Post by lynn on Oct 3, 2013 6:21:11 GMT -5
I couldn't tell if the light-grey pall to his face was the shifting dusk light or if his skin was finally being affected. "Awful weather we've been having."
I stared at his face, trying to decipher, but gave up and went back to my seat on the lounge.
"I sure could use a drink, Annie." he was staring vaguely out the window. He had a drink in his hand. He shifted it to his mouth methodically, but I don't think he drank any. I didn't pour him another.
"I can't tell you what a day it's been." the ice in his glass tinkled together.
I held back a sigh and let him talk.
"Started out like a normal day." He let out a low, hard chuckle, "Always say that, don’t they? Had no idea what would happen. Started out like every other day."
"It always does." I said in a low voice.
He didn't notice my interjection. "Car trip to work was normal, boss was normal, secretary was… normal." I noticed the catch in his voice. He'd had a soft spot for her. But he wasn't that kind of husband. "Sat down at my desk, like always. Had some figures to get in line before the meeting at 11. It was supposed to be at 11." he trailed off, with nothing but the low chink from his glass for the next few minutes.
He turned on his heel and walked over to where I sat. I tried not to move, or react, as he sunk down into the lounge beside me. I needn't have bothered. His eyes stared ahead, focused on something I could not see.
"I don't remember his name. I should have remembered his name. Someone should have. Jenny probably did." The secretary again. His mind dwelt on her. Was it her he saw? He stared through the air, "We couldn't see, at first. We just saw a man. Maybe a little familiar, but so many people go through our doors, how are we to know-" he choked a little and stopped himself, rubbing his forehead. "How do you spot them? They're different, we should know. Way they talk, move, smell." He took another long sniff of his drink. It pulled him back to the narrative, "Anyway, we didn't see it coming. Even when it started we didn't know. Not like those films, all the screaming and noises. Quiet, with a knife. I didn't know anything was happening until I heard the voices starting to go up. Not just louder, but higher, you know? When a person is scared their voice gets higher. They used to tell us to use that, on the table. But now…" he swirled the drink around and around in the glass, working himself up to the tale he had to tell, "Now I could hear them, men, women, angry, scared. And I could smell something. Something horrible. I came out of my office and Jenny was afraid. I thought there must have been some sort of argument going on. I told her to stay put and walked out. I didn't notice them at first, just the man standing there, some people shouting at him, the office girls were all crying in a corner. Then I started to hear what they were saying. Put it down. Don't hurt us. It wasn't our fault. Way that office works it probably was. He waved his hand about, threatening, and I saw what they were telling him to put down. Biggest damn bowie knife I'd ever seen. Don't know where he got it from. Remember wondering it at the time. Those damn things are dangerous." He didn't notice his own irony, but ploughed on, "then I saw it was a funny colour. And it was dripping." He slammed his glass onto the table suddenly, a thud and a rattled chinking. He stood and clenched his fist at his remembered foe, "It was blood, it was God damned blood. All over that blade. All over him." He looked away and down, "That's when I noticed them. On the floor. There was Vanessa from reception. And Mark. He was a friendly guy, always coming forth to welcome people. Maybe he was the first? Maybe it was her. Anyway, they were on the floor, which is why I didn't see them. That was when I realised what the smell was. It was Mark. He'd been … sliced. His insides were all over the floor. I'd stepped… Vanessa was no better. Sliced down the face, then across the neck. An ear was hanging half-off. She was dripping. She wasn't alive either. They were both dead. I think, I think I froze there, for a minute, just looking at them. I should