No Art Deco

When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,' Then You scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions...

Job 7:13-14

The rustling outside of our tent wakes me. Supposedly, there's no wild beast out here, but I check on my four girls. They're sound asleep. For a moment I sit listening, then as soon as I start to lie back down the rustling starts again. I call Malika. Groggy she answers, "Hey Jade. What's up?"

I whisper, "Sorry to wake you, but do you hear anything moving outside your tent?"

Yawning she answers, "No. You're probably just spooked because we're outside in the woods."

"You're right. Good night. Sorry to wake you."

"It's okay sis. Good night."

As soon as I hang up from Malika, the rustling gets louder. Dear God protect us, I pray. It stops but I still feel uneasy. Quietly, I crawl to the tent's opening and unzip it. Is that a figure walking into the woods? Startled, I scoot backward but hurry and crawl back to my peephole to look out again. There's nothing but I'm entranced, staring at that same spot, trying to get my focus. I'm listening so intensely that I can hear bugs crawling. It's all in my mind because now I see nothing. I'm sure if I stare long enough I'll find something, so I shake myself. Here I am supposed to be the brave one teaching the kids not to be afraid of the dark, yet I'm up fearing bumps in the night. Seeing my girls still sound asleep, I laugh at myself.

Just as I return to my sleeping bag, I hear a female moaning in the distance. It's that high moan that sounds like a laugh at the end. It seems as if it's getting louder and closer. I return to my makeshift peephole watching and listening. My eyes are fixed on this trail opening into the woods. My heart's beating so fast that I hear it in my ears, so I stop breathing. Feeling light-headed I pause a moment more, then take a deep breath. As soon as I exhale, I hear that woman again. She's no longer moaning but sighing as if she's humming. The creepiness of her voice causes me to shiver. It's a moment of eerie silence then I hear her moaning further away. Motionless I listen until her voice is no longer heard, then I sit watching all night.

It's morning, but I haven't slept at all. I wake my girls and we shower. Everyone's now dressed and ready for breakfast. Four ministers, including myself, decided to take the children to camp. We have a small church in this small city in Michigan called Deep Woods. It's only twelve children in all. Eight girls and four boys. Ministers Blake, Malika, Toni, and I collectively planned this outing. We didn't do scary stories by the fire, we did bible stories. The children were able to have fun and learn. We only planned a weekend and now it's Sunday morning so we're headed to church.

"Did you sleep well, Jade?" Malika asks.

"No!"

"What a squirrel had you pleading the blood of Jesus all night?" Malika laughs.

"I wished, but seriously I peeked out and I thought I saw a man walking away. Now that could've been an illusion, but I heard some woman moaning!"

"Are you serious? Why didn't you wake Blake?"

"Well, the man was leaving. Plus I wasn't convinced anyone was even there."

"It was probably a ranger with his girlfriend. Was she moaning or cooing all night?" Malika teases.

"You're gross." I chuckle, shaking my head.

We finish breakfast, load up the van, and then head to church. I'm the last person to enter. As I head to the back seat I see a man standing in the woods.

"Malika look!" I shout. 

She turns to look, but he has disappeared into the trees.

"Jade, are you alright? You're scaring me now."

"I'm scaring myself. Get me out of here." I laugh.

Soon my laugh fades and I sit quietly for the remainder of the ride. After church Malika, Blake, and I go out to eat. I enter and greet the bartender Phillip. He says hello but he's engrossed with this news story. Deep Woods campsite had two gruesome murders last night. A father and son camping by the lake were dragged from their RV and mauled.

"Oh my God! We were there last night!" I gasp.

Phillip turns facing me saying, "That's crazy! There are no bears or lions in Deep Woods! What in God's name could've done that?"

Malika and Blake run over to the bar. "Is that the man you saw last night, Jade?" Blake asks.

"I don't know! But I thought I saw him this morning too, so the murdered man can't be the guy I saw, right?"

"You probably saw the murderer!"  Malika gasps, wide eyed .

