Last Caress

Supernatural Stories | May 16, 2013 | 14 min read
12 Votes, average: 4 out of 5
Supernatural Stories

Last Caress

Jason R Lloyd
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As the rain came down heavier and faster, the rain drops now sounding as big as golf balls as they hit the windows and with the television volume up to almost ear deafening, Nicolas didn't hear someone trying to break his front door down with incessant knocking until the film broke for an advert. Putting his beer down on the coffee table and turning the television off, Nicolas made his way out of the lounge and down the hall to the front door.
"Alright alright, keep your shirt on!" he said putting his eye to the spy hole. But all he could see on the other side was blurred.
Taking the security chain off and unlocking the door, Nicolas opened the door as the figure on the doorstep turned around and Nicolas went white as a sheet.

*
"Cris?"
"Hi Nico," said Cris Rand, Nicolas's ex-fiancé trying to form a smile as she stood there shivering on the porch. She was completely soaked through to the bone and her normally fiery Orange hair (to which she had been dubbed 'Fire Crotch' by her peers) was now dull and lifeless as it hung down her face sticking to her moist olive-skinned shoulders.
"What the hell are you doing out in the weather?" he snapped as he threw an arm around her and pulled her inside, closing the door behind her.
"I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'd drop by?" she said trying to lighten the mood as Nicolas went over to the cupboard under the staircase and took out a blanket and came back wrapping it around her to get some of the colour back in her.
"You could freeze to death out here, what were you thinking?" said Nicolas sounding like his mother when she used to scold him and his sister for doing stupid things without thinking of the consequences.
"I had to see you," said Cris as she began to get the feeling back into her fingers. "Look, I know I'm not supposed to come near you anymore and a phone call would have been just as easy, but I miss you and had to see you just one last time."
There was a time when Nicolas would have laid his life on the line for Cris and sacrificed his very being to protect her and keep her safe, and now as he looked at her now standing in the hallway that they had once shared together, those old feelings were starting to creep their way back into his heart once more.

*

Sitting Cris down on the couch, Nicolas left the room and went to the kitchen to put the kettle to make a hot drink before returning and standing in the doorway.
"I love what you've done to the place," said Cris smiling as Nicolas leaned up against the door frame folding his arms across his chest staring at her coldly.
"Whoa, tough crowd!" laughed Cris as the smile soon was wiped from her face.
"You used to have a sense of humour sweetie?" said Cris as Nicolas raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I used to have a lot of things," Nicolas replied as Cris screwed up her face and rolled her head towards him.
"I see it was a mistake coming here," said Cris as she got up from the couch as the blanket fell by the way side and Nicolas saw her forearms.
"What the hell are those?" said Nicolas as Cris tried to pick up the blanket but Nicolas was too quick and grabbed her right forearm and turned it over. The inside of her forearm was riddled with small cuts and cigarette burns, some fresh some old. But all of them caused Nicolas's eyes to well up.
"It's nothing, don't be such a drama queen!" replied Cris trying to shake off Nicolas's grip.
"I thought you had stop doing this to yourself?" snapped Nicolas, eventually letting go of Cris's forearm.
"I have, for the most part. I quit smoking about two months ago and the cuts are nothing. Call them ‘stress relievers'?"
"That's not funny Cris," said Nicolas as the kettle began to whistle in the background as Nicolas left the room momentarily.
"You got to lighten up Nico, or you'll end up doping yourself a mischief!" shouted Cris as Nicolas returned carrying two cups of hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on the top.
"You always know the way to my heart don't you Nico?" smiled Cris as Nicolas handed her the cup before stepping back.
"And you always know how to stomp on mine," replied Nicolas as Cris looked over at him with a seething glare of disgust.
"That is a really shitty thing to say," snapped Cris as she took a sip of her hot chocolate as one of the marshmallows stuck to her lips.
"Well, what did you expect me to say? After what you did to me and…" snapped Nicolas before cutting himself off.
"Go on, say it. Say her name," said Cris as she leant forward and put her cup on a coaster on the coffee table before sitting back into the couch as Nicolas fidgeted and squirmed in the arch of the doorway before putting down his hot chocolate in the small indent shelf in the wall near by.
"Carly," whispered Nicolas.
"Carly what?" replied Cris.
"Carly Lord," replied Nicolas as he felt the tears well up in his eyes again.
"And who was she?" said Cris standing up and turning to face Nicolas as he tried to look away, but Cris marched over and grabbed hold of his face and turned it back to face hers.
"Who was she?" repeated Cris as Nicolas shook his head. "Answer me." said Cris squeezing his cheeks hard.
"She was your cousin," mouthed Nicolas as the tears ran down his cheeks.
"And what did you do?" said Cris softly as he other hand slid down Nicolas's jeans and stopped at the zipper.
"Don't make me say it," whispered Nicolas as Cris took hold of the zipper and slowly pulled it down as she slid her hand inside.
"Say it and I will stop."
"I slept with her," replied Nicolas as he felt a sudden surge in his jeans as Cris let go of his cheeks.
"Good boy."

