no money. I gave her a dress, my I.D. and credit card, and told her to pass herself off as me—figuring it would buy me time to get away.
I planned to go to Europe and disappear from sight. But then I heard on the news that their plane crashed and I waited to see if they’d find the wreckage.”
“If they didn’t, were you intending to stay away?”
She nods, tears trilling down her cheeks. “I was so afraid of Walter—he has powers—you have no idea. He can enter my thoughts and take over my mind. He’s an evil man, David.”
“What made you come back?”
“I was concerned about Edith—I knew she’d be distraught—and also, I kept having dreams.”
“What kind of dreams?”
She blushes and lowers her head. I can barely hear her voice.
“I wasn’t having nightmares, or anything like that. They were actually, sweet dreams of a life I could only imagine. I’d wake up feeling this incredible longing to be with this strange person that made everything go right. He was my protector—a kind of a guardian angel, and for the first time in my life I knew what it felt like to be safe and loved.”
I needed to ask. “Do you have any idea what this person looks like?”
“Not really. I never see people clearly in dreams—I just know what it feels like, and strangely, I realized I’ve had glimmers of someone like this all my life, and yet I’ve been barely aware of him. It’s as if this man has been a faint star and when I try to look at him clearly, he disappears, and sinks below the horizon. Does that seem foolish to you?”
“Not at all—I’ve had that same dream all my life.”
She looks at me in surprised recognition, and somehow our lips meet.
I’m drawn in by her gravity, as naturally as a raindrop attracted to a dry window.
“How touching,” a mocking voice hisses.
Sinister laughter fills the room. I peer into the darkness and make out another presence in the room—a dark figure lurking in the hallway, just outside the circle of lamplight.
I recognize Phillips’ voice just as Laura gasps, “Walter!”
The tone in his voice chills me. “Yes, Darling—your beloved Walter, who made you what you are—and now sees you for what you really are. Ingrate!”
“Please, Walter—try to understand.”
The room echoes again with menacing laughter and the bitter edged voice cuts through the gloom, “Oh, but I do understand, my Love, only too well. I understand if I can’t have you, nobody will.”
In the faint glow from the lamp, I can see the glint of a gun muzzle aimed in our direction and feel my body go numb as I await the explosion.
At that moment there’s a bright flash and roar, and the threatening form before us topples to the floor.
The lights flick on, revealing Edith standing in the hallway, gun in hand.
“I followed him here—I’ve been following him ever since you disappeared, Laura—I knew he was up to no good.”
The incident is spread across all the tabloids, and although I’m offered huge sums for the story, it’s a series of articles I choose not to write.
There’s an inquest into the shooting of Walter, but in the end, Edith is exonerated—after all, Walter was intent on murder, and Edith’s quick action saved our lives.
It turns out our first kiss convinced Laura I was the man in her dreams—and now, I play that role every day in her life.
The enchantress I thought was only a dream turned out to be the other hidden half of me.
Hers was the face in the misty light, footsteps I heard down the hall.
It was her laughter floating on a summer night that I could never quite recall.