Chapter Five

  

                                           

                                                     CHAPTER FIVE 



      

Or, as Jay thought so.

”Oh! Wait, I’ll be right back!” Janice told them and skimmed off to an old pink convertible, parked quite skilfully near the edge of the clearing.

 The place seemed surreal and even though, Jay was accustomed to seeing lots of beauty and appreciating nature, this place was nothing like he had or will ever see again. There was a kaleidoscopic variety of flowers around, merging into, what it seemed the bright blue summer sky above. Similar patterns littered the surroundings, blossoming flowers all around with butterflies and different birds flying gaily about the heavenly meadow. A complete and picturesque portrait, God Himself, seemed to have designed. A sweet fresh aroma was lingering in the air. A slight mist had just started to come down, adding to the scene’s splendour. This was normal. The descending mist. Almost every night after sundown, an unexplained haze would come down. This would be so dense at times that it would be a problem walking on the street, let alone drive. 

Jay saw Janice open up the rear of the car and lift some things from there.

 “What is she doing?” Dawn grumped, apparently upset at her weird behavior. Jay shrugged. He had known this girl for 10 minutes now, how was he supposed to know what she had in mind?  As she neared, Jay saw that she held a picnic basket and a sheet. She spread it over a cozy looking spot between two large, shady, beech trees, and sat down cross legged on it. A short pause followed.

 Then she looked up and asked, “What?” reading their lost faces. “Come, sit.” Jay followed suit, while Dawn sat down on her knees and smiled up at Janice.

 “You are one distracted girl”. Janice chuckled and winked. “You have no idea, mademoiselle!” Jay watched this interesting exchange, smile playing on his lips.

“Okay, what do you guys want to know?” Janice asked, apparently, pretty satisfied now that they were all comfortably settled.

 But just as Jay started to speak, she cut across him quickly, opening up her picnic basket and bringing out things. 

“Oh and yes. I have something for you. You may have chips, cookies, and I also packed sandwiches, chicken and lettuce, sardines and pickled onions, and yeah I also have soft drinks and………….”

 Finally, she realized what was going on and stopped abruptly like she used to.

 “Sorry. I am a real bore!” She quickly corrected herself.

 Jay grinned up at her and held up thumbs up. “On the contrary, I find you quite amusing.” 

“Aww. That’s so nice of you.”

 Janice blushed, the rich red colour which flamed up beautifully against her pale, freckled skin. Oh, she did really seem to be as if he knew her. But he didn’t think he had ever seen her before. And yet….. The familiarity was uncannily surprising. And then it hit him. He had seen a girl back in his high school, who kept more to herself and always had her nose buried in a book or two. She was the girl that Janice resembled. Seeing her relax under his soothing gaze, Jay proceeded on to the matter.

“Yeah, I wanted to ask you about this place. Like its history and all. And why the hell do people seem so scared to death most of the time?” 

Jay inquired, and instantly saw Janice’s smile vanish. He looked at her apologetically.

 “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to be so harsh.”

Dawn raised an eyebrow at Jay and immediately turned to Janice. 

“I am so sorry, Janice. Jay is so naïve, he didn’t mean to be that rude but he forgot he was being just that way.”

She said sarcastically. Janice managed a small smile but the tensed features around her face made it pretty obvious that she did not feel that well.

“No. It’s okay. Doesn’t matter. The only thing is that, this place has a complicated past, which makes it less of an “appealing “place.” 

Janice held up her hands bending her fingers in sync with her sentence to give the extent of her meaning.

“Like what?”

 Jay asked hiding his smirk behind a questioning gaze, lest he should annoy Janice too much. Janice was looking at a patch of flowers some distance away, apparently too absorbed to notice, anyways. Dawn, however saw his expression and glared at him giving him one of the Will-you-stop-it? Look he knew too well. He shrugged and winked at her. She turned away, grinning.

“I’ll tell you about everything. But first you have to help yourself to something. Or the deal is off.”

She told them and quickly spread out a promising supper before them. Jay and Dawn exchanged a look. This girl was too polite and formal. And sweet.  Anyways, they helped themselves to some of the things so they could get along well with Janice, since she seemed all on for the party.

Once they were done, they packed up and begin walking around the clearing. They reached the edge of a very not so steep cliff and began to climb. It wasn’t difficult.

“20 years ago, this place was called ‘Demeure de la paix’. In french, evidently if you have taken it’s lessons in school, you’ll know, it means ‘Abode of peace’. The place blossomed with flowers all round the year, well you get the gist…………”

 Jay lost the track of the conversation for a few minutes. Janice had led them to the top of the cliff. Tucking a lock of hair behind her hair, every few moments. They now stood on the very top of the descending cliff. As jay looked down, he could only see murky brown stuff, blobbing and frothing, a great distance away. This was the marsh. The one this area was famous for. It dominated a large area of land and was nowhere near the normal civilization, yet, it seemed to threaten its existence. From the cliff, an old, rickety bridge, led up to the other end of the marsh, which was probably so far, that Jay could only see an outline of it against the blue horizon. The weird part was, it seemed to have been broken somewhere right around the middle. Where, there seemed a plank missing, not to mention, it was skewed at an odd angle. Jay shook his head and steered his wandering thoughts, back to the conversation.

