'Dracula' and the Maiden

"Hello Cheri! Ahhhh, Mr Wheeler, I hope we are not interrupting anything." He noticed that Cheri was tearful and seemed nervous about arriving unannounced.

"Hi Dad, no it's ok . Jason and I were talking about the future." Her mother saw her tears and pulled her into the living room, leaving the men to talk. Cheri's mother looked like an older version of Cheri. She was the same height and build and had the same blond hair, Her eyes were a bright blue and her smile lit any room she entered. Both of her parents expressed no surprise at all at his presence.

Miguel Iñiguez was a handsome Latino about the same age as Jason. His hair was graying as was Jason's and that with his height of nearly 6 feet made him look distinguished. He was dressed nicely but casually and had a ready smile on his face. Jason knew him from Cheri's school days.

"Please, you can call me Jason, I retired 2 years ago and my friends call me Jason."

"Ah, Its Jason then," said Miguel Iñiguez, pleased to be included in the friends category. The twinkle in his eye told Jason he knew of Cheri's lifelong love for him. Indeed, Cheri had often spoken to her father about Jason and he was careful not to discourage her conviction since it only served to infuriate her the more. 'I am so glad to see you again my friend."

"Mr, Iñiguez, so nice to see you, too."

"Please call me Miguel, I suspect we will see much of you from now on and such formalities would be cumbersome."

"Why do you say that?" asked Jason.

"Maybe I spoke presumptuously. But I see that she has given you your letter at last and I must warn you, my daughter usually gets what she sets out to get and she has set her sights on you, my friend.

"Doesn't it bother you that I am your age? I may even be a little older.

"Not at all, what has age got to do with it, two hearts have no idea how old the other is."

"But I am 20 years older than her, I keep trying to tell her it is just too great an age difference."

"Really?" Miguel asked. He studied Jason for moment then said calmly, "Why are you here?"

Not entirely catching Miguel's meaning, Jason answered, "I live here."

"No, no. Why are you here. today?" He said waving his hand to indicate this particular dwelling.

Jason thought a moment, :"Because I enjoy Cheri's company, I guess."

"You guess?" Miguel was being a little obstinate.

"I know, I like being here with her."

"You a not too old to enjoy her company then?

"No, I guess not."

"Are you here just to take advantage of my daughters love for you?"

"No, of course not." Jason was beginning to get a little angry.

"Then why?"

"Because I think I love her!" snapped Jason, "I mean.... I love being with her" Jason tried to redirect his comment.

"Do you love her, then?"

"She may realize that my age is too much to deal with and dump me."

"So you are afraid to love her"

"Yes. I'm afraid she won't always love me back!"

"Ahhh." Miguel paired a moment and saw Jason's internal conflict play across his face. "Listen my friend, everyone is afraid of that, it has nothing to do with age. I am not a wise man but I know that love is about taking risk. We have to risk our heart in the hands of some other person, if we keep our heart to ourselves we cannot love. Can Cheri trust you with her heart?"

Jason thought about what Miguel was saying. He knew that Cheri was safe with him, he would never hurt her, on purpose anyway, He would rather die. "I'd rather die than hurt her" he said simply.

"Jason, my friend," He paused again searching for words, "Diane is 6 years older than I, and that may have given some men pause, but when I saw her I knew I wanted her. The problem with us was that her family had immigrated to Mexico from Sweden and were quite wealthy. My family was not of such means. Her parents were unhappy with me but Diane loved me and I loved her so... We have been together 36 years and I would not change a thing between us. There are many things that can cause two people to stay apart, but age should not be one of them."

Jason said nothing, but was struggling to keep his composure. Miguel was bringing his fears and his desires into sharp focus and the internal battle he had been trying to avoid now began torturing his heart.

"A wise man once said," Miguel continued, " 'La edad es un problema de la mente sobre la materia, si no te importa, no importa'"

Jason had taken Spanish when he was in high school but understood little of it, "I don't understand Spanish, so..."

"In English it translates: 'Age is an issue of mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter'."

"A Spanish philosopher?" asked Jason.

"No," smiled Miguel, "Mark Twain."