*

Rolling over onto his other side, Nicolas watched as Cris's chest inhaled and exhaled as she slept. She looked so peaceful and serine.
"You know I hate it when you watch me sleep, it's creepy and you know it!" said Cris opening her right eye as she saw Nicolas laying there grinning.
"But you look like an angel," said Nicolas as Cris opened the other eye and rolled onto her side to face him.
"Yeah, after you treated me like a whore!" Cris replied grinning smugly.
"Well, if the cap fits…" Nicolas replied as Cris pretended to look hurt before kicking him in the shin under the covers.
"Bitch!" replied Cris as she rolled back over and threw off the duvet before sliding out of bed and headed towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
"For a leak, is that okay with you mom?" said Cris looking over her shoulder as she swaggered out of the door, shaking her naked ass as she walked.
As Nicolas rolled onto his back and put his arms behind his head, he began to think of what life would have been like if the events twelve months ago hadn't happened, causing Nicolas to break off their engagement and subsequently in a bought of drunken stupidity sleep with Cris's cousin. Carly. Nicolas liked to think that they would happily married, maybe have a dog or a cat, and maybe even talk of the possibility of having children again?
"Penny for you thoughts?" said Cris as Nicolas's train of thought was shattered and he came back to reality from his daydream and rolled over to see Cris standing in the arch of the doorway.
As Nicolas glanced over at Cris smiling at him, his mood suddenly changed as he saw the large scar that ran near her navel as his face went ash grey.
"What's wrong with you?" Cris said looking at him worryingly.
"That," replied Nicolas pointing at the scar before rolling back over as Cris looked down.
"Oh Jesus!" Cris replied sighing as she walked over to the dresser and took out one of Nicolas's long t-shirts and threw it over her body, covering the scar.
"You will never let that go will you?" Cris said was she walked round to the side of the bed where Nicolas was and crouched down next to him. "I said I was sorry!"
"What was your rule, never forgive never forget?" replied Nicolas as he pulled himself to an upright position.
"It was alright for you to do that, but what I did was incorrigible,"
"You cheated on me with my cousin!" Cris screamed in his face.
"You KILLED our baby!" Nicolas screamed back at her as Cris broke down in tears as Nicolas threw his arms out and pulled her in close, cradling her close to his chest.

*

Nicolas and Cris took a shower together and made love once more as the soapy foamed water smothered their entwining bodies. While Cris dried herself off, Nicolas went down stairs and began to prepare Cris's favourite meal- steak medium rare, asparagus, baby carrots, peas, and red kidney beans. Nicolas always kept a bottle of her favourite wine chilled in the refrigerator, just in case. As Cris' came out of the bathroom, the smell of the cooking vegetables and meet wafted up stairs as Cris breathed it all in and sighed. Taking one of the spare bath robes from the back of the bedroom door, Cris tied it round the middle and made her way back down the hall and down stairs.
"How's it going in there?" Cris called out as Nicolas stuck his head round the kitchen door.
"Almost done, why don't you put some music on?" Nicolas called back as Cris made her way into the lounge and walked over to the record player and the stack of vinyl's that lay next to it. As she went through the records she found the ‘Sea of Love' soundtrack and took it out of the pile, took it out of the sleeve and put it on the turntable. Pulling the arm over, the record began to spin as she put the needle down as ‘Sea of Love' by Phil Phillips.
"Not a bad choice?" said Nicolas as he stuck his head through the small serving hatch as Cris shrugged her shoulders in recognition of Nicolas's compliment.
"I do alright I guess?" she grinned as Nicolas threw the tea towel at the through the hatch.
"Dinner's ready." he said as Cris made her way out of the lounge and down the hall to the kitchen where Nicolas had laid out the spread, complete with two candles in the middle.
"It's beautiful," Cris said as Nicolas pulled out her chair as she walked over and sat down before he pushed it back in.
"I do alright?" he replied grinning as he put two bottles of beer on the table and the bottle of wine.
"Well, I am very impressed. I haven't seen you put this much effort in since I said that I…" And then Cris stopped talking as she knew what words were just about to come out of her mouth as she looked straight at Nicolas as he slid into the chair opposite.
"I am so sorry!" Cris said as she put her hand to her mouth.
"It's alright," Nicolas replied smiling. " I know what you meant. I was never a good boyfriend really, I was an jerk that took you for granted and never treated you with the respect you deserved." Said Nicolas as he picked up a beer and took a sip.
"Don't beat yourself up, we were both at fault for what happened," replied Cris as he poured herself out a glass of wine. "And I wasn't exactly an angel either? I mean come on, it took me almost seven years and dating dozens of douche bags to realise that I had already met the man that I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with, I just didn't know it yet?" Cris said taking her glass and raising it up as Nicolas raised his bottle of beer.
"To absent friends and making up for lost time," said Cris.
"To forgiving and forgetting," replied Nicolas as Cris nodded her head.

