Man at the Door

Man at the Door

By Lee Marks

         
“Hold on, I think there is somebody at the door. Let me get rid of them.”  Nancy Jones put her phone down and picked up the remote. She watched a couple seconds of the game show that was on. Somebody was thinking of the answer, a look of determination on their face. The doorbell rang again. Nancy pressed the power button and moved as quickly as she could.
“I’ll be right there!” Nancy said and she moved to the door. The picture of her husband caught her eye as she stood by the door. It seemed to soothe and comfort her. She opened the door a little and peered out. As her eyes adjusted to the blinding daylight, she saw the outline of a man. When her eyes fully adjusted, she saw that he had sort of strange clothing on.  He was wearing a white button down shirt with some sort of odd looking crest over the right breast pocket. He wore white dress pants and white shoes and Nancy immediately thought he was a strange man.
“Excuse me, are you Nancy? Nancy Jones?” he said in a calm yet persuasive voice.
Nancy was taken back. She did not know this man, nor had she ever seen him before.
Remembering her phone call, Nancy informed the stranger “Could you please tell me what this is about? I’m in the middle of something important.”
“I am a friend of your husband. Something has happened; I need to talk to you about it.”
“My husband? How do the two of you know each other?” Nancy asked, her voice faltering a bit. She was starting to get suspicious.
Without missing a beat, the man said “Al and I work in the same office.”
Nancy’s tension eased and she held open the door for the man. When he stepped into her house, she got a better look at his face. He had a clean shaven face and thick brown hair in a crew cut. His facial features were fixed and ridged. She thought there was something very peculiar about him, something eerie, even frightening. There was a slight, even miniscule, grin on his face.
“Mrs. Jones, thank you very much for letting me in. Uh, may I sit down?” He smiled and looked around expectantly.
Nancy took another look at him and tried to picture what was so strange about him.  She once again shook the paranoia from her mind. If he knows that something is wrong with my husband, she thought, and then I must put aside my petty suspicions and talk with him.
“Absolutely, please sit there.” She said, gesturing towards the couch behind him. The man turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. The man sat down on the couch and leaned back. He looked over at Nancy with a smile on his face. 
“I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Dean.” He reached out his hand.  Nancy took it like she was meeting an old acquaintance after many years.
“Ah, yes. By the way Mrs. Jones, I am very parched. Would it trouble you to make us a drink? Water will be okay.”  By now, Nancy had become comfortable with the man. She grinned and said “Of course” and she moved to the kitchen.  After coming back with two glasses of water, she gave one to Dean and sat down on the other side of the table. She took a quick drink of water and set the drink on the table. 
        “Dean, I don’t mean to sound rude or intrusive, but you came here saying something was wrong with my husband. Being that you and he are close friends, please, what has happened to my husband?” She said with a hint of fear.
         A wave of calming assurance came over his face.
“Mrs. Jones. First off, I want you to know that your husband will most likely make it through this. Now for the bad news. Al was in a car accident. He was on his way to work. It was a head on collusion.”
Her hand shaking, Nancy brought the drink up to her nervously, the tint of fear slowing turning into a wave of dread.  She looked into his eyes, trying to find some sign that would say that the man was a fraud, that she had let a strange man into her home, but she could see no sign of cruel intention in him.  He seemed genuinely concerned for her husband. 
“They brought him to the hospital. The office called me. If you feel you can, we can go there. I have a car out front.” He said, standing up.  Nancy started to stand to, and then stopped midway, remembering something.
“Mrs. Jones,” Dean said, reaching for her hand. Is there a problem?”
“I just remembered I have to stop a phone call. I will be right back.” She said, and rushed out of the room.
A few minutes later she came back.
“Would you like to come to the hospital with me, Mrs. Jones? I am about to go there myself.” She looked at him and then at the door. Hesitantly she finished her water.
“Yes, let’s go.” She said loudly.
Nancy had opened the door and they were getting ready to walk out when her phone rang.
“Damnit”, she said and looked at the phone. “Oh please hold on, Dean.”
“Please, Mrs. Jones, we have to go now.” He said impatiently.  He sat down, fidgeting.
“I’m really sorry.  I have to answer this.”  She rushed once again into her bedroom.  As soon as she left, Dean quickly stood up and looked at his watch.  He followed her with his eyes, a subtle steel glare forming.
Nancy Jones went into her bedroom and shut the door behind her.
“Yes, Michelle, what is it?” She said in a huff.
“Nancy, what in the world is wrong.  You never came back on the phone.  What’s going on?” Michelle said on the other line.
“Oh my, Al, my husband is in the hospital, I need to go see him.”
“Al? Nancy, are you feeling alright?”
“Yes, yes I’m fine. What is the matter?”
“Nancy, I am looking at Al right now.”
Nancy suddenly froze. Her eyes became wide and her voice trembled.  Her suspicions were right.
“Um, Michelle, where are you?” She croaked, fear drenching her voice.
“The supermarket.  I was trying to call you to let you know I saw him.  What is this about the hospital?”
Nancy slowly set down the phone.  Michelle’s distant voice was asking where Nancy went. She looked around the room and saw Al’s antique golf clubs hanging on the wall.  She bolted to it, grabbing a club.  As she started to move towards the door, her vision became blurry and she felt woozy, like she had lost blood. She tried to shake it off and opened the door.
Nancy jumped as she saw Dean standing in front of her.
“I don’t think you’ll need this, Nancy Jones.” He tore the golf club out of her hand with incredible strength and pushed Nancy onto the bed, a push that knocked the wind out of her.  She started to gag violently and tried to get up. It was unsuccessful; for she doubled over and lost her balance. Nancy put her hand to her mouth and felt blood.  Her vision fleeting from her, the last thing she saw was Dean’s face as he leaned down. There was an evil smirk on his face and then there was nothing. Blackness. A void.


Dean, aka 415-EX, lifted his watch up to his face.  He pushed a button and a three inch image flickered into a man’s face.
“Mission 0576 is accomplished. You can begin at anytime. 415-EX signing off.”
The face nodded. 415-EX pressed the button again and the face faded away.  He pressed another button and a beep sounded and then a countdown began.
“Time Displacement will occur in 10 seconds.”