(painting by Natalie Shau)
I will tell you all about it man...you would think that these things only happen in movies and books...well it happened to me man.. and I peed my pants...I am not going back there..not even to pick up my things. Let them have them...I am not going back....Let me tell you man..if you were me, you'd lose your marbles...if you saw what I saw, if you did what I did...
...I am calming down, calming down... I'll tell you, give me a minute here...
You know how hard it is to find a decent place to rent nowadays especially in a city like this...most places are crummy, shabby, begrimed and ridiculously expensive, you can imagine how I felt when I found this flat...I'm telling you it was pure karma, or so I thought at the time.
I was walking uphill past St. Ignatius street, already running out of money and I was desperate man...I couldn't afford to stay in a hotel any longer, I had to find a place to stay, somewhere near my job so I wouldn't have to take the train every morning.......
Do you want to hear the story or not? Then don't rush me man...
Where was I?
Ah yes, walking past St. Ignatius street, map in hand looking for a place and then I saw HER....the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen...She was sooo sweet, a brunette, with eyes as blue as clear skies and skin as white as my grandma's lace......She was wearing a small blue dress and rushed by me...of course she didn't see me..I ran after her for a few blocks but I lost her..
She was the one who opened the freaking door man...that same girl... the landlady's door..
Can I have another coffee please? Thank you..would you like a refill? This is going to be a long story man...yeah get him one too..
Anyway, like I said I ran after her for a few blocks but I lost her near a coffee shope, so I go in for a coffee, I chat with the waitress and she tells me that in her building there is a vacancy and I should check it out...she gives me the landlady's name, the address and everything and so I go.
The building is at the top of the hill overlooking the park, an old Art Deco building, well-preserved, I walk up and ring the bell. ".I am interested in the vacant apartment" I say "On the first floor please.." a woman says, the door opens, I go up the stairs and before I have the chance to look for the right house a door opens...
that girl I told you about, that dream of a girl opened the door. She was the landlady's daughter man...
That was my thought exactly...this was meant to be.
The mother comes to the door and sends the girl away. She greets me in a polite and somewhat reserved manner and leads me to the vacant flat which turns out to be connected to theirs with a small but otherwise charming anteroom located inside the lady's apartment. Yes.... I thought it strange too but I was overwhelmed with the excellent condition of my flat and with the very low price.
Yes, it was strange that a whole flat was glued to another flat like that, I had never heard it before either. From the outside, it didn't look like there was room for two apartments...but there you go..
Oh, it had a bedroom and a large living room, a small kitched and a new bathroom, large widows overlooking the park, it was perfect for me.
The anteroom? It is funny that you ask about it......I'll tell you.
This was a very small room, quite unlike the rest of the house.... the rest of the building if you ask me.
It had a superb marble floor that you could see your face in, a silk blue wallpaper that glittered against the light, all empty but for a huge piece of heavy, oak furniture, which almost touched the ceiling. The top part was occupied by a large mirror in an intricate carved frame and the bottom part was a double door cupboard with a heavy skeleton key protruding from the key hole. The lady said that it was an antique sideboard from her grandmother's house and rushed to show me my flat.
Alas...if only I had known that this anteroom would be my torture chamber for the next few months.....I would have flown away..
Mental health and peace of mind are the most important things.... man...... and a man's rest.
Every day I would wake up walk past the anteroom, open the lady's door, which was always unlocked, go through the house, which was usually empty, and go to work.
In the evening I would knock on the lady's door, the daughter would lead me inside. She would smile at me... back then I thought her smile was inviting, promising, if you know what I mean. Then she would lower her eyes and look up at me through her heavy, raven eyelashes like that......her eyes smothered me...her lips parted a little, wet and pillowy and so pink....I always invited her in for a night cap and she always refused. "I couldn't...." she would say "Mother...."
Mother.....that thing never had a mother...that woman was not her mother...she was her pawn, bound to do her bidding..she was not a girl at all man...she was the devil. And the anteroom? That huge mirror touching the ceiling? That my friend was the gate of hell..
Pennsylvania Ballet dancers depict "The Gates of Hell" in the
Photograph by Paul Kolnik
Every other night I could hear voices and sounds coming from the room next door. I would open the door to the mirror room and it would be empty but the noises were there so I figured that my neighbours were having people over...Some nights there were drums and a burning smell but I never found the courage to knock on the door and see what was happening. The whole thing was bothering me....I never had a good night's sleep, I was dragging my feet in the morning....feeling sick all day at work...
Until two days ago, when I saw her again on my way to work. She apologised for all the noise her mothers' guests were making...and she invited me to the next party taking place that night. She said she would knock on my door right after midnight. Her eyelashes fluttered like trapped birds as she said this, man...there was no way I could refuse, no way.
When the clock struck twelve there was a soft knock on my door.
I could hardly recognise the sweet girl I had talked to in the morning. Her raven hair was wet, dripping on her half bare breasts, and her eyes burnt like torches in a cave. I don't know what was the thing she was wearing because it felt like it slithered on her skin, pleasing her, obeying her every move.
She pulled me inside that small room and closed the door behind us. Tall candles were burning on either side of the antique furniture, filling the room with a sweet and bitter smell, immediately having an effect on me.
"Come" she said and sat on the marble surface of the side board. Her lips parted and she pulled me close into a kiss. My knees felt weak and just as I was about to close my eyes, my gaze fell on the mirror behind her....which was no more.
I saw.....what I saw was..... the face of what I thought it was her mother, a gelatinous, grotesque face of a satyr, appearing where the glass was supposed to be and behind her, an abyss of red flames and miasmal gases tearing harpy-like at a sea of naked bodies swimming in their own blood....but I didn't pull away.
Hands, claws, teeth and tongues wrapped themselves around my arms as she pulled me even closer to her and I....without fear or remorse rejoiced in her embrace.
I saw what was behind her, I wished I could leave but... I wanted her even more..... I can't explain it, I wanted her more than my own life....I didn't leave, I didn't let go............................................................
When I opened my eyes I saw myself on the glossy marble...the mirror was back on its frame and I was still alive, which was all that matters...right?
Oh, I know, trust me..It never happened in my dreams, It was real......let me show you how I know, try not to freak out...
See? My whole body is covered in them....man..... I wish I knew what I have done....even now I don't regret it as much as I would have liked.......I wish I did..........................................................................
.....that night man?.... I slept with the devil herself.
