Chapter 4

Morning has arrived and she wakes up to a throbbing headache. She squints her eyes in the direction of the large window bringing in unwanted sunlight.

 

It is time to get up, and the sun doesn't care that she's been lying awake all night thinking about the mysterious phone and the sound of her mother's voice.

 

She covers her head with a blanket, trying to fall back to sleep but her headache won't let her. She gets out of bed and walks to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. She opens the cabinet to her left and pulls out some pills.

The name, the expiry date and the ingredients were scratched out. All she knew about them where that they were blue and they help calm her down.

She throws the pills in her mouth and swallows them with water. Her headache fights back and somehow gets worst.

 

"Fuck" she curses under her breath, groaning because of the intense pain. Suddenly her head feels heavy and her feet light, she loses balance and falls to the ground hitting her head at the edge of the marble counter.

 

Everything goes black, as her unconscious soul swims in nothingness.

Is this...death

Is this the peace that comes with being lifeless

Is this the sweet mix of peace and fear that is death

Oh how she wishes she were dead

 

But unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

She wakes up with the taste of blood in her mouth and dried blood on her cheeks. She stands up and runs to the bathroom, looking in the mirror. Her head was badly cut open and blood was gushing down like a waterfall, running from her head into her mouth.

 

"You're lucky to have survived that, many people would have died from such an accident....but of course, you'd rather be dead"

 

Who said that?

 

Emily turns left and right, wondering where the voice was coming from.

Is she no longer alone in this beautiful prison?

Or has Charles already come back home? Maybe, the house is now alive and developed the ability to talk to mock and torture her

"W-who are you?" Emily asked shaking in fear

 

There was a long chuckle.

 

"Who am I? It's really simple, I'm you and you're you and I'm nobody"

That doesn't make any sense

Who is this person and what do they want

Or have they come to join in the game of torturing the lonely old woman?

 

"Oh you don't believe me" the voice sounded almost disappointed "well that's an easy problem to solve too, just look in the mirror"

 

Obeying every word like a loyal dog, she walks up to the mirror. It's just her reflection, old and wrinkly, bleeding from the head.

"It-its just me," she said confused

 

"Exactly" the voice giggled furiously.

Emily rolls her eyes. She walks up to the bathroom sink, splashing her face with water.

She figures if she ignores it, it'll go away sooner or later. Oh, how wrong she was

 

"Emily" the voice calls out in a melodious tone "come on, say something. I'm getting awfully bored waiting for a reply"

 

"Emily" it sings out again. The sound bounced off the walls, creating a long echo across the mansion

 

Emily hugs her knees to her chest, perched down on the living room floor. Rocking back and forth, as tears rush down her cheeks "please," she whispers "leave me alone"

 

"Huh?" the voice sounds confused then a long giggle followed, " I thought you didn't want to be lonely anymore, that's the main reason why I came..." there's a pause " oh well, since you obviously don't need me"

 

Everywhere goes silent

Is she gone?

Oh please tell me she's gone.

 

Just then the door swings open.

It's Eric

 

"I'm sorry, I rang the doorbell a few times, and no one answered so I figured I'd let myself- holy shit"

 

She stands there confused by the young man's use of impolite words in the presence of his boss's wife.

 

He looks... Disgusted

Disturbed

Irritated

What's wrong with him?

 

"You-your head is bleeding" he points at the huge cut, gushing out blood on her forehead.

She is a mess and difficult to look at. Especially for somebody with slight hemophobia like Eric.

She has blood rushing from her head, staining her hair and cheeks, her eyes were swollen and red, her face was wet with tears, and her hair was all over the place.

 

"Oh this" she points at her injury "I slipped and fell while I was making a sandwich, it's nothing" she smiles, running her fingers through her hair in a failed attempt to arrange it.

This is the first time he has ever heard her voice. Every word was like a soft lyrical melody, she speaks as if she were singing. Yet every word sounds miserable and alone like she's singing a sad song.

 

"W-why are you here, is Charles coming," she asks looking behind him.

 

"No, I thought he was home with you?" Eric originally suspected that Charles was home and the sandwich story was just a load of bullshit but it seems she really just fell and hit her head.

 

"Well he's not home, you should be on your way," she says with a smile.

 

"Don't you need help with that?" his eyebrows pull upwards in a worried expression

 

"No, I'm fine" she rejects help instantly

 

"I insist, it'll only be a minute" Eric isn't backing down, he seems determined to help the lonely old woman

 

"Oh-alright," she agrees reluctantly "but be quick"

 

Only God knows the horror that will be released on her life if Charles catches her alone with Eric.

 

"Great," he claps his hands together, robbing them against each other to keep them warm

"where's the first aid kit" he has taken his jacket off, revealing his neatly pressed white button-down shirt and releasing the smell of his manly perfume, that filled the entire room.

 

"It's in the kitchen" she points in the direction of the kitchen before leading the way, walking him to the large kitchen.

 

"It's a really big house" Eric points out, amazed by how far they have walked, yet still haven't reached the kitchen.

 

"T-thank you?" she stutters over her words unsure of what to say

 

"You stay here all by yourself?" His eyes wander around the halls

 

"You know I live with my husband right?"

 

"Yeah yeah, I know that" he rolls his eyes ashamed of his foolish question "I just meant, with Charles being busy all the time you might get lonely staying here all by yourself"

 

"That's none of your business" her voice is sharp and fierce

 

"Sorry"

 

They've finally reached the kitchen.

