Weird Encounter 2

Victory POV

I shrug off everything and force myself to not concern myself with things that do not make any sense. I am a scientist after all. Everything has to have an explanation and right now, I am settling for one simple word; Nightmare. This all has to be part of a nightmare. I probably fell last night in the dark and hit my head. I most definitely did not even go upstairs to bed. Therefore, life has to go on. I need to buy several things to make this house homier.

I gather myself up and head to the kitchen. I decide on a quick lunch and luck is on my side. There already is grilled chicken and I had left it in the warmer wrapped up in foil. So I only need to make mashed potatoes and veggies. Then voila, lunch is ready. I whistle tunelessly ad I go about my business. For once, I appreciate the manor.

The silence is what I desired. It's a good mile away from the rest of the people and the land is quite vast. I had had the pull designed in a way that it would accommodate kids. The other part was almost like a pond, just a meter deep, shaped like the letter C. It was not on its own but was joined to the main pool. It was beautiful and had painted green just like the twin's eyes.

I just as quickly snap out of it and decide I will not be dragged down again. I will carry their memories but not the hurt. I need to dwell on the good times we had together. I have been granted permission to work from home and only report to work if and when it's necessary. So I should embrace this time and try to move on.

With a new resolve, I gobble down my lunch, barely savouring the taste. After which I rinse my dishes, grab my car keys and head for the garage. I check my tyres and am satisfied that they have adequate pressure. I drive out and head east towards the small town. I must say my whole journey was uneventful except when I went to the diner.

After my shopping, I was both tired and hungry. I spotted a local diner who seems to be very busy. I decided that for it to be that busy, it has to sell delicious food. I park my car and double-check if I locked it. I then head to the diner and an old man stops me.

" You got a moment Miss?"

Not wanting to appear rude and anti-social, I smile and nod in affirmation.

"Sure good sir, how can I help you?"

I fight the urge to puke when he gets closer. That's when I see how tattered his clothes are and how filthy he is. Seems like he hasn't bathed in a bit. I force myself to swallow the bile rising in my throat and smile at him.

"I don't want money kind Miss, but a bite of food will be welcome."

"Sure sir, you can join me so we grab dinner together."

I don't know why but the inner me told me to be nice to him.

"No, no kind Miss, the owner won't allow beggars in his diner. Go along and eat. You can bring me food on your way out."

"That's ridiculous of the owner. Anyway, what would you want for dinner, sir?"

I will have me a double beef burger with plenty of cheese and any juice of your choice."

"Aye aye captain!"

Something about this old man makes me relaxed and at ease. He chuckles at my mock salute and I go on inside and order our food. I decided to have their lasagna since the waitress told me it was a must-have. I also ordered mushroom soup. I just love mushrooms. After my fair share of the lasagna, I grab my take out and live a generous tip for the bubbly waitress.

I head out and am surprised that the sun is almost setting. I had no idea I took that long to enjoy the food. Something I had not done for a while. I spot the old man huddled up near the trash and somehow my heart broke for me. I want to offer him accommodation since I have a very spacious staff quarter but stop myself. I do not want him to feel degraded. Some men have sensitive egos.

"Here you go, captain. I also asked for their mushroom soup for it is divine. I hope you love mushrooms."

There is an obvious twinkle in his eye as he receives the package.

"Thank you, kind miss. I am grateful."

"No worries captain. Here is some money so you could buy more food tomorrow."

His face falls and he shakes his head and denies it.

"No, my dear, Bruno will never allow me in even if I have the money to buy. Not with this horrible stench. Run along little one. You can always come back and buy for me. Now it's getting dark. The night is creepy and has eyes. I would not want anything happening to you."

I am speechless. What does he mean? And once again dread fills me. What's with the "Little one" statement? I shake my head and head to my car. To the manor, I am preoccupied with my encounter with the old tattered man that I am hardly paying attention to my surroundings. It's already dark and seeing as it is the rainy season, it's quite darker than normal.

Suddenly I see a shadow in the middle of the road and screech the tyres to a halt. It's only now that I notice that it's raining. I put my lights on full beam and squint my eyes trying to see what was looming ahead. I am shocked to see a deer. It just stands there seemingly mesmerized by the lights.

What the heck? I hoot trying to scare it off but it shows no signs of movement. After idling for a while, I decided that I should just drive around it. By now it's raining so hard that I can barely see ten metres ahead. I carefully drive around the deer because I am not sure if the road is not muddy or not. Just as I make it back on the road, an owl just drops dead on my windscreen startling the life out of me. I lose control of the car and ended up ramming into a tree. Damn, this car is still new. But right now this is the least of my worries. How do I get back home? I have neither umbrella nor a raincoat.

I am just glad that I did not get hurt. Grateful again that I had taken a fancy to a duvet whilst shopping so I can at least sleep in the till morning. Without fear of freezing to death.

I play the radio for a while then for fear of draining my battery, I switch the car off. I have no choice but to sleep. Little do I know that the nightmare awaits.

"Vicki, Vicki please wake up."

I open my eyes and a bloodcurdling scream bombards my ears. It takes me a while to note that it's me screaming. I am standing in the middle of a jungle covered in blood. In my hand, I am holding something warm but with a faint beat. I look down and see that deer all bloodied and barely breathing. In my hand, I have its heart. I jump up screaming so hard that am sure my lungs will burst any moment from now. The sadness in the deer's eyes shakes me to my core. How did this happen? I am no monster! I could never hurt a fly. I kneel and place the heart back on the deer.

Suddenly, the evil cackling invades my ears again and I just slump down in defeat. There is no escaping this hideous entity. I wish for the earth to swallow me but no such luck. The deer suddenly gets up still bloody but very much alive. It sneers at me then viciously kicks me with its hind legs.

"Get up you weakling! Get up and finish what you started. I promise to give you a fair fight."

It guffaws again with such evil intent it's quite bone-chilling. I stop screaming and just cover my head. However, the deer does not stop its assault on me. All this while its blood is gushing out from the open gush on the chest. It pools down the suddenly start crawling towards me looking like a thousand tendons. It's like thin little ropes. It then ties me up into a bundle. The deer starts kicking me and I start rolling to God knows where. All this while, it's laughing maniacally.

I can't see where we are going but my gut feeling tells me it is taking me to my doom.

I brace myself for the impending danger whilst a satisfactory smile graces my face. If it kills me, even better. Then I will at least escape from this torture.