The Vanity

The Vanity          


Peter and Joanne were avid nascar fans. They spent every weekend at local races and watched major races on television. It wasn't necessarily the race itself that impressed them it was more the speed. They both loved to drive fast. This love got them in trouble with the local police on more then one occasion yet that failed to slow either of them down. Peter was thrilled that the 1980 Daytona 500 in Florida was won by a local man that he and Joanne had grown up with. This result gave Peter hope that one day he too could compete at that race. Since Joanne shared his passion for speed so much Peter gave her a 1981 corvette for her birthday. She was thrilled and immediately took it out for a spin. Joanne drove the car to a stretch of highway which she knew was not used much anymore and sped off.

The landscape was passing by Joanne so quickly she felt her car was like a rocket. The rush she felt was so intense that she leaned her head against the headrest and breathed a sigh of pure joy. Joanne was so engrossed in this pleasure that she did not see the other car until it was too late. The cars collided almost head on and rolled down a steep embankment before coming to a stop. For a few seconds all that could be heard was the spinning of the tires. Both cars were upside down. Joanne had no idea how long she had been unconcious but a faint whimpering sound roused her. Immediately she released her seat belt and clampered out of her car. Her head ached and so did her feet. Joanne looked down to see that her feet were turned inwards, obviously broken she thought. No time to think about that now. Instead she must get help.

Joanne was able to stumble to the edge of the embankment but was unable to climb up, it was just too steep and the pain in her feet was getting progressively worse. She sat down for a moment to try to come up with a plan when she heard the whimpering again. Joanne forced herself to stand cringing with pain as she did so. Despite this discomfort she managed to reach the car and was aghast at the carnage within. It was a couple with two children, both in carseats. The man had apparently not worn his seatbelt because his head was through the windshield. Joanne checked for a pulse but there was none, my God I have killed someone she thought and panic began to fill her mind. But quickly she shook her head and tried to focus on the woman, she was still alive. The whimpering was coming from the backseat. Joanne opened the back door to reach the two children.

The boy looked to be about five years old and the girl about two or three years old. The little girl was still alive but the boy was dead. Joanne didn't know what to do, didn't know whether to try to move the mother and child out of the car or to wait for help. But how long would it take for anyone to find them since she could not climb the embankment she thought to herself. Then a distinctive smell made the decision for her, the strong odor of gas. Joanne realized at that moment that no matter what she must get them out of that car there was no other option. She got the child out first by simply lifting the entire carseat out, doing it that way Joanne thought would hopefully minimize any chance of causing further damage to the little girl. She had quite a struggle getting the woman out. It took her several tries but finally she managed to get the woman out and over to where the little girl was. Joanne sat down beside them, laid her head on her knees and sighed with relief that she had saved them.

She had drifted off and was dreaming of driving like the wind in her new car. A gutteral raw scream jarred her from her slumber with a start. The woman from the other car was cradling the little girl. As she cried Joanne saw that the woman had managed to get her husband and son out of the car as well. Their bodies lay at her feet. Now that the initial shock had worn off Joanne noticed that the woman was dressed in very unusual clothing. She wore a bandana on her head, a long frilly skirt and bright red blouse. The woman seemed to sense Joanne studying her and she swiftly swung around to face Joanne with eyes blazing red. The woman also wore dozens of necklaces which each appeared to depict some form of religious symbols. Joanne shook with fear, she had never seen so much hate in a person's eyes before. She knew she had caused the accident so she tried to apologize to the woman and offered to pay for all the damages. This only enraged the woman more who proceeded to scream asking how can you put a price on the lives of my children and husband? The little girl was dead now too.

With slow precise movements the woman rose to her feet. She seemed to tower over Joanne even though she felt certain that the woman was shorter then her. The woman grasped one of the necklaces and proceeded to sway back and forth as she chanted in a language Joanne did not understand or recognize. Finally in English the woman told Joanne that no mere human could get away with murdering gypsies and that she had just cursed her and all of her ancestors. Joanne felt anger welling up inside her and before she could stop herself she lashed out at the strange woman telling her again that it was an accident and that she did not believe in nonsense like curses. The woman merely smiled a devilish grin, turned and walked away from the scene disappearing into the early evening horizon. After what seemed like hours a police car came into view and Joanne was rushed to a hospital.

Her recovery was slow because both feet were not only broken but had been completely twisted from the ankle joint. The police came to interview her several times but much to Joanne's surprise she was never charged. When she insisted that it was she who had caused the accident the police told her that a "witness" had said that was not the case and so the matter was dropped. Joanne thought back to the scene of the accident many times but could not recall seeing anyone else on the road that night but when she was released from the hospital she pushed her confusion to the back of her mind and went on with her life. A year later she and Peter divorced. He was still just as much of a speed demon as he ever was but Joanne found that she just didn't have the stomach for reckless behavior anymore. She still drove but whenever she was on the road she was much more careful. After the divorce Joanne bought a beautiful little house and decided to fill it with antiques.

