1
The cellar of his house had always been cold and that's how he liked it. Cold is biting; it'll grip you and drain all of your energy so that all you want or can even think of is being warm.
It was supposed to be cold.
The man fumbled as he descended the stairs, his boots gave the familiar thud as he moved with no hurry. He just kept his round jolly face in a relaxed, contented expression as he pulled out the syringe as he always did when he was two steps from the bottom of the stairs and sucked in a breath.
It smelled awful in the cellar, the stale stench of urine filled his nostrils, stinging him, and other foul odours punched him in the same way. The man ignored it; he carried out what he did every day in the same way. He filled the syringe, being careful in making sure he didn't spill but nor under fill the little glass tube, before holding it to the light, assessing as he always did, if he had enough for the coming 24 hours. He always had enough, but when he saw how little of the clear liquid there is in one tube and considered that it has to do for not one person but two people he can never help worrying.
He bit his tongue and blinked, knowing that it would be more than what he needed and moved forward to the cellar door, a huge sturdy wooden thing that used to have a window, but this was boarded up a long time ago.
There came a thumping from inside the cellar, on the other side of the door. It was loud with no rhythm or pattern, just constant violent thumping as someone in the cellar threw their body against the thick wood over and over. The man just sighed, it was a peaceful day. The day before he could barely hear himself think for the screaming and wailing that had come from that cellar.
He readied the syringe, whenever the pair he keeps in his cellar were awake when he came down there was always a struggle. He slowly and calmly lifted the latch of the door and placed his big hand on the cool metal handle before pushing down and forwards. He had to be faster now, he used all of his broad body to force the door forward push back the person who had been running at it back.
The man shut the door behind him as the thumper laid eyes on him and stopped suddenly, freezing for a moment to stare at him with big eyes. He looked around, there was blood again and it was everywhere, on the walls, the stone floor, and even the ceiling. The blood was not his, but belonged to the two in the room. Two women.
He wanted to make it quick, he didn't enjoy doing this every day, it was a hassle and got in the way of what he wanted to do. He just grabbed the first woman, the one who had been slamming into the cellar door, as she started to babble.
The syringe wasn't sterile, nor sharp, but the man wasn't going to change it every day for those two. That would have been too much, taking time that he didn't want to spend on this part of his life. He just jammed the blunt tip into the woman's arm and closed his eyes as she howled in both pain and distress. He let her go and watched her fall as if he had been the only thing that held her up. She stayed down and he knew that she wasn't going to rise again for 18 hours at least, that had been her quickest recovery time. He kneeled and tilted her face so he could watch and make sure all went as normal. Her eyes were still big but now her now her dark pupils were opening and dilated at alarmingly fast speeds. Her jaw went slack and he dropped her head before she could start to drool on him, deciding that everything was fine before standing and moving to the other woman, dodging pools of vomit.
This one was never so difficult. In fact, if he hadn't known better the man might have assumed that she was still under the dosage from day before. But he did know better, and as he kneeled beside her he listened for the giveaway sign of her consciousness, the nonsensical murmuring that spilled from her mouth, barely audible when he didn't lean close. He didn't waste any more time, he just pushed the needle into her arm and stayed by her side as she didn't even flinch and the murmuring faded as her mouth stopped moving and he left her alone.
He stood and stepped back, surveying what he had done. It was the same sight he saw every night and had been seeing for years and years before, always the same cycle.
He turned and slowly made his way out of the cellar and up the stairs. Each step gave another thump... thump... thump. The man was gone.
.oO0Oo.
Yao hung the final lucky knot upon the wall and knew he was finished. The house he had bought, a cold, gloomy space, much too big for himself had become a home. There was a sense of pride that he felt as he looked at what had been three days of wallpapering, painting and feeling at home in the huge house, this was his home now, he had done it.
Walking to the couch he sat and thought back to the day he found what had become where he now lived online. He had just been looking, edging the dream of escaping his home city of Beijing and moving away to somewhere like this when he came across the house he was to later buy. He fell in love with it immediately, his mind had reeled at all the ideas he had to make it into the perfect home. The price was also astoundingly low, it was as if there was a god who was desperate for Yao to buy the house and live his dream.
So that's what he did. He had the house sold to him within the week. He had of course enquired as to why the price had been dropped so drastically, a house of that size and with that many possibilities in its location was not a common find for that price. He was told that it was bad neighbours. Yao almost passed that off as nothing; he was at a point of accepting anything.
His dream had come true. What was this dream? His dream was to live somewhere just like the small Slavic village he had just moved to, small and friendly. He wanted clean air and a place where the stores weren't another chain and he'd have to go to more than one place for groceries... It sounded so silly, but Yao loved the idea of leaving his house in the morning and being able to name every person he met on his way to work.
