Chapter 4: The Call
I sat in my room after work that night, still trying to figure out the connections between my boss and the man. But everything I could think of didn't feel right, and I knew there was something else, something I was missing. But there was nothing I could think of that I could have missed. It frustrated me terribly bad. I sat in my chair thinking until it was nearly six. I looked out the window and saw the sun, still rising. I slowly got up from my chair and closed the blinds, leaving my room in total darkness, minus the candle I had lit right when I got home. The candle left a fresh smell of French Vanilla wafting through the room.
I walked over to my bed and threw off my shoes. I laid down and closed my eyes, knowing very well that I wouldn't be able to get to sleep. But I laid there, all the same, with my eyes shut, and still thinking. I remembered the look on my boss's face when I described the man to him, that look alone frightened me and made me made me want to stop all pursuit of the man, but it was his words and the way he said them that made me not give it up.
I decided to go through everything the man said to me, both nights I saw him, trying to see if I could find any clues in his words that might reveal who he was and where he might be. But, I couldn't find any. He was clever, and knew exactly what to say to keep all his secrets hidden. And in a way, I hated him for it, mainly because I was still at a dead end, which frustrated me quite a bit. But it never stopped my thinking that there was something important that I was missing.
I finally fell asleep around eight. But, it was a restless sleep, and I couldn't stay asleep for long. For about two hours I drifted in and out of dreamless sleep as if I was a young child that had just had a nightmare and would wake up before another one could show its ugly face; which only left me more fatigued than I already was. Finally, when sleep over took me completely, the phone rang. Which was unusual for me, being that the earliest calls I would ever get was normally around three in the afternoon. I lay there, not wanting to move and groggy, hoping that the ringing would stop, almost willing it to, but it wouldn't cease. So I slowly sat up and picked up my cordless.
"Hello?" I asked, my tiredness was reflected in my voice.
"Ms. Annar?" the voice at the other end answered. The voice was a rough, deep voice, one that would send children running and screaming for their mothers if they were to hear it.
"Yes. May I help you with something?" I asked, unsure of this caller and just plain wanting to go back to bed.
"I have what you want." It answered.
"What do you mean 'what I want'?" I asked him.
"The information about you stranger" was all he would say.
I came awake immediately. After my long, tiresome search, I actually had something. "Yes, go on" I said, not trying to sound hopeful.
"I'll tell you what I know, but you have to meet me."
"Why can't you just tell me now?" I demanded.
"Because, it isn't safe. Trust me on this one, ma'am. Meet me by the pond in Findogask Cemetery at noon. I'll tell you what I know." he answered and hung up on me, which infuriated me. First he calls my house, and then he tells me that he has the information I was looking for, and then says that I have to meet him in the cemetery, and now he hangs up on me! It just wasn't something you want to do when I'm half asleep. I looked up at the clock and realized I still had an hour and a half, being that it was ten-thirty. Enough time for me to grab something to eat and take a shower before walking over there. So I walked into my small kitchen and grabbed a box of Corn Flakes, also a bowl, spoon, a glass, and milk. Sitting down at my small kitchen table, I ate my bowl of cereal in silence. I thought it odd that someone would want to meet in a cemetery, especially Findogask Cemetery.
I thought about it as I washed my dishes, and then headed into the shower. Findogask Cemetery was abandoned. No one these days used it, to even stepped a foot in it. Not after what had happened almost ten years ago, that is. Something terrible happened there, and I won't pretend to understand it, or that I even know exactly what did happen; but ten years ago, a group of high school kids though that it would be fun to take a midnight hike through the graveyard. They never did return from that small adventure. Some have said that they were killed by a serial killer that was taking refuge there. Others mutter things about ghosts, vampires, and such like that. None of them I quite believed, but it was enough to scare everyone else.
I stepped out of the shower and quickly dried off. I pulled on a pair of my black jeans and a black t-shirt that said 'Vicious' on it. Then I found my boots and quickly put those on. As I brushed and braided my hair, I noticed that it was about 11:45 and I knew that I had to hurry. I cursed at myself for having such long hair and proceeded to braid it as I ran out of my apartment and took the elevator down to the ground floor. I was happy that I was able to finish the braid right when the elevator doors opened to let me out.
I ran out of the apartment building and down the street. Findogask Cemetery was only six blocks away, but the pond was somewhere in the middle of the vast cemetery, that was all I knew. Honestly, I had never even been in it al all before. Even though I didn't believe any of the rumors, they still held an effect on me.
I arrived at the front gates minutes later. I stood there, looking up at the huge rusty gates. Slowly, I brought my eyes down to look through the gaps between each rusty bar to see the graveyard itself. It was bleak and dreary, and highly unkempt; so over grown with weeds that you could hardly see the tops of some of the gravestones. It gave me a feeling of unforbideness, and I stood my ground for a few more seconds, took a deep breath, opened the rusty gate, and stepped inside.
Despite the fact that it was incredibly hot outside, it was unusually cold inside the graveyard, and I couldn't help but wish I had brought a jacket with me. I walked cautiously over what looked like a once path, now over grown with weeds and dead grass. I crossed my right arm, letting my hand rest on my left arm, trying in vain to stay a little warm. I looked up at the trees as I slowly walked the path. Most of the trees had no leaves, whatsoever, and the ones that did were dead. Even the trees looked forbidding as they towered over me. I could understand why no one ever wanted to come into this place.
Finally, after what seemed like eternity, I reached the pond. I looked across the murky waters and there I saw him standing, the man who must have called me. He wore a long black trench coat and a long-brimmed black hat. He kept his face lowered so that I couldn't see his face. He motioned me over, and I walked over the bridge to him.
"So, what do you know about this guy?" I asked him "And why have me meet you here?" at that moment, he lifted his head, and I gasped at what I saw. It was him.
