The Invitation

Michael Steven

    The whistle of a train waned far behind mountain peaks while autumn winds blew the scents of the land from the ranging meadows to the swamp gas to the east. And on this dreary autumn day in the middle of those autumn winds and the waning whistle over the mountains lay the home of my dear friend Edward. Trees stood rot and cast sullen shadows over sunken earth. The ground was muck and the air stunk of those eastern swamp and spoiled foliage. Colonies of raven stood and sang on branches, plucking at the air above my carriage. The moonlight only enhanced these ghastly images, for the flowerbeds of geranium and lilac were a graveyard and looked to be deceased for a myriad of time. I was taken by such decay. If I had not known better, one would have thought this to be a home of a hermit or some castaway and not that of a doctor. I approached with hesitation for I knew not what to expect.

    The home, void of life, appeared to be a growth on the land, a tumour protruding from the mountainside. I could not help but to gasp at such a sight. Although I had not made my way to visit in over a year I had to wonder what ill times had fallen upon my dear friend Edward. I took refuge upon the stoop to expel myself from the thrashings of those autumn winds and it was here I began to ponder on my friend and his mysterious letter. To receive word from Edward was not all that unusual. From his tales of cannibal tribes of Eastern Asia to the reaching peaks of Afghanistan where you could hear the gods sing were a welcome distraction of the mundane of casual life. It was however different as of recent. He had found something in those rolling hills of sand in Egypt; that I was certain and that is why he has summoned me with such urgency.

    I rapped upon the door and set my ear against the rotted wood. I listened for a stirring for I was certain the home to be vacant, the echoes of my arrival rang through the walls and appeared to be received by none. I rapped again, to my amazement I heard the sound of feet shuffling over hardwood and saw the shadow of a bent man approach through the transom which had a diaphanous film of purple and green ooze which I could not decipher a true origin. The latch of the door unbuckled and in those dark shadows of the home that once seemed vacant produced a skeleton covered in skin, a man I had once known but no longer resembled such memory as this. He was hideous and unkempt, grey hair hung in drapes around his neck and shoulders. He stunk of rancid earth and his eyes were set in bruised pools reflecting a declining body and mind.

    I held my chest and took a step back, the wind pulled at my legs and nearly toppled me if not for the pillars on the stoop. I kept my distance for I did not know what sickness crawled under his skin.

    “Edward, my God, is it typhus, what ailment plagues you!”

His long fingers of bone and skin and awful yellow nails lurched forward grabbing at the air as the shadows seemed to grow and consume our perimeter.

    “No illness Syre, I found something, something under the black sands of the Nile. You must come see!”

    He turned on his heels, his back hunched as if to be carrying with it a great burden. I took the invitation with much hesitation but ultimately succumbed to my curiosity. I followed the bent crooked man into the dark hallways of his home, the smell of decay and mold was incessant.

    “Edward, where has Mary gone?”

    “Mary?” He said, lighting a long red candle.

    “Yes, where has she gone?” I replied with shadows dancing on the walls.

    “Oh yes Mary.” He swallowed hard. “West I suspect.”

    “West, whatever do you mean west? If something has happened, you must tell me.”

    He simply tilted a nod and moved into the now dimly lit darkness, candle in hand he navigated the passageway with such dexterity that it came to reason he paced these forsaken halls in deep wonder night after night. I followed at arm’s length dropping my gaze to an accrual of books stacked in no particular order or design, some fallen on their top and others lay on their sides, pressed open to images of Heka priests and odd languages which made me feel uneasy and only added to the mystery surrounding such madness. The darkness grew in thickness as we ventured forth, it was not until Edward had stopped, mid stride, and gestured that I had realised we had come to the end of a narrow passage filled with bedrooms.

    “I hope these accommodations will suit all your needs my dear friend.” He said, pointing the tip of his candle into the void.

    The furniture was torn and nearly bust, moth eaten in most places, and the stench could only be put as unpleasant to say the least. A dark mass had pooled behind the loveseat and bore fat bloated flies that hung lazily in the air. I wafted the stench and flies from my vicinity and made myself at home as best as I could muster.

    “Thank you, Edward, this will do just fine for the time being. I do have questions concerning your welfare, and where exactly did you say Mary had gone?”

    “We will discuss on the matter in due time, for now, rest and take comfort. I will send for you later, and then we can talk on the subject over dinner, fair?”

    “Fair enough, I suppose.” I said, biting at my lip. 

    I settled in along with the evening that moved out of dreary purple dusk to a silver twilight sky that gave the landscape a cold still feeling. The wind rattled the already rotten frame and thus made the cloud of flies jump and swirl before descending back to their sticky find. I placed both hands on the bed to test the mattress fully expecting a symphony of squeaks and was not disappointed. I unpacked my belongings: a shirt and slacks as well as a necktie. Although I doubted I would be in need of it as I did not plan on extending my visit longer than required. To my surprise a delightful aroma of sizzling meat piqued my senses. I imagined a horrifying meal dripping with roaches but this, this was unexpected. The dinner bell chimed and so I made my way towards the kitchen.

