A cold dark night

A Cold Dark Night It was a cold dark evening in November. It was six o’clock, and people were going home from work. Vanessa was driving out of town. She was in a hurry, but she wasn’t going home. She stopped to buy a bottle of wine, and then got back into the car and continued driving. She brought Sharon, her daughter, from the baby-sitter’s and she went back home. The bottle of wine was for his husband, George. George was a terrible husband: he busted her daughter and her wife every evening because he was always drunk. Vanessa and Sharon arrived at home. Sharon asked:” Mummy, why is daddy so angry with us every night?” and Vanessa answered:” Don’t worry Sharon, I’m going to carry out the matter… Hurry up, go to bed and don’t get out from your room!” so Sharon said:” Okay mummy, good night…”. Vanessa went into the kitchen and put some poison in the bottle of wine, she wanted to kill him. At eleven o’clock George, drunk, came in and sat on the sofa with a bottle of beer. Vanessa took the bottle of wine and went to George. ” George, this is a present for you…” and George said:” Well well… my wife is kind with me…” she said:”George, please, take this present, this is your favourite wine… ehm… it’s good!” but George said:” Do you really think I’m so stupid? There was white dust on the table; you want to drug me!”. George stood up from the sofa and hit Vanessa's head with the bottle of beer .Vanessa fell down on the floor. Sharon was looking at the scene. George saw Sharon behind the door. Vanessa, with weak voice, said:” Run, my love, run away…” so she did. George, running, started following Sharon. Sharon quickly went into her room and locked the door. George screamed :” Open this door, Sharon! Open it, now! Sharon took the telephone and called the police. -“Please, help me, my father wants to kill me!”. -“Where are you now?”- the policeman asked. -I’m at home, in Roses Road number 93. Please come quickly!”. In the meantime, George tried to break the door. Sharon looked at the window, it was the only way out, so she went out of the house. She could run away now , but she remembered her mother, so she wanted to face his father. Sharon got in by the back door, then she went to the kitchen and took a knife. She saw her mother dead and her fear turned into hate. Sharon saw his father in the hall and she ran against him. -“Die!”. She tried to hit him, but he stopped her arm and slipped off the knife. -“Go to hell with your mother, this is your end!”. Sharon screamed and closed her eyes… This was the end… … But… nothing hit Sharon. She opened her eyes and she saw her father standing in front of her. After a while, George fell down and Sharon saw her mother behind him with a knife. Soon Sharon realized that her mother had killed her father. Vanessa hugged Sharon and said:” You 've been brave, my love…”. Suddenly the police arrived. After two weeks, the Court House decided that George’s murder was justified, because Vanessa was defending her daughter, so Vanessa wasn’t arrested. After three months, Vanessa got married and the family left the city. The End Nicola Menditto

A COLD DARK NIGHT

It was a cold dark evening in November.

It was six o’clock, and people were going home from work.

Vanessa was driving out of town. She was in a hurry, but she wasn’t going home. She stopped to buy a bottle of wine and then got back into the car and continued driving.

Finally she reached her destination. That district in the suburb was full of legends. People said at night you can see lights and hear voices coming from the first floor of the second abandoned flat next to the post office. And this is only one of the told legends... .

Vanessa had a date with a weird man in the second abandoned flat next to the post office, first floor. When she went out of her car she immediately felt an unquiet atmosphere .

She knocked at the door, saw a good-looking man and she was surprised. He had particular green eyes, very black hair and a little beard. His house was modern with white furniture. Vanessa was surprised by a singular thing: the man was a knives collector; there were knives everywhere and Vanessa was frightened.

He said: -I’m happy that you are here, I’m Goran-  

She asked: -Have you started  flirting and sending e-mails force six months?-

-Yes, I have. Kelly gave me your e-mail address bacause...it’s a long story.-

-Were you her boyfriend?-

-Not exactly...if you come here, we’ll talk about it.-

 Vanessa and Goran sat on the floor in front of a Japanese table with sushi on it. Sushi was Vanessa’s favourite food.

Then he said:"Don’t ask anything! I know you and you know me. OK?-

-Yeah...- She coudln’t finish speaking because he kissed her.

Vanessa was really surprised. He knew her and she maybe knew him.

He said:-I know you want to know who I am, but I want to drink the wine you brought before-

And she said:-Of course, here you are-

Vanessa didn’t realize that Goran was putting something into her glass and he didn’t show the knife he was holding in his hands. While they were drinking their glass of wine, Vanessa fainted on the floor.

When she woke up, she saw Goran looking at her in a strange way and then he said :-Who are you?-

Goran showed a 30cm long knife and said:-If I tell you, I’ll distress you more than with this knife-

Vanessa didn’t cry but held his hand and said:-If you tell me who you are I won’t shout tonight-

He understood and said-I’m what you had but you forgot-  She said crying-Patrick? I just remember a name and some nightmare-

-Can I tell you all?-he asked

-Yes, please!-she answered.

-We were 18 and we were engaged, although our parents did not agree. We have been engaged for 4 years, but a day all finished.

We were driving home from a party and we had an accident. I broke my leg but you lost your memory of last years and you had a cicatrix on your right shoulder.

Your parents  built again your memory but they deleted me. I discovered it when I came into your hospital room and you said-Who are you? Go out please!-I‘ve stayed closed at home for 3 months and then I started to flirt with women, haunt them, violate them, record their shouts and listen to them a lot of times for suppressing your absence. Kelly was the only one that knew you and I didn’t do with her what I’ve just said. So you are here.-

Patrick and Vanessa talked about past and future for a long time. Although they stayed well together, they knew there was a high wall between them...the time: the lost one and the future one.

They spent the night together. At 3.30 a.m Vanessa woke up crying silently and went in front of the wall with hundreds of knives. At the same time Patrick was waking up and was following Vanessa secretely. He had the right time for stopping her with his hands and said:

-Why do you want to kill you? We can spend all life together-

-No, we can’t. You know it, you have known it since we met for the first time.-

The two lovers took a long knife, pierced their right shoulder  deathly and spent their last moment together on the floor until death came.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                             

                                                                                                  Grazia Giulia Ribbeni