Night's Gift

“Is it truly necessary for you to take me to him tonight? Maybe you could just show me the way out. You could tell him I pushed past you, knocked you down, whatever. Please, Teresa, I need your help to get out of here! I do not understand the importance of holding me against my will!” I knew I was begging. Even I could hear the terror in my voice. I also had an eerie feeling, or maybe it was a sixth sense of sorts, that if I stayed here much longer my life would never be the same again. Teresa frowned. “I don't understand, Virginia. Why do you so desperately want to leave? Has Max said something to you? Has he stepped out of line? I will speak to him if you like … I had to think quickly. Maybe there was something in what she had said. Maybe I could play her and Max against each other. She had asked me if Max had stepped out of line. If I could force an argument between him and her, perhaps I could slip away unnoticed and find the door to freedom! It was a chance I was willing to gamble on. After all, what did I have to lose? “Well, now that you mentioned it, Teresa,” I began, “Max did do something out of line. While you were sleeping, he made advances toward me. I was totally shocked! I never anticipated such a move like that from him. He ... he's so old and grandfatherly looking.” I tried hard to keep my voice edgy. If I were to play the part, then it would have to be an Academy Award performance. Little did I know, then, that it was the premier of many more performances to come. “Max!” Teresa turned on the poor old man. I felt a momentary pang of sympathy for him. What if he was as much a victim in this house as I was? Maybe, by telling that horrid lie, I was making his plight even worse! “Max, how could you? You know the master's rules, and you also know the punishment for breaking them!” Teresa's face took on a worried look … Poor Max. Oh God, what had I done? It was not usually in my nature to intentionally harm anyone. His mouth hung half-open. There was such a look of tortured pain on his face that for a fleeting moment I truly did feel guilty about what I was doing. But the moment passed quickly, for I realized that, above all else, self-preservation had to be my utmost concern. “Madame, I assure you, I never touched the young miss. Surely you know I am not capable of such an act!” Max swung his attention to me. “Why would you contend such a deed, Miss? I have never in all my years, and they have been many, done such a thing to a woman! How could you even suggest this?” There was a pleading tone to his words. He was wringing his bony hands as if he were trying to squeeze the nervous droplets from them. “What do you mean?” I retorted. “How can you stand there and blatantly lie in front of Teresa? You are a dirty old man who would have liked nothing better than to put your grimy paws all over me. Admit it; why don't you just admit it?” My voice swelled with anger … Max could no longer control his trembling. I realized he was more than afraid. He was petrified. He groped for my hand. “Please, miss, you don't know him––you have no idea what he is capable of! If he should think for a moment that I had laid even one tiny finger on you, a guest in his home, I could not guess what fury he would inflict upon me. Please, for the sake of all the saints that you believe in, here on earth and in the heavens––for the sake of my soul, of my existence––please confess to Teresa that you are lying … I ripped my hand away. “Don't touch me, you perverted beast! Even here, in front of Teresa, you use any excuse to touch me with your diseased hands!”… There was no turning back. Besides, as the allegation had been uttered, I sensed that it was already too late for Max. I had sealed his fate with my first accusation … “Teresa, please believe me, I never touched her!” Max turned despairingly back to Teresa. “She is so convincing, Max; I don't know …” Teresa’s brow furrowed. She turned away. “The count will be most upset at this turn of events ...” I saw my chance. They had their backs to me. I dodged for the door and slipped into the shadowy hallway. I ran. I had no idea where I was going, but I knew I had to free myself from this place. An open door appeared amongst the shadows just ahead of me. Was it the door to my freedom? I had no choice but to enter it and find out. Teresa and Max had discovered my escape and I heard their cries of despair. Any second now they would be running out of the dining room door to retrieve me before he found out. I slid through the opening and found myself at the top of a long spiral staircase. Quickly, I turned and closed the door. Hopefully, they had not noticed where I had exited. I began running down the stairs, taking some of them two at a time. I stumbled several times in my haste, but the railing saved me from tumbling to the bottom. I prayed that wherever these steps led, it would be better than where I had just been. I could smell the moisture from the walls. I could hear dripping water up ahead. All of a sudden I felt a rush of fresh air. I could not believe my good fortune; I had actually managed to stumble on a way out! I wanted to shout for joy but did not dare for fear they would hear me … The stairs exited out into a small courtyard ... Rain poured down, drenching my body. Cool, cleansing rain washed this place from my skin and my clothes. I was free! The smell of freedom was so sensuous to my quivering nostrils, and I lifted my face to the night sky … Something flew past my face and landed on the courtyard wall in front of me. I imagined I could see two tiny, bright red lights emanating from whatever it was. Could it be? I did not want to believe my eyes. I started to shake. It could not be! How was it possible? I had to find a way out of here. I knew there must be an exit somewhere. I began groping desperately along the walls. The darkness of the stormy night was making it exceedingly difficult for me to locate the door. The angry heavens opened even further, and the rain began falling in thick sheets, blurring my already limited vision. The thing fluttered over my head. I ducked, hoping to ward off an attack. Oh my God, just as I thought, a bat––a huge one too! The pieces of this puzzling place were still fitting too conveniently into place. I was tired of the whole game. All I wanted to do was quit and go home. Why would they not just let me go? What reason was there to detain a nobody like me? A feeling of terror, much greater than I had ever deemed possible, rose within me. Bats blended in too well with everything else I had been bumping into in the last twenty-four hours. But then again, it was an old house. Realistically, I knew that these kinds of rodents could reside in such places. However, the brief sightings of his fangs loomed in my mind again, and from all the vampire movies I had watched, I knew that bats were one of the creatures they could become! My fingers touched a wooden plank. Thank God––the door! Now all I had to do was find the latch. I continued groping along, searching desperately. Finally, I was rewarded; my hand bumped against the steel bolt. I attempted to push it across. I could not fail now. Beads of sweat broke out on my forehead, mingling with the rain that was drenching me from above. The bolt would not budge. I strained harder. Why would the latch not move? I got my answer as I drew in a whiff of the aged rustiness of the metal. “There is no use, my dear Virginia. This door has not been used for years. The latch is quite rusty. I have no need of this gate. There is no escape for you here!” It was a voice that sent unadulterated terror through my veins. It was his voice.