Blushing Pilgrims

It had been a supremely romantic evening. Actually, the whole day had a certain charm about it. A chance meeting upon a sunny beach on a Croatian island that concluded with a dinner invitation. The accepted invitation lead the girl to his campsite overlooking the blue sea marked only by the lighthouse on its own private island. As the sun went down a delectable feast was cooked over the campfire, which provided light for the red wine and singing that followed the meal. Everything went so well up to that point, but then she had to return to her hostel.

He offered to walk her back into town since it was dark and his campsite was a bit on the outskirts. As they were hiking down the hill through the trees she stumbled. Despite having imbibed a good amount of wine, or perhaps because of it, he reacted quickly enough to catch her before she could fall. In the darkness he held her firmly and closely. She could feel his breath on her face as he leaned closer.

The kiss was not over quickly, nor did hands stand still waiting for it to finish, but just as the sun had inevitably set, so too did the embrace have to come to an end. They broke apart, breathless, staring at each other in the darkness. She could not truly see him, but she knew he was smiling; so was she. They resumed their trek down the hill holding hands in silence.

They reached the road and strolled in the direction of town. Out from underneath the trees, the sky, full of stars, was open above them. Necks craned back, they moved slowly. He stole a glance and saw the sinew of her neck bathed in moonlight. Feeling an uncontrollable urge bubbling up, he quickly looked back to the night. All too soon the lights of the city began to intrude on the glory of the universe’s lights.

As soon as they entered town proper the walk seemed to go by in a blur. It seemed like mere seconds from when they had exited the woods of the hill to when they were at the gate of her hostel. Not many words beyond little murmurs of awe at the magnificence of the constellations had been uttered thus far, but after a long embrace and a short kiss, she told him to wait. With a playful look, she spun and ran through the gate into the courtyard. She pointed to a bench below a tulip tree, grinned broadly and disappeared inside. Smiling, feeling lighter than a balloon, he sat and waited.

Five minutes went by that did not see her return. With nothing to distract him, he could feel the wine fuzzily in his head. He was not sure what she was doing that took so long, but he closed his eyes and resolved to wait a bit longer.

His eyes snapped open. Unsure how much time had passed, he stood and stepped toward the open door to the hostel. Unfortunately, just inside the hallway turned and he could see nothing, although there was a light on somewhere that was a spilling yellowish glow in his direction. Sighing, he walked out the gate and sat on the curb. He stared up at the stars and meandered through the pleasurable memories of the night.



She pointed to the bench and skipped into the hostel. The lamp in the hallway was on, just as the landlady has promised her, and lit the way to her room at the end of the hall. The door to her room swept open silently as she pushed it. She reached for the light switch, but froze when she thought she saw something shift in the corner. Staring intensely at the corner, she could feel the wine pounding in her head.

Convinced that her imagination was going the way of wild things, she decided she did not even need the light. She climbed onto the bed on her hands and knees to get to her duffel on the far side. In the center of the bed her progress was brought to a rude halt. Immediately after she felt a sudden pressure on the mattress behind her, a rough cloth was thrust between her teeth. The cloth prevented her from being too loud, but she was too shocked to scream anyway. As the person holding the gag pulled her back into a standing position off the bed, she watched the shadow in the corner detach itself from the wall.

She heard a metallic click and a silver blade shone dully in the darkness of the room, floating in front of the silhouette as it crept nearer. The thumping of her heart set a counter tempo to the throbbing of the wine in her head and her body began pumping adrenaline in excessive amounts. She did not waste any energy on making a sound.

She snapped her head back, felt the crunch of a nose breaking and her captor crumpled, pulling her down. As soon as she hit the floor she rolled to the side and tried to determine where the other figure was. She peered over the bedcovers. The corner was empty.

If the light had been on, there would have been no way the knife would have missed. Fortunately, in the darkness she blended in with the bed enough that the blade just missed her neck as it flew in the wall with a dull thunk. She sprang over the bed, mouth twisted with a silent snarl, not sure about the direction.

The shadow was not ready for such bold aggression and even though her thrust was not in precisely the right direction, the movement was startling enough to prompt action. She hit the floor, balled and rolled to the corner as the figure bolted for the door. She pushed off the wall in a full dive.

A shadowed hand touched the door. She was fully horizontal floating over the bed. The hand pushed, the hinges began to respond, silently. Her fingernails grazed dark, rough cloth. An instant later she was on top of the black figure in the hallway. Her attacker’s head was buried six inches into the plaster wall. She sat on her knees, straddling the unmoving body. Her chest heaved as she tried to calm herself amidst the cacophony of her pounding heart and screaming head. Her ears heard nothing.



Having gone over the complete day in his mind and finding no fault in any of his actions, he sighed and rose. He cast a final glance back through the gate at the hostel door before turning back toward his distant campsite. The wine was slowly ebbing as he went around the corner and his thoughts turned toward lonely sleep.



Her breathing under control, she walked calmly back into her room. She stepped over the body of her other assailant and picked up her duffel. It only took a few moments of rummaging around to find what she was looking for. She pocketed the object and brushed her fingers through her hair briefly.

The hallway lamp did not lighten the shadow that had been her attacker. She walked past the body without a glance and exited the hostel through the front door. The bench where she had wanted him to wait was empty. Her heartbeat slowed even more. Leaning her head against the dark bars of the gate, she did not see him in the street. Her shoulders slumped as she turned back toward the hostel with a sigh.