Jason laughed but his mind was racing. Maybe he was just afraid. Not of the age difference but of love. He had to admit he was always excited to be with her, he had never felt like that before, not even with Judith...and that turned out to be one big, long mistake.

Suddenly he stood and tried to avoid Miguel's gaze. He was very confused. The battle within him was about to explode within him and he didn't want that to happen here. If he loved her he would have to tell her and that meant he would have to take a chance that she would not always feel the same.

"I uh...I have to go, tell Cheri I'll see her tonight." He muttered and left quickly. He drove home and went into his house and stood in the middle of his study. He saw her senior picture still open on his desk and picked it up to look at her. The inscription on the folder reminded him of her sweet letter. She had thought to take a bold step and then 'chickened out' she said. He knew that he would have never have done anything about it, but still he would have known her heart. It pained him that she had felt the very torture he was experiencing, the hopelessness of unrequited love only his torture was that he could have her but shouldn't!

He wanted to call her, he needed to talked to her, he needed to talk to someone, what could he do? He couldn't tell her. She may laugh at him. So he called John.

"Hello? Johns voice sounded a little sleepy

"Hey John, you asshole!"

"Jason, I was taking a nap, dammit,"

"Oh sorry, I didn't know,"

"It's OK Jason, what do you need."

"You really screwed me up! You ass hole, why didn't you just let me be?"

"Ok, what's happened?"

"I... I'm in love with her, John." Saying it out loud made his feelings seem more real.

"With who? Cheri?"

"Yes, dammit, who else?"

'I don't know, I haven't heard from you for over a week when you called me an asshole, a shit head, and what was it ...yes, a fucking liar, I believe."

"I love her."

"So what is the problem?"

"What am I going to do?"

"I don't know, be happy maybe?"

"What if she loves me too?"

"I think that would probably be a good thing, don't you?"

"I'm so much older than her!"

"Is that a problem?"

"You aren't being much help!" Jason was getting angry.

"Jason, what do you want me to say? Go tell her how you feel. Talk to her. Work it out. I think you two would make a good couple. Give love a chance, Man, Seize the day!"

"I'm having a fucking crisis here and you're giving me cliche platitudes! Great!"

"Jason, tell me. Were you happy two weeks ago?"

"Well...I thought I was, but no, not really."

"Are you happy now?"

"Hell no, I'm fucking miserable!"

"Sounds like love to me. Tell her, you may be surprised, now it you don't mind I'm going to try to finish my nap." John hung up leaving Jason holding his phone while he looked at her senior picture.

"Asshole was no help at all," muttered Jason.

'Just tell her' he said. Jason considered that advice, and he knew that John was probably right and he would do it readily if Cheri was even ten years older but she was just so much younger than him.

"If she laughs at me, I'd be better off to never had met her again." He buried his face in his hands. He looked at her picture again, wishing he had a more recent photo of her to inspire him. Finally he decided he could use a little nap too so he sat back in his recliner after setting his phone alarm 3 pm. He finally fell into an uneasy sleep with troubling dreams of loss and humiliation.

While Jason was arguing with John, Cheri was crying. She was about to tell Jason her heart and she was certain he would admit he felt the same but instead he had left with barely a word!

"What did you say to him, Dad?" She cried.

"I just talked to him about love and how differences like age and financial status do not matter in the end"

"Then why did he leave?"

"Cheri, my little darling, he is battling with himself right now, if you tried to help him, you would only make matters worse. He needs to fight it out in his own mind. He loves you, I'm sure of it.

"How do you know?"

"Because if he did not, there would be no battle," her father smiled and petted her hair as she cried on the couch.

The alarm jolted Jason awake and he struggled to clear his head. He looked at his watch and started making preparations for the final show that evening, He would have to hurry to get his make up on, and preparations made. Then he thought of her. His nap had made one thing clear to him, he loved her! No doubt about it!

He had dreamed of losing her to one thing after another, and in each the anguish was more than he could bear! Then he had triumphed at last and saved her and the feeling was of the greatest love and pride he had ever experienced. Yes, he was sure now. He loved her and he had to tell her...tonight!

