RED: A Love Story [Featured List]

Part 2: Black 2 - The chase

She was walking along the deserted street under the impending rain. The tree branches hissed in the wind with the chorus of a thousand voices. On a curve, Marisa saw a silhouette against a wall. It was a big man dressed in black, with a hat pulled over his face. Marisa traversed the street and, sensing his invisible gaze after her,  broke into a run. She then heard footsteps.

The man was much taller and quicker than her. He was almost reaching her. Justkeep going... just a little longer, Marisa repeated to herself. Soon she would reach Marco's building and be safe... The man lunged at her and Marisa fell on her knees. She didn't feel pain, only fear while the iron hands immobilized her and the pavement hurt her back.

They were under a tree that blocked the street light and cracked whips of shadow across the concrete. The man's face was a black screen where sparkles flared as the leaves flailed. Marisa saw the metallic glint of the gun. The barrel found her throat. Then the trigger lock clicked.

"Now you're going to die."

The future froze. Marisa's eyes welled, the tears holographic images of terror. Up above, indifferent, they swinged. They had gathered in the trees and lampposts to weave a gigantic web over the street. A furious gust shook them, casting them into the air. They dropped to the ground like rotten fruit, a black rain before the rain: hundreds and hundreds of spiders. They formed a dark stain that simmered with a multitude of eyes and legs.

The man jumped to his feet and left Marisa exposed. The hairy paws immediately scaled her body and expanded across her face, filling the night with further darkness. She tried to scream and the spiders plunged into her mouth, their sticky paws with a smell of dirt in her throat, nose, eyes...

The shots blasted in her ears. The man was aimlessly discharging his gun to chase the spiders away. Marisa felt a sting in her arm, then on her shoulder, then on her chest. She was wrapped in the shroud of her own blood, with no voice and no air. She thought of everything she would never see again: Marco, her loved ones, the sun, the sea... Inside her, remained only fear, incredulity and sadness. Then the sudden light blinded her.

Marisa struggled, the scream stiffled in her throat, heavy breathing, icy cold sweat. Gradually she recognized the familiar surroundings. Her bedroom. When she realized it had all been a nightmare, relief was followed by an ominous feeling. She glanced around and saw the clock on the nightstand. Twenty to seven. Jumping out of bed, Marisa rushed to get ready. She was running quite late for her college presentation.

Still dazed, Marisa left home and hesitated by the elevator before pressing the call button. Upon touching it, a diffuse coldness tingled in her fingertips, spreading icy tentacles throughout her body. Clanc, clanc, clanc... clanc. The old service elevator stopped on her floor. The door opened revealing steel walls and cold light. A morgue refrigerator. She entered it reluctantly, holding her handbag tightly to her chest.

As the elevator went down, she recalled the physics teacher at school and his lessons about free falling bodies. Marisa closed her eyes with a shiver. She was plummeting towards her grave. She could feel the lift running lose from the cables, sinking into the guts of the earth, fast, fast... faster, faster... CRASH!

Marisa opened her eyes abruptly as the door slid to the side with a moan. Ground floor. She got off with her heart racing and, once on the street, tried to focus on her presentation for the coming class. She reached the bus stop a few blocks away. Soon a man wearing a black jacket materialized by her side. When he asked her the time, it was as if the wings of a monster had eclipsed the sun. The day turned instantly dark, and the stranger's eyes lit up in a flash. She took a step back, while her hands gripped the cell phone.