The Rapture


by Lynlee Evans©


Cobblestone streets wove through the town in a haphazard manner of afterthought. They meandered in from the lazy green countryside to the center of the city where the architecture attested to its age. Ancient stone gargoyles cornered several second story edifices, perched menacingly atop buttresses and columns. Contrasting serene marble maidens and playful cherubs cavorted in the town's center fountain. Darkness descended upon them all, bringing with it a kind of close anticipation. Something was different about the air tonight...

The evening rolled in, sweltering, muggy and close. His shirt stuck to his back, and his collar chafed at his neck. The moisture in the air made it difficult to see past the intersection. He stopped in front of a neon lit window and glanced up at the sign. This was the place. He swung open the door and stepped inside a smoky, dimly lit room. A few revelers peered up from their beers, but seeing nothing unusual about the new patron resumed their conversations. He chose an empty booth towards the rear of the bar and sidled into it, facing the front door. Happy Gaelic music piped down from hidden speakers.

The bartender came out from behind the counter and welcomed him, asking what he'd prefer. He ordered two pints of Wurzburger, wondering silently if he'd done the right thing, coming here. He folded his hands on the table. The front door opened. He tipped his head down and peered over the top of his glasses, evading their glare. A couple came in, laughing loudly, and greeted others at the bar. The door swung shut behind them as they took their seats. He leaned back in the booth.

The bartender brought two beautiful creamy-headed brews and set them on coasters in front of him. He decided against a tab, and paid the tender with a twenty.

"Waiting for someone?" the bartender remarked.

"I certainly hope so," came his reply.

The bartender chuckled in sympathetic understanding, gave his change and retreated to his domain behind the counter. He lifted one of the glasses to his mouth and allowed the cold, full liquid to wash over his tongue. A nice beginning, he thought. He tried not to let anxiety ruin the anticipation.

It was sweltering. The moisture in the air made it difficult to view past the end of the block. It cast a rather movie-esque appearance around the neon sign above the door. She took a deep breath and reached for the handle. It swung open with ease, but her senses were assaulted with cigarette smoke and poor lighting. She stepped inside, and reflexively smiled at someone who looked up to see who had entered. Her nerves were fully alert. As her eyes adjusted to the dim interior, she scanned the room, intently, but slowly, seeking her reason for coming here.

One minute passed. The front door again opened. He sat a little straighter in his seat. A single woman entered. His heart leapt, but he steadied it. He did not make a move. She was smaller than he'd thought, but her presence was strong. He knew that from her first step in. She looked anxious, and he smiled warmly, feeling tension releasing. He was glad he wasn't alone in his uncertainty, but he also wanted to console her. He waited for her eyes to find him.

She found him. She froze, this image burned into her memory. She met his eyes. He sat alone, calmly, hands clasped on the table. She willed her feet unstuck from the floor and began to walk towards him, heart pounding so loudly she was sure they all heard it. He rose to meet her, and his graceful mass made her swoon. When she reached the booth, he held out his hand for hers, which she gave to him. Then they sat, across from one another, eyes still locked.

The void which had been between them for so many years, larger than space, greater than time, now collapsed. This was impossible, and neither of them could fully grasp it as reality. But reality this now was, for however long it would last. The man spoke first.

"I am glad you came." His voice was strong, and warm. It carried a hint of laughter.

"I don't think I could have gone on without doing this." She spoke quietly, which belied her intensity.

They spoke for an hour, maybe more, maybe less. Years later neither of them would remember what they talked about. They savored the electricity their fingertips transmitted to one another. They gratifyingly studied each other’s face with intense pleasure, seeking little things they had known would be there. They only broke eye contact to raise their beers to ecstatically parched lips. She relaxed under his intense gaze, finally knowing that he was true. He listened to her voice, and it seemed to him that a thousand angels would not sound nearly so marvelous. The world around that single booth disappeared into empty oblivion.

As they studied their now empty glasses, a silence enveloped them. She looked up to him, eyes sparkling, a smile played across her lips. He was so overwhelmed that he could not smile back. Everything he'd wanted was right here, right now. He rose and motioned for her hand. She searched his eyes, ever cautious, making sure this was what they both wanted. It was a futile gesture. Nothing short of the end of the world could have prevented this. She was so alive at this very moment. She took his hand and slid out of the booth. Together they walked to and out of the front door. The humidity swarmed them, suddenly causing them to be aware of their bodies. Almost distractingly so. Hand in hand they strolled down the street.

He couldn't take it anymore. He pulled her into an alcove, and wrapped his arms around her body. The electricity from their fingertips now grounded in their spines. She closed her eyes and gasped, completely helpless, completely submissive. He sought her mouth. Warm, soft, full. They parted their lips simultaneously, and he claimed a long taste of her passion. Wet, demanding heat radiated through their bodies. They clutched at each other as is for their very lives.

