"Eternal Friendship" by Sebastian A. Meusel

"It seems our lives have taken on
a different kind of twist.
Now that you have given me
the perfect gift."
(Annie Lennox: "The Gift")



It was a beautyfull funeral.
If you could say that about a funeral.
The sun was shining and all of us were sweating in our black clothes.
Heaven was blue as an ocean, the fresh earth from the newly dug grave was black as the night.
We stood around the coffin and griefed for a Human lost. The priest rambled on about the better live afterwards and how she would fare much better up in Heaven then in this earthly valley of death and suffering.
Did he know that for sure
And that the Lord in his unending devine grace, had called her before his throne too early. But in acordance with his devine will and laws. But the world had lost another good soul, a true friend, a lover and a loved one. But it was the will of god.
As if we didn´t know that. And "The will of God", well....
She had been all of this to us and more. Daughter, Lover, Friend; spouse, financee, secret love.
She had been a part of all of our lives for so long. And now she was gone.
All of this was over now.
Exept for one thing.
The coffin was empty.

She had been declared dead, after Relatives and Police had sought hints of her whereabouts for over a year. All that turned up had hinted at an untimely accidental death. The pessimists among us had given up hope much earlyer. Nobody expected to see her again. Others, like me, simply couldn´t give up hoping. We told ourselfes that one day she would stand before us again. Alive and with a great tale to tell about her long apsence. Somehow, we would´ve belived everything, if it just gave her back to us.
That was what we thought back then.
Naturaly, some belived in a crime. A kidnapping. And hoped to someday get a note from some unknown gangsters. Not me. And after a time none of us belived in this "Wild theory" anymore. But the idae of an unsolved sexual crime, came to mind. And was belived more and more.
No evidence was found.
But for some of us she was still alive. Somewhere out there. For the Feds she was just one more number in the files of missing persons.

So,.... we had buried an empty coffin.
Nothing wrong with that.
This symbolic ritual gave most of us the strengh to carry on with their lives and an oportuneti to forget about it all. And to let go of the pain. Forget her. And push the thought of her from their lives. I for myself could not, would not give her up. I simply could not relate to the thought that she should be dead.
I loved her. Not as much as her parents or her financee, but surely a bit more than was it supposed for a friend. And now I simply couldn´t give up the thought of her.That was one year ago.
Well, and now everything has changed.
She´s back.

It was 8pm and it was already dark outside. I was watching the news as suddenly there was a knock on my door. At first I thought of my dear neighbour. Once again having no salt or sugar or whatever he would loan from me frequently. I looked through the peekhole, but there was noone outside.
A bit confused I returned to my TV and sat back on my couch reaching for my glas of soda, asking myself if I had imagined the sound. As my doorbell rang like mad.
Suddenly more then a bit angry I went for the door again. I was sure now. Those kids again. Fooling around in that old fashioned manner. Again there was nobody to see throgh the peekhole. But there was a sure chance that the kids were hiding behind the corner of the staircase. I knew that game. I pulled open the door and jumped outside, a warcry on my lips that would hav made every Cherokee warrior go pale. I would show those brats to fool around with my evenings rest.
But there was nobody to be frightened. No kids. Just my neighbour who peeked out of his door opposite of mine with a "slightly" starteled look on his face. Had somebody just giggled down there?
Ignoring him I jumped down a few stairs waiting to hear small light footfalls and the laughter of children downstairs. But almost nothing broke the heavy silence wich now lay upon the house. Only my TV blarring out some news. And my neighbour asking me what had happened. I climbed up the stairs again and assured him of my mental health and sanity. Surley some of the kids from downstairs had caused the trouble and so on...
Sorry, Blah, Blah....
Well, that was a lesson in selfhumilation. I cheked my doorbell, but it was functioning normally.
Was I having a nervous breakdown, or what? As I walked back to my Livingroom I suddenly noticed that the TV was off. And a strange flickering light shone trough the half closed door. A Fire?!
Damn. Had my TV-Set somehow caught fiere, a cable that got somehow shorted ?..... Shit!
I stormed down the hall to my livingroom on the way grabbing some towels out of my bathroom. I wouldn´t let some stupid shorted cable burn down my belongings. No way!