No one seemed to support the idea, not even his best friend Hong told him that it was a good idea. Yao understood what their feelings were, China had been his home all his life and now on a whim he was leaving to live somewhere completely different from the bustle of Beijing. They all told him that he should have moved to a fishing village or similar if he wanted to go somewhere small. But for Yao that wouldn't have been enough, he wanted to leave China and start fresh again. He also wanted to escape the dead-end jobs that China had to offer. He had left university and gone straight into a company, without a chance to explore the world.
He stood and made his way over to the window, forearm pressed to the glass pane he leaned forward and peered out into what the small village had to offer. He knew some about this place, but not much. He peered out into what he considered a world away from the smog he was used to seeing outside. This was another life. When he looked out he was met with snow now, and three other big houses as beautiful as his own. He felt he would fit in here just fine.
The only thing bothering him was the looming house next to his. There was only one house beside his on this side of the road. Opposite him was three more and the other main housing area was around the bend, closer to the town. The house he had next to him was different from the rest somehow, not that he could say how, but it just had a darker, looming air to it. He had been told that beside him was a single man who lived alone, but Yao was yet to meet, or even catch sight of his neighbour.
...But, he decided with a resigning sigh, he had been warned of bad neighbours and it could have been worse. Yao clicked his tongue as he tried to put it out of his mind and realised that it was already making him feel uneasy.
He wiped where his breath fogged up the glass and left the window, heading to grab his winter coat and boots. A chance for a stroll around would surely calm him before his anxieties about the man next door made him over think the whole matter and start having problems before he had even spent week in his new home.
He stepped outside into the freezing air and breathed a hearty sigh. It was silent... No cars, no salary men speaking on the phone in loud voices on their way to work. It was just peaceful here.
There was only the crunch underfoot as he walked slowly over the snow. The quiet was such a novelty to him, he already felt less tense within minutes here than he ever had in Beijing. He was so immersed in it that he didn't notice, until he got to the bottom of his front yard, the three little children staring at him wide eyed with their mouths open like goldfish.
Yao stopped, unsure for a second if it was him or something behind him that was the object of such wonder. He tried to smile at them, wanting to behave as nice as he could to his new neighbour. First impressions mattered.
Yao straightened, "Well hello young people!" He called out with as much optimism laced in his voice and waved.
There was a collective gasp amongst them and one of the children, a young girl hissed something to a boy who looked the same age as her.
Yao didn't know what to do, "Are you children lost?" He asked, thinking it the only explanation for their static position.
There was a long wait as the three youngsters continued to stare at him like he was so alien them to them. At some point, the three started to whisper amongst themselves. Yao stood there watching as it seemingly got heated and finally the girl shoved a tall but younger looking boy towards him.
"Hello young man!" He had to admit, it was a relief to have some kind of change in the situation.
The boy looked past him, and right at Yao's house before back to his face, "You live there?" He asked, incredulous.
So this child was just a silly kid who wasn't used to newcomers to his village... Yao sighed and considered sending him away but he didn't want to immediately push away the first townsperson he met...
"That's right!" He said excitedly, "Are you happy to meet your new neighbour?" The kid give any form of reply, but instead actually kept looking at Yao with blank fascination. What the heck was wrong with this boy?!
Suddenly after realising that it was safe to advance the girl started to walk over confidently right towards Yao who was slowly getting a little creeped out by the one who approached him first.
"You live beside The Big Man!" She told Yao with enough confidence that it was if she had just read the fact out of a book, "He lives there." She carried on and pointed with a small finger to the looming house that sat beside Yao's.
Yao quirked a brow as he followed the direction that the girl was pointing. So whoever he had moved in next to was well known, huh?
He had to say the young children had gotten him curious, "Who's that then?" He felt he had to ask, it was if the mystery occupant of the house next door had a certain presence.
The third child, a boy had run over by now to join them, "He lives there! He's a murderer!" He cried with shrill excitement.
The girl shoved him, "Let me tell him!" She squealed. The other boy stumbled, "He kills anyone who goes in his house!" She continued where the boy left off, "You might be killed!" She widened her eyes as if this had just occurred to her.
Yao bit his lip, he knew this couldn't be true, but what kind of man did this 'big man' have to be to have such wild stories made up about him.
He looked over all of the children, "Don't you three have to go back to your mother?" He half scolded them, "I have things to do!"He smiled; they were sort of sweet kids...
"But you can't live beside the Big Man!" The boy exclaimed, "He'll come and get you!"
The girl nodded vigorously, "He's big and creepy! He always has a scarf on! That's how he strangles people!"
