Time's Dark Edge

Time’s Dark Edge

Julia slapped the table in frustration. She couldn’t bear the thought of going to another St Patrick’s Day party, sitting around watching a bunch of Jeff’s friends drink themselves into a stupor and have to spend the evening fending off sloppy kisses and unwanted gropes.

Jeff shook his head, a confused look on his face. This was their routine. They did this every year and Julia had always seemed to enjoy herself. But damn it, it was St. Patrick’s Day, he was third generation Irish, and he didn’t want to be stuck at home.

Julia could read his expression but felt no sympathy. Jeff had promised her “something different” this year and she wasn’t going to give in. If he really loved her, he would have remembered that. She felt tears begin to form and turned away, not wanting to show any weakness.

Jeff mumbled something about her being so damn unreasonable and not wanting his evening ruined but Julia kept her back turned, pretending indifference but subtly wiping at the tears. The sound of the door slamming startled her. She spun around but Jeff was nowhere to be seen. He had gone … without her.

Julia felt her tears overwhelm her eyes and no longer had a reason to stop them. As anger replaced her sorrow, she wiped them away and plopped on the couch, fuming. She grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V.

The St. Patrick’s Day parade, “live from Chicago,” filled the room with barely intelligible words and lots of noise. She watched a different bunch of drunks acting like fools rather than Jeff’s friends. The only difference she noted was commercials.

She half-watched, lost in black thoughts. Distractedly, she heard the announcer begin a count-down to the parade starting. Suddenly, the room went quiet. She focused. The activities and noise seemed suspended and, glancing at the wall, the clock seemed frozen between numbers.

The room went dark but she could sense something moving. She became aware of faint screams emanating from all around her. Something sinister touched her and she was instantly aware of an ancient evil that lurked at the edge of time. The coldness of its touch woke the memories that lay dormant in each of us; those deep survival memories that were buried over centuries of evolution. It had been trapped at the beginning of the universe. It came at the instant between seconds when large numbers of people were distracted, when time was weakest, and fed on the darkest souls.

She felt hands gripping her, digging into her shoulders, and she screamed.

Grabbing at its claws, she felt the warmth of human flesh. Jeff’s reassuring voice pulled back into the room and she grabbed his hands, kissing them.

She held him tight, sobbing in fear and confusion. Was it a dream? Did Jeff somehow save her? She could hear him distantly asking if she was all right. Julia didn't how to answer his question; she didn't know if she'd ever be all right again.

An entry for the March round of "No Dialogue Contest-CLOSED" 
Prompt: St. Patrick’s Day
Word limit: 700
Word count: 503