*      *      *

    With the fire box filled and embers roaring, Edward sat with the fire and glow filling his face and warming his ever so thin skin in the darkness. It had been so long since they had guests, not since that boy stumbled across their lawn with his fountain of youth and blonde hair had he ever been this excited with anticipation. The pots boiled and danced with well peeled-potatoes and steak that was seasoned to perfection while the coffee, wine and pie with freshly whipped cream waited eagerly to join in. The whole house including the kitchen where Edward stood was filled with the aroma of a well-tailored meal.

    “Did you put the pie in the warming tray?” The voice of Mary could be heard from the depths of the shadows.

    “Of course, my dear, I wouldn’t think of letting it go cold.” He said, stacking an assortment of plates. “Do you think I know not the importance of this day?”

    “And is the wine ready?” Her voice haunted.

    “Yes.” Edward said, clenching his jaw and pointing at the wine.

    “But did you grind up—"

    “Be gone woman! Leave me to my devices and cease your pestering shadow!” The darkness became silent but ever so watchful as he toiled over the cast iron stove. “He will eat and drink his weight and when he is fat and ripe we shall bleed him dry.” He said rubbing his hands together.

    “Call for him.”

*     *     *

    I followed my nose and the echo of the dinner bell, feeling my way through the halls until I sensed the kitchen’s warm embrace. Edward was hovering over the stove mumbling to himself, some sort of tic he has picked up since my last visit, perhaps it’s the absence of Mary or simply being left alone that has him acting as such.  There were as many as four pots boiling and what appeared to be an abundance of various dishes and spices across the kitchen counter.

    I sat myself at one of the many chairs. “Are we having guests?” I said gesturing with both hands at the copious amount of food.

    “It has been so long since we have had visitors, I figured why not indulge.”

    “We?” I replied raising an eyebrow.

    “Ah, my apologies, Mary, her departure still slips my mind. My memory isn’t quite what it used to be.”

    “And where was it that you said Mary had gone?”

    “He’s trying to knock you off balance, seize him at once!” Mary said, echoing off the walls of Edward’s skull.

He suppressed a cough waving his thin hand at the air around him as if to shake away the cobwebs.

    “West, Syre, she has gone west to visit relatives.”

    A thick silence washed over our conversation and it dawned on me that perhaps since my arrival I had become a bit irritable from my travels and even perhaps I have been a tad unfair to my dear friend. For all I know Mary had taken refuge west and who am I to meddle in his affairs, rubbing dirt in his wounds will only complicate the matter.

    “I apologize, forgive me Edward, I did not mean to sour the evening. I really do appreciate all the fine work you have done here; it has been so long since I had a home cooked meal.”

    “And what a meal we will have!” Edward said, presenting a dark bottle of wine.

    I sat in anticipation as he began to serve up dinner. There were at least three plates of broiled steak served with baked potatoes dripping cheese and beans as well as asparagus toast, topped with fresh parsley butter. The plates kept coming one after another: a thick beef stew, beet salad and bottles and bottles of wine, “My goodness!” I burst out loud. Edward seemed to take such pride in my reaction; he stood over me with a great grin full of teeth as he poured me yet another glass of red wine. The meal was to die for; the wine was dusty and aged far beyond our years and tasted bitter yet sweet, with a fragrance I could not quite put a finger on. We drank and gushed over old times and days past, we talked of love and lovers lost and what we would do when we turned grey and old, both purposely overlooking the fact we were grey and old.

    We laughed until my jaw became slack and my speech labored; I doubled over and began to spew upon the floor. I raised my head to make contact with Edward and found my eyes blurry and swimming in my skull; four glasses of wine have never had me so out of sorts. Hands, cold bony hands and fingers wrapped around my face, holding me still. I gagged on my tongue as my head was tilted backwards, the bitter yet sweet taste of wine hit my mouth and cascaded down my neck. I could see Edward looking down on me but not only Edward, I could see a small boy with beautiful blonde hair being held in the arms of Mary, a ghostly apparition of both. I fought off my captor for he was weak and frail but my limbs were beginning to dull and weigh heavy at my sides. I crashed into the table as I tried to stand, showering dishes and bottles in all directions. I seized the doorway, stumbling into the darkness, my feet became tangled among the many books discarded in the hall. I fell upon the floor in great agony for my limbs lacked strength; I could feel Edward’s body press against mine, a sharp piece of what I presume to be glass pressed against my neck.

    “Stick him, bleed him like a pig!”