They didn't see each other before the show started which was different than every other performance. It was not that they were avoiding each other, it was just that they did not seek each other out as they had the previous nine shows. Each of them worried that the other was lost to them but they were each afraid to confront the truth whatever that may be before they had to perform together all evening. Professionals may be able to set aside their personal feelings but each of them knew that they could not perform with a broken heart, so they did not seek out the other out of their mutual fear.

When Jason arrived on the set, Cheri was just climbing into her place on the bed. He was struck anew by the beauty of her form as the costume accented her bottom and her chest. When she turned and saw him she looked at him with apprehension and then a small but encouraging smile. He could see that she had been crying and his heart ached knowing for certain that he had caused it.

"I need to talk to you after the show," he said as warmly as he could, he knew she wasn't certain where he stood and he didn't want to hurt her any more especially since he felt he had good news, news she would like to hear.

"I want to talk with you too, shall we go to our little restaurant?"

"That would be perfect,". He smiled again.

"He is smiling at me, that is encouraging," she thought, "maybe Dad was right."

They began the show when the first group came through. It was Halloween Night and some of the 'guests' were in costume themselves. The first group consisted of three older children in costumes and a pair of newlyweds...whether they were or not they were dressed as newlyweds complete with a small wedding cake.

Jason approach Cheri with new eyes, he really loved her now or rather, he acknowledged to himself that he loved her so when he knelt by her he was looking in her eyes the whole time. The expression on her face was so vulnerable and innocent that it was all he could do to keep from scooping her into his arms to reassure her of his love. He knelt by her and 'bit her as always but it ended up in several kisses...he just couldn't help it. It made he gasp and then she responded with a very soft growl deep in her throat, he was almost sure he was the only one who could hear it. When he stood up he could see the fire of passion in her eyes, he had lit the fire! The rest of that first showing went as always.

While he cleaned the "blood" from her, she didn't speak but kept her hungry gaze on him. He smiled at her but didn't speak either for fear of breaking the spell of whatever was happening between them this evening.

The next showing they returned to the highly sexual teasing of several nights ago pushing each other a little more each time.

During the fourth or fifth showing (they always lost count eventually). They heard what sounded like fireworks. The lights went out and the PA crackled to life.

It was Hume practically screaming!

"ACTIVE SHOOTER! ACTIVE SHOOTER! SHELTER IN PLACE!"

Screams could be heard from throughout the warehouse, some far away, some close by. One of the screams came from among their own six guests, some of the boys grunted and one or two women started crying. A few people activated the flashlights on their phones. There was also a flashlight under the bed as part of their emergency supplies along with a rudimentary first aid kit and a fire extinguisher.

It was Cheri who sprung into action grabbing the flashlight and directing the guests! "All of you need to keep quiet and listen to us!" She said with a loud whisper, "We need to shelter right here, so come this way, Jason will....Dracula will open the doorway to the stage and you will join us here, we have a place to hide!"

Jason quickly opened the narrow opening that had been the way they entered the stage all these days. The guests slid through as Cheri continued her instructions and holding the light so they could find their way.

"We'll hunker down behind the glass screen and under the lip of the stage. If we get real close we can all fit. Jason will spread his cape over us and we should be all but invisible." Jason helped place each person and asked then to get as comfortable as possible and stressed they must be absolutely silent. Each of the guests complied though some of them were crying and he felt arms that were quaking with fear. Or maybe it was his because he was afraid as well.

At last all were in place and he sat with his back against the card board wall and behind the glass screen that had kept him invisible until the lighting changed. He hoped the effect kept them invisible as well. When he sat down Cheri grabbed the furthest corner of his enormous cape and pulled it over them all, then she curled up in his lap. She turned off the flashlight and they sat in absolute darkness.

There was still someone crying, but all the other guests shushed the person who evidently controlled their emotions enough to get quiet. They could hear commotion coming from several directions and then everything got worse.

POP! POP! POP! and then a rapid series of pops! Jason sighed, "automatic weapon fire" he thought. There were a number of screams and more rustling and commotion. Their cryer started in again and was joined by another.

Pop! pop!.....Pop! and there were thuds sounding above them. Jason's face was the only thing not covered by the cape and he had kept his face bowed down and hidden. He got up the nerve to venture a look and felt a soft caress down his cheek. He later discovered it was a piece of cardboard dislodged from a bullet hole a foot above their heads.