 “…beauty, which seemed to captivate those who admired it….”

Jay’s thoughts, however, were elsewhere. Absentmindedly, he placed a hand on the bridge’s support and held out a foot to step on it. 

“NO!”

 Janice’s scream rang out into the vast open space, for a few moments, time seem to have frozen. As her voice echoed around the place, the vocal effect was amusing for a few seconds, but as the voice returned, it was oddly creepy, very much unlike Janice’s soft, honey voice.  Jay turned to face her, surprised at her over reaction. Dawn’s mouth was hanging open in a soft ‘O’ shape. She too, look worried.

“What is wrong with you?” 

Jay turned to Janice and frowned, a hand in his pocket while the other was massaging his temples. Janice was sweating and breathing hard. She was not the composed, cheerful self, she had been for the past hour. 

“We do not cross the bridge or even talk about it.” 

Janice told them in a low voice. Jay cocked his head to one side and widened his eyes in mock horror.

“Well, isn’t that a surprise?”

“Shut up, Jay!”

Dawn squealed at him. He looked at her and then back at Janice.

“Tell me, exactly what happened, that you people are so scared to death about?”

Janice looked at him and shook her head sadly. 

“You may think it’s a joke, but all of us here, know it’s true. About eight years from now or maybe seven, a young girl used to live here. She was beautiful, and smart. She was talented in singing and dancing. People used to adore her. She was sweet and ever ready to help. But one day, a very bad thing happened. She was crossing the bridge probably, and never came back. Later, when search parties were sent to find her, the only clue found to her disappearance was a missing plank on the bridge and her certificate next to it. We believe, since she was so wonderful, someone just out of sheer jealously and envy could have murdered her. She probably fell down in the marsh and drowned.  Her body was never found….”

Jay was listening to this fantastical tale with eyes wide while he felt Dawn stiffen to his side. Janice seemed to be in a trance. Quietly going on with her tale.

“…. A few weeks later, people started disappearing. People became superstitious that it was the dead girl causing problems, and would keep on doing so until she had her revenge. The revenge for her murder. So people started moving from here, to settle elsewhere.”

Janice finished her story, voice almost as low as a whisper. Jay gazed out into the darkness, realizing, heavy black clouds were covering the scene. The overcast weather made the bridge look even creepier.

“The rumors and stories got so persuasive that people had to leave the place. Its name changed to ‘Lieu du décès’. The place was beautiful and yet unapproachable for years.” 

Dawn slowly completed Janice’s story. Both Jay and Janice stared at her. Her eyes were wide and her gaze was frozen at the bridge some distance away. Jay prodded her. She seem to come out of her reverie. 

“How did you know that?”

Jay asked her, surprised. Dawn shook her head and shrugged.

“I have lived here for long, Jay. Mom and Dad always told me stories from here. This was one of them.”

Though she said it in a casual tone, Jay noticed her hands were shivering.

“Want to know something else?” 

Janice questioned, quite her bustling self again.

“I think it’s enough for the day.”

Dawn turned down her offer. Jay turned to her and looked at her intently. 

“Are you okay?”

She was extremely pale and her hands shook. Her lips quivered. She bit into the lower one to keep calm.

“Dawn. Calm down, buddy. For all we know, this could be just some stupid fairytale.”

He told her and placed a hand on her shoulder and felt her relaxing in his embrace. He tightened his arms and tried to put as much of his warmth in it, as he could. Janice squirmed. Apparently, offended at his last sentence. But he had to make Dawn feel better.

He thanked Janice and then walked Dawn back to his car. She was quiet and looked scared. Still. But there was nothing more he could do to make her relax. Not yet, at least. He drove her back home, and then opened the door for her. As she stepped out, their hands met briefly. Jay smiled at her and then took her hand and softly touched it with his lips. 

“Don’t worry, Princess. All is fine. You have my number. Do let me know if there is anything I could help you with, okay?”

Dawn smiled up at him and the effect was immediate. Jay could feel his heart pounding in anticipation as her smile widened. She was so beautiful. Her eyes glistened under the now dark sky. 

“Sure thing.”

Jay watched her go in and then turned to his place. The clouds were thundering above him, accompanied by heavy but short, bursts of rain and lightning. Parking his car in the covered, porch, Jay went in. The house was quiet. Probably his parents were in their room. He made his way to his room and dropped, exhausted onto his bed. He didn’t even bother to take his shoes off. 

 

Listening to the heaven rage above him, Jay looked at the mantelpiece absently. But his thoughts were still on the conversation with Janice and Dawn….

 

Ahhh. Dawn. He smiled and turned on his bed. There was something so different about her. She always made him smile.