The Mysterious Visitor by Nicolaas Klotz - HTML preview

The Mysterious Visitor

Heading home

Emily is really excited today, overflowing with happiness and with good reason as she hasn't been home for three years. This brilliant medical student finished her semester and is packing for home. Although she hasn't been back to the farm for some time she keeps in contact with her family.

Here on campus everyone is seen walking around with backpacks or a travelling suitcase. The packing needs to occur rather quickly because of the bus that Emily needs to get onto for her journey.

She grabs some of her essential things to pack as well as a few pieces of clothing. It is neatly placed in the travelling suitcase. She is ready to go and in the meantime feeling butterflies in her stomach. Her longtime boyfriend will be giving her a lift to the bus terminal. She met Mark on campus in her first year of university.

Emily walks with a fast pace from the building where she stays and greets some students passing by. She knows a lot of students here and for her it is like a second home away from home. Walking through the luscious trees and passing green lawns she notices Mark sitting in his yellow Jeep with a smile on his face.

As she approaches he jumps out to open the back door of the vehicle. She runs into his arms and he hugs her tight kissing her on the cheek.

Mark: "Well are you prepared for the long journey back home Em?" He knows she has been talking about it forever but needs to ask.

Emily "Yes sure can't wait to see my family again" She is very close to her family and an only child. Because of that she is very fond of animals and the farm where she grew up. After loading her bags both get into the jeep and speed off.

Travelling a short distance Mark wants to know: "Are you going to miss me?"

Emily: "Of course Mark you know that you are very special to me"

Mark: "It's good to hear; just making sure" having a friendly expression on his face. He knows that they are just playing with words. Both of them are really fond of each other.

Driving from the campus grounds they pass over a river that divides the university from the highways that lead to the city. Mark steps on the gas pedal and Emily can feel the fresh air blowing through her red hair. She closes her eyes and experiences the sun slightly burning her tanned skin.

They have been travelling for twenty minutes now and the city is starting to come into view; skyscrapers filling the skyline ahead. Emily hasn't told her parents that she is on her way to visit. She would like to surprise them. Driving into the city the reality of traffic, people and noise awakens Emily's relaxed state of mind. It is just a few blocks to the bus terminal and Emily looks with a slight twist of her head towards Mark that is busy driving. She knows that she is going to miss him more than she's leading on.

The yellow jeep is approaching the last road that leads to the terminal. Mark makes a quick right turn and parks. There is a silence and both stare in front of them.

Mark: "Well Em this is it"

Emily has never been good with goodbyes.

She flips her head a way from Mark and gets teary eyed. They get out of the jeep. Mark opens the back door and unloads the baggage. They start walking towards the bus that is boarded by some passengers. Emily grabs Mark's hand and squeezes it tightly. After the bus operator has loaded all the passengers' bags and cases it is time for the final goodbye.

Emily turns towards Mark and lunges forward and grabs him around the neck. He pulls her near, hugs her and kisses her passionately for a while. They look deep into each other's eyes and Emily starts walking to the door of the bus, and slowly let go of his hand.

Emily makes her way into the bus and takes her seat that is at the window. She looks down at Mark and puts her hand on the window to act as a goodbye gesture. The bus slowly pulls away and Mark thinks to himself that Emily is the best thing that has ever happened to him.

The bus is slowly disappearing between all the cars and trucks that are around. Mark walks to his jeep jumps in and starts the vehicle. Making a U-turn he is heading back to the varsity to pack his own stuff before leaving in a few days. He will be heading to the coast a few thousand miles from where Emily is going,

The journey

The bus has left the city behind and Emily settled in by leaning her head against the window. The interstate bus is not fully occupied with passengers so Emily is sitting next to an open seat. There is no one to speak to. While looking outside she can see the beautiful landscape passing by; green valleys and rolling hills in the distance. It's a bright blue-sky day. The landscape that the bus is heading towards is nothing like the area that she is traveling to.

Her home is made up of miles of patches of cornfields as far as the eye can see. She will be travelling through the night to reach her destination.

As the night sky starts to grow darker Emily reaches for a sandwich in her backpack. Finished eating and drinking some water she makes herself as comfortable as possible. By closing her eyes, she can hear the bus motor running at a constant speed. There is no movement on the bus at this time and everyone wants to sleep a bit. Mark comes into her thoughts and she thinks of everything that has happened during the day. She drifts away and falls asleep. The bus is travelling in darkness up and down through passes and valleys.

Emily is awakened by the sound of the bus coming to a halt at a filling station. The bus operator is refueling the bus. The sun is slowly emerging behind a huge nearby mountain. Considering the sleeping conditions on the bus Emily is well rested. She knows from now on the valleys and trees will become a distant memory as the bus is on its way to the countryside. Although the journey will continue into the afternoon, Emily is wide awake and looks around to see what the others are up to. Some people are still asleep or in a slumber. It is still a long way to travel, but Emily can feel the excitement building up in her. The bus is not destined to pass by Emily's farm but is going straight to the terminal in town which is situated approximately thirty miles from the farm. After some hours travelling one can finally see the town that Emily knows so well, approaching. Through the years not much has really changed back here. Emily almost knows the whole community that lives in the town. The bus approaches the terminal and slowly parks. The engine is switched off and a silence is felt by everyone. Slowly the passengers slowly gather their hand luggage. Emily also gets her belongings and falls into a queue and waits to exit the bus. When stepping off the bus a sudden heat wave hits Emily from the front. It certainly is summer in this part of the world.

