Every night, a new woman dances on our street

Every night, a new woman dances on our street!!

She twirls around, her feet bare, the white nightgown soaked from the rain. Her hair is sticking to her forehead, normally it's shiny and bright red, now almost black. So far, I've seen three women dancing before her. They were all dead by the end of the night.

And nobody ever went outside to help.

--

The first woman appeared a little over a week ago. It was a quiet night, my parents were sitting in the living room, watching TV with my aunt. She'd arrived a few days earlier for my eighteenth birthday but decided to stay a little longer. She didn't visit very often so I was really excited about that. I couldn't hear anything but when I opened the door to my room, I saw the flickering of lights downstairs.

I'd gone to my room right after dinner because I wasn't feeling too well for some reason. My stomach was turning and my body was heavy. I crawled into bed and was fast asleep before I could form one other coherent thought.

Until the pain in my stomach woke me up just after midnight. After throwing up half of my dinner and brushing my teeth, all I wanted was to fall back into bed. But that's when I heard the sounds outside. It was a soft tapping accompanied by a quiet humming.

Hearing anything at all at night was completely out of the ordinary as we live on the quietest street in the country. So I walked up to my window and couldn't believe what I was seeing.

The sounds came from the feet of a young woman. She was dressed in a black leotard and tights, her hair was neatly put up in a shimmering bun and her movements resembled the one of a ballet dancer. Her body looked fragile but her movements were soft.

I kept watching her, mesmerized by her dance while also wondering what was going on. Our neighbors are all very stuck up, as I said, normally you don't hear a single sound at night.

I wanted to go downstairs to see if my parents or aunt were still awake so they saw what I was looking at. I was sure they wouldn't believe me if I told them the next morning.

Something surprisingly non-ordinary happening on Jackington Street!

But then, before I moved away, the woman started doing something different.

First, her expressions became more hollow. Her eyes opened almost as wide as her mouth as if invisible strings were pulling them to the edges of her face. But despite the strange look, she didn't stop dancing, but it became far more rigid. She'd move one leg forward, then the other.

Finally, she fell to her knees, her head bowing down as she hugged her shoulders, the bones sticking out underneath the skin.

My breathing became heavier as I realized that this wasn't simply a weird moment but that something was really wrong.

That's when she released her arms and looked up, my lights weren't on but I could swear she was staring straight at me.

And then she screamed.

--

I stumbled back from the window and ran to my parent's bedroom. To my surprise, they were both awake with their lights on, standing behind their own window that had a similar view as mine. My mother whispered something to my dad.

"That was beautiful."

I stood in their door frame for a moment, frozen in shock until I walked up to my parents.

My father turned around and casually asked "Oh, Andy, why are you awake?"

He came up to me and met me halfway, blocking most of the view to the street.

What I could see, however, was that a number of neighbors had turned on their lights when I walked from my room over to my parents.

"Did somebody call an ambulance?" I asked.

My mother shook her head. "No, but somebody came to pick her up."

Then she smiled at me.

"Don't worry, nothing bad happened."

"But she seemed - sick or something. Definitely not right."

My mother gently stroked my arm.

"It's okay, really, honey. Are you feeling alright? I thought I might have heard you throwing up?"

I'd already forgotten about that.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just surprised. Nobody's supposed to make noise at night."

This time my father smiled.

"You're right but how about we talk about this in the morning? You should probably go back to sleep so you feel better tomorrow."

I didn't want to go to bed before understanding what was going on but at the same time I felt drained, I had difficulties even keeping my eyes open. I headed back to my room and looked down at the street again, except now it was empty.

--

The next morning, I was woken up by the smell of pancakes. Apple cinnamon pancakes.

I followed the scent to the kitchen where my mother was standing behind the stove while my father and my aunt Aubrey were sitting by the lavishly decked kitchen table.

"Good morning, honey. Would you like some coffee?" My mother asked without a care in the world.

"Sure," I mumbled.

My dad was smiling.

"Morning, buddy."

My aunt didn't look up from her plate.

"Did you see what happened last night?" I asked her.

"No, your parents just told me though. Slept through it."

"What? How?" I asked. "You could probably hear that scream three streets further."

I sat down next to Aubrey and my mother poured me a cup of coffee.

Aubrey shrugged.

"Maybe I'll see it tonight."

"Tonight?" I asked.

