Rainy day encounter

by Amy C

I was listening to some vintage Karen Carpenter while puttering around my apartment – blind, of course! And her words just put me in a mood.

What I've got they used to call the blues:
Nothin' is really wrong;
Feelin' like I don't belong;
Walkin' around, some kind of lonely clown;
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

And that is pretty much how I feel. A storm front had cancelled my plans to go simming today. I don’t mind getting a little wet, but unexpectedly stepping into a deep puddle and filling my shoe with water and mud is not fun. Been there, done that – yuck!

This leaves me listening to sad music and performing domestic Goddess chores around the apartment. B-O-O-O-ring!

Ain't no sun 
Ain't no blue sky 
The wind blows cold 
Now that you've gone away 
And tomorrow just like today 
There's 100% chance of rain 

Okay, that's enough of that! My fingertips run over my CD collection and I find a Mindy Abair CD. I insert it and Flirt begins to play. Much better. My body moves in rhythm to the saxophone's notes.

I’ve had breakfast; the place is as clean as I care to make it today. I’ve read or listened to all my books – and I am going nuts!

Wandering around with my cane, I wind up in the bedroom and decide that a nap is in order. If I nap now, I reason, I can go out tonight after the rain passes. As I get comfy, cuddle to my stuffed dog, Mr. Cuddles, and begin to doze. I think how I crave a little excitement.

Sleep came for me, but I’m not certain how long. Before I could touch my watch one huge hand grabbed both of my wrists and another huge hand was placed over my mouth. A whispery voice said, “My sweet blind angel… you belong to me now!”

Just out of instinct, I struggled, but it was no use. This large guy had me trapped. I stopped struggling and he said, “Good.”

My left hand was taken and placed in a soft binder, and then my right hand was. My feet came next. I tried to speak but only a tiny squeak came out. My mouth opened but in fear I could not form words. Something large and metal went in my mouth and locked around my upper and lower teeth while pressing against my tongue locking it in place and I heard a ratchet work and my mouth was forced open wide. Speech was now impossible although I could probably scream if I wanted to experience more pain than I ever had before. There was no doubt that this guy could supply it.

Next something cold and steely ran up my leg and I recoiled. Snip, snip, snip… a pair of scissors went up the front of my nightgown. Panties went next and then my bra. Cool air from the ceiling fan touched my body and I felt his tongue licking me all over. Once again, I recoiled instinctively and he laugh-whispered at me. “Blind girl, so seductive and appealing, I have a dream about you and you have a dream for yourself. We can make each other's dreams come true. I can make you permanently blind and you can be my consort. Think on it.”

A weight left my body and the cool air returned. He left the room and I tried to get free. Not happening. From the sounds and feel, he used soft restraints, not cuffs or rope.

I think about his words – my dream, permanently blind! This man knows me, but no one knows about my secret. Well, he does, obviously, but how?

Blind? Permanently blind? How would he do it? Do I really want it? Do I want it to be a reality and not just a fantasy? His consort – does he mean his slave, his toy? Would he take me away as his captive or leave me here? Mom, my friends, my job – what about them?

My jaw began to cramp and I cried out. He came back and released the ratchet. I tried to speak, but it was hard for even me to understand. Suddenly it came out and reflexively, I thanked him.

“Have you thought about our dreams coming true?”

“Yes. How do you know me, my secrets? Who are you?”

“All you need to know is that I am your master from this time forward and you are mine. Your name henceforth shall be Dulcinea. I can treat you well, as a consort should be treated or I can treat you like a lowly slave to be used until you are used up. I can grant your wish and make you happy or I can remove those contacts and force you to see many, many things that no one should be forced to see. At home I have a chair and device that locks your head in place and your eyelids open. If you refuse me that is where you will spend your days until you give in and serve me willingly. Know this however; my offer to make you permanently blind is only good if you agree to be my consort today. I will not repeat the offer.”

“How would you do it?”

“Your eyes would be removed and replaced with beautiful artificial eyes, the color of your choosing. You would live your life on my arm, as we travel the world and visit the great places. I would describe them all for you. I am wealthy and powerful. I could arrange for you to tour the finest museums and touch exhibits that no one else is allowed to touch. You would hear the finest musicians, experience without sight great wonders. Only the finest jewelry and clothing would you wear. I will introduce you to royalty and the upper crust. You would want for nothing, but you would always be blind, and you will wear my collar. This collar, once placed on you can never come off.”

“What of my friends, my family?”

“You would have no one but me and my servants. You would be mine and mine alone. You may never leave me.”   

It was just too much to grasp. My fantasy and then some, but to be a slave?

Which do I choose?

If slavery is in my future, then I might as well make the best of it. I say, “If I am to be your Dulcinea, are you Don Quixote de la Mancha or Alonso Quijana?”

My wrists and ankles are free and he takes me in his embrace. “You will call me Marius, my Dulcinea.”

With that, his mouth moved to my neck and I felt that I might faint. I was so lightheaded, my senses were lost. Surely I was in a dream state when it felt like we were flying, but when I came to my senses there was no doubt that we were not in my apartment.

