Encounter

Chapter Two

The drive back to the house was a quiet one. Nathan did not say much, however had his hand on Sarah's knee in an attempt to comfort her. It worked because as she had stepped into the car, her legs were still shaking. However, as soon as Nathan placed his hand on her knee, she felt slightly at ease, and the shaking stopped.

The Willows home was a small two-bedroom cottage. The front door was guarded by a stonework porch, with a stone work chimney, which in the winter months, was always blowing out dark smoke into the air from the log burner below. The roof was made from slate, however, it had not been well built, in the rainiest months of the year, leaks would form in the roofline and flood the house. Last winter had been the worst yet; the North Wales coastline had been battered by three storms, fallouts from western hurricanes. The worst of those was Storm Imogen; she had brought 81 mph winds with her, along with wave after wave of torrential rain.

The local river had welled up to its brim, causing it to burst its banks. The local village of Betws Yn Rhos was completely flooded, causing mass disruption to everyone's lives. Many were left homeless as the dirty river water had invaded their homes, causing them to be unliveable. The local shop was shut down due the severity of damage caused by the flood water, and to this day was still undergoing repairs.

The Willow's home was settled some 10 feet away from the river and had been badly affected by the flood. Sarah could recall Nathan barricading the cottage as best he could with layer after layer of sand bags. However, this had not stopped Storm Imogen from pushing the river upwards, until it was seeping through the door hinges, cutting off all power to the house and leaving them powerless to doing anything else.

However, three months had passed since Storm Imogen had struck her heavy blow to the cottage. Nathan had paid an electrician to fix all the wiring in the house, and had also paid a reputable building firm to come and fix the roof. Since the roof had been fixed and with very little rain, there had been no new leaks which had made the Willows rather happy.

Nathan pulled up onto the grass lawn in front of the house. Sarah looked at the cottage, feeling at home, with a great sense of warmth. However, she could still not shake off the feeling of despair and death. It was as if death himself was standing over her shoulder, playing with her mind and tormenting her for what had happened. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind, and then got out, and walked slowly to the front door.

Nathan was already in the kitchen, preparing her a cup of tea. The kitchen was small with a shabby sheik design; Sarah had designed it herself. Within the design, she had placed a vintage Agar cooker and an integrated dishwasher, as neither Sarah or Nathan liked washing the dishes. Due to the size of the cottage, there was no dining room, therefore the dining table and chairs were in the kitchen, which made it even more cramped. The house had a small adjoining living room with a log burner and a comfy three setter couch.

"Do you want anything to eat babe?" Nathan asked, pouring milk into a cup. Sarah shook her head and took a seat at the dining table, burying her face in her hands. Nathan moved over to the table, placed a steaming hot cup of tea in front of her and then wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Would you like to talk about what happened?" Nathan asked, looking into Sarah's eyes.

Sarah took a few moments to speak, she was still finding it difficult to get her words out. "I was singing when I was blinded by a set of headlights that were on full beam. There was nothing I could do Nath, it was too late." Sarah broke down in tears again. Nathan moved closer to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. Sarah sobbed into his chest. Nathan said nothing more, he just comforted her and held her until she stopped crying and attempted to regain control of herself.

"I killed him Nath, I killed that young boy. How am I going to live with that, how?" Sarah said, her eyes bulging. Nathan looked at her for a moment, unsure how to respond to her question.

"I don't know babe, I really don't. But what I do know," He said placing both his hands on hers. "is that this was not your fault. It was an accident. You said so yourself that the car came out of nowhere and that the lights blinded you. The road is unfortunately narrow, there was no way you could have stopped."

"But if I hadn't been singing to the radio, maybe I may have been able to see him sooner," She said. Death was still overhanging her; she could feel his ghastly presence and his hell born breath steaming beside her whispering coldly to her. You killed that poor innocent boy, it should have been you.

"It should have been me Nath, it should have been me that died."

Nath looked taken a back. "Why would you think such a thing. Even if you had not been listening to the radio, that bend is a blind corner. There is no way you would have seen him coming," Nathan said, a tear forming in the corner of his eye. "I am sorry that the boy has died, but that doesn't mean you should have as well; it was a terrible accident Sarah, they happen every day."

Sarah however, was not listening. Death was staring her right in the eye. His shabby black cloak smelling of age and death. His hood was covering his face. She stared into the black, and she could see nothing; it was empty. It should have been you Sarah, I should have taken you not him, Death whispered. He began to move closer and closer to her face until.

"Sarah!" Nathan shouted. Sarah looked at him blankly. "Did you hear what I said?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, I was miles away. I just can't get the vision of him against that steering wheel out of my head," She lied, not wanting to tell Nathan that she was seeing a cloaked reaper in front of her; he would surely think she had gone crazy.

"I think its best that you get some sleep, you've had a heavy night. Hopefully, a good night's sleep may make you feel a little better," Nathan said taking the stone cold cup of tea away from Sarah.

Sarah felt the wave of tiredness wash over her from nowhere. Her eyes grew heavy and she could feel her eye lids closing slowly. She felt the tiredness rising from her stomach, causing her to yawn. She stood to her feet, still uneasy, and began her slow stumble toward the stairs.

The stairs to the upper floor were narrow with a large amount of steps. The walls were made from stone with no wallpaper upon them. Small photo frames hung from the cracks in the walls; Sarah's attempt to make the stairs look less scary. She had always thought of the stairs as the creepiest part of the house, most nights not wanting to climb them. On the occasional night that Nathan would be away on business, she would not walk up them and would sleep downstairs by the fire on the comfy three setter sofa.

Tonight however, she was exhausted and had no time to think about her creepy stairs. She walked up them, noticing the large amount of cobwebs that had formed on them since she had last cleaned. An eerie wind followed her as she climbed up the staircase. She turned around, with the feeling of a dark presence lurking behind her. There was nothing there. She shook her head violently, trying to rid her mind of the tormenting thoughts. Bed, bed is where I need to be, she thought.

She reached the top of the stairs and followed the long corridor towards the main bedroom. The main bedroom was a large one, with an ensuite bathroom and toilet. The bedroom comprised of their large king-size bed and vintage Victorian wardrobe. Sarah pulled off her clothes, leaving only her bra and underwear. She made no attempt to pull on some pyjamas. Feeling the day's events straining upon her, she fell onto the bed, burying herself under the covers.

She took one last look around the room, her eyes getting heavier and heavier. Death was with her again, standing in the far corner of the room.

"The worst is yet to come!" Death said, and without another word, Sarah slumbered into a deep long sleep.