Chapter 8


    "Okay, he we are." Audra pleasantly announced as she parked her blue, 1973 Monte Carlo in front of a


    three story apartment building.


    Charles sat in the passenger''s seat and looked out the window at the aged building in a subtle, if not


    somewhat passive re as to say that the tenement wasn''t what he expected.


    Slowly climbing out of the car with his cane in hand, Charles watched as Audra, dressed in a pair of


    brown corduroy pants and an orange jacket, practically raced around the vehicle to open the trunk.


    "Now don''t you go gettin'' my bags for me!" Charles limped over towards the woman. "I am perfectly


    capable of carrying my own stuff." The man politely smiled as he secured his two duffle bags from


    Audra.


    Smiling right back, Audra said, "Okay, but don''t you go trying to climb those stairs without me." She


    shut the trunk and walked beside Charles.


    The sharp, morning wind scooted both individuals up five stone steps that led to the front door of the


    brick building. Audra pushed open the door and held it for Charles behind her.


    "This door is left unlocked until 8 p.m." Audra exined. "Everyone has their own key, so if you need to


    get in then it shouldn''t be a problem."


    "I understand." Charles graciously made his way inside. "Shucks, at my age, I''m in the bed at 8 p.m."


    He snickered.


    "Me, too," Audraughed back.


    Charles stood for a moment or two and examined the downstairs area where to his immediate right


    was ten mailbox slots. Straight ahead was the kitchen, as well as another door just shy of the


    threshold.


    "As you can probably tell, this is the second floor." Audra presented. "I already put your name on your


    own mailbox.


    "Thank you very much." Charles grinned.


    "Down that way is the kitchen. Now, each apartment has its own icebox and stove, but the kitchen is


    primarily used for the big meals like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter."


    "I see." Charles nodded his head.


    "And that door there leads down to the basement." Audra pointed. "We have a few folks in here that


    keep their bikes down there. We actually had a woman that tried to hide her Doberman down there


    once."


    "Are you serious?" Charles looked shocked.


    "Oh yes, I had to kick her behind outta here."


    All of the sudden, both Charles and Audra spun around at the moring of what sounded like feet


    tumbling down the stairs next to them. Charles staggered back a bit to see just what was happening.


    "Oh, it''s you!" Audra caught herself.


    It was a young, white man with a curly, brown afro who was clothed in an all blue jogging suit and


    tennis shoes.


    "Oh, sorry, Mrs. Watson, I was just on my way out." The man suddenly stopped short of the front door.


    "Robin, I want you to meet Mr. Mercer."


    "How are you, sir?" Robin dly extended his right hand.


    "Good to meet you, young fe!" Charles gregariously greeted the boy with a hearty handshake.


    "Mr. Mercer is gonna be staying in room six."


    "Oh yeah," Robin lit up. "That''s right next to me."


    "Well, that''s good to know!" Charles eximed as he studied Robin from head to toe.


    "Well, I gotta get out and get running." Robin began for the front door.


    "Get running?" Charles questioned. "Gettin'' your exercise in?"


    "Something like that, sir. You see, I''m training for the Olympic


    "You don''t say!" Charles grew bright-eyed.


    "Yes, sir, it''s been a dream of mine ever since I was a kid, or at least ever since Bruce Jenner."


    C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org.


    "Oh, the fe on the cereal box," Charles smirked.


    "That''s right." Robinughed. "Well, everyone have a good day, and it was great meeting you, sir!"


    Robin said as he bolted out the door.


    "I''ll see ya around, young fe!"


    "He''s a good boy." Audra began for the upstairs. "Always runnin'' around here and there."


    "He''s a good boy, a good boy indeed." Charles followed in behind.


    "Can you make it up alright?" Audra turned with a worried face.


    "I''ll make it the best I can." Charles strained up the tall steps.


    "I''m sorry that all the rooms are upstairs." Audramented as she made it to the third floor.


    Meeting her, Charles said, "Now you stop apologizing, this ce is like a castle to me. Besides, the


    doctor said that I need all the exercise I can get. So those steps will do just fine."


