A Warm Winter

Chapter 4

   "Are you gonna tell me what the hell that was?" Sadie said after dragging Vidia home. She was in shock. By now they were sitting around the kitchen counter with two hot chocolates in hand.

   "That man murdered my parents."

   "Vidia, I think you're getting ahead of yourself. That man is in his late 20's early 30's at the most. He was a child when your parents died. And how do you have any proof that he did kill your parents?"

   "I don't know how he looks the same, but I do know that it's the exact same man! Those eyes! oh, my god those eyes. They're the same. The exact same." Vidia felt a shudder go up her back and she closed her eyes, "I know it sounds crazy, but I have good proof that my parents' murderer is the same man as this man. Didn't you see his hand?"

   "The one with the glove or the one in his pocket?"

   "In his pocket!"

   "Okay, Vidia, calm down. I didn't see that one. What does anything have to do with it? It's just a hand."

   "Sadie, I told you almost everything about my parents' murder except for a detail about the man who did it. His left arm was completely metal."

   "What? Vidia that's-" Sadie didn't finish her sentence. Vidia was too anxious to let that happen.

   "I'm not crazy, Sadie! I'm not crazy."

   "Okay, okay. I think you should go to bed. It's been a bad day for you."

   Vidia agreed with Sadie and got up, leaving her in the kitchen. She changed into sweatpants and a tank top. Laying in bed, Vidia closed her eyes trying to forget what she had seen that day. She fell asleep, but her dreams were nothing nice.

   She was back in the closet. Her hands were over her ears. The closet door was suddenly swung open, and suddenly a metal hand was around Vidia's throat. Vidia made eye contact with the man, and woke up abruptly.

   Vidia sat up in a pool of sweat. It was in the middle of the night. The windows were dark, but city light was shining through. Vidia got up and walked to the window. She opened it, letting in fresh air to cool herself down.

   "I have to find him" It was the first thought that came to Vidia's mind, "I have to know if this man is my parents' murderer, and if so I'm taking him down."

   The next morning instead of heading into work, Vidia went straight to the diner. She went before Sadie had seen her leave. More determined than ever, Vidia walked into the diner and looked around. It wasn't very wide, but deep. The counter to the back bar started about 1/4 of the way in and went all the way to the back wall. The lighting was warm and comforting and it was busy for being this early in the morning.

   Vidia's heart pounded as she sat down at the counter. She didn't dare look at anyone. She had had enough eye contact to last her a week. Trapped in her own thoughts, Vidia was suddenly startled by a menu appearing in front of her.

   "Anything to drink to get you started?" Vidia looked up to see a waitress standing opposite her behind the counter.

   "Just water. And I'll have an omelet with hot sauce, please."

   The waitress nodded, and taking the menu from Vidia went to the back. Vidia decided to take a look around the room. The entrance door was constantly dinging from people entering and exiting the restaurant. Looking at the door, Vidia saw an elderly gentleman walk in. It was the man from the photograph. Vidia debated on going over to talk with the man or to wait where she was, but before she could make her decision following the old man was the man from Vidia's nightmare.