"You think you can give the police a description?" Phillip asks.

"No! I never saw anyone. I simply thought I saw a man's figure is all I said."

We stayed at Phillip's Bar and Grill for a few hours talking about this story. Everyone in our small city must've come there to hear me tell of how I saw absolutely nothing. Finally, I'm home. Although I'm safe and sound I feel weird. I guess knowing I was so close to a murder and seeing this mysterious figure has left me feeling icky. 

I try to rest my mind so I go out to my balcony and admire the sun setting over beautiful Lake Saint Clair. Now lying on my lounger, I fall asleep. Heaving, I wake up from a nightmare. After a careful pan of my surroundings, I hurry inside, locking my doors and closing the blinds. I dreamt I was back in my tent in the woods and this man entered. He was very handsome, but he had glowing neon eyes and his face was covered in blood. He entered the tent and glanced over my girls. I was in my sleeping bag peeking from underneath the covers when his eyes met mine, then I woke up!

It's three in the morning. I fell asleep around eight last night, so I've had enough rest. I put on my teapot and then turned on the television. This local story is now on the world news. The man and his son were brutally murdered. Every limb was removed. Their organs were removed. They were even decapitated. Seems there was no weapon yet they were ripped apart. This small wooded area doesn't have any dangerous animals so obviously some wild beast has crossed our borders. Fortunately, the government has called in the military and has closed the campsite until they have answers. 

This is comforting because our city is only twenty minutes away from the woods. I'm watching horrified, then I think to myself, Ugh! The news is always bad! I cut off the television, make myself tea, and then relax. 

Although I've been up all night I'm very excited to go to work. I'm an interior designer. I'm also an aspiring millionaire. I make decent money and I've even done a few celebrity homes. Although Deep Woods is a small city many wealthy people live here. I stay in a condo off the lake, but outside of my condominiums, this lake is lined with multimillion-dollar mansions. My church is fairly small, but at least half the membership is very wealthy.

Blake is an engineer and he's been building a relationship with one of the top executives in his corporation. This executive just recently built a new mansion off the lake and Blake told him I could decorate it. I will meet him this morning.

"Now remember you're saved, Jade!" Blake teases.

"What does that mean?" I ask snickering.

"How far are you from Mr. Black's home?"

"I'm driving up his mile-long driveway as we speak."

Blake chuckles, "Well, you'll see what I mean in five minutes. Be professional. Love you, bye." 

Mr. Black's home is fabulous. The landscape is perfection. I'm excited yet very intimidated by this job, so I take a deep breath and then ring the doorbell.

"Ms. Warring? Hello, I'm Tristan Black. Pleased to meet you."

"Hello, Mr. Black. P-Pleased to meet you as well. Please call me Jade." I stammer out.

"Okay call me Tristan." He chuckles.

Oh my God! He is gorgeous! I know the look on my face is of sheer amazement. He's tall and fit. He has on a black t-shirt and black khaki shorts, with black gym shoes trimmed in turquoise. He's wearing a black Detroit baseball cap. Although it's down slightly covering his face, I can still see that he is flawless! From behind I can tell he has a buzzed haircut. When he laughed, he flashed a set of perfect luminous white teeth with no overbite. His skin is a golden tan, and his hands are manicured but a little rugged. Although he looks like a model, he has an edge to him. He's nice and manly.

"Jade, don't let my home deceive you. I'm an outdoor man. If it weren't for my job I'd live in a cabin. I want a homey-looking home, and please no Art Deco. Yuck!" He frowns.

Laughing I think, he's so friendly. He's way too rich and way too hot to be this nice. It's an act. I'm following him all giddy and flirtatious then I see Alexandria. All the life goes out of my face I'm sure.

"Jade, this is Alexandria, but we call her Alex."

"Hi, Alex." I greet with a smile of defeat.

Grinning she says, "Hi Jade. ...Tristan, I have to go. Remember we meet on the yacht at six. Please, baby, don't be late!" 

Alex kisses Tristan and then leaves.