Tandem of Terror (41 page)

"
Rebecca you make no sense.
You are not evil. What is this you are speaking of?"

"
The Unclean Sarah, the
Unclean." Her voice was shaky, weak, no more than a hush filled
with primal terror. Her hands trembled. "It was here, staring at me
through my window. I saw it's horrible face with black eyes and
swollen skin, teeth like knives, hands like vulture's claws. It
smiled and spat at me, wanting to take me for being sinful. We were
sinful, Sarah, poisoned by lust, corrupted and wicked. What we did
was wrong."

"
Rebecca no. It was not
wrong. It was sweet and loving." She took Rebecca in her arms who
fought it at first but ultimately gave in. "There is no such thing
as the Unclean. It's a story that my father made up. Just a story
to keep us apart. Really, it's all right."

"
But last night, I
saw..."

"
Just a nightmare. That's
all. You were tired and the night shadows played tricks on you.
It's ok now Rebecca. It's ok now."

They embraced, Sarah wiping the tears from
Rebecca's face and bringing them to her lips. She tasted her
friend's tears and then kissed her. The two kissed long and
passionately. Sarah eased her tongue into Rebecca's mouth with
delicate strokes. Their hands explored each other's bodies, holding
one another as tight as they could, as if they never wanted to let
go.

Sarah looked Rebecca in the eyes and smiled,
finally able to get her angelic friend to smile back. She removed
Rebecca's bonnet, allowing her raven hair to fall gently onto her
shoulders. They kissed again, tracing each other's lips.

"
Sarah..." Rebecca
moaned.

"
It is all right," Sarah
soothed.

"
You don't understand."
Rebecca suddenly stopped Sarah from what she was doing and looked
up to the window. "Father," she gasped. "I hear father coming. He
mustn't catch us. He will punish me. He is the only one that is
allowed to..."

Rebecca's words fell dead as she pulled
herself from Sarah and scrambled for her bonnet.

Sarah wondered what she meant and as she
stood, she did indeed see Amos approaching the house. She watched a
frantic Rebecca attempting to get herself back to a decent
appearance as terror glared in her beautiful eyes. "I'll help you,"
Sarah said, helping Rebecca straighten her hair.

The door swung open as the girls finished
tying their hair under their bonnets. "Rebecca," Amos thundered,
his normally quiet persona shattered by an anger Sarah had never
seen. "What are you girls doing?"

"
N-nothing father," she
answered with a stutter. "Sarah and I were just
quilting."

"
Quilting!" He glared at the
unfinished blanket crumbled on the kitchen table. "Why haven't you
finished it? You have been working on it far too long for it to be
in such a shape."

"
It is a difficult task.
We--"

"
Enough," he turned to
Sarah. "Sarah return to your father. You're wasting my daughter's
time. She has much housework to do. Now that her mother is with the
Lord, she doesn't have the time for friends and such foolishness."
He opened the door and Sarah realized she outstayed her welcome.
She picked up the blanket and left. She looked back once to catch a
fleeting glimpse of Rebecca only to see Amos taking her into one
arm as he closed the door with his other.

She tossed and turned unsteadily, stirring
with visions of Rebecca filling her mind, sitting naked in a chair,
legs spread open and playing with herself. A voice whispered
through the dream, hollow and cold. "Sinner... the Unclean will
take thee... Damnation awaits... damnation awaits..."

"
No!" Sarah called, sitting
up in bed and finding herself safe in her room. "Silly tale, father
is going to give me enough nightmares for a lifetime." Her vision
adjusted to the dark as she wiped the beads of sweat from her
brow.

A tapping sound caught her attention.

She looked over at her window, moonlight
glowing unnaturally outside it. The sound reverberated once more
before morphing into footfalls, subtle, creeping, caution in the
steps, cunning intentions hindered by brush and weeds, dwindling
just outside her bedroom.

Sarah threw the heavy blankets aside and
stepped from the bed, her feet dancing on the ice-cold stone floor.
She stepped to the window and looked out. Moonlight from the full
moon illuminated the yard and in between her home and Rebecca's a
shape stood.