have acted. I should have been a man and acted then. But you don't see that every day, do you? I should have acted then!" His voice grew louder, more afraid. "What kind of man am I? I just stood-" he swallowed, his trembling was beginning to rattle the table, the cups he stood by. "When I looked up again Larry had lunged at him and the girls were screaming again, Larry has this stream, this squirting from his shoulder. He went down pretty quick. There were seven men in that office, surely we could have stopped him? After Larry, Stephen, of course, always followed him. Gashed in the arm, he fell back screaming. He got finished off quick, I didn't see cos of the tables." It was coming quickly now. " Then the girls, Gerald was trying to protect the girls but he got half his arm chopped off in one blow. He must have been crazy to be so strong. He must have been a mad man. I remember thinking that he must have been mad to be so strong. And Gerald was still fighting even with, with his other hand and he stuck that knife right through his neck. I saw it out the other side. The blood was gushing, it got all on the girls and they were screaming even more. And then I heard her screaming behind me. Jenny was seeing it. She'd come out of the office and was screaming for her friends. She should have stayed in the bloody office." Were there tears on his face? I couldn't tell in the growing dark. "I turned and grabbed her and shoved her back in there, shut the door behind us, but it was too late. The mad man had seen us. He must have been mad. He threw a cabinet through the door, nobody is that strong. He had Jenny out from under the desk and he looked at her, I knew he remembered her. I bet she did know his name. It was quiet then, all I could hear was her breathing, panicking. But she didn't scream then, in the end. Maybe she knew, she realised why he was doing it? Maybe she was the only one. Then he lifted the knife and swung it hard and I couldn't look away when it went right into her side and stuck there. She let out a little sound, like when you step on a cat's tail, just a little squeak. Then she fell, and he let her go, onto the desk then sliding onto the floor. Laying in her own blood. There were pools of it around. I'd been walking in it. He looked up at me, and I could see it in his eyes. He was mad. He was angry. He hated me he wanted me to die, I thought I was going to die like the others, slices of meat, he ran at me swinging-" He flinched back into the lounge and the whole room shook like a peal of thunder. I was tensed, waiting.
He looked up, finally, as the rattling ended, at the window again. The sunset had faded by now and the stars would soon begin to peer through the night's curtain. He walked straight to the window and peered out wonderingly. "Awful weather we've been having." I couldn't see his face in the gloom.
"I sure could use a drink, Annie." He had a drink in his hand.
I stared at his face, trying to decipher, but gave up and went back to my seat on the lounge.
"I sure could use a drink, Annie." he was staring vaguely out the window. He had a drink in his hand. He shifted it to his mouth methodically, but I don't think he drank any. I didn't pour him another.
"I can't tell you what a day it's been." the ice in his glass tinkled together.
I held back a sigh and let him talk.
"Started out like a normal day." He let out a low, hard chuckle, "Always say that, don’t they? Had no idea what would happen. Started out like every other day."
"It always does." I said in a low voice.
He didn't notice my interjection. "Car trip to work was normal, boss was normal, secretary was… normal." I noticed the catch in his voice. He'd had a soft spot for her. But he wasn't that kind of husband. "Sat down at my desk, like always. Had some figures to get in line before the meeting at 11. It was supposed to be at 11." he trailed off, with nothing but the low chink from his glass for the next few minutes.
He turned on his heel and walked over to where I sat. I tried not to move, or react, as he sunk down into the lounge beside me. I needn't have bothered. His eyes stared ahead, focused on something I could not see.
