Carla woke from a dream that had been so real, it felt like it had really happened. She could almost taste the Coors Light beer she had been drinking and smell the lingering scent of the guy she had been drinking with.
Normally her vivid dreams would fade as she came fully awake but this one was still like a real memory as she showered and dressed. She shivered a little at the name of the bar she had been drinking in, The Gravediggers. Completely unsettled by the fact that as far as she knew, she had never been in a bar called The Gravediggers. Was there even a bar called The Gravediggers in Dublin
Her busy life took over, breakfast on the go with the first meeting at 7:30 but like a line in a song that rattles around your head all day The Gravediggers haunted her till lunchtime
Sitting in Katzingers Deli in downtown Dublin, nibbling an Ari’s Open Door Pastrami sandwich and a filter coffee she got to thinking that she must have been in a bar somewhere in Dublin with that name. Katzingers has a no Wi-Fi or social media allowed policy with phones left at reception so she left half her sandwich and got the coffee transferred to go. Outside she searched for Gravedigger’s bar Dublin. Nothing showed up for a Gravedigger’s bar Dublin Ohio, but Kavanagh’s bar, Prospect Square, Dublin, Ireland was shown as also being known as The Gravediggers. Carla had never been to Ireland; how could she have dreamt so vividly of a place in which she had never been?
She went back to work thinking she would pop into The Dublin Village Tavern on the way home to see if old Timmy the Barman would know of a Gravediggers Bar in Dublin, Ohio
She arrived at the Dublin village Tavern at five o’clock, just in time for the happy hour kick off. As is usual in an Irish bar the happy “hour” lasted from five to seven and the place was humming.
It was 10 minutes before she caught Jimmy’s eye
“Hi Carla long time no see how have you been”
“Good Jimmy, busy at work as usual, not enough time for socialising”
“Nobody ever had “I wish I spent more time in the office” written on their headstone Carla, there’s more to life than work you know”
“I know Jimmy, but a girl has to get on”
“Yeah well, you just be careful, believe me the time goes by real quick, what will you have?”
“Coors light Jimmy, please”
“There you go Carla good to see you again” He tapped the bar twice, signifying that it was on the House
It was 20 minutes before Jimmy was at her end of the bar again “will you go again Carla” he asked
“Yeah Jimmy sure, and I have a question for you”
“That sounds very serious” he said smiling as he uncapped the Coors Light
“Jimmy, I had a really strange dream last night so real I still feel like it really happened”
“Go on, lay it on me, dream analysis all part of your friendly barman’s box of tricks”
“Did you ever hear of a bar called The Gravedigger’s here in Dublin?”
“Not this Dublin Carla, but here’s a thing, the last bar I worked in in Ireland was Kavanagh’s on Prospect Square it’s also known as The Gravedigger’s, how’s that for a coincidence?”
“OK Jimmy let me describe what I saw, it’s a real old bar, all old worn dark pine, bare wooden floors. The front part where I walked in had one table on the left with a few old guys sitting around and an old black dog lying on the floor beside them, there was two more old guys sitting on stools at the bar, all drinking pints of Guinness. There was bat wing doors through to a bigger section, again all old wood and bare floors and that’s where I was sitting with the guy I was drinking with in my dream.”
“So you’ve been on the Internet checking it out then” Jimmy said with a grin.
Carla opened her mouth to speak, hold that thought Carla, gotta look after other customers”
He was back in 10 minutes “go on tell me all”
“The thing is Jimmy, I did go online but the only thing it showed was a modern type of pub that served food, nothing like I saw in the dream”
“Jeez Carla, that’s weird, because you have just described the old bar area of The Gravediggers to a T”
Carla just stared at him “back in a flash” he said and went along the bar serving other customers.
With the bottle of beer in her hand she swung around on the stool and surveyed the crowd and realised why it had been a long time since she had been in this bar. It was full of pretentious wannabe next big Internet success nerds and their airhead female hang around’s. She turned back to the bar so that she would not catch the eye of some dumbass who she would have to tell to tell to fuck off.
Her phone beeped telling her there was a new Facebook post that she might be interested in. She opened Facebook and without having to scroll too far came across a huge advertisement that said in very large letters, win an all expenses trip to Dublin Ireland for Halloween with United Airlines, all you need is to be over eighteen, have a valid passport, your address and a telephone number to text you if you’re a winner, click here to enter.
“How fucking weird is that” she laughed to herself and clicked to enter. The entry form was simple, your name, your date of birth, your passport number, your telephone number and click here. She had all her personal details in a file on her phone so she filled in the details and pressed send
Jimmy arrived back in front of her and she shouted, “you have no idea what just happened Jimmy, I just entered a competition on Facebook for an all expenses paid trip to Dublin Ireland for Halloween how mad is that?”
Jimmy just looked at her for some seconds and said “if you win that prize Carla I would suggest that you do not go anywhere near The Gravediggers on Halloween”
“Why the hell not Jimmy”
“Because people disappear from that pub on Halloween night Carla”
“Get a life Jimmy, I don’t believe in all that ghost and spirits and witches shit on Halloween”
“Well, I‘m a bit of a sceptic too Carla but there have been strange disappearances of people who were drinking in that pub on Halloween who were never heard of again. There is a rumour that the High class private clinic in number thirteen on the other side of Prospect Square is a secret resting place for a Vampire, it might even be Dracula himself controlling all the vampires sleeping in the Graveyard next door. It is said that he comes up from the cellar every year on Halloween to have his blood replaced. While it’s only a rumour, the place is always closed on Halloween and November 1st.”
