Vine house

7:38am

“BETHANY!? Where the fuck is my white blouse?”

It’s Saturday morning… Distant shrills of my roommates voice start to fill the house. I’ve slept with my mouth open. My eyes are half glued together from last night’s make up. I try to start moistening my mouth. No use. I peel open my eyes and… Oh God instant headache. Reaching for my life and saviour, I grab my glass of water and start chugging.

“God what happened last night... never using tinder again” mumbling to myself, my housemate bursts in.

“Bethany if you don’t tell me where my white blouse is this instant I’m going to go mad”

“No change there then” I mutter

“Excuse me!?”

“Nothing, nothing it’s on the floor sorry I must’ve dumped it there last night when I was drunk” I explain.

I look down At the blouse and flashes of last night start to accumulate. Oh God.

“Beth. What the hell?”

As she picks up her blouse, her eyes flickered with anger. Red wine. All down the front like I’ve been showered in the stuff.

“Bitch I told you! If you’re wearing my stuff especially my work Blouse, no fucking red wine. Or Daiquiris or anything like that which will ruin white! But no you and your fucking Merlot… I’m not even gunna bother asking how your date was”

“It wasn’t much of a date...”

She walks out of the room fuming as I sit up, trying to not jolt my grandfather clock of a head right now.

What the hell happened? Who threw wine over me!? I tried to shout I’m sorry but as I did my hacking up of last nights cigarettes started to come up. I grabbed my phone.

“Last night was fun. I can’t believe we did that.

Dan.”

Dan? ...Oh shit yeah Dan! I bumped into my old school friend last night. He literally saved me from the worst date in history. We used to get up to no good all the time! I remember this one time we put superglue on the teachers chair. Suspended for two weeks we were. So we got up to no good in the streets instead, that’s when it all started to go wrong…

Dan was always a bit too crazy for me, but I loved him all the same.

One day we were pissing about knocking doors and running away…we were only 14! When we got to the red brick house. Vine house. The old man that lives there was blind. We knew that.

So, one day he convinced me to go in. The door was slightly ajar, I knew this was wrong but I didn’t expect the next chain of events that was about to unfold.

“Shhh! Beth let’s just take a look I’m not going to break anything”

“You better not okay he can’t know we’ve been here. I heard he makes his own wine though!” I exclaim with excitement.

And as we walked around the walls were high to our young eyes. Painted blood red with deep Chessnut beams and matching floorboards. Artwork on the wall of the great foxhunts, taxidermy deers, rabbits and badgers filled the corridors. The smell of musk and faint cigars filled the air.

“Do you think he’s even in?” I asked

“Doesn’t seem like it” Dan replied.

As we walked through we came to a big wooden door with a heavy bolt across it.

“Here help me” I started to pull at the wooden beam, Dan grabbed the other side and we lifted the heavy beam placing it to the side.

“Look who’s being nosey now” Dan’s eyes flashed in admiration at me.

The door creaked open. Me and Dan looked at each other like we almost just experienced the same wash of fear.

My fingertips pushed against the heavy door and swung open with ease. Unified we said

“Wow”.

The room was beautiful, vines were creeping in from the garden, grapes were hanging like purple chandeliers. The aromatic smell was almost too much but exquisite also. A large wooden barrel full of grapes attached to pipes was obviously where he would begin the process of making the wine.

“Jackpot!” Dan shouted picking up a couple of bottles and making for the door already!

“Let’s get out of here” he goes.

“No wait I wanna see!”

I read one of the handwritten, scribbled labels “Cabernet Savignon” I wonder what that is? I cracked off the top.

“Beth what the hell are you doing?”

“I just want to look in the barrels”

I breathed in the amazing aromas. Hints of cherry? The next one was labled “Pinot noir”.

I crack to the top again exposing the wine. This one seems lighter, I thought to myself, I wonder how drunk I get if I had the whole barrel?!

Last one, “merlot”

This one have the lid sealed. But there was a single glass next to it and a dispenser tap.

“One for the road!?” I said already pouring

“Go on why not!”

As I placed the glass under the tap and lifted, a thick red liquid started pouring into the glass.