The first thing I registered with some relive and consternation was that the flickering did not come from burning cables or anything, but in fact from burning candles. About 50 of them were placed throughout my livingroom. On the shelves and on the floor. And on the small table in front of the couch. Right next to a bottle of wine that hadn´t been there when I left and right beside it, a pair of slender young legs was crossed in a relaxed way. My gaze drifted upward over a dark blue skirt, covering a body in very good shape. Above it was a face. A face I hadn´t seen in two years, only in my dreams and pictures of days long gone.
She was back.
It was her. Damnit! It WAS her! And she hadn´t changed a bit. She still was the young woman that I had known so well and had secretly fallen in love with. Her short blonde hair, her sparkling deep eyes with a color somewhere between light blue and shimmering green. And with her unique body. It was HER!
My mind struggled to get the act of balance between silent staring and happy yelling done and to make me say something more eloquent then:
"But...But...?"
Didn´t work.
My face must´ve shown such a "stupid" look that she broke out into that bell clear laughter so typical for her, wich I remembered so well and wich had fascinated me so much, back in those days. Before I could react she was on me. She huged me with such force that I had to struggle to keep from toppling over to the floor. It was her. I could feel her. See her. Touch her. Even smell her favourite perfúme. She was no Ghost. She was real. She was here with me. I felt the touch of her hair on my cheek and the presure of her body against mine. As I struggled to keep my mental and physical balance I huged her back. Much to overhelmed to say anything that would make sense. We simply stood there and held each other close. Taking pleasure in the otheres closeness. It felt so good to hold her again. And I was so incredibly happy to see her again. Inside of me there was a Storm if emotions building up to break out of me.Firery joy and an icy fear of loosing her again. My heart was about to burst with Joy but my soul was frozen with sadness and grief. I cried in rememberance of the empty coffin and the pain I had felt at "her funeral".
I had no way of knowing how she had "survived" or where she had been all those years. I don´t know how long we stood there, locked in each others embrace. Then we let our selfes sink back down uopn the sofa and as I took her hands in mine our eyes met for the first time.
It was her. From that moment on I was sure. Those eyes. Those beautyfull eyes. They still held that certain sparkle, that had bewitched me eight years in the past. Just as it had been when we last met, shortly berfor she´d vanished. Her face glowed with the golden light of the candles. For a long time I simply looked at her. Her skin had a soft, pale radiance and her hair seemed to be made of gold. She was as beautyfull as ever. She was still the woman that I had fallen in love with, so long ago. But just as she hadn´t known it back then, she wouldn´t know it now. I still loved her.

But then nothing held me anymore. I spouted out a torrent of questions. Where had she been all this time? Why did she vanish anyway? Why hadn´t she told anybody that she was still among the living? Did her parents and her finacee know of her? And why did she turn up in my flat all of a sudden?
She listened for a time and suddenly placed a cool hand upon my lips. - Just then I realized that I had been shouting at her. Ashamed I quieted down and looked at her. She smiled at me and said:
"Please, listen."