It was nothing more than shadow and darkness
but it swayed in the yard like a scarecrow blowing in the wind and
Sarah could see its outline plainly in the light. She could not
take her eyes off it.

It moved suddenly, legs and arms now becoming
visible and strode swiftly towards Rebecca's house. Sarah's throat
went dry, her heart pumped faster, beating hard against her chest.
The shape reached Rebecca's window and stopped there, she watched
an arm lift and scratch at the window.

A baleful moan sighed in the wind as Sarah
fought to keep herself calm. She watched it tease and play at the
window as if it was a game. Abnormally long arms, misshapen form,
enormous head, a nightmare made real, a story pulled out of Hell's
ominous black book. She took hold of the curtain beside her with a
firm grip and pulled, grounding herself in reality, testing to see
if this was just a dream she could not awaken from.

After some more scratching and scampering
about it turned around again and waved at Sarah. The gooseflesh
rose on Sarah's arms and she gasped. Letting go of the curtain she
clasped her hand over her mouth to bury the shriek that rose in her
throat, for the shape left Rebecca's window and headed back towards
hers.

She caught a glimpse of its eyes as it
approached, realizing that it was indeed something tangible,
something alive. The eyes glowed a feral yellow, cutting through
the darkness plain as day.

Sarah pushed herself away, ran back to her
bed and pulled the covers up tight. "My Dear Lord," she whimpered.
"It is true. The Unclean has come for us. It has come for us both.
It has seen our deed. No, no, I will not accept this. It is just a
tale, just a tale, just a tale..."

She waited and waited, shivering beneath her
covers, heart dropping into the pit of her stomach, perspiration
coating her neck and chest but nothing came. The window remained
silent, the wind stopped calling, the footfalls died. Sarah stayed
in her bed, eying the window with shimmering moonlight pouring
through it in jagged shafts and did nothing. She didn't dare leave
her bed for the rest of the night. Despite her not wanting to
believe in her father's story, she didn't want to take the chance.
She only prayed that it did not see deep into Rebecca's soul, guilt
ridden for what they did, and carry her off. She prayed it left her
alone, for what would she do without her beloved Rebecca?

Eventually she fell asleep.

Exhaustion filled Sarah to the point of agony
as she dragged herself out of the house and to the horse drawn
wagon where her parents awaited. It was overstuffed with fruits and
vegetables, a stunning palette of their gardens' bounty.

"
God's speed Sarah," Jacob
called to his daughter. "This may be the last harvest we're able to
sell in town before winter. We need to get there early before lunch
and the crop is less desirable."

"
I am sorry father," she
replied. "I am just so tired this morning."

"
No time for laziness, get
inside and mind the crop."

Sarah's mother sat silent as she always did,
humble before her husband. Jacob snapped the reigns and the horses
began their journey pulling the carriage. Slowly they trotted past
Rebecca's house, its door was open and within Sarah saw Rebecca,
staring blankly.

Oddly, as they drew nearer, Sarah watched her
mother turn her head away from her dear friend's house, as if it
was forbidden to look upon it. She avoided the sight of it like she
was shunning it.

The visitor from last night instantly popped
back into Sarah's memory. She wondered if her mother knew, knew
what they had done, knew that The Unclean was visiting them,
stalking poor Rebecca and Amos. But how could she know? No one had
seen them and their fleeting moments of passion.

The fire of desire burned in Sarah's heart
once more as she looked upon Rebecca's sweet face. A somber
expression weighed heavily on it and Sarah's desire transformed to
sadness.

Just then she saw Amos appear in the doorway
behind Rebecca. He slid his hands over her shoulders and whispered
something in her ear. A moment later she shut the door.

Sarah looked back to her mother who still
avoided the house until they were out of its sight. Her mother's
shunning and silence spoke to her, whispered to her soul. There was
something more, more than The Unclean-- a myth spun to scare the
community into morality. Sarah knew she was right to deny this
story; something deeper was being drowned in silence. She could
feel it.

Her parents were quite happy with the day's
intake. Every last apple and ear of corn sold and it would keep
them comfortable well into the winter.

