The Woman

Students are shifting and yawning in their seats, listening to the history professor lecture about gothic architecture and flying buttresses. There is an impatient air around the room as the students are eager to finish their last class of the week. Thais, nineteen, a quiet, small girl with unruly brunette hair, is slumped in her chair in the back of the room; sleepy eyed and leaning her head against the wall. The lecture seems to go on and on. The round clock above the whiteboard is stuck in one spot—twenty five minutes left. The advantage of sitting all the way in the back row is that you are mostly obscured by the bodies in front of you, making it pretty easy to doze off and not be seen. All that was visible to Thais from back there were flashes of the red sweater the professor wore as she paced back and forth, talking with her hands, so Thais was sure she was pretty much invisible. As an extra measure to not be seen, Thais stood her thick textbook up on the table in front of her and slumped further in her seat. Resting her head on the table, her eyes get heavy. Her vision becomes blurry and dim as the professors voice gets more and more faint and trails off...

* * *

Thais is standing in the middle of a dark street lined with decrepit shops and saloons. It is lightly snowing and there doesn’t seem to be a single person in sight. The street is eerily silent, darkness surrounds Thais from all sides. The only visible light is a green street lamp all the way at the end of the street. Treading her way through the snow, using the green light ahead of her as a guide in the dark, Thais quickly becomes aware that she is barefoot and feels like an icicle. She does her best to move quickly toward the light. Reaching the street lamp, Thais notices that it looks a lot taller than normal, about 8 feet, and it is casting a green glow on the white building that hugs the corner of the street. The building has broken glass windows and looks damp and rotted. Needing to get out of the snow before she is frozen to the bone, Thais enters the rotted building without bothering to knock or announce herself. She is met with the sudden shock of a candle being lit, seemingly on its own, atop a glossy wooden desk. Thais looks down at herself in the candle light and notices she is wearing a sheer white nightgown that reaches her calves, with giant, puffy sleeves, and her brown hair is slicked back behind her ears. Directly in front of her, two red velvet curtains that reach from floor to ceiling appear. Without hesitation, she reaches for the curtains and pulls them back, entering a small hallway. The floor is cold cement, and she is reminded again that her feet are bare. The hallway is long and dark, with a light at the end of it, “like a tunnel”, she thinks to herself. Thais hears faint music that sounds scratchy and warped, like a record being played backwards and slowed down, coming from the room at the end of the hallway. Slowly and quietly, she makes her way in the dark again, following the scratchy music. Before she can reach the end to round the corner, she hears shuffling and muffled voices, making her stop in her tracks. Thais gets down on her hands and knees and quietly crawls, hoping that if there is someone in there, they won’t see her low on the floor. Reaching the end of the hallway, she is able to peer around the corner enough to see with one eye and keep herself hidden. Thais is shocked to see a giant circular room with the same red velvet curtains surrounding the perimeter, from floor to ceiling; no windows or doors can be seen. The large room is dim, lit with many flickering candles placed around arbitrarily, and is decorated tastefully: baroque furniture, dusty books on shelves and in piles on the floor, an old record player, candles, oil lamps, and stacks of paintings propped up against an old armoire. In the center of the room hangs a great chandelier covered in cobwebs; under it sits a dusty table lavished with odd trinkets and a skull head. In a “corner” of the room, next to a velvet moss-green sofa, sits a grand piano.

Still peeking behind the corner, Thais is able to catch glimpses of the back of a woman on the floor near the piano. The Woman is wearing a long satin dress, the color of champagne, that clings her body and her feet are bare. She is wearing a red embroidered lace veil over her head, and is perched over a man in a black suit.

Suddenly gaining courage, Thais finds herself quietly crawling around the corner, about halfway across the circular room, and sits cross-legged on the cold floor. The Woman still has her back to Thais, unaware of the intruder. The music shifts into soft, sweet strings. The Woman lifts her veil, letting it fall behind her to the floor, and kisses the man on the mouth. She moves down to his neck, and without warning, sinks her teeth into his skin, drawing blood. The scene changes abruptly in front of Thais, and the music becomes harsh and messy. Now, piles and piles of men are lying on the cold floor, their bodies naked and bloody, like a gruesome Renaissance painting. The Woman sucks the life out of the man, but he doesn’t let out a single scream. When she is finished with him, she lets him gently fall to the floor and climbs her way over the piles of men, who are all grabbing at her dress and limbs, to the grand piano. The Woman sprawls out in a seductive manner, blood dripping from her jagged teeth down her chin. She closes her eyes and licks her lips. Thais is finally able to see the the Woman’s face – it’s her history professor. The Woman opens her eyes and notices Thais on the floor, staring up at her. The Woman stares back with dark, piercing eyes, saying nothing. They stay that way for a while.

The men are climbing over one another, biting and fighting their way through the large pile of flesh, reaching their hands up to the Woman, as if wanting to be chosen. Thais sits calm and expressionless, watching the intense scene in front of her as if nothing is unusual.

Thais hears a faint, muffled voice saying something from above. She stands and looks around the room, and realizes the words are coming from the Woman on the piano. In an echoey, muffled voice she says some words that don’t make sense. The words get louder and louder and clearer and clearer, and the Woman stands and seems to float closer to Thais in time with the words. Once face to face, she finally hears:

“Thais, class is over.”

Thais looks around, confused. The room is getting fuzzy and her surroundings spin and become blurry. The music gets faster and the men’s cries seem to grow louder and more tormented. Thais feels a jabbing in her shoulder.

“Thais! Thais, wake up. Class is over.”

Thais jolts out of sleep and returns to reality; the professor is leaning over her, tapping her shoulder. Thais gasps, sits up, and looks around the now empty classroom and back at the professor, wide eyed. Red faced and embarrassed, Thais quickly slams her textbook shut and gathers her belongings. Not saying a word, she fumbles toward the exit. Hand on the doorknob, she turns back to get one last look; the professor is staring at her with an intense look in her eyes, as if she knows something. Thais immediately breaks eye contact and leaves quickly, wondering how she’ll ever be able to go back.