"I met him for the first time four years ago. He leaned on a wall just across the street of my work. It was dark outside and at first I didn´t realy notice him but then I felt like beeing watched. I turned but he was gone. On this day I didn´t think much of it and went home.
A few days later he was there again. He stood under a streetlight, but as I recognized him, he was again gone. I thought him one of those "Crazys" watching woman from afar and folowing them until the right time to "hit" them. I was a bit afraid for sure. He was whereever I went. But only in the evening and at night. It didn´t seem to matter to him if I was in company or alone.He seemd to be very sure of himself and his doings. And in a strange way nobody but me seemed to see him. Even you didn´t notice him when I told you of him."
Yes, I remenbered her telling me about her fear of beeing watched by a stranger. But as she pointed him out to me I didn´t see anybody. Then she stopped "seeing" him. Now I had a suspicion.
"Yes, I can see in your face what you are thinking. And you are right. He was like a Mirage. Like a Shadow on the edge of my perception. Everytime I tried to catch him in my gaze or tried to point him out to someone he was gone. So I stopped talking about him. For fear of beeing thought paranoid.
But inside I knew he was out there. I had seen him and he made me feel very uneasy. I tried to not letting it show when I knew he was there and in this way discurage him, but it didn´t work. He was wherever I went. Then I decied to ignore him completly and to secretly prepare myself for the assault I feard that was coming. I was prepared for everything but not for what happened next."
One Friday evenig I found a long, slim Box in front of my door. Wrapped in dark blue silk the present bore a small card on wich I was written.

I appologise for any inconvenience I may have caused you.
Please be my guest tomorrow evening.
In the Restaurant "The Swan". At 8pm
Your eternal servant.

The box contained a single black rose and I suddenly new exactly who had placed it there. Those Flowers are pretty expensive and quite rare. The restaurant was the citys best ,as you know. So my unknown Watcher could not be a man without a dime."
She laughed at that and continued.
"Well, I must admit that he had awakened my curiosity. And so I found myself walking towards the entrance of "The Swan" the next evening. Wearing my finest gown and asking myself what I was doing there. I tryed to calm myself with the thought of showing that strange "Servant" what I thought of beeing followed and of making quite a "scene" for him. But still I was nervous.
The he appeared.
Yes, "appeared" is the best word for his aproach. Suddenly, seemingly out of thin air, he stood on the other side of the street. Where moments ago had been just empty sidewalk, he stood there. Watching me, again. Then he moved. His walk was brisk and firm. But at the same time he seemed, in a way, to flow across the street. Like a large Cat or a master dancer. His long dark coat waving behind him and his long blonde hair beeing blown in his face by the nights breeze he was quite a sight. It was an entrance worth of a Hollywood Star. And he wasn´t unattractive either. As he stood before me he was about a head taller than me. From his finely chisseled, aristocratic face the bluest eyes I had ever seen sparkeled down at me. He smiled at me and I felt a lump in my throat as big as this city."

Now she broke into soft giggling and I had the distinct impression that a dreamy sparkle flashed up in her eyes. I began to fear that she had experienced a rather unusual case of "Love at first sight" and simply had ran away with the "Man of her dreams". Admittedly, that thought did hurt a bit.
But then she contiued speaking.

"Without a word he offered me his Arm and motioned for the swinging doors wich led into the restaurant. I have to admit all my thoughts of revenge or anything were like blown away. I simply took his arm and let him guide me inside. As we were shown our tabel, the waiters treated him with the respekt and service only a long time customer is provided with in these houses. He welcomed me and introduced himself as "Gustave de´ Taranier" a French collector of Arts. He spoke without a trace of accent. As I asked what he wanted from me he simply said that he would like to get to know me. He was very charming. A real french Cavaliér.
His company and manners were perfect. He ordered for us both and the meal was delicious. While we were eating I gave answer to his gentle questions concerning my person. He was a very good listener and charmed me into giving away more than I wanted a few times. It was a very nice evening and a must admit I enjoyed his company. He was so different. So perfect.
Just as I was almost at home I realized that he hadn´t told me anything about himself apart from his name. Most of the time I had done the talking and he had listened. And I couldn´t quite remeber if he had even touched his meal. Only his dark red wine seemed to hold a little interest for him. He had ordered his glass refilled four times.
Well now, from this evening on there followed some more of this meetings. We went to the Theatre, the Opera or a Musical. We even went walking in the park some times. It was strange to walk trough a park at night. But I had no fear with him beside me. I even came to enjoy his company. He was my mysterious strange friend. He was simply there and I realy came to like him. Don´t understand me wrong. He nerver made any sexual advances or anything like that. I didn´t want a relationship and he seemd to be content with the way things were and he didn´t seem to have any "ideas" about me. - Sadly, I must say."