Emily doesn't really have a plan to get to the farm yet. She is counting on a ride along with someone she knows from town. After collecting the bigger pieces of her baggage from the bus she starts walking towards some of the shops in town. She is happy to not have made this journey on a Sunday; one would be entering a ghost town.

Arriving home

The long journey has by now slightly tired her. She walks to Jim Doyle's general wholesale shop that supplies the local farming community with most of their needs. She enters the shop and walks to the counter. Jim is nowhere to be seen and she is met by an assistant.

Assistant: "Hi can I help you?"

Emily: “Yes is Jim here?"

Assistant: "Sure I will go and call him for you"

Emily:" Thank you"

After a few minutes an old man that struggles to walk appears around the corner. When he sees Emily, Jims face lit up.

Jim: “My goodness Em is that you?"

Emily: "Yes Jim it's me Emily"

Jim: "Good to see you after all this time"

Emily: "Yes it has been a while, I came back to visit my parents"

Jim:" They are going to be very surprised"

Emily: “That is the idea"

Jim: “How are you going to get to the farm?"

Emily: "Well I was hoping to..."

Jim: “Wait dear I might be able help you"

Emily "Okay"

Jim: “Bill came to town to buy some logs for the extra barn he is building. I think he is going to leave sometime soon. You can catch a ride with him"

Emily:" That will be great Jim"

Jim reaches for the old style telephone on the counter. He makes a call to Bill, asks him for the favor and ends the conversation.

Jim:" All done, Bill will be leaving in 10 minutes."

Bill is a good friend of Emily's parents and a neighboring farmer. He also knows Emily very well.

Jim:" Are you sure you don't want to buy some chickens before leaving" slightly laughing

Emily knows why he is asking this question. When she was little Jim gave her some chickens to raise. The chicken raising didn't go to well because of the family cat that intervened in the process.

Emily just laughs "No thanks I am not good with chickens"

Jim: “Em I am just fooling around"

Emily:" Yes I know Jim" Emily blushed a bit.

Jim: “Well dear you need to meet Bill to catch that lift"

Emily "Thanks Jim for everything I will be seeing you"

Jim: “Take care Em"

Emily turns around and walks out of the shop.

Jim is an old man being in his eighties he still runs his own business. His wife, Molly passed a few years ago. Jim decided not to sell the shop but to stay busy instead. Most, if not all of the farmers in the area knows Jim.

Emily recognizes Bill standing near his pickup loading the logs. Bill sees her and approaches Emily.

Bill: “Hi, Em glad to see you"

Emily:" Hallo Bill long time since I have been here"

Bill: “Yes you are like a stranger"

Emily: “Yes varsity is far off"

Bill: “Well we have to get going, you can put your bags in the cab"

They both get into the truck and head to the farm. On the way Bill tells Emily everything that has been going on in the farming community while she was absent. Finally, they reach the farm gate that is a few yards from the road that passes the farm.

Emily thanks Bill gets her belongings. She gets out waves at Bill and he drives off. Emily walks to the large heavy gate and slowly opens it. After closing it she starts walking towards the farm house that is 700 yards away. She is finally home a place that she knows very well. Many days have she stood at the gate waiting for the school bus to pick her up. That was back in the day and feels like a far off memory.

On both sides of the path large trees form a kind of a channel to the property.

While carrying her bags and suitcase a slight breeze moves through the trees and the sky is partly cloudy.

Walking she thinks back to all the games she played by herself her on the farm. She had a wonderful childhood while growing up.

Her father was part of her first driving lesson using this long driveway. Continuing on she knows that her parents might not be at home.

Her father travels a lot for business purposes. He usually lets her mother join him on those business trips. Emily's father Eric doesn't need to live from the land like in the past. The family just live here on the farm because they love the lifestyle and the city just won't do. Half way up the driveway on the right hand side a neighboring farmer's cornfield starts. This huge patch of cornfield is almost due for harvest. The corn plants are standing exceedingly tall. You are not able to see the neighboring farmer's house that is about two miles away.

Emily reaches the porch of the house that is elevated by three steps. She stands in front of the large wooden front door. The door is in the middle of two even larger windows.

Emily rings the bell to find out if someone is home. After five minutes of waiting and ringing the bell numerous times it is evident that nobody's home.

Emily steps off the porch and moves to the front garden. She feels underneath a particular stone for the spare keys of the house. She finds the keys, unlocks the door and walks inside. She puts down all her belongings on the wooden floor closes and locks the door.

The visitor

There is an overwhelming silence that follows while standing still staring past the two rooms. If one passes the two large rooms a huge open plan TV entertainment area open up and behind it an oak style kitchen. Situated next to the kitchen entrance a stairway with wooden floor boards are located. It is a bit dark in the house because some of the curtains are closed. After briefly pausing and looking at her surroundings Emily walks to the kitchen. There she opens the fridge pours herself a glass of bottled water. While drinking the water she walks up the stairs. On the second floor there are four bedrooms. The second room on the left from the stairs was her bedroom. She looks down the passage seeing the main bedroom at the end far from the staircase.