    Audra carried on down the hallway with Charles bringing up the rear. With every door that they passed


    there seemed to be a different story attached. One door had The Floaters'', ''Float On,'' ying behind it,


    while another door had the smell of chicken frying on the other end.


    To Charles, and after so many months, everything that surrounded him was aplete and utter


    mystery. All the shut doors might as well have been dungeons as far as his superstitious intuition was


    concerned.


    "Here we are." Audra stood in front of apartment number six with a key ready to unlock the door.


    Charles waited and watched as she opened the door and stepped right in. Inside was a small stove, a


    couple of cabs above it and an icebox, while in another room adjacent from the tiny kitchen was


    what appeared to be the living area,plete with one couch, a small table beside it and a television in


    front of the couch.


    "Everything is self-exnatory as you can tell." Audra said.


    "It''s a whole lot bigger than myst ce, I can assure you that." Charles grinned from ear to ear.


    "Beyond that door is the bedroom." Audra directed. "Thest gentleman that was here made sure to


    keep the ce in good shape before he left."


    Charles just stood in the middle of the kitchen floor and gazed all around at his new environment with


    the same subtlety that he carried with him out of the car moments earlier. On the outside he was


    marveling, while on the inside he was falling.


    "I sure do hope and pray that you enjoy yourself here." Audra handed the key to Charles.


    "I''m quite sure I will, Mrs. Watson." He happily took the key.


    "Now wait a minute, you and I have known each other since July, and you''re still calling me Mrs.


    Watson. Why is that?"


    Blushing, Charles replied, "Well, that''s just the way I see it."


    Taking Charles by the hand, Audra leaned forward and said, "You can call me Audra. This is your home


    now."


    Charles humbly nodded before looking around some more and saying, "Now, I''m gonna tell you


    something, Mrs....Audra. I don''t n on just sitting around here and doing nothing morning, noon and


    night." He adamantly stated. "I n on going down to that little diner on the corner and seeing if they


    have anything open. Add to the fact that I get my early retirement, too."


    "But what about your condition," Audra looked concerned.


    Patting her on the hand, Charles replied, "I''ll make do with that."


    Audra ced her hands on her hips and stared around the apartment for a while before focusing back


    on Charles.


    "I''ll tell you what, we need a maintenance man around here. Thest one we had couldn''t seem to stay


    off the booze."


    "I know how to fix stuff." Charles'' eyes grew two sizesrger with excitement.


    "That''s good, and it definitely beats having to go out and look for work. You pick up the maintenance


    duties around here and we''ll see what we can do about your ren


    Charles just red back at Audra with a suspicious hint in his eyes, as though he could sense that the


    gears in her head were moving at lightning speed.


    "It''ll all work out for the better." She pressed her lips together.


    "I surely appreciate it, Audra. By the way, do you have a phone here? I wanna try and see if I can talk


    to my grand boy for a while."


    "It''s downstairs right before youe to the kitchen."


    "Good, good." Charles sighed. "I haven''t seen that little scratch in months."


    The two quietly stood opposite each other for at least ten seconds before Audra turned and began for


    the door.


    "I gotta go and see how Mrs. Howell in room four is doing." Audra mentioned. "She has Alzheimer''s


    and I don''t like leaving her alone for too long."


    "I surely understand." Charles hobbled over to the door. "And, Audra, thank you." He whispered.


    Audra herself just blushed as she turned and walked out. Charles shut the door all the way before


    turning back around and standing. The man remained in ce for the longest time, breathing in and out


    before picking up both of his bags and carrying on into the bedroom to find a perfectly made bed and a


    bureau seated right beside it. He ced his bags onto the floor before sitting his weary body down on


    the bed. There was a window in front of him that overlooked the still quiet, inner-city neighborhood. The


    sounds of children running to their school buses and freeway traffic growing increasingly louder had no


    choice but to enter into the bedroom.


    Charles dropped his head into his hands and stayed that way for a few minutes before raising back up


    and unzipping one of his bags. From within he pulled out a framed picture of his wife and son before


    cing it on the bureau next to his bed. He then took out two books and sat them both beside him on


    the bed.


    "Well, here we are again, you two." Charles thoughtfully mumbled at the picture.