I sat in my room after work that night, still trying to figure out the connections between my boss and the man. But everything I could think of didn't feel right, and I knew there was something else, something I was missing. But there was nothing I could think of that I could have missed. It frustrated me terribly bad. I sat in my chair thinking until it was nearly six. I looked out the window and saw the sun, still rising. I slowly got up from my chair and closed the blinds, leaving my room in total darkness, minus the candle I had lit right when I got home. The candle left a fresh smell of French Vanilla wafting through the room.
I walked over to my bed and threw off my shoes. I laid down and closed my eyes, knowing very well that I wouldn't be able to get to sleep. But I laid there, all the same, with my eyes shut, and still thinking. I remembered the look on my boss's face when I described the man to him, that look alone frightened me and made me made me want to stop all pursuit of the man, but it was his words and the way he said them that made me not give it up.
I decided to go through everything the man said to me, both nights I saw him, trying to see if I could find any clues in his words that might reveal who he was and where he might be. But, I couldn't find any. He was clever, and knew exactly what to say to keep all his secrets hidden. And in a way, I hated him for it, mainly because I was still at a dead end, which frustrated me quite a bit. But it never stopped my thinking that there was something important that I was missing.
I finally fell asleep around eight. But, it was a restless sleep, and I couldn't stay asleep for long. For about two hours I drifted in and out of dreamless sleep as if I was a young child that had just had a nightmare and would wake up before another one could show its ugly face; which only left me more fatigued than I already was. Finally, when sleep over took me completely, the phone rang. Which was unusual for me, being that the earliest calls I would ever get was normally around three in the afternoon. I lay there, not wanting to move and groggy, hoping that the ringing would stop, almost willing it to, but it wouldn't cease. So I slowly sat up and picked up my cordless.
"Hello?" I asked, my tiredness was reflected in my voice.
"Ms. Annar?" the voice at the other end answered. The voice was a rough, deep voice, one that would send children running and screaming for their mothers if they were to hear it.
"Yes. May I help you with something?" I asked, unsure of this caller and just plain wanting to go back to bed.
"I have what you want." It answered.
"What do you mean 'what I want'?" I asked him.
"The information about you stranger" was all he would say.
I came awake immediately. After my long, tiresome search, I actually had something. "Yes, go on" I said, not trying to sound hopeful.
"I'll tell you what I know, but you have to meet me."
"Why can't you just tell me now?" I demanded.
"Because, it isn't safe. Trust me on this one, ma'am. Meet me by the pond in Findogask Cemetery at noon. I'll tell you what I know." he answered and hung up on me, which infuriated me. First he calls my house, and then he tells me that he has the information I was looking for, and then says that I have to meet him in the cemetery, and now he hangs up on me! It just wasn't something you want to do when I'm half asleep. I looked up at the clock and realized I still had an hour and a half, being that it was ten-thirty. Enough time for me to grab something to eat and take a shower before walking over there. So I walked into my small kitchen and grabbed a box of Corn Flakes, also a bowl, spoon, a glass, and milk. Sitting down at my small kitchen table, I ate my bowl of cereal in silence. I thought it odd that someone would want to meet in a cemetery, especially Findogask Cemetery.
I thought about it as I washed my dishes, and then headed into the shower. Findogask Cemetery was abandoned. No one these days used it, to even stepped a foot in it. Not after what had happened almost ten years ago, that is. Something terrible happened there, and I won't pretend to understand it, or that I even know exactly what did happen; but ten years ago, a group of high school kids though that it would be fun to take a midnight hike through the graveyard. They never did return from that small adventure. Some have said that they were killed by a serial killer that was taking refuge there. Others mutter things about ghosts, vampires, and such like that. None of them I quite believed, but it was enough to scare everyone else.
I stepped out of the shower and quickly dried off. I pulled on a pair of my black jeans and a black t-shirt that said 'Vicious' on it. Then I found my boots and quickly put those on. As I brushed and braided my hair, I noticed that it was about 11:45 and I knew that I had to hurry. I cursed at myself for having such long hair and proceeded to braid it as I ran out of my apartment and took the elevator down to the ground floor. I was happy that I was able to finish the braid right when the elevator doors opened to let me out.
I ran out of the apartment building and down the street. Findogask Cemetery was only six blocks away, but the pond was somewhere in the middle of the vast cemetery, that was all I knew. Honestly, I had never even been in it al all before. Even though I didn't believe any of the rumors, they still held an effect on me.
I arrived at the front gates minutes later. I stood there, looking up at the huge rusty gates. Slowly, I brought my eyes down to look through the gaps between each rusty bar to see the graveyard itself. It was bleak and dreary, and highly unkempt; so over grown with weeds that you could hardly see the tops of some of the gravestones. It gave me a feeling of unforbideness, and I stood my ground for a few more seconds, took a deep breath, opened the rusty gate, and stepped inside.
Despite the fact that it was incredibly hot outside, it was unusually cold inside the graveyard, and I couldn't help but wish I had brought a jacket with me. I walked cautiously over what looked like a once path, now over grown with weeds and dead grass. I crossed my right arm, letting my hand rest on my left arm, trying in vain to stay a little warm. I looked up at the trees as I slowly walked the path. Most of the trees had no leaves, whatsoever, and the ones that did were dead. Even the trees looked forbidding as they towered over me. I could understand why no one ever wanted to come into this place.
Finally, after what seemed like eternity, I reached the pond. I looked across the murky waters and there I saw him standing, the man who must have called me. He wore a long black trench coat and a long-brimmed black hat. He kept his face lowered so that I couldn't see his face. He motioned me over, and I walked over the bridge to him.
"So, what do you know about this guy?" I asked him "And why have me meet you here?" at that moment, he lifted his head, and I gasped at what I saw. It was him.