Again she giggled in her own unique way. Oh Lord, I felt my love for her come to the surface of my beeing again. She seemed to have changed not a bit. She was just as beautyfull and lovely as in past years. Or so it seemed.

"Then one evening about two years ago now, everything changed. He invited me to his home.
He´d never done this before and I was proud in a way that he trusted me that much. His Home was a big mansion on the outskirts of town. It told a tale of lost Centurys, for it was easyly two hundred years old. A wonderfull house. First we came into a small Lobby where he, eveytime the Gentleman, took my coat and gave it to one of his Butlers. You know I´ve never seen a real butler before and was realy surprised to see one now. I didn´t quite expect this. He then led me into an elaborate livingoom, where a fire blazed in a beautyfull fireplace. We sat down into lustrous Armchairs and talked for a while. But he didn´t seem to relay be with the conversation. He seemd to follow his own train of thought troughout the evening. He gave answers to my questions but only brief and with few words. Most of the time he seemd to contemplate some unsolved mystery and sat there just watching me talk. At last brooding silence fell over the room and I had enough of all that. When he finaly realized that I had stoped talking he looked up and I saw something in his eyes. A look as if he´d just awakened from a dream. And something I had never seen on him before. A hint of pain and fear. His gaze bore into me and I suddenly felt quite uncomfortable. He seemd to conduct an inner fight with himself and then to come to a conclusion. He stood up and held out an inviting hand to me.
I took it and followed him through the house. In front of a nondescript white door he stoped and his eyes met mine.
"Beyond this door my life is awaiting you.",
was all he said. He opened the door and what I saw took my breath away. I was speechless. The room was filled with roses. Roses upon Roses. Hundreds of them. Black and dark red they filled every corner of the quite big room. Along with a hundred candles they gave the room the feeling of a cathedral to Nature. A holy place. Filled with warm flickering light and a the wonderfull scent of a hundred flowers. I walked into the middle of the beautyfull ordeal and enjoyed the warmth and hushed silence filling that small world. It was phantastic. More than glad with this present I turned and there he stood, arms crossed in the doorway. For a moment I was certain that his eyes had glowed red, but I took it for a glimmer of candlelight. I wanted to thank him, but before I could say anything he closed the door and then came to me. I was quite nervous all of a sudden. What would he do? Would he ask me now to marry him? I started to sweat. Then I felt his hands on my shoulders. He turned me around let his hands rest on my lower neck. He came closer. And for fleeting momnets I felt his lips upon my neck. And then he began to speak.
He told me about his birth in france. His life and of the day on wich he became what he was now.
A Vampire."

A VAMPIRE! Sure! I almost laughed out loud at that. What a point to this story. A Vampire. Well, she would be rich if she´d written a novel about her encounters.
Her gaze silenced me instantly. There was a fire in her eyes I´d never seen before. A cold glow, wich burned deep within her soul. And wich frightened me. I fell silent.
She continued.

"He said that he´d lived for seven hundred years now on this world. And in all this time he´d never realy missed a thing. Exept the company of a beautyfull woman. Well, in the centurys of his existence he´d met some of the most beautyfull women in History, but until now none of them had been worth in his eyes to be with him troughout eternity. But now he´d found someone he´d deemed worthy of the offer.
Me.

He tolld me about him beeing the oldest and thus the "leader" of their "Society of eternals." As this he could have any companion he´d wanted at every time. But he´d chosen me. Because he thought that I would bring more than fleeting curiosity into his "life". He would give me six month to think about his offer. If I´d decline he´d take away every memory of us and I would be free to lead my normal everyday life. My mortal live, as he called it.
But if I would accept he´d offer me eternity. But I would have to accept the fact that I would loose everyone I´d ever loved. Everybody would age and die while I would be young and beautyfull, forever. I would have to watch all of you wither away. There would be many things I´d miss. You were one of them.
Everyone who´d ever meant something to me would die before my eyes. But I would life forever. I would be eternal. With my new "father" and all of the other "eternals" I would watch from the shadows as all of you lived your lives and finaly died. But I would stay young. But for the price of an existence in unending darkness.
Lord, it wasn´t easy.
But I finaly I reached a decision.