“Oh god this one looks like blood”

Dan grabs the glass and says “here’s to our adventures and may there be many more to come!” Dan puts the glass to his lips and his face turned white. I look at him and the red stains on his mouth and my stomach dropped.

“Is.. is that real blood?” I stammer

Dan looks down and drops the glass. Thick red splashes over my brand-new white shoes.

“We need to open it” Dan looks at me very seriously now I start looking for something to pry the top open. Dan comes back with a crowbar.

“Be careful” I whimper

“Beth whatever is in that barrel is dead now, it won’t be hurting anyone”

The lid is really nailed shut… After a couple of minutes of me being frozen watching in place. The lid breaks free.The smell is metallic, rich, thick...sickly.

We both stagger back,

“what the hell is that?”Dan says with his T-shirt over his nose I steps slowly towards the now bubbling matter.

“It’s blood isn’t it?” I ask

“Yep. That’s fucking blood alright. Questions is who’s is it?”

Suddenly something starts to stick out of the top…

“Dan what is that...”

He taps the object with the crowbar and it surfaces.

“It’s a fucking hand” Dan just about managers to whisper.

The door slams!

“Oh my god he’s home....”

Stop, stop, STOP IT! I shake my poorly head. Stop remembering.

It’s 8am now I have to get up. My phone starts ringing. Dan Is calling.

“Beth, you doing okay? I’m so happy we’re on the same page now I can’t wait to see you again. Let me take you on a proper date!”

“Wait what? Dan remind me what we did last night. And how did I get merlot all over me?”

“Merlot? We weren’t drinking red wine last night you know that stuff triggers me now. I can’t believe that it’s your favourite drink!”

“We...we wasn’t ? I woke up with a hangover though...”

“Ahh that would be the whiskey my dear. We snuck out the back of the bar you were in and took a bottle! So you don’t remember seeing our old teacher either? The one that hated us?”

“No...” I started to worry now.

That teacher was arrested and put in jail for two years for sexual harassment on a minor. I’m glad someone else said something.

“We saw that prick and played our last prank on him! He thought he was gunna be kidnapped I swear we followed him home and everything!”

“We did?”

“Yep, we so got the bastard. Where did you go though you disappeared at the end of the night?”

“Dan look I’ve gotta go I’ll call u later okay”

“Okay speak soo-“ *click*

What the fuck had I done...? I dialled another number.

“Hello? It’s me... did it happen again? ...okay yes I’m coming over now. “

I threw on some jeans and a hoodie and I started driving. Flickers of laughing and drinking flows through my mind. Why can’t I remember what happened after I left my date?

I’m on the road now, I see the red brick house. I pull up in the driveway I run to the door push and slam it close behind me. I breathe in the musk. The cigar strength is thicker. He’s home.

“Hello? I’m here !”

“Garage!” A raspy response shouts back.

I walk through. There he is. Grey and gentle pottering around In his night gown and slippers.

“So you got up to some mischief last night. Had quite a mess to clear up didn’t we! Don’t worry my love, you’ll always be safe here. Have a glass of merlot? I know it’s your favourite.”

I sit on the stool in the garage and clasp the wineglass, I sip the contents and begin to relax.

“Shall we keep this batch we made last night or throw it away?” The old man asks

“Get rid of it please...I... I don’t remember.” I start to cry

“He had to go Bethany. He Hurt you and others. We are only doing what must be done.”

“I know… You’ve taught me so well over the years. I trust you.”

“Were special Bethany. We won’t always remember what we do but we know it has power. Now get yourself home. I’ll sort this.” I start to leave “ but Bethany! Make sure to tie up any lose ends okay my dear.”

7pm

Distant shouting as my house mate returns...

“ Beth! I got to the dry cleaners and the stain won’t come out, you owe me a new blouse! They tried telling me it wasn’t wine and I laughed like that’s all my roommate drinks what is she a psycho murderer now and it was blood stains?! Beth you listening? Anyway I’ve got a work Monday so let’s go shopping tomorrow!? Beth... why is there an empty barrel in the dining room?… Beth?”