Urban Legends( An Infinite Book)

10:Calpurnia

The night seemed to last forever. At least that's how it seemed for Alec Kite. His mind, once sharp and powerful was being ripped and torn by one everlasting memory.

But what had destroyed this once genius, potential Ivy League student's psyche? Not a screaming demon, but a melodious, soothing voice. A joyous laugh and her twinkling, onyx eyes.

Maybe it was the sweet and innocent demeanor of Calpurnia that made Alec cringe now. Or maybe it was the way she tried to hide her grief that night she discovered his sin. The way the pain flashed in her eyes when she stammered and tried to maintain her composure.

He could kick himself now, for his stupidity, and his blindness to true love. He always had considered himself above the intelligence of the average man, so how had he fallen for the cliché trap of adultery?

Could Brianna's blonde hair compensate for the guilt he felt now? Of course not. Could her sweet lips make Calpurnia's tears not matter? No!

He had given in to the most common, idiotic sin man could commit. He remembered the night she found him in the golden haired demon's soft embrace. Her voice was as sweet as a bird's song as she whispered, "Alec, why?"

He would never have the answer to that question. He remembered how she looked that night. Her long raven hair shining in the moonlight as she tried to hide her broken heart. How she whispered, "I still love you" as she turned from the scene of the crime.

She elegantly strode out of sight as Alec sat there wondering what insanity had caused him to cheat on her. But the worse memory was hearing the news the next day. Suicide. That was the consequence of his irrational actions.

He shivered imagining that elegant neck graced with a rough, dirty rope and the sound of her final gasp. It was all his fault. Because of him, his dream, his beautiful dream, had become a nightmare.

That night the guilt seemed to weigh on his soul more than usual. All he could see was her tear-filled eyes, her rosy cheeks contrasting her ivory skin. He could almost hear her voice calling to him, "Alec, Alec, please don't, I love you." This echoed and echoed until a realization made a shiver crawl up his back, freezing him to the core.

That was not his imagination. The sound was coming from the hallway. He peered through the shadows of his bedroom to the creaky old door. The whole house seemed to moan and groan in the coming summer storm. It was nights like this made Alec regret buying such an old, historic house.

The door to his room was swaying back and forth, back and forth. Behind this odd display Alec noted a strange flickering light. Immediately he searched in his mind, trying to find any logical explanation for the occurrences.

"It- it must be a draft. Old houses are drafty, right?", he stammered to himself in the shadows. But what about that light? A lamp must be shorting out. He tried to convince himself, but something just didn't feel right. That didn't look like the light that an ordinary lamp emitted. It was an icy blue, and the flickering was getting brighter. It was beautiful, but haunting. Then he heard the voice echo from the illuminated corridor, "Why did you betray me?"

"It couldn't be. It just couldn't." Alec found himself huddled in his bed, trembling, his eyes fixed on the azure light. Suddenly the door flew open and smashed against the wall with a loud crack. There she was; Calpurnia stood in the open doorway, her hands reaching out for him. Her eyes were dark and hollow, the twinkling gone from them. Around her neck was a dusty, tan rope, tied in a noose, draping like a morbid necklace. She was wearing a black evening gown, ripped at the hem, but somehow still beautiful.

"Cal-Cal..." He couldn't get the rest to leave the tip of his tongue. He cowered in fear. Suddenly she stepped toward him and her mouth opened to speak and rich, crimson blood poured like a waterfall over her pale, perfect lips. Her sweet voice morphed into an ear piercing screech, "You! You did this! I will make you pay!" The sound bellowed throughout the house.

Alec leapt from the bed and ran to the other side of the room, screaming. Tears flowed from his wide open eyes. His heart pounded so hard and fast, he feared it would explode. Calpurnia strode elegantly forward, leaving a trail of red behind her. Alec felt his breathing quicken and quicken until his head became light and his sight became black.

He awoke to police officers standing over him. He sat up in a rush and looked around the room for her. The morning sun shone through the window lighting the bedroom completely. There were no blood stains, no proof she was there even there. One of the policemen touched his shoulder and asked, "Sir, could you tell us what happened?" They would never believe him, but he had to try.

"She was there! Blood ran from her mouth, light everywhere! She wants to kill me!" He grabbed the policeman's arm in panic. Then, his eyes wide in mortal terror, he jumped to his feet and began to pull his belongings off of the shelf, each item crashing to the floor.

"Where did she go? I have to find her!" He screamed as he picked up and threw his mattress against the wall. "She'll kill me! She'll kill me!"

After that, the police ran to his side and grabbed him, afraid he would harm himself. As he struggled to get away one of the policemen asked out of curiosity, pinning him to the ground, "Who is she?" "My love!" Alec scream echoed through the house, his wild eyes piercing the officer's soul, "My dead love!"

The next thing he knew, Alec found himself in a psychiatric hospital. How did someone of his intellect end up here? He wondered to himself as he sat in a white gown, in his small white cell. "Maybe, just maybe, it was all just a dream." He thought, staring down at his feet. The doctors had labeled him as schizophrenic, and Calpurnia had all been a hallucination. The stress of her passing must have caused him to snap.

The doctor came in and told Alec this information, and Alec tried to be reasonable. Maybe the doctor was right, maybe he was just ill. That night Alec tried to sleep but couldn't. So the nurse gave him a tranquilizer.

As he drifted off to sleep, just as his eyes closed, he saw Calpurnia, standing over him, blood dripping from her mouth. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "You're too late." Was her cold, growling answer.

The next morning the nurse opened the door to Alec's room to a terrifying sight. Blood covered the floor and walls in a bloody trail. The bed was torn in half, each end thrown to two opposite corners of the cell. In the middle of the floor was Alec's pallid, lifeless body sprawled across the white tile. Blood was splattered in a circle around him and an old, rough rope, tied in a noose, was wound tightly around his neck, his face a ghastly blue. The nurse knelt down at his side, shivering and crying. It was then she looked up and gasped. The blood that painted the snowy walls spelled out, "I still love you Alec Kite."

No one could ever explain where the blood or the noose came from and no fingerprints were found at the crime scene but Alec's own. To avoid fear and panic, the newspaper simply reported Alec's death as a suicide, but everyone at the hospital knows otherwise.

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