"Quiet!" Jason whispered and the crying stopped. Then there was silence for a while, which was almost worse than the gun fire. Their terror built with the silence, They could hear each other breathing and it seemed so loud that surely the shooter would be able to hear it if he came through.

Just then he felt Cheri put her cheek on his and kissed him there. He could feel tears running from her eyes onto their cheeks and down his neck.

She put her lips right next to his ear and spoke just barely audibly, the quietest of whispers.

"Just in case something happens to either one of us, I want to tell you, I love you, Jason, with all my heart, whether you love me back or not, I love you."

Jason put his hand on her head and turned her ear to his lips and answered her, "Cheri, I love you, too and if we both survive this, I will never leave you and will love you 'till the day I die."

He thought they were in as close proximity as possible but she positively melted into his arms and he held her tight.

That was when he heard it. The door to their theater opened with a small squeak, the sound he had heard for days but had paid no mind. Now it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. And he saw the flash of a green light.

"Night vision!" He surmised. He had hoped they had headlamps that would have practically guaranteed they were invisible behind the glass shield. But now he didn't know if it would work the same.

Suddenly he heard a 'chunk' sound that sounded almost like the person was slugging the walls but it was followed by a swooshing sound . Then another a bit closer. He dared again to look and what he saw horrified him. The "shooter" was driving a long sword or knife through the cardboard walls then pulling it back out moving a foot or so closer and striking again. If he continued this way, he almost certainly would impale one of their number huddled there.

He considered jumping up and taking the offensive but quickly abandoned that idea, for by the time he could have moved Cheri aside, jumped up and tried to lunge over the infrastructure of the stage, the person would have been able to fire multiple rounds or using his sword to strike him and several guests. No... he decided their best chance was to just sit quiet. But the terror he felt at almost certain disaster made him tremble with fear.

He reached up and pulled Cheri's head and body down into his lap so his body would shield her from the assault. The way she sat, her head was aligned with the several strikes he had seen.

Chunk...swoosh, it was closer this time.

Chunk... swoosh.... a foot closer!

There was a brief pause..then

Chunk... swoosh, A scream just about made it out of his throat as the blade punctured the cardboard just inches away from his head.

Chunk...he felt a tug at his left ear and the feel of cold steel against his cheek. There was a sharp pain from his earlobe and a sting along his neck just below, right where Cheri's face had just been and had spoken the words of love to him not 5 seconds ago. He was certain they would survive now. There was a longer period of silence .....maybe he went away!

Chunk..............swoosh, he struck lower this time and he felt Cheri react. He got a sick feeling in his stomach and could hardly stay calm thinking that she had been impaled by the bastard!

Suddenly there were lights from both sides of their small theater and a scuffle with noise from every direction and mass confusion.

"Police! Freeze! or you're dead, asshole!" a gruff voice filled with adrenalin called out.

Just as suddenly as it began it was over.

"Are you folks alright?" a bright flashlight shown on the group as Jason pulled the cape away. There was quite a bit of blood on Cheri causing Jason's heart to panic. She didn't move for a moment and tears filled his eyes

"CHERI!" He cried in anguish and shook her a little, then she looked up.

"Jason...you're bleeding!" She cried!

"Are YOU alright? He asked the tears clouding his vision.

"Yes, I think so, I felt a poke in my ass but I don't think it broke the skin." They checked and sure enough all the blood was from Jason who had a good cut through his earlobe and along the side of his throat where the sword had just missed his jugular by centimeters.

"Oh Thank God!" He cried with relief, "I couldn't bear losing you now!" And he wept with his enormous relief as she comforted him. She was smiling as she rocked him gently, holding a gauze pad over his wounds.

Paramedics treated Jason's superficial wounds. He didn't need stitches and the bandages were able to contain the bleeding. There were other minor wounds among guests and personnel at the Haunted House, none of them caused bullets and only Jason's wounds were from the shooter himself. The guests were questioned at the scene but since The Dracula Room seemed to be the object of his fury bot Jason and Cheri were taken to thre station to give their statements.