Aubrey finally looked up and stared right into my eyes.

"Aubrey," my father said in a stern voice.

"What? He's gonna see it again - or someone will tell him. Come on, John, there's no hiding it."

"Hiding what?"

My father loudly sighed.

"Always such a pleasure when you visit, Aubrey."

Without asking, my mum started stacking pancakes on the plate in front of me.

"Mum, I can do this myself. Sit down and eat something too. And can you please tell me what is going on? You're acting super strange."

"Oh, your aunt is making this bigger than it really is. You know how we and our neighbors cherish nightly rest? How we make sure not to make sounds that anyone outside our home can hear?" My father asked.

I nodded.

After 10, nobody makes a sound on our streets. It's been like this ever since I can remember.

"Well, every ten years or so, the rules are bent a little. And when that happens, we see the occasional dancer at night. It only lasts a couple of days."

After finishing that confusing explanation, he shoved a fork full of pancakes in his mouth as if to say that the conversation was over. Like it didn't create more questions than answers.

"It's not the occasional dancer. It's one each night - and they are all women," my aunt added.

"But why? And how have I never heard of it?"

"Well, last time you were too young buddy, and as it doesn't happen very often people don't talk about it much."

My aunt rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else.

"It's a tradition. Not more than that. And every ten years really isn't often," my mother added and with that the conversation was over and I was simply supposed to accept that this was normal.

But well, before all of this, I also accepted that it was completely normal that our streets had to be completely silent at nights.

--

Aubrey disappeared right after breakfast to meet some old friends. Mum went to the market and Dad went to work. Summer vacation had started a week before so I had a bunch of free time on my hands and I was determined to learn more about this dancing mystery.

I texted a couple of friends but none of them had any idea what I was talking about. Not even Rudy who lived on the end of our street. But at least I had made sure that a couple of other kids would start asking their parents about this tradition we all had never heard of before. I wondered who else I could talk to about it, Aubrey would probably be the best option but not with my parents around. My dad, especially, was acting super strange.

When night came, I was determined to stay up.

A new woman appeared just after 12. She was wearing a long, flowy dress and danced the foxtrot, alone.

On the other side of our street, a light was turned on and I caught sight of a girl I hadn't seen before. She looked around my age, with dark red hair and an expression resembling mine. Shock.

The dancing woman turned around and suddenly fell to the ground, holding her ankle and twisting her face. I couldn't see well but it seemed like she had hurt herself.

"I hope you're enjoying this!" She loudly screamed as she got back up and continued dancing with a limp.

My heart started racing, I almost opened my window to ask her if she needed help, when two arms pulled me away from my window.

"Dad?" I said, too loudly.

"Shht. Andy, you're only supposed to watch the dancing. Do. Not. Interfere."

He closed my curtains.

"Dad, what the hell?" I whispered and my father looked like he might punch me. Then he took a deep breath and walked me to my bed.

"I know this is all very exciting for you but we have special ways of how we do things here. You don't want to get us into trouble, do you?"

"I don't understand-?"

I heard a muffled scream coming from outside.

"Do you?" He repeated in a stricter tone.

I nodded. Ever since I was born my parents had indoctrinated my mind with strict rules but this one seemed even more arbitrary than the nightly silence.

Dad sat there with me until it was over. Not allowing me to take another peak. He said I wasn't allowed to watch if I couldn't follow his commands.

--

The following day my parents and my aunt were gone before I woke up.

I made myself breakfast but couldn't stop thinking about last night. I really needed to talk to Aubrey. Someone who had gotten out of here and might tell me the truth.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when our doorbell rang.

In front of it stood the girl from last night. Not the dancer but the one I had seen through the window. Her eyes appeared bloodshot and she seemed really nervous for some reason.

"Hi, Im Eliza," she smiled politely. "Andy, right? Not sure if you remember me but I used to come visit a couple of times when I was younger."

"Oh yeah, are you visiting your grandparents?" I did remember Eliza, she was the granddaughter of the Fleischmann's. I think her mum even went to high school with my parents. Her mum passed away a while back and as far as I know, she didn't visit again after that.

She nodded.

"Grandma asked me to come over to borrow some eggs. But, uhm," she carefully looked around "I also came because I have some questions and I'm pretty sure I saw you last night. Your parents aren't home, right?"