"I don't remember his name. I should have remembered his name. Someone should have. Jenny probably did." The secretary again. His mind dwelt on her. Was it her he saw? He stared through the air, "We couldn't see, at first. We just saw a man. Maybe a little familiar, but so many people go through our doors, how are we to know-" he choked a little and stopped himself, rubbing his forehead. "How do you spot them? They're different, we should know. Way they talk, move, smell." He took another long sniff of his drink. It pulled him back to the narrative, "Anyway, we didn't see it coming. Even when it started we didn't know. Not like those films, all the screaming and noises. Quiet, with a knife. I didn't know anything was happening until I heard the voices starting to go up. Not just louder, but higher, you know? When a person is scared their voice gets higher. They used to tell us to use that, on the table. But now…" he swirled the drink around and around in the glass, working himself up to the tale he had to tell, "Now I could hear them, men, women, angry, scared. And I could smell something. Something horrible. I came out of my office and Jenny was afraid. I thought there must have been some sort of argument going on. I told her to stay put and walked out. I didn't notice them at first, just the man standing there, some people shouting at him, the office girls were all crying in a corner. Then I started to hear what they were saying. Put it down. Don't hurt us. It wasn't our fault. Way that office works it probably was. He waved his hand about, threatening, and I saw what they were telling him to put down. Biggest damn bowie knife I'd ever seen. Don't know where he got it from. Remember wondering it at the time. Those damn things are dangerous." He didn't notice his own irony, but ploughed on, "then I saw it was a funny colour. And it was dripping." He slammed his glass onto the table suddenly, a thud and a rattled chinking. He stood and clenched his fist at his remembered foe, "It was blood, it was God damned blood. All over that blade. All over him." He looked away and down, "That's when I noticed them. On the floor. There was Vanessa from reception. And Mark. He was a friendly guy, always coming forth to welcome people. Maybe he was the first? Maybe it was her. Anyway, they were on the floor, which is why I didn't see them. That was when I realised what the smell was. It was Mark. He'd been … sliced. His insides were all over the floor. I'd stepped… Vanessa was no better. Sliced down the face, then across the neck. An ear was hanging half-off. She was dripping. She wasn't alive either. They were both dead. I think, I think I froze there, for a minute, just looking at them. I should have acted. I should have been a man and acted then. But you don't see that every day, do you? I should have acted then!" His voice grew louder, more afraid. "What kind of man am I? I just stood-" he swallowed, his trembling was beginning to rattle the table, the cups he stood by. "When I looked up again Larry had lunged at him and the girls were screaming again, Larry has this stream, this squirting from his shoulder. He went down pretty quick. There were seven men in that office, surely we could have stopped him? After Larry, Stephen, of course, always followed him. Gashed in the arm, he fell back screaming. He got finished off quick, I didn't see cos of the tables." It was coming quickly now. " Then the girls, Gerald was trying to protect the girls but he got half his arm chopped off in one blow. He must have been crazy to be so strong. He must have been a mad man. I remember thinking that he must have been mad to be so strong. And Gerald was still fighting even with, with his other hand and he stuck that knife right through his neck. I saw it out the other side. The blood was gushing, it got all on the girls and they were screaming even more. And then I heard her screaming behind me. Jenny was seeing it. She'd come out of the office and was screaming for her friends. She should have stayed in the bloody office." Were there tears on his face? I couldn't tell in the growing dark. "I turned and grabbed her and shoved her back in there, shut the door behind us, but it was too late. The mad man had seen us. He must have been mad. He threw a cabinet through the door, nobody is that strong. He had Jenny out from under the desk and he looked at her, I knew he remembered her. I bet she did know his name. It was quiet then, all I could hear was her breathing, panicking. But she didn't scream then, in the end. Maybe she knew, she realised why he was doing it? Maybe she was the only one. Then he lifted the knife and swung it hard and I couldn't look away when it went right into her side and stuck there. She let out a little sound, like when you step on a cat's tail, just a little squeak. Then she fell, and he let her go, onto the desk then sliding onto the floor. Laying in her own blood. There were pools of it around. I'd been walking in it. He looked up at me, and I could see it in his eyes. He was mad. He was angry. He hated me he wanted me to die, I thought I was going to die like the others, slices of meat, he ran at me swinging-" He flinched back into the lounge and the whole room shook like a peal of thunder. I was tensed, waiting.
He looked up, finally, as the rattling ended, at the window again. The sunset had faded by now and the stars would soon begin to peer through the night's curtain. He walked straight to the window and peered out wonderingly. "Awful weather we've been having." I couldn't see his face in the gloom.
"I sure could use a drink, Annie." He had a drink in his hand.