On the right side a full large bathroom is situated and another bedroom further down the passage. Emily walks down the passage and with a sharp left turn enters her bedroom. She notices that everything in the room is neatly packed away and in place. There is a door in her bedroom that leads to a small balcony. She unlocks the door and goes outside - Emily's room is the only room in the house with a balcony. She can clearly see the roof of the neighboring farmer's home in the distance, far on the other side of the cornfield.

She stares over the large patch of cornfield for a few minutes. The cornfield also covers a large part way past Emily's house to the back. To the back of the farmland there are approximately thirty large trees on a small hill a mile away.

It is between the trees where her dad used to keep bees for honey. Emily doesn't know if there are any bees still buzzing around their man-made hives anymore.

Emily closes the balcony door and locks it. She visits every room on the level to make sure all the windows are properly closed.

The windows are closed because when she stood on the balcony she saw that the weather was changing. Dark clouds were building up in the direction of the trees on the hill. Usually when this happens a storm is on the way. The family has experienced numerous thunder storms throughout the years.

Emily returns to the staircase and proceeds to the top floor of the house. This area is just one large open space with no ceiling giving the impression that the room is bigger than it actually is. The room is furnished with entertainment equipment and couches that provides ample seating. The room is purposely arranged in this way to provide accommodation for when extended family would come and visit for a few days.

After her tour through the property Emily fetches her belongings and packs it away. She goes and sits in the TV room on one of the leather couches. It's becoming even darker outside as the storm is approaching. It is also late afternoon and dusk is starting to set in. Emily switches on the television and flips through the channels. After finding a channel that is about wild live in Alaska, she gets up and walks to the kitchen. In the freezer she finds a ready meal and microwave's it. Returning to the couch with a bowl and a glass of water she starts her dinner. While eating, she intently watches the program on the TV and finds it very interesting. Finished eating, she lies her head on the arm support of the couch. She feels totally relaxed and tired from traveling.

She suddenly remembered to text Mark to let him know that she is safe and sound. There are no lights on in the house just the TV images flashing in the dark room. The storm is really in full swing now. The small trees and plants outside the room scratches and sway from side to side in the rain driven by the strong wind.

Emily is lying still on the coach and drifts away. She is fast asleep and unaware of the severity of the weather outside. A few hours have passed by and Emily is still in dreamland. With a loud thumping sound Emily is awakened. She sits up on the couch and is still sleepy but alert. She cannot figure out what she just heard. After a while she imagined it must have come from the front door. She takes a look at her phone and it is 1:36am. She has also realized that the TV is switched off. „The weather could have tripped the power' she thinks to herself.

She slowly leans to her left while sitting on the coach. She looks passed the wall that blocks the view of the front door. The door is fitted with multiple small windows. Faint light passes through it and is reflected on the wooden floor. The front door is far from where Emily is sitting. Her eyes are fixed on the door and trying to see if something is out of place. Maybe it's just one of the pot plants that fell over onto the porch blown over by the wind. Emily stares at the front door and is about to lean right to her sitting position when the faint light shining through the windows disappears and a split second later the faint light reappears through the small windows.

Someone or something has passed by the door. Is she dreaming or is this reality? She feels terrified and a cold feeling passes through her body. Emily is thinking a thousand things at once. For totally blocking the light of the windows of the front door that someone must be huge. No one is supposed to be here at this hour.

Who could it be...?

What is she going to do...?

The thoughts just keep bombarding her mind.

She thinks quickly and glides fast and silently off the couch towards the kitchen. She crawls on her stomach and listens for any other unfamiliar sounds. All she can hear is the wind and rain against the windows surrounding her. She reaches the kitchen and opens the top drawer next to the fridge. It's almost totally dark but the faint light that is emitted through the windows in the house makes it slightly easier to find ones way. She finds a large knife that her mother always uses to cut the turkey with. She slowly returns to the couch watching the front door with all of her attention.

After a while she decides to crawl to the door for further investigation. She is about 5 yards from the door. With a sudden loud breaking sound one of the small windows is broken and shattered. A large hand covered with a glove appears. The glass splinters and falls next to her head.

Emily is totally beside herself at this moment. The forearm is now visible and the hand is searching for the key in the door. Throughout Emily's whole live she has never hurt anything or anyone. Also being a medical student she is committed to help and save people. With everything going on in front of her she realizes that she has to do something and quickly. Her athletic ability is going to be tested. Without hesitation Emily jumps up and runs to the door with the knife in her hand. With one brief movement Emily lifts the sharp object and stabs as hard as she can the intruder in the forearm.

Emily is now in total shock drops the knife and starts running towards the kitchen. Never in her wildest dreams has she imagined that she would do something like this. Meanwhile the intruder has retracted his arm from the window. Emily's adrenaline is pumping and she can feel her heart beating in her chest. She is now at the bottom of the sta