    He sat and stared at the frame until a car''s horn from outside the window shattered his attention. It was


    a bit chilly inside the room, but with his jacket still on, Charles wasn''t in any particr rush to cut on the


    radiator, instead, heid down on the bed and looked up at the brown ceiling and id wallpaper that


    covered it.


    Ever since being inside the hospital for the past few months the man had the energy of an entire


    football team on Superbowl Sunday, but at that instant, inside his room, all that exuberance had


    vanished. All he could do was be a permanent fixture upon the bed he was upying. In his ears


    were varying sounds from outside and within the building, but all he could focus on was what was


    lingering about inside his own head. As bad as he wanted to get out of the hospital, was just as much


    as he wanted to leave his new home; suddenly, everything was non-existent.


    Ever so hesitantly Charles turned his eyes down at the books that were lying beside him on the bed.


    For a moment the man was uncertain on whether or not he should even entertain the idea of picking


    the books up, but after so much shifty eye movements his right hand just couldn''t contain itself any


    longer. Charles reached and pulled forward both books. He lifted one which on the cover read ''Shape-


    Shifting in the 20th Century.'' While the other title bore the name, ''Lycanthropy: Real or Hoax?''


    All Mr. Mercer could do wasy and stare dolefully at the books before his right hand grew too tired to


    hold them up any longer. Just the thought of having the books near him caused his body to spasm all


    over. The very subject was so beneath him, and yet, the books were still there beside him waiting to be


    read.


    In a mighty stretch Charles draped both of his arms across the bed to where they were dangling off to


    the sides. He remained that way for about a minute, rxing his drowsy eyes before his mind ultimately


    stumbled upon an explicit memory from a specific time ago. Every so gradually, he lifted both arms


    back to his chest before looking over and down at both sides of the floor and exhaling. The manid


    there in his bed for what seemed like, at least in his head, an eternity, before rolling over onto his side.


    "Lord...where am I?" He sighed so wearily.


    Charles wallowed about on the bed for a while before eventually sitting up and wiping his drowsy face.


    He sat and gazed all around the bedroom before getting up and taking his cane with him into the living


    room. Charles stood directly in the middle of the floor and just studied the small space from one end to


    the other in a sulking dismay, as to say that his surroundings were caving in on him. Soon, both of his


    hands began shaking right where he stood.


    He made a move towards the door. Before long, he found himself out in the hallway. Charles shut the


    door behind him and quietly crept down the hall past one door after another. Behind one door he could


    hear Audra and anotherdy converse, while beyond another he overheard a telephone ring


    incessantly. Charles kept on until he reached the stairs where he staggered on down and looked


    around the area for a moment or two.


    Past the mailboxes on the wall and into the kitchen he ventured right up until he met the basement


    door. Charles stood and stared at the white door in a sullen boldness; skittish, but far from afraid. Soon,


    he could hear someone begining down the stairs above him. That was when he swiftly opened the


    basement door and descended down the steps one by one until he made it to the very bottom. His right


    hand reached over and searched the wall until it connected with the switch.


    Instantly, the entire basement exploded with light. Directly in front of Charles was an old, huge furnace


    where he noticed the pilot light simmering from within its caged enclosure.


    To his right was a collection of boxes of all sizes and three bicycles parked right in front of them, while


    to his left was awnmower and other garden utensils. He even saw an extra mattress lying just shy of


    a tool cab where only a hammer rested.


    Just then, the fire from the furnace began to roar to life. Charles stood and watched the blue and


    orange mes inside the cage grow with such intensity.


    "Okay...here I am." Charles grunted. "I know you''re here in this ce with me. I know you''ve been


    hunting me down. Take me out now while you can."


    Charles stood and gawked all around at the basement where only he was scooting about. "You''ve been


    waiting for me to get out of that hospital; waiting for the right moment. Well...now is that time."


    But still no movement or action of any kind urred. The man''s heart didn''t even race or skip a single


    beat.


    "I''ll be seeing you around then...real soon." Charles defiantly grumbled as he turned and began for the


    stairs.


    He cut off the light switch and waited for a few seconds in the dark before heading back. Even before


    he could clear the steps, Charles could feel a seething heat slither down his back.