“Go on Jimmy, you Irish are well known for your tall tales and anyway, what the chance of me winning that trip, there will be thousands of people entering the competition, time to go, I’ll let you know if I win” She waved and left him looking after her, shaking his head.
On her way home she messaged a link to the competition to three of her friends. They all came back within minutes to say that the link didn’t work. She went back to her Facebook page, it was still there so she sent a screen shot, they all came back asking her why she sent a blank screen shot to them. One of them messaged back that someone has obviously hacked her Facebook page and was messing with her head. She switched off her phone, deciding to get the tech guys in work to look at it the following day.
The hacking specialist Tech guy handed her back her phone at eleven am the following day, “Nothing there Carla, clean as a whistle, definitely no sign of anyone messing with your Facebook page”
“Thanks Doug, you’re the best” she said, switching her phone on and logging in to Facebook, there was no sign of the competition. As she placed the phone on her desk, it lit up with a text in big letters saying “WINNER” click here.
The click through page said in flashing words “Congratulations you have won the all expenses paid trip to Dublin, you will receive your prize details and tickets within two days. `She wasn’t sure if the feeling was dread or excitement
Two weeks later, Carla was sleeping on a United Airlines overnight flight from Chicago O’Hare to Dublin Ireland.
The flight landed at Terminal 2 at 10:04am the following morning. Waiting at the baggage carousel she switched on her phone. Checking for a service, a message said, “You do not have a service on this phone in this location” Forty minutes later Carla walked through the arrivals exit door. Her anticipation and excitement levels, or was it anxiety, were higher than she had ever experienced. They notched up a level when she saw who was holding the passenger greet card with her name on it, it was the guy she had been drinking with in her dream.
“Hi Carla” he shouted, waving and smiling broadly, “My name is Tony, let me take your bag, the car is outside”
Outside, Carla almost laughed out loud when he opened the back door of the Maybach limo with blacked out windows.
Sitting inside as it whooshed out of the Airport, Tony spread his arms wide, “Welcome to Dublin Ireland Carla, I’ll be your guide for the next two days. Today we will be taking it easy, we will get you checked into your hotel, you will have some hours to rest after your long flight and we will then visit the city to have dinner to give you a feel for the original Dublin, how does that sound?” Feeling slightly overwhelmed all Carla could do was nod as she said “yeah, that sound fine to me Tony”
Half an hour later she was in a small suite at the top of the Skylon Hotel, bypassing check-in as Tony already had the key. “I’ll pick you up at seven” he said, bowing slightly as he backed out of the room and closed the door.
Unpacked, she lay on the bed, again not sure if her feelings were excitement or anxiety, she was certainly feeling a little controlled, there was an intensity about Tony that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She checked her phone again, receiving the same message.
He arrived back on the dot of seven. The evening was uneventful, a short walk into the city, Tony giving a running commentary about everything they were seeing. Over dinner in a Sardinian restaurant he explained that the following day would be much different, a full tour of all the main sites of Dublin followed by a trip to Prospect Square for a Halloween Party and finishing up with some drinks at the Gravedigger’s pub, he smiled and said, “I believe you already know the place” She couldn’t help the slight shiver that ran up her spine at the intensity of his eyes. They agreed on nine o’clock the following morning for breakfast.
After breakfast, they took a bus to O’Connell St, a new experience for Carla, public transport was not something she had ever used in Dublin Ohio. The Hop-on Hop-off tour bus took up most of the morning and after a pleasant lunch in the Merrion Hotel, they spent some hours visiting the shops in the Grafton Street area with Carla accumulating quite a number of very expensive bags full of designer label purchases. This required the use of the Maybach again to get them back to her hotel. Carla still had a sense of unease around Tony, she had a feeling he was hovering around her, totally enveloping her space.
The Maybach appeared at the hotel again at eight o’clock with Tony on board. At Prospect Square the central green had been laid out for a communal Halloween party. A huge bonfire had just been lit and preparations made for a firework display while everyone helped themselves to the free food provided by the local resident’s association.
When she saw the gates to the Glasnevin Cemetery on the west side of the square she asked Tony about its history, he explained that it was the biggest graveyard in Dublin with many famous people buried there, it was especially noted for the many elaborate family mausoleums, his strange smile when he said this unnerved her and she shivered as she looked through the gates, she had an overwhelming sense that it was a living thing and there was a coldness flowing outwards from it that was at odds with the temperature in the Square.
“Come on” said Tony, “let’s go into the Gravediggers for some beer and I’ll tell you all about the legend of how it got its name. Remembering Jimmy the barman’s warning Carla said she would rather not go in this evening, that she could visit the following day before her flight left for America. “Come on Carla, you must go in this evening to complete the destiny of your dream, what’s there to be afraid of? there are lots of people around and I’m right here with you” although he was smiling, the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Sitting at the bar, the scene exactly as she had seen in her dream two weeks previously, she began to relax while thinking that the Coors light in Dublin Ireland tasted a little different than it did in Dublin Ohio.
The people still partying on the square didn’t notice the couple walking around the perimeter of the square and going into number thirteen
Carla woke up naked on a bed in a warm dimly lit bedroom, standing above her was a tall dark haired, white skinned man with ruby red lips, dressed from head to toe in black, with a black cape, lined with red silk thrown over his shoulder.
“Welcome my dear” his silk smooth voice was so mesmerising Carla felt herself falling into an abyss, “you have been chosen my dear to be the mother of my children, you are very privileged person” He leaned over and kissed her throat, his eye teeth sliding into her skin and she was lost…..