It had been a summer to remember. Or forget, in a certain sense. The warmth of June, July, and August, along with the delightful distractions that accompanied those months, in tandem with an eerily low crime rate, provided a much needed respite from the previous winter’s city-wide trauma.
But summer was over. And as everyone knows, fall barely exists in New York anymore. Which is why no one should have been surprised, when the season’s first snow was predicted to arrive early.
It was the end of September. The city was waiting on bated breath, when its meteorologists came together to announce a very controversial forecast.
One week later, it was confirmed. A Nor’easter had made its way up the East Coast and was about to bring with it, high winds and heavy precipitation, in the form of the one word everyone had been dreading… snow.
Snow. A word synonymous with bringing joy to the hearts of children and romantics alike, had become so triggering, that authorities were calling for curfews across the Tri-state area and a 24/7 police presence.
“See, it’ll be fine,” I reassured Ava, after hearing the announcement on the news. I proceeded to walk over to the mirror and drape a tie over my neck, then looked back at her with a smile.
“What?” She asked nervously, hiding a smile of her own, as she lay on the bed in her pajamas, procrastinating getting ready. She pointed to the window. “Just the sight of it makes me nervous.”
I looked down at our Brooklyn street corner and, sure enough, there they were.
Snowflakes. Heavy snowflakes, falling fast. And on the sidewalk, an inch of snow. It was already starting to add up.
“Can we just stay in tonight?” She pleaded. “Honestly, it’s just another year. I’ll be happy as long as I’m with you.”
I sauntered over to the bed, assuming a little humor would lighten the mood.
“Sorry, my tie’s tied. No turning back now.”
I was wrong. “How can you be joking during a time like this?” She asked.
“Come on, what’s the worst thing that could happen?”
“Oh I don’t know, maybe the worst possible thing that could happen?”
“Tell me something. You really believe that out of all of the eight or so million residents in New York City - scratch that, couples only, let’s say one million residents - the big bad killer is gonna go after us?”
Looking back at it, it was a statistically solid point.
—
A few hours later, we were dining in the city at our favorite - well, at least our old favorite - spot in the West Village. Me, in my suit and tie. Ava, in a new red dress that she’d been saving for a special occasion.
“Happy anniversary!” I raised my glass.
“Happy anniversary!” She raised hers.
“You see, nothing to fear but fear itself.”
“Ok, F.D.R.” She rolled her eyes at my dad joke, but she usually loved them.
“See what all those scaredy cats are missing out on, locked away in their apartments, watching trash TV?”
“I’m not gonna lie, that kinda sounds amazing.”
“Well hey, let’s not rule it out. If we’re not tired after the show.” I winked.
“The show?” She asked. But before she could react, I had placed two tickets in front of her on the table.
“It’s not what I think it is-”
“Yup!”
“But… how’d you get them? They’ve been sold out for weeks, and I heard the raffle’s nearly impossible to win?”
“I have my ways.” I flirted.
A huge smile washed over her face.
“Shall we?” I gestured for the bill.
“We shall.” She replied.
—
Nearly a foot of snow now on the ground, and the closest rideshare fourteen minutes away, we begrudgingly took the uptown train to Times Square and, as a result, barely made it to the theater in time.
As I sat in my chair, watching the ushers rush guests to their seats, I could barely contain my excitement, for having finally surprised Ava. She had an uncanny ability to always see them coming. But when I looked over at her, she had a look of concern on her face.
“How do you think he’s so consistent?” She mused.
“Consistent?” I had nearly forgotten about the whole thing.
“I mean, before summer, it happened four times in a row. Every storm, a couple murdered.”
“Aw come on, why are you bothering yourself with that?” I comforted, but before I could continue to reassure Ava, the curtains opened, to the crowd’s applause.
—
“Are you serious? Are you fucking serious?” I cried out, stomping my boot on the corner of 44th and 8th, as I nearly splashed dirty sidewalk slush onto both of us. A foot of snow had become a foot and a half, and car service prices were surging beyond comprehension.
“Well, what do you want to do?” Ava asked, leaving the decision up to me.
“Phone’s telling me to take the F to the G. Just a few avenues over.”
“Ok.” She agreed.
A few minutes later, we found ourselves walking under a long stretch of scaffolding, that seemed to run the entire length of a city block. In NYC, it was par for the course. Sometimes, that shit would stay up for years, even after construction was completed.
“Just one more avenue.” I said, putting my arm around Ava’s shoulder, her body shivering from the cold, despite being wrapped in a fur coat.
She looked up at me and smiled. “At least the show was good. Was there too much singing for you? I know you prefer plays over musicals.”
“No, it was fun,” I said.
I was lying. I hated musicals, but it was our anniversary, and Ava seemed to enjoy it.
“Who was your favorite character?” She asked. But I didn’t answer. Something had caught my eye up ahead.
A white van had pulled over to the side of the road, almost completely obscured by the heavy snowfall.
“Hey, let’s um… turn back and go the other way.” I proposed. I just had a bad feeling about it.
“Why?” She asked. “We’re almost there.”
“Just trust me,” I insisted. But when I turned around, I saw a nearly identical white van behind us, similarly pulled over to the side of the street.
I stopped and gripped Ava’s hand in mine.
Just then, two men stepped out, one from each van, and started to approach us, from opposite directions.
It was at that moment, that I realized we were cornered.
I turned to Ava, a look of concern in her eyes, and tried to say, “Run.” But I couldn’t bring myself to utter the words, paralyzed with fear.
And then.
“You two there! You’re not supposed to be outside.” One of the men called out.
“Yeah, the curfew just started. We’re gonna need to see your licenses.” The other said, as they finally converged on us, clearly dressed in police uniforms.
“You know, there’s a monster out there.” One of the cops warned, as he looked down at both of our IDs, before handing them back. “You’re all set. Now, please, just get home quickly, alright?”
“Yes, officer.”
—
By the time we got back to Brooklyn, Ava and I were both exhausted. We had barely said a word to each other on the train ride home, and were clearly ready for bed, and putting the day behind us.
We were just a few blocks away from the apartment now, heavy snow continuing to fall all around us, our gloved hands tightly interwoven, when Ava stopped and asked, “What’s that?”
I looked ahead, squinting. It appeared to be someone, crouching down in the snow, over something.
“They could be hurt.” Ava said.
“Stay here,” I replied, as I let go of her hand and went over to see what it was.
Looking back on it, I don’t know what was going through my mind at that moment. Whether it was curiosity, or a newfound sense of confidence, having survived the last scare.
I stopped about five feet from the figure, who I could now see was crouching over something, his back to me.
“Hey, are you ok?” I called out, to no reply.
I took a couple steps closer, and suddenly realized what the figure was hunching over.
Bodies. Two, mangled bodies, almost completely covered in snow. Red snow.
I took a step back, preparing myself to run, when the figure turned around, still crouching.
It was a man. An ordinary, run of the mill, average looking man, with a face that was both nondescript, and completely forgettable.
He looked at me, then over Ava, who I didn’t realize had followed behind me.
“It’s only two.” he smiled, as if attempting to comfort me. “Two each snow.”
And like that, he took off down the street and hopped a fence, darting into the nearby park.
Ava and I simply stood there in silence, Nor’easter winds howling like wolves in the night. I took a couple steps closer, my boots crunching into the now icy snow, and looked down at the bodies.
It was a man and a woman. A couple, just like us. Just not as lucky.
I reached into my pocket to grab my phone.