*

As Cris started to get up she began to clear away the dirty plates and picked up the now half empty bottle of wine form the table.
"Hey, sit down! I'll do that," said Nicolas as Cris threw him a disapproving glance.
"You cooked, I'll clean. Just like the old days." she replied smiling as Nicolas held his hands up in defeat, knowing that trying to argue with her would be futile.
Leaving the kitchen Nicolas and Cris began to make their way down the hall and back to the stairs when the phone began to ring as Cris suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.
"Don't answer that!" Cris muttered as Nicolas looked over at her queerly.
"It's just the telephone?" he replied shaking his head as he went back into the kitchen and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" Nicolas said down the phone but all he could hear was static on the other end.
"Hello, is anyone there?" Nicolas said once more, but still the only reply was static.
"The storm must be messing with the phone lines?" said Nicolas as Cris breathed a sigh of relief as she held out her hand as Nicolas took it and she lead him back upstairs.

*

As Nicolas laid down on the bed, Cris began to walk around the bedroom occasionally touching random things and humming to herself before stopping at the cork notice board by Nicolas's computer and looking at the pictures pinned to it.
"Do you still speak to her?" said Cris with her back to Nicolas.
"Speak to who?" replied Nicolas sitting up and manoeuvring himself to the edge of the bed.
"Carly," replied Cris as Nicolas rolled his eyes and gave a heavy sigh.
"No, and why would you ask something like that?" he said rubbing his hands down his face.
"Just curious," Cris replied as she moved away from the notice board and pulled out the computer chair and turned it around before straddling it as she leant her arms on the back rest.
"Come on, we've had a lovely evening and now you are going to spoil it by bringing up the past again?" snapped Nicolas as he got off the bed and threw his arms up into the air.
"I only asked a question?" said Cris as she watched Nicolas with great interest.
"Okay, fine. I saw her a few months ago. Happy?" Nicolas shouted.
"And?"
"And, we talked okay! We talked about you and what had happened and how, IF there was anyway to fix it."
"Good, then what happened?"
"We met up again a few weeks later and went to the county fair,"
"Sounds lovely."
"Yeah, well when I tried to call her two days later, she wouldn't take my calls?" replied Nicolas as Cris stared at him curiously as he sat back down on the bed bowing his head.
"Oh, why not?"
"I don't know? I tried going round to her apartment but she wouldn't see me? I can't understand it, we were doing so well?" said Nicolas as Cris got off the chair and walked over to Nicolas, kneeling down in front of him.
"Well, that's all in the past now. Let's juts concentrate on tonight," said Cris as she raised his head and planted a kiss on his lips.

*

Nicolas was woken up the next morning by the clock radio on his bedside table coming on and playing Def Leppard's ‘Love Bites' at full volume from WKIT
Rock station out of Bangor, Maine. Rolling over onto his side, Nicolas threw out a arm and slapped the SNOOZE button before rolling back over to cuddle up to Cris. But she wasn't there?
"Cris? Are you in the bathroom?" Nicolas called out but there was no reply.
Throwing off the duvet, Nicolas swung out his legs and planted them on the floor as he pulled himself up and began to walk round the bed, picking up his dressing gown on the way and throwing it on as he walked across the bedroom.
Reaching the bedroom door, he called out to downstairs to see if she was down in the kitchen.
"Cris, you down there?" Nicolas shouted, but still no reply. Then it dawned on him as he rolled his eyes, bit his lip and began to chuckle to himself.
"That bitch! She got me, she really got me good this time." Nicolas muttered as he planted his fist into the dry wall. "How could I have been so stupid!"
Tying his dressing gown together, Nicolas stormed out of the bedroom and down the hallway, going from side to side knocking himself into the walls as the pictures fell to the carpeted floor. Reaching the top of the stairs, he called out once more.
"Cris, are you down there? For the love of god answer me!" he yelled, but still no reply. As Nicolas stomped down the stairs, the floor boards below ached and bowed in agony from the full force of Nicolas's stomping. Reaching the post at the bottom of the stairs, Nicolas stopped for a moment. He could feel his blood boiling as it coursed through his veins and knew he had to stop and take stock before he did himself damage. The last time he had felt this way, he had ended up in the hospital for the night where he had sent his blood pressure through the roof and caused a slight arrhythmia to his heart. The doctor's had told him to take it easy and had prescribed him some low strength blood pressure pills and painkillers to help with his condition.

