Tales of Olsen

4

Our flight landed exactly at six fifteen in the morning and although it was a brand-new day, the demons of the previous night still haunted me.  My eyes went to my bag where I had stashed the drawings and the medallion. They were out of sight, but the knowledge of the existence left a bitter taste in my mouth and an uncomfortable coldness in the pit of my stomach. I had created these drawing and they had been important enough that it took three tries to get it perfectly. Although I had no recollection of any of these events that Jordan had described, I had no reason to doubt her. Things were getting stranger the more I thought about it. My most recent trip that old park was the most concerning. What if I never remembered that either and what if I started losing these memories? It was then that the thought occurred to me, I should write them down. This way, no matter what, I would have more than a drawing to describe what had happened in that deserted park earlier.

“Elo,” Jordan said in a low voice

I looked over at her to find her staring up at me. We were at baggage claim now and the siren was ringing signaling the arrival of the bags from our flight.

“Are you alright.” She asked with more concern than I thought necessary.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly, “what if I never figure out what all this means, what if I forget like I did all those times before?”

She was silent, and I knew these questions were too much for her. She knew as much as I did, which was almost nothing. For now, we needed to make it to our apartment to prepare for our week of orientation and introductory courses.

“We’ll figure things out,” I said patting her on the shoulder. Who knows, maybe it really was a dream.”

The smile on her face told me that she didn’t believe it, but she was willing to accept it for now.

“Or maybe the demons from hell are summoning us to do their bidding.” She said in her usual dramatic voice.

Although it was meant to be a joke, the hairs on my skin began to rise and my blood ran cold.

“Dear God Eloise, you’ve gone pale,” Jordan said aloud.

I knew my body was reacting to something unfamiliar, but I couldn’t tell what it was or why I felt this way. The last time I felt anything like this was when I had been in that park trying to find the medallion.

“I don’t know what’s happening,” I whispered trying to calm myself

“What’s gotten into you?” She whispered

“I have no idea” I replied staggering to the closest seat, “something must be wrong”

Jordan’s eyes flashed around the room before settling on a man who was watching us intently.

“Have you ever seen a creepier looking man?” she asked as if talking to herself, “why is he staring at us?”

The moment she asked the question, the man turned away and began walking briskly in another direction. He moved through the crowd with such ease that he didn’t even seem real. Once again, the voice in the back of my mind grew louder.

“He isn’t,” it said aloud

 That stunned me for a moment. I could see him, but it didn’t seem like others in the room could. The only other person who could see him was Jordan.

“What was that.” She asked looking at me as if she had seen a ghost.

“I wish I knew,” I replied feeling the heat rush back to my face.

Suddenly things began to return to normal and my heart didn’t feel as if it was about to escape my chest.

There was movement behind her and I saw her big orange suitcase rolling unto the conveyor belt.

“We should get our things and get out of here,” I whispered.

Jordan nodded, and it was all the encouragement we needed to get moving. It wasn’t long before we had all our things and started heading to the exit. My parents had ordered a car service to take us to the apartment and so there was a handsome older man dressed in a suit holding a sign with our names attached.

“That’s us,” Jordan said walking over to him and handing over her trolley of suitcases,

I shook my head pitying the poor man as he looked at the massive suitcases.

“Right this way,” he said

The car was waiting on the outside with another driver inside.

“Is this the first time for you girls in Boston.” The older man asked

“Not for me,” Jordan replied proudly, “my mother and I  have been here many times before.”

“Oh, well welcome to our great city,” he said mainly to me, “I hope you’ll love it here. It can be a mysterious place.

I looked up at him suspiciously trying to figure out if he had a deeper meaning to his words, but he simply began packing our bags into the car. Soon we were packed in and ready to hit the road.

The city of Boston was nothing like our little hometown, it was buzzing with life and youth. As we drove through the streets, there were people all around us. The older designs of the building juxtaposed with the newer designs made the move seem all too real. It wasn’t often I got to witness such beauty and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would love it here.

Half an hour later, we were pulling into the parking lot of our apartment complex. Jordan and I had chosen to live off campus but at a close enough distance that we could still have a campus life. The apartment was big enough for us both and in one of the better student neighborhoods. We had been fortunate enough to get scholarships and so our parents decided that the least they could do was pay for our apartments. My parents had taken it a step further with the car.

“Nice place,” the driver said stepping out of the car.

“Thanks,” Jordan replied, “we like it too.”

With little effort, he unloaded everything and dragged them into the main area.

“Will you girls be alright.” He asked

“We’ll be fine thank you,” Jordan said flashing the man a smile

He pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to her,

“In case you girls ever need anything,” he said

His smile was genuine but my mind was too focused on the new apartment. Having never lived away from home, the thrill of owning an apartment was almost too much to bear. It came partially furnished and I knew instantly that it would eventually become a mix of our two personalities.

“Let’s go in and check out the place,” Jordan said beaming,

She was just as excited as I was.

“First, I need some sleep,” I said pressing the elevator button for the fifth floor.

When the door opened it was clear that only one of us could go in at a time with our bags and naturally, I went first. The ride up to the fifth floor didn’t take long and luckily, our apartment was a stone’s throw from the elevator.

Dragging my bag over to the door, I fumbled for my keys. The elevator doors closed behind me and I knew Jordan would soon be hobbling in. I found the keys and opened the door to our new home for the next few years. Inside was almost bare but it was shockingly more spacious than we had imagined. Leaving my suitcases by the door, I walked in. Jordan came soon after and together we went through all the rooms.

“I get the bigger room,” I said aloud when we had gone through the entire place.

“Why?” Jordan asked

“Because the smaller room has a bigger closet,” I replied knowing she would never give up a deal like that.

 I could see the wheels turning in her mind.

“I know you’re trying to trick me into taking the smaller room,” she replied, “but fine, I’ll take the bigger closet.”

With that out of the way, we went and got our suitcases from the hallway. As I dragged the last of my bags inside, I saw something in the corner of my eyes. I couldn’t be sure if it was a person or if I was seeing ghosts again.

“Hey,” came a voice from behind me.

I spun around in a split second to find myself face to face with a godlike man standing before me.

“Hi,” I whispered softly.

“New here?” He asked

I nodded and although I knew it made no sense, I was having a hard time keeping my mouth closed.

“Nice to meet you,” he said stretching out his hand, “my name’s Keith”

“Keith,” I repeated, “I’m Eloise,”

Nice to meet you, he said flashing a wide smile

“I’m Jordan.”

We both turned to find her standing at the door wearing a sneaky smirk.

“Nice to meet you Jordan,” he replied, “I’m Keith, I hope you lovely ladies have a good day.”

Without another word, he was gone. Jordan and I watched in awe as he went.

“I don’t think that man is real,” she whispered, “no human being can be that gorgeous”

We both laughed and went into the apartment. As we continued to unpack my mind was suddenly filled with thoughts of this mysterious man in the hallway. At least I knew there were good looking men around.