He pulled back and regained his composure. "My room is right there." He pointed across the street.

She shook her head to clear the haze and exhaled. "Well, I can't wait forever," she coyly admonished. He looked at her with mischief, then mockingly growled. The tension broken, they laughed and hand in hand playfully cavorted across the street.

The air conditioning of the refurbished hotel diluted their passion for a moment, thankfully stalling them. The rich reds and golds of the interior glowed under the incandescent lighting. He led her up a stairway, past old paintings in ornate gilded frames, past wrought iron floor lamps, over Persian carpeting. The scent was faintly of strawberries.

The door to the room was unlocked. He walked in and lit a single small bulb on a dresser. The moonlight cascaded in through lacey curtains onto a floral patterned, quilted bedspread. She sat upon it, running her hand over the smooth surface. He was breath-taken. He was humbled that such beauty would deign itself his. Yet he knew what had already transpired between them could make it nothing but so.

Her eyes adjusted to the moonlight and traced its lacy shadows. All of it was so intense. She looked up to see him staring at her. His eyes were like deep pools, at once providing glimpses of an ancient soul far below, and reflecting her own on the surface. Her facades fell away in front of him, her stone-like protective visage crumbled into oblivion. This man knew her heart, and any doubts before now were erased at his touch. She shuddered as he walked to her.

Their lovemaking began slowly, then urgently, as each knew this would be their only night together. This one moment of joining bliss was some evil god's malevolent reward for years of isolation and longing torment. They knew in their souls the importance of this union, and they knew how fragile it was. The man devoured her submission, a gift of her trust in him. The woman absorbed his domination, his gift of everlasting protection. For although this reality was but a temporary one, each knew the other would always remember.

Once dove-like coos issued from the bed, as the woman melted under his tactile caresses. Then moans of ecstasy issued forth from two matched voices as their union sanctified for the first time. Then silence. Having tasted this immeasurable joy, they frantically began to comprehend the undercurrents of time. Mouths greedily sought skin, eliciting pleasure, pain, need, anything that would assure this living moment.

Hours passed by without measure. They lay exhausted, yet renewed in each others arms. The moonlight crept its way across the bed, back out the window. As a silent false dawn replaced its glow, the woman began to sob. He held her to his chest, a void of helplessness opening up in his soul. If he could just hold her like this forever...

But they both knew the outcome of this. Nothing could change it. She sat up, on the edge of the bed. He swept her hair back and gently kissed the nape of her neck. She leaned back into his arms, and their mouths met in such sweet agony that the world might have broken into pieces had it been allowed to witness its torment. She arose and dressed, casting a last longing look to her lover on the bed.

"You know I will always love you."

"And I, you. Eternally."

In slow motion, he watched her delicate hand turn the doorknob, then she exited his life forever. She walked back down the stairway, past the wrought iron, gilded frames and decadent carpets. They had lost their glow. She walked out into the dewy morning air, a cool breeze finally stirring. Not a soul watched her resolute retreat.

She was now gone from his side. He got up from the bed and went to the window. He opened it and, still naked, climbed out onto the stone ledge. He knelt, knees to his chin, waiting for her to appear on the street below. When she did, her followed her at first with his eyes, then stealthily along the ledge, to the corner of the old building. He watched as she stopped at the fountain. She removed her dress.

She dipped the garment into the water, and wrung it out over her body, savoring its almost shocking coolness. As the water trickled down, she turned her head, up to where she knew he would be. Her silent sentry, she thought, and smiled at him, one last time. Then she turned back to the fountain and climbed in. The water swirled playfully around her feet. She took up a graceful pose beside an urn from which water cascaded... and she ceased to exist as a flesh and blood creature.

He had not wanted to watch, but his hatred of this horrible existence they had been doomed to would not let go. With morbid fascination he silently waited as she slid into the fountain and turned her face to the uncaring sky. Then it was over. He raised his fist and let out a roar that shook the very earth. Nothing answered. In utter isolation, he walked out to the corner of the building and knelt. Semi-demonic features replaced the handsome human ones he had been granted for the night. Wings sprouted from his spine as he gripped the edge of the precipice with gnarled claws. And leaning out over the edge, with an agonizing look that became a hateful one, he too retreated into nothingness.

An eon of torment had manifested itself into one night of utter bliss, of utter love, of utter selflessness. A feeling was shared by the only two creatures who could appreciate its true value when granted.

Morning came. As the sunlight bathed the eternal lovers in their cold separation, humans again walked the street. They smiled meaningless smiles, as ignorant of the silent figures among them as they were of their own precious gift of flesh.

x x x



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