"Okay, where is it?" Eric asks looking around the spacious kitchen.

 

"The top shelf" she points upwards, to a little white box way out of her reach.

 

"Why is it so high up?" he asks reaching for it easily "you can't get to it from way up there, what if you hurt yourself again?" he opens the box, looking around the bottles and cotton balls for hydrogen peroxide.

 

"I don't know, my husband hung it there" she shrugs

 

"Of course" Eric rolls his eyes at her response. Of course, her husband's word is law. "What if I hadn't come? Would you just sit there and bleed from the head till he comes back?" he pours hydrogen peroxide on a small cotton ball.

 

"For you're information I'm not that short, I'll have you know I'm 5'6" she hisses when the cotton ball makes contact with her skin.

 

"Sorry, I'll be more careful" he apologize.

 

"It's okay" she has one eye closed in pain "and either way, I could just use a stool"

 

"A stool?" he has one eyebrow raised, expressing his doubt that she could reach that height with a stool

 

"Yeah, it'd be a really tall stool" she sounds so proud of herself.

 

She speaks like a child and is more open than he had expected her to be.

It was charming.

 

The blood is clean and the wound is treated.

 

"Thank you, but now I think it's best you..."

 

"Leave, yeah yeah I'm on my way" he cuts her off, picking up his jacket from the dining room floor.

 

He swings the door open, then stops to turn back looking at her with a small grin "I had fun, let's do this again sometime"

 

"Yeah, I'll be sure to let you know the next time I hit my head and can't reach the first aid box" she rolls her eyes

 

"Or you could just use that trusty stool" his grin grew to a wide smile

"Ah yes, my really tall stool" she returns the smile

 

It feels so unnatural to laugh and smile like this. What has it been, months, years, all she knows is it's been a while since her lips curled up in an honest happy smile.

 

The door slams and he's gone, her smile slowly disappears as she's greeted once again by the deafening silence.

 

let's do this again?

His words play again and again in her head

they can never be alone together again

Charles would be livid

what happened today can never repeat itself

Then suddenly

 

"Well, that was interesting" it was back

 

"Ugh, get out of my head" she groans pulling her hair with her fingers

 

"You laughing and smiling like that" there was a long giggle "it almost made me believe that you were happy, but we both know that's not possible..."

 

"Leave me alone, please" she screams, curling her hands into fists and punching her head multiple times

 

"You're nothing but another sad story about another tragic old lady"

 

"Why are you doing this to me, what do you want?" tears fall down her face like water from a waterfall

 

"I want you to let me out, you've trapped me in here for way too long. I've waited years for you to take action and now you've lost your chance. Since you've clearly shown you're too pathetic to do anything yourself, I've come to do it for you" there was pain in its voice

 

"Trap you? When did I ever do anything to you?" her voice creaks and breaks

 

"You trapped me, you trapped me in that pathetically broken prison you call a heart but I've finally got out..." a giggle follows "you didn't like that lipstick stain on his shirt did you"

 

"Lipstick stain" realization hit Emily like a bus "That lipstick stain, you planted it there" she points a finger up in the air, pointed at a person she couldn't see

 

"Honey please, don't blame me for your marriage problems. I just used the situation to my advantage. The lock broke loose when you saw that lipstick stain, then the door came flying open when you heard your mother's voice, I just tiptoed my way outta there like a tiny little pony"

 

"Just STOP TALKING" Emily yells unable to control her emotions

Just then she felt a sharp pain across her cheeks

 

"Get a hold of yourself woman" it was Charles, he had slapped her back into reality

What? When did he get home?

 

"The blue bills Emily, take the blue pills" he shakes her continuously to keep her awake

Oh right, the strange blue pills with the name, expiry date, and ingredients scraped off.

He walks her to the kitchen, wrapping one arm around her waist and placing her arm around his shoulder.

 

He's so calm, almost like he's done this before.

But how could that be possible?

You're just thinking nonsense again

Just take your fucking pills and shut up

He lifts her and placed her gently on the counter. He takes the bottle, quickly opens it, and force-feeds her 3 pills, using his fingers to push them into her mouth one by one. He closes her mouth with his hand and lifts her head up forcing her to swallow.

 

"I swear woman the things I have to do for you," he says cleaning the spit off his hand with a napkin

 

Since When did he own a red napkin?

I know all his napkins and this is definitely not one of them

Who's napkin is he holding in his hand?

He notices her staring at the napkin so he quickly tucks it into his pocket.

 

"Do you need water?" he asks, changing the subject

 

"Badly"

He gets a cup out of the cabinet, fills it with water then hands it to her. His eyes catch a glimpse of a little white box placed neatly on the floor beside the refrigerator.

 

"Who was here?" He asks suddenly turning to her.

 

"What do you mean?" she chokes on her drink.

"Who brought the first aid kit down?" he points at the white box

 

"Oh I did, I had a little accident in the kitchen" she points at the bandaid on her head

 

"So you brought the down, all by yourself" his eyebrow lifts in disbelief

 

"I used a stool" she fingers were shaking in fear, is she, lying to her husband?

 

"A stool" he grew even more doubtful.

"It's a really tall stool" she can feel his piercing gray eyes looking into her dishonest soul, unraveling all the lies