*

Taking long and heavy breaths, Nicolas could feel his heart slow down and his blood begin to simmer as he slowly began to make his way from the stairs along the hall and towards the kitchen, keeping close to the walls just to be safe.
Reaching the kitchen door, Nicolas pushed it open and stepped inside. The empty bottles of beer, half empty bottle of wine and dirty dinner plates still lay on the kitchen sink, the chunks of now cold steak and vegetables left over from the meal he had cooked them both last night was now congealed and greasy. The smell was making Nicolas feel queasy. Walking over to the refrigerator, Nicolas opened the door and took out an ice cold beer and shut the door behind him. Popping the cap off on the bottle opener that was built into the door, Nicolas put it to his mouth and drank from it generously before wiping away the residue from his mouth with his free hand. Finishing off the bottle Nicolas put it down on the side and opened the refrigerator again, took out another one, shut the door and popped the cap off. But this time he did not drink from it straight away. He turned around and leant up against the refrigerator and began to cry. He cried for near on twenty minutes, before finally stopping as his face and eyes began to ache from producing so much tears. He wasn't crying because he had been duped by Cris and been taken for the ‘proverbial ride' , or because he had stupidly believed she had actually changed and he could see glimpses of the Cris he had first met in middle school and had immediately fell head over heels in love with? No, the reason he had been crying for near on twenty minutes was because despite all her flaws and the absolute hell she had put him through, he was still hopelessly in love with her. He always had been, that feeling had never changed not for one second. Nicolas had just hoped beyond hope that she had finally forgiven him for what he had done to her and still felt the same way about him that he did about her?

*

Nicolas took the cold beer and went back up stairs and took a long hot shower, hoping that all this was just some sort of horrid dream and when he finally got out of the shower and dried himself off, it would all be forgotten. As Nicolas finished drying himself off, he picked up the beer which was now room temperature thanks to the heat from the shower and took another drink as the telephone in the bedroom began to ring so he quickly made his way out of the bathroom and down the hall, leaping across the bed and grabbing the phone just in time.
"Cris, is that you?" Nicolas said as the beer in his other hand foamed out of the bottle and down his hand.
"Mr Hoy, this is Dr Piser calling you from Juniper Hills mental facility. Is this a bad time?"
"Dr Piser! No no, it's perfectly okay. What can I do for you?"
"I'm calling you concerning Cris and her recent psychotic episode,"
"Psychotic episode? You must be mistaken Dr Piser, I saw her last night and she seemed perfectly fine?" replied Nicolas as he tried to sit up, spilling the rest of the beer on the bed.
"I'm sorry Mr Hoy but I think you are mistaken. You see, during the storm last night Miss Rand escaped from her room here, injuring two orderlies and a nurse in the process and…"
"Her room?" replied Nicolas throwing the empty bottle onto the bed. "She was still a patient up at Juniper? But I thought she was discharged over a year ago with a clean bill of health?"
"She was initially and she was making great progress. She was going to therapy three times a week and taking medication to curb her emotional stability. She was really improving, then six weeks ago she had a relapse and was re-admitted under strict quarantine from the other patients, for her own good as well as the rest of the hospital."
"That's ridiculous!" Nicolas said climbing off the bed. "I saw her last night and she was fine I tell you! She was not crazy or emotionally unstable!"
"And as I was saying Mr Hoy, that is impossible because Miss Rand hung herself last night in the shower room."

*

The words hung in the air as the telephone fell out of Nicolas's hand and landed on the floor as Nicolas fell back on to the bed.
"My Hoy, Mr Hoy, are you still there?" shouted Dr Piser from the telephone on the floor as Nicolas sat there comatose staring blankly into space as a sudden breeze came into the room, sending a photograph flying off the cork notice board on the other side of the room and towards Nicolas, landing at his feet. Looking down, Nicolas picked it up and turned it over, it was a picture of him and Carly taken at the county fair in front of the ghost train, their arms linked together and looking so happy. Nicolas quickly turned over the picture and read the inscription on the back in pencil.

Me and Carly, the county fair, July 15th

"July 15th? That was six weeks ago?" Nicolas said as the clock radio suddenly came on with Connie Francis singing ‘Who's sorry now?' as Nicolas looked over and began to smile. His smile eventually giving way to laughter as he fell back onto the bed, still laughing, even harder now as tears began to fall down his cheeks.

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