 The object stuck deeper into my neck forcing me to wince in pain as I was now at his mercy.

    “Don’t move, not even a hair, old boy, or I will bleed you out on this floor and lap you up.” Edward said, pounding the words in my ear.

The sickness had me over for I opened my mouth only to be returned with silence.

    “Atta boy, it will not take long now, let the darkness take you.”

I fought my eyes open but knew it was a losing battle, my vision became a tunnel filled with stars and then –

   When I came to, I had very little memory of what happened; my hands were bound behind a chair and my body ached, a fierce amount. It appeared I was in the basement, I had been down here only once before but basements had a feel and this had one like no other. I shuffled my feet upon the floor only to find it felt grainy against the wood; at first I assumed it was gravel or perhaps dirt but after sometime it dawned on me, it was sand.

    I sat in loneliness for some time and as I began to doze, I suddenly had a chill, eyes were on me. I craned my head to one side, only to find a still image of Mary and that fair-haired boy lurking in the shadows. They did not move or waver upon my notice; they simply stood as statues watching. Before me sat a box, a wooden crate to be exact, it was dusty and crawling with web and on the side stamped in big black letters read Cairo, Egypt. Beyond the box and beyond the shadows, Edward stood watching with sharp feral eyes.

    “I must say Syre, I am quite impressed with your body’s tolerance, it took far less opium to subdue Mary and the boy; thank goodness for your love of the spirits.”

    “Opium, what is the meaning of all this!?” I said, with wet eyes.

    “Such a question deserves an equal truth. You see, one goes to Paris to feed the soul and London to feed the mind, in Asia you pick the flower and sip the black smoke but on the shores of the Nile you feed the body and it feeds on you.”

    “I don’t know what has come over you, but I am quite at my ends with all this. If whatever is in that box has warped your mind, then you must let me help you.” I said with rushed speech and quick breath.

    “Yes, help me you shall.” he said, with a crisp nod.

    Edward gently placed his hand upon the wooden crate and dusted away the web, he never took his eyes off me. He reached down with his blind hand and tossed open the lid, a cloud of dust escaped into the air forcing me to take a deep cough. He reached inside, shuffled around, and produced a cup. I felt a bit underwhelmed; I expected a scroll or amulet even perhaps a grimoire of some sort, but a cup?

The cup itself was somewhat ordinary, it was clay and bore handles on either side giving it a look that of a petrified face with ears. Edward presented it to me, palm up.

    “This, this is the find of my life; I cannot believe it to be true and that I hold it in my hand.”

    “What is it, a cup? And why do you curse your life for such a simple trinket?”

    “Trinket! How dare you degrade such a find to merely a—"

I swiped a kick in Edward’s direction, he pulled back and my foot only met dead air.

    “Ha! Excellent try, but your fate is sealed my dear friend.” Edward laughed, exposing rough lines in his loose grey skin.

   He circled behind me, I felt his cold dead hand of bone press against my arm and hold me stiff. I felt the edge of a knife rest upon my shoulder and work its way down my arm finally stopping at a cluster of veins in the pit of my arm. He dug in with the tip of the blade and began to twist, I shrieked at the top of my lungs “What in the hell have you done!” The twisting continued. My arm turned white and cold as warm blood rolled down and pooled at the top of my hand. He then placed the cup at the tips of my fingers where the blood had fallen and filled it to the rim; he raised me a toast and began to drink.

    This ritual lasted to what I believe to be twenty-two days, it was hard to track as I was bled, my mind became dull. He fed me yes, and water I was given but not much else, all the while the fair-haired boy and Mary stood and watched, never leaving my side. Edward drank me three meals a day and when the mark of twenty-two days had arrived I was thin and white, my pale skin shone in the darkness of that basement like a full moon on a dark hill. I raised my head and took in the sights of Edward feeding on my life and noticed something—he was no longer thin and frail but robust and well kept. He was clean and well manicured, his hair was short as it was in my old memory and he seemed tall, no, not just tall but towering. It appeared that Edward was reversing in age, I could not believe my fleeting eyes. I was bled for many more days following this realization, I was sticky and those fat bloated flies took flight all around my sick body.

    I cannot recall the exact moment, but my eyes became so very heavy, my lids fell and I wished me a prayer they would never open. When I had finally willed them to life I was no longer bound to a chair. I was standing shoulder to shoulder with Mary. Shocked, for I did not have any memory of being released, I looked down at my hands and they were grey and transparent and had no feeling. I looked across the room and witnessed to my horror my mouth hanging open as insects with far too many legs dug at my dead tongue that lay flat on my chin. My body sat motionless, slumped in a chair, ghostly bone white covered in heaping pools of crimson. I have fed the beast all that I had and now I am but an empty shell to be buried out back with the rest of the fallen.