"And he never comes outside!" The boy added, nudging the girl so she would agree.
Yao watched the scene helplessly, unsure of what to do. Did he yell at them for disrespecting whoever the big man really was, tell them he had to leave or just let them talk?
Luckily for Yao, there was a loud call that startled all four of them,
"Oleg! Abram! Diana!" A woman was hurrying over, her pace quick but not running. Yao had a feeling this woman refused to run for anything unless someone was on their deathbed.
She arrived panting, "Where did you three go!?" She didn't sound so angry, more accusing.
"Charlotte!" The girl who Yao assumed was Diana exclaimed, "He lives next to the Big Man! Remember I told you! I told you someone was living there again!"
She sighed and shook her head, "Go back and find the others. And apologise to this man for bothering him!"
Diana however was insistent, "He lives in that house there! The Big Man!"
Charlotte silenced her, "Now. Or I'll tell your mother you left the field alone."
The three children exchanged worried glances, "Sorry!" One of the boys, Abram or Oleg, said loudly.
"Sorry." The tall boy repeated.
"Sorry!" Diana agreed and started to run back in the direction Charlotte had come from, the other two followed promptly.
Yao watched them go before turning to Charlotte, half expecting her to apologise and run too.
She turned back to Yao and smiled, "Hello," She gave him a warm smile, "I'm Charlotte, sorry those three had to bother you like that," She laughed shortly, "But when they're interested in something they can't be stopped!"
Yao gave a quick shallow bow, glad to be faced with an adult, "I'm very glad to meet you!" He told her enthusiastically, "My name is Yao Wang, I only just moved here."
She smiled at him, "I know who you are, it's not often we get newcomers here... I'm Charlotte; I'm the one who runs the daycare. The kids won't stop talking about you."
Yao raised his eyebrows, "Me?"
She nodded, "Of course. You, not just a newcomer but living next to..." She leaned closer like there was a conspiracy. "Him." She nodded to the house beside Yao's own.
Yao frowned, he had been hearing so much about the man who was to be his neighbour and now from the adults too? Who exactly was he?
So he decided to ask outright, "Who is this man?" He asked a little louder than intended, "Why is everyone so obsessed with him!?"
"Because he's The Big Man!" Charlotte replied grabbing his wrist.
Yao sighed and looked at where the snow of his front yard met the road, "Even the adults use that name?"
She nodded, "Well none of us know what he's really called... None of us have ever really spoken to him." She admitted, "I don't think anyone wants to."
Yao looked at her, "He is a human being." He reminded her. He didn't think who ever this guy would appreciate the name calling... Maybe he could be the one to make the effort. He felt the presence of the two houses behind him... They were beside each other after all.
Charlotte chuckled, "Sometimes we wonder... But enough about him, I haven't even welcomed you!"
Yao smiled; glad to be on another subject, the last one was starting to make him uncomfortable, "Yes! I'm very pleased to be a part of your town!"
"You're from China, aren't you?" She looked over him as she asked him like it wasn't obvious.
Yao nodded, "I came from Beijing. I love it here," He gushed, "Much better."
She sighed, "Can't say I know why you decided on this place. Middle of nowhere and freezing all year..." She looked back to where the kids had run to, "Listen I should go but it was great to meet you!"
Yao bowed again, just a little, "Thank you, may the rest of your day carry on with good fortune."
She laughed, "And all that to you too... I'll maybe see you soon, if you need any help I'm in the day care centre." She waved, about to go but stopped suddenly, "Oh! And if you need a job... The Rosemary cafe needs staff."
Yao nodded, knowing that would come in handy.
Charlotte started to back away but had one more thing to call back to Yao, "And stay away from the Big Man next to you! He's a weirdo!" She turned and started to hurry back the way she came.
Yao watched her go. He took deep breath and looked to the 'big man's house... It wasn't right that he was seen as some kind of creep.
Making up his mind, Yao turned and started to head towards the man's house. He slowed as he approached the door, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't intimidated slightly by the way the house looked like it could come down over him and swallow him up into its depths. But he had made his choice and wasn't going to be sent away by the first impression he had of the house. He reached up and grasped the knocker hitting it on the thick wood three times before stepping back and putting his best warm, friendly expression while he waited.
And waited.
Yao sighed and puckered his lips in discontentment. He knocked again, assuming whoever was in there just hadn't heard... It didn't sound like the guy got out much, the chance he was in there was high.
Still no answer.
"Oi!" Yao called grumpily and kicked the door. He had been trying to make a good moral decision and the guy wasn't even opening the door- so much for that.
Yao rolled his eyes, "Fine then." He muttered and started to head towards the village to enquire about a job opening at The Rosemary Cafe.