He is at his hotel room door before he realizes he’s forgotten the coffee. Too late now, he thinks, and unlocks the door.
She smiles up at him from the bed, then notices his pallor. “My god. What happened?”
He feels his knees begin to buckle, collapses into a chair, the sweat running down the small of his back. He wipes his face with his hand.
She gets out of bed now, comes and kneels next to him. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I have,” he says. “I think I have.”
She goes to the basin and pours a glass of water and brings it to him. She sits in the chair across from him, waiting.
He wipes his face again. “I know this sounds mad, but I saw Marnie at the Markt. It was definitely her. I even recognized the scarf I’d given her.”
She closes her eyes. Not this again. Not here.
This story is a reimagining of Boileau-Narcejac’s classic mystery D’entre les Morts, which served as the basis for Hitchcock’s classic thriller Vertigo.
Great mystery scene. I can attest to Bruges being the perfect city for such a drama to unfold, plenty of nooks and crannies, alleyways and canals and ancient old buildings to add to the atmosphere!
Wow, so tense. Loved it!
Oh, how scary that kind of experience is. There’s a local lady that could be my motherinlaw’s twin (actually, I think she’s a cousin), scares me to death everytime I see her.
Interesting take on the story, and very suspenseful. I don’t know the original, but Vertigo was amazing. I haven’t seen it in too long, I should revisit it.
I’m almost sweating with him. Great writing :)
Lovely, tense writing here, Josh. I wonder if the woman he’s seen is a ghost or hired to drive him mad, like Kim Novak in the film? Great writing
Really good story, Josh. You pulled me right into the middle of the action. It is slightly reminiscent of “Don’t look now”.