He said, “Dulcinea, soon the sun will rise and you have many questions. When next the sunsets, you shall have answers. For now, I bid you remove your contact lenses when I depart and spend the day enjoying your last vision. Never again shall you see sunlight or any other.”

He laid me on a bed and I heard a door close and lock securely. I pulled out the lenses and looked around. Stone walls, stone floors covered in fine rugs and a bed so soft it was like air. Through the window, the sun rose and I gasped as the light spread over the countryside. We were in Tuscany! I recognized it from Mom's vacation photos! How had we gotten here?

I sat on the window box for over an hour taking in the beauty of the Tuscan hills before I stirred around the room. A closet held designer gowns and dresses in my size, plus gorgeous renaissance-styled dresses in heavy velvet. A box filled with jewelry both new and old lay open on what I called a dresser and Europeans called an armadio.

A food tray lay open with lots of fruits and meats and cheeses, plus a crusty bread. All the creature comforts except for the locked door. Had I made the right decision? Had there been another one to be made?

These thoughts ran through my head all day long. I was having doubts. As the sun rose to mid day, the bolt on the door was thrown open and an ancient man in livery bade me to follow him. I’d changed into a Vera Wang party dress and Ferretti shoes that were like walking on butter. The old man led me down a long winding staircase, across a wide ballroom, through the kitchen and past the wine cellar. From there we went down, down, down and with each step my heart beat stronger until it threatened to seize up and quit.

We were in what can only be described as a dungeon. The old man opened a cell and waved for me to go inside. Once I had, he slammed the door behind me, threw the bolt and his footsteps echoed as he walked away.

There was a total absence of light, which ordinarily comforted me, but not now – not with questions unanswered and the sounds of rats nearby. I groped around until I found a wall and traced it until I came on a ring embedded into the wall with chains attached. The chains led to manacles.

I continued to follow the wall until I came on another ring and chains, but this one was attached to a dead person. I screamed as my fingers ran across the hair protruding from the skull. What had I gotten myself into? A rat ran across my foot and I screamed again.

MARIUS!!!

But he did not come.

I crawled to an empty corner and cried. What had I done? Was I to spend the rest of my life in darkness? How long would that be? I screamed and I cried until exhaustion set in and I slept.

When I awoke the chamber was still dark, but Marius was there; I could sense him. I sobbed, “Please… what have I done? Why am I here?”

“You had to know both fates, both destinies. You took me to consort, but it was un-knowing of what lie ahead. You still do not know all, but you know the finery that can be yours as well as the horror of this chamber. I would have you swear now to spend eternity at my side. If you refuse or be later foresworn this is where you will spend your life until the end of time. Here in fetid darkness.”

I rose, put my arms out and tried to home in on his voice. His arm reached out to me and embraced me, caressed me. “What will your answer be? Swear and live in luxury or spend eternity here in this place until you starve and scream for death which will never come.”

Blinking away tears and trying not to sob, I said, “I, Dulcinea, do most solemnly swear to be your consort, faithful and constant, so help me God.”

“Very well. Let us consummate your vow to me and let you see all things, though your eyes shall not leave this room.”

Before I could ask what he meant, I felt his fingers insert into my skull around my eyesockets and pull my right eye out. While I screamed, he pulled out the other one. Odd sparks of light registered and then darkness like nothing I’d ever experienced. I cried as he held my face in his strong relentless hands. He forced my empty eyesockets open and spat once in each one. I wanted to vomit, but the pain disappeared and my head cleared. He’d said they would be removed; he’d never sad how.

“Now, my lady fair, it is time to complete you, that you may come to a full understanding.”

With that he seized my shoulder and head and forced his face to my neck and bit deeply. I tried to stay standing, but I collapsed in his arms as my blood drained away. My heart pounded and ached in my chest. The pain was incredible! Just as I felt death approach, he asked, “Would you be mine forever and live? Or would you die here in this pit?”

I could not speak, but the thought I want to live! echoed in my mind. His wrist came to my lips and it was wet.

“Drink, my Dulcinea. Drink life everlasting.”

I did. I drank the salty blood – for there was nothing else it could be – and in my mind's eye, I saw Venice, and Rome, and a placed called Constantinople. I saw Egypt and the pyramids. I saw the woods of a place called Gaul. I saw the lights of Paris before there was electricity. Even then it was the City of Lights.

Just as the images went away it dawned on me that all the scenes I had beheld were night time scenes. Marius, the creature of the night; Marius, the blood drinker; Marius, the immortal had brought me into his world. And I understood all.

“Come, Dulcinea. The moon is barely risen and we have so much to see.”

For the first time, I heard his rich basso profundo voice and I realized that up until now, I’d heard his thoughts only. With unbelievable speed we ran up the stairs and out into the night. Marius wrapped his cloak around me and we took to the sky.

Even without eyes, I could sense the moon and the stars and the countryside. My vampiric senses more than made up for a lack of sight. Eternity waited for me and I didn’t need eyes to enjoy it!