There was an antigues auction being put on in a small town about an hour drive from where Joanne lived, she decided to go. At the auction house she saw many items that interested her but none more so then a bedroom vanity. Although she was not an expert Joanne believed the vanity to be from Brittain and possibly owned by a rich aristicat or a royal. The piece was exquisite, it had rows of jade on either side of the mirror and on the front of the two drawers. The mirror was oblong in shape and quite large for a vanity table she thought, but she wanted it anyway. When the bidding for the vanity started Joanne was quite shocked at the apparent lack of interest in the item from anyone else in attendence. Joanne bid on it and there was one other bidder who was doing his or her bidding over the phone. The price kept going up and up but she was determined to have that vanity even if it meant she would go broke. Thankfully she did not go broke and she left the auction the proud owner of the vanity.

The day the vanity was delivered changed Joanne's life, not just because she loved the vanity so much, but because it was the day she met the man who was to be the love of her life. His name was Gilbert and the moment she set eyes on him Joanne knew that she would marry him, the electricity between them was undeniable. He had felt the same sparks but Gilbert was a practical man and wanted to take things slow. He courted Joanne just like they might have done during the time the vanity was made. The first few dates they were never alone, a member of her family would always go with them. At first Joanne found this rather old fashioned and unnecessary but as time went on she began to appreciate Gilbert for this tradition. They had been dating almost two years when the day finally came that Joanne had been hoping for. Gilbert took her to a fancy restaurant and in front of everyone got down on one knee to propose. She accepted of course and they were married six months later.

Gilbert and Joanne chose to use her house as their permanent home and life was pure bliss for both of them. They were so much in love in fact that many of their friends envied them. Gilbert did not want Joanne to work, he felt that as the man it was his responsibility to be the provider. She was reluctant at first but when she understood how important that was to him she agreed. With Gilbert working ten or twelve hours a day Joanne found herself increasingly bored and drawn to the vanity. She would spend hours sitting in front of the mirror brushing her hair which was quite long, almost to the middle of her back now. One particular day Joanne was seated at the vanity as usual when she thought she felt a tug on her hair. She was so startled that she dropped her brush. It landed hard on the vanity making a cracking noise. At the same time Joanne felt a slight pain on her forehead, she looked at herself and saw a tiny scratch on her skin. When she was examining the scratch out of the corner of her eye she also noticed a small crack in the top corner of the vanity mirror. How odd, that wasn't there before, she would point that out to Gilbert when he got home.

Later that evening she did indeed tell her husband what had happened. He looked at her forehead and at the mirror. Gilbert was not at all alarmed and stated that he did not think that the crack would get any worse and felt that her scratch would heal quickly. A few weeks later Gilbert had to leave town to do a job, he was a landscaper and his services were much in demand during the warmer months. Joanne was not pleased that he would be out of town as Gilbert was told by his boss that the job would take at least three months. But she did not complain. She knew that landscaping was just as important to her husband as collecting antiques had been to her. A few days later Gilbert and Joanne said their goodbyes with Gilbert promising to get home as quickly as possible. She stood in the doorway watching him drive away not knowing that would be last time she would ever see her beloved husband again.

Within days of Gilbert's departure it became clear to Joanne that something strange and frightening was happening to her. Almost daily a new scratch would appear on her face and a new crack would appear on the mirror. Joanne became so terrified that she could no longer stand the sight of the vanity and began to sleep in the spare bedroom. Since their marriage Gilbert and Joanne had let old friendships die, they kept themselves so isolated and away from people in fact that they were considered odd by their neighbours. When Gilbert was home this fact never bothered Joanne but now that he was away and something so terrible was happening she was filled with regret that she had not kept up with her friends from the past. She was alone in this and she knew it. What made matters worse was the fact that Gilbert had still not contacted her and he had been gone almost three weeks. Things continued to get worse, despite keeping the door to her bedroom locked she would hear the cracking of glass and within seconds a new scratch would be visible on her face.

One night Joanne paced and paced trying to understand what was happening and why. By now her face was a disaster, there was barely any clear skin left. Her face looked like a cracked windshield. When this thought entered her mind she stopped pacing, why had she not remembered? The accident, the gypsy woman who had lost her entire family that night and the curse she had put on Joanne. Could this be the cause of this nightmare she was living, no she just couldn't wrap her brain around that notion. To her the very idea was preposterous, that simply could not be true. Yet when Joanne dared to look in a mirror she was faced with the reality of that curse. Joanne thought back to the night of the accident and tried to recall if anyone, the woman or the police, ever told her who the people were or where they had come from. She went over that horrific accident repeatedly but if the woman had said her name she could not remember it. In desperation Joanne decided to find that woman.