She´d stoped talking and looked to the floor.
I had no Idea what she wanted to tell me with all of this "freakish stuff". Did she expect me to belive her? Did she realy think I´d take this nonsense for granted. What Human with all his screws in the right places would belive such a story? Well, it would make a good novel.
Embarassed by my own inability to belive her and speachless I hugged her. Lord, it felt so good to have her in my Arms again. How had I missed her. I was almost tempted to forgive her all those lies she´d just told me. She cuddled up close to me and I felt how cold she was. Strange. I took her even closer in hope of giving her some of my warmth. She looked up and our eyes met again.
Oh, her eyes were so deep. Oh, so deep. I suddenly wished that I could drown in those beautyfull eyes.
Then I felt her lips upon mine. Cool and light. Tender but almost electrifying. Oh my God, what now?
I almost pushed her away. But I felt dizzy and overjoyed. A Storm of emotions thundered through my heart. It was just too good to be true. She put her arms around my neck and held me. Softly she guided my head down to her mouth and I couldn´t resist no more. Oh Heaven. She came closer and closer. Her kiss was ardent and filled with longing. All my emotions, I´d thought buried with her, came back form their place of rest and with powerfull voices, they demanded to be heard in my heart and to be free. I gave back her tenderness and sank into her embrace. Kissing her like I´d wished to do it a million times befor.

Then my tounge touched her teeth. What was that!?
Suddely filled with Terror and resentment. I almost jumped of the couch and stood before her. Those weren´t the inscissors of a young woman. It were the fangs of an animal.
She just looked up at me. I was totally confused now. Was everything she´d told me the truth. Could that realy be?
Or was she playing an elaborate trick on me?
Then she suddenly started to cry. And all my doupts were washed away wtih her tears. They were dark red and slowly wound their way down her cheeks to her skirt, where they left dark stains. She hid her face in her hands and sobbed.
This wasn´t the "Vampire" I had heard so many dark tales about. This was a woman A human beeing. A soul. That had made a great mistake. Frightened and alone. Hurt and still suffering. Lost in a worls that was her enemy. That thought of her as a Monster and a Beast. But she wasn´t all that. Would a mindles Beast cry for it´s lost live? Would it cry over the Lives of those it once loved? And would it cry over their suffering? No.
This was still the woman I had once loved and still loved. Even a "Myth" like her had feelings it couldn´t hide from itself. And couldn´t hide from in turn. She still had a heart. She still was Human. In that most basic way.
And I loved her.
I sat down again beside her. Only in me, she´d trusted enough to tell her story. Only our friendship gave her the oportunety to tell someone what she´d done. What she´d become.
I again took her in my arms. Trying to comfort her. Holding her tight and letting her sobbing continue unchecked. Bloody tears stained my shirt, but that wasn´t important. I don´t know how long we sat there. An how long she whept. But after a while her flood of tears ebbed and she composed herself. I didn´t know any words to ease her suffering so I simply smiled at her and held her hands. For the rest of the night she told me of her "unlive" as she called it. Many of these things I didn´t understand and came to fear. As she ended her Story she took my vow to tell no living soul of the things I had heard from her that night and of her visit to me. It would be the end for both of us, if ever someone came to know about this meeting. Then she stood up and bid me farewell. The thought of loosing her again was almost too much for my heart. But she had to leave. For her own and my protection. But I wouldn´t let her go. I begged for her to stay or to come back.
She considered this for a few seconds and then left, with one last bid.

"Think about eternal friendship"

--- The End ? ---