Sarah lit three or four candles in her
bedroom and prepared to read the Good Book as her father
instructed. Dusk was at hand and shades of purple shadows danced on
her wall, they made her think of it again. Would it return tonight?
What was it? It couldn't be what her father would tell her it was.
It was something real, not of spirit but of flesh. Whatever it was,
it walked by night and was enraptured by Rebecca, just as she was.
It had shown itself to her.

Sarah walked over to her window again and
blew out the candle resting on the sill. She stared at Rebecca's
window across the way and saw her silhouette within. She longed for
her again but not just for the passion, she needed to tell her that
she too had seen it.

She needed to comfort Rebecca, put her guilt
at ease and show her that it was no spirit of hell come to punish
her for her sins. And she needed to do it now before it returned
tonight.

She slipped over to her bedroom door and put
her ear to it, listening attentively. All was quiet and her parents
were most likely in their room reading the bible just as she was
supposed to be doing. She would surely get a whipping for what she
was about to do but she would take a thousand whippings for her
dear one.

Sarah returned to her window and pushed it
open; pulling up her nightgown she climbed out and down to soft
grassy yard. She raced across the way as fast as she could until
reaching Rebecca's bedroom window. She lifted a jittery hand and
tapped on it.

"
Leave me be!" Rebecca's
terror-filled voice called from the room. "Dear Lord protect your
humble servant. Forgive me for my evil ways I beg of
thee."

"
Rebecca have no fear. It is
me Sarah," she called, a smile forming across her face.

The window opened and Rebecca poked her head
out. "Sarah? Have you gone mad? What are you doing out there? Come
in quickly."

She helped Sarah into her room and the two
embraced briefly. "I had to speak with you," she said.

"
A knock on the front door
in the morning would have been just as nice."

Sarah laughed, "You are just so sweet." She
kissed her and Rebecca again pulled away.

"
No, we can't. The Unclean
is out there."

"
That's why I have come.
I've seen it too. Last night."

"
You've seen it? And still
you do this?"

"
Rebecca listen to me, it is
no demon spirit. It is flesh and blood. I am sure of it. It walks
and behaves like one of us not a spirit. I told you, it is just a
story my father made up. It cannot harm us."

"
Are you sure, then what is
it that creeps by night and comes to my window?"

"
I do not know but it is not
The Unclean. You're trembling again. Please come to me."

Rebecca was indeed trembling, so frightened
of what she and Sarah meant to one another, what they shared. She
stared at Sarah who held her arms wide open and without hesitation
went into them.

Sarah held her tight, caressing her hair and
back. They began to kiss. And as they both turned to leave the
window something caught their attention. They parted lips and
turned-- a ghastly face stared back at them.

The girls screamed, the thunder of their
panic filling the house.

Its face was bloated, nose appearing torn,
nostrils wide and snout-like. Yellow eyes glared at them and they
watched in horror as it smiled at them with twisted lips.

The door to the bedroom burst open and in
stormed Amos, his face flushed, drooling from the mouth. A crazed
look was about him as he charged to the window with his shotgun.
"Be gone you bastard!" He pointed the gun at the window and it
fled. "My God in Heaven!" Amos raved. "I am so heartily sorry for
my sin. Forgive me...Dear Lord forgive me." He fell to his knees,
sobbing.

"
This is no spirit," Sarah
said, the shock still swimming through her. "You know it, don't
you?" She approached Amos.

Rebecca slowly backed herself into a corner
and cried, covering her ears so she would not hear anymore. She
refused to hear it, accept it, to acknowledge the terrible secret
she was hiding.

"
There is no Unclean. What
have you done?" she asked of Amos. "I have seen the way you look at
your daughter, I've seen you hold her strangely. What have you
done?"

"
I have sinned," he
murmured. "No, it is not the Unclean. It is an abomination of an
unholy union. As in the scripture when Angels saw the daughters of
man and saw that they were fair and lied down with them. Their
offspring were giants, abominations, and desecrations. So have I
taken my own daughter and my sin has created a thing. A punishment
to me and my kin for the evil I have done. It even took my dear
wife from me."