Her face was so disfigured that she dared not go out in public unless she could figure out a way to cover her face from people. Joanne spent an hour searching her belongings until she came upon a black hat with a face veil that she had worn to her cousin's funeral a year ago. He had died under mysterious circumstances, he was a skilled swimmer yet drowned when his fishing boad capsized. As Joanne held the veil a revelation came to her, there had been three relatives of her's who had died suddenly recently. Was this the work of the curse as well? Her fear intensified but she knew she could not let that stop her, she must find that woman. Joanne got dressed and put the hat on pulling the veil over her face. It was dark when she left the house. She wandered along the main street of town and came upon a community advertisement. There was to be free entertainment in the park put on by a troop of gypsy performers. Joanne's heart skipped a beat when she read gypsies, could the woman be with this troop? There was only one way to find out, she went to the park.

When Joanne entered the park she understood why the main street of the town had been so quiet, almost every person who lived within a hundred miles seemed to be at this event, the park was packed. The entertainment had not started yet so Joanne found a seat and waited. A short time later a man in full costume appeared on a makeshift stage. The man began to speak, he had a very thick accent which made it difficult for Joanne to understand everything he said. But the gist was that there would be fun for all and he hoped everyone enjoyed the show. A few moments later several people appeared on stage and began to sing, dance and play various crude instruments. The songs were uplifting yet Joanne had this eerie sense of danger. She looked around at the people sitting near her none were familiar to her and all seemed to be having a good time. The songs ended and all went quiet until a woman walked on stage, she too was dressed in costume. When she began to sing Joanne's heart nearly jumped out of her chest, she was sure that this was the woman from the accident. Joanne stood up and walked up to the stage. The performer watched her approach but gave no indication that she knew Joanne. Feeling a bit silly Joanne returned to her seat, perhaps it was not her after all for she felt sure if the gypsy woman who had cursed her ever saw her again she would not be able to hide her contempt. Joanne relaxed alittle bit and continued to watch the show.

The performance lasted about two hours and everyone clapped loudly showing their appreciation for the entertainment. Shortly after the applause died down people started to leave the park. No one noticed Joanne sitting on a bench. Hours after everyone had left, including the performers, a man and a woman approached Joanne. The man touched her shoulder and Joanne slumped over to the side, she was dead. The pair, still in costume, removed their masks. The woman and Gilbert were quite pleased to see the results of their deeds. They carried Joanne back to the house, laid her on the sofa and looked at her intently for many minutes as if to ensure that she was really dead. Gilbert attempted to enter the master bedroom, finding it locked he kicked the door down. He looked at the vanity mirror, returned to the living room and lifted Joanne's veil. When he saw her face he slowly smiled with delight. The mirror had a large crack from top to bottom and Joanne's face had a large jagged scratch from the tip of her forehead to the end of her chin.

Gilbert felt no remorse or sadness seeing his wife like this. She had killed his family after all and deserved what she got. His brother would have been ten and his sweet little sister would have been seven if his wife had not done what she did that fateful night. Although Gilbert and his mother savored what they had done to Joanne they feared leaving any possible connection to them behind. Thankfully when Gilbert had married Joanne he had refused to have his picture taken. He told his wife that his eyes were not the best and could not tolerate a camera flash. Joanne had been so in love with him, she believe everything he told her. She had been so blinded by love that she had never questioned why none of Gilbert's family attended their wedding. That had been her ultimate undoing. The next step was obvious to both of them, they must erase this house from existance and Joanne along with it.

By the time the town firetruck arrived at the scene the house was fully engulfed in flames. It took the firemen most of the night to get the blaze under control. By daybreak the fire was finally extinquished and an inspection of the scene commenced. Joanne's charred remains were found in the living room. Along side her lay the remains of a package of cigarettes and an ashtray. Going further inside the smoldering home the fire inspectors were shocked to find on piece of furniture completely untouched by the flames. It was an antique vanity. The glass was intact and there appeared to be not a single indication of damage to the wood. An inquiry was held a few weeks after the fire and it was determined that the fire was started by careless smoking. The fire inspector stated that from the burn pattern on the sofa it was apparent that the lone victim had fallen asleep while smoking. There was no one to dispute this finding. After attending Joanne's funeral her parents, sister and brother were all killed in a car accident not far from the spot where Joanne had her accident five years earlier. A few months later the vanity was sold at auction, to one of the fireman.