"Uhm no but how do you -?"

"Saw them leave. I've been watching. Sorry this sounds weird but I am completely freaking out."

She walked right past me, towards our living room, not even waiting for an invitation.

"Are you alright?" I asked after closing the door and following her to the living room.

She shook her head.

"Are you? I mean, that woman just died in front of our eyes."

I stood there frozen for a moment.

"She what?"

"Died. At least I think so. She screamed, then fell to the ground. I'm not sure when she died exactly but in a matter of minutes, two men came up and carried her away in a body bag."

I chuckled, not believing a word this strange girl was speaking. Eliza kept staring at me.

"I called the police and they laughed. Can you believe that?"

"Look, uhm, Eliza. I'm not sure what you saw but that woman didn't die. Apparently, this dancing thing happens once every ten years."

Her expression darkened.

"I know. That's why my grandparents asked me to come. They said, as I'm part of the family I have to be here for it. I thought it was some show or whatever, not this."

I sat down on the sofa.

"Okay, why the hell would a woman die from dancing?"

She shrugged.

"I don't know but I do know that this is much bigger than just a dance. Because my grandma said that I couldn't leave. She said if I did, I would just die. Can you believe that?"

Now I was even more confused.

"She says you'll die if you leave town? Is your grandma okay?"

"I thought she was. She never seemed that crazy before." Eliza started chewing her nails. "The thing is, I remember my mother telling me about something when I was little. She said leaving our hometown was the best thing she ever did, how she escaped a cult basically. A few weeks later, she killed herself."

Eliza was now looking into the distance. The girl definitely needed some help and I wasn't sure if I was the one who could provide it.

"I'm so sorry," was all I could say. "Maybe the woman last night was sick. I'm sure my parents would have said something if anything bad happened, they know everyone around here. And if you want to leave town, just do it? Your grandma will be fine."

She nodded.

"Yeah. Sure," she whispered and walked back towards the door "Could I still get those eggs, please?"

--

The dancer on the third night didn't even try. Her expression was empty and she only stepped from side to side.

That night both my parents stood next to me.

"We should give him something again," I'd heard my mother whisper to my father earlier that evening.

"That didn't stop him the first night, either," my father replied. "It's time he learns how things work here. He might have a daughter one day."

I wanted to ask them more but was too scared. I started wondering if Eliza wasn't that crazy after all.

So, we stood there together on the third night. The woman danced, sparsely. When she fell to the ground, she didn't even cry or scream.

"Pathetic," my father whispered. "She should feel honored."

My mother grabbed my arm tight and nodded. Her face was empty.

The woman lay there, her eyes opened wide but she didn't move anymore.

"Is she dead?"

I almost didn't dare to ask.

My father grabbed my shoulder for a second, then he left the room.

Just as Eliza had described it, two men wrapped her in a body bag and carried her away.

"Mum?" I said, not able to look into her eyes.

"Us women are born with a curse. We can try to run, I did. But it's no use. When our time comes, we can't fight it," I suddenly heard my aunt speak behind us.

"I don't understand."

My mother looked at me, tears forming in her eyes.

"This is a tradition older than me, older than our parents. We don't understand it but every ten years women have to dance, and they all die after they are finished. Something that has lived here longer than us, takes them."

"Then why are you still here? Why would you come back?" I said to Aubrey.

"Because we can't fight it. If I don't come, I die either way. If I come, I at least have a chance not to be chosen."

"But why the hell would anyone from here even still have children? Why not let it die with them?"

"You heard your father, it's an honor to die for this town."

Aubrey took one more disgusted look at my mother and left the room.

--

When the final night came, I didn't want to watch. I'd talked to Eliza earlier that day and spoke to her about what my parents said.

Her grandparents told her the same story. She was even more disgusted than me. I still didn't understand if this was really some ancient entity or our own people who did this to the women. But Eliza was too scared to leave if that meant death.

Same as Aubrey. I knew I was born lucky, in a culture ruled by men like my father that will gladly sacrifice a woman if it means their life is secured.

I had heard our door open and close earlier but I was too scared to look.

--

She takes a final bow and our eyes meet for a second.

I'm not the only one watching, the lights are on in every window. Some people wipe away tears, and when she is done, everyone claps and they won't stop until she collapses.

I hope that at least now my mother will understand that this is wrong. Now that she lost her sister.