Somewhere between Heaven and Hell...
Sophie Reese
I didn't feel it was my time to go. I had too many unfulfilled plans and dreams. The community centre needed to be saved, and I had hoped to start my own family.
But there were also small things that I wanted to do. There was a box of chocolates under my bed that I wanted to eat. I had been excited about the next Star Wars movie. Plus, Sally and I had yet to watch the next episode of our favourite soap opera, 'Sunset Mountain Ranch'.
I couldn't believe my life's closing chapter was a date gone wrong.
On paper, Casper had been perfection. He was kind, courteous, and breathtakingly handsome. So how was I supposed to know that he would end up being a blood-drinking stalker from a horror movie?
I wondered what would have happened to me if I had stayed with him in the restaurant. Would he have drained my blood and invited the next victim to go on a date with him? Maybe he was a serial killer and this was his mode of operation.
I should have known it was too good to be true. Nobody had ever looked at me twice. Casper probably went after low-hanging fruit when it came to selecting his victims.
Regrets were too late now. No amount of 'could've', 'should've', and 'would've' was going to save me now.
Through the blackness, I heard birdsong.
At first, the sound was faint, but it steadily grew louder until it was all around me, a cacophony of song mingled with squawking. However, the chirps and whistles did not belong to the native mountain birds of the sparrow, blackbird or jay. Instead, the sounds were those of jungle birds like parrots, hornbills, and toucans.
It was so surreal and yet familiar. I had heard those sounds before when I was a child. My Grandparents were migrants from Belize in Central America, and we still had extended family. So each time there was a family event, we would stay there for a couple of weeks.
Our farm backed onto the edge of the jungle, and each morning, we would be woken up by the sound of birds singing from the jungle. It was so beautiful, although I probably didn't appreciate it at the time.
I half expected to wake up outside the farmhouse and see my Grandparents on the porch, waiting to welcome me to the next life.
The bird song started to wane until there was nothing except the lone call of a solitary owl.
I opened my eyes and saw the jungle.
Was I back in Belize?
I stepped forward, and a small ball of feathers dived in front of me with a loud, ear-piercing screech.
It was an owl.
It swooped up onto the branch of a mahogany tree and stared at me with intelligence.
Perhaps it was my imagination running wild, but this owl appeared malevolent. It was looking at me like it wanted to kill me.
I ignored the bird and tried walking forward, but it dived in front of me again. This time I nearly fell backwards over a vine.
"What is your problem, you crazy bird!"
The owl stared down at me with eyes that were glowing an unnatural red.
"So what now?" I yelled at the owl.
Its eyes studied me with an evil glare that sent shivers running through my body. This was undoubtedly an evil spirit.
I started to back away from it.
It lowered its head and leaned its body forward like it was getting ready to rush me again.
I panicked and then laughed out loud. This was a tiny owl, not a t-rex.
"You're just a dumb bird," I told it dismissively.
It opened its beak and replied, "Her soul belongs to me."
I froze and whispered, "What did you say?"
The owl opened its beak again and repeated, "Her soul belongs to me."
"Whose soul?" I asked numbly.
The bird didn't reply. Instead, it gave me one last withering look and disappeared high up into the jungle canopy.
I stared into the silent dark and wondered if I was truly dead?
Then, through the darkness came a voice of a man. "Sophie, wake up. Come back to me, my love."
He sounded desperate, as if his whole world would fall apart should I fail to come back to him.
"Come to me, Sophie. I will not live another night without you," he begged.
It was Casper. He was calling to me like a long-lost lover. Each one of his pained syllables was an arrow in my heart.
"I'm here," I called back to him, unable to withstand the agony in his words.
Suddenly, I felt a gentle whoosh of air into my lungs. Then my heart started to beat like a slow and steady.
My body was waking up.
I opened my eyes and saw his warm blue eyes staring down at me.
I was in my bedroom, in his arms. The lights were low, and the grey pantsuit was gone. In its place was a pale silk nightdress I'd never seen before.
At this point, the creeper/serial killer/ pervert klaxon horns and alarm bells were screaming in my mind.
"Casper?" I breathed.
"Sophie, my love," he smiled back at me.
"Get. The. Hell. Off. Of. Me," I snapped.
His smile immediately wilts from his face, and his grip tightens around my waist. My self-defence training kicks in, and with the heel of my palm I smash it into his nose.
Blood explodes everywhere, and he releases me to cradle his beautiful bleeding face.
I roll off the bed and run to my bedroom door. I yank it open and run into a solid wall of flesh. Nico is standing, arms crossed, filling the doorway. I back away from the door and glance at Casper on the bed.
"Sophie, please. Give me ten seconds to explain," he begs, holding his bloody nose.
"Not a chance. I'm not letting you or your buddies make a dress out of my skin and drink my blood," I yell, running to the bedroom.
"Sophie, darling, what are you talking about?" Casper pleads.
"I know you are a serial killer - I saw the blood in your cup," I snap.
"You're confused, my love. Please, let me explain," he asks.
I shake my head, and in a moment of stupidity or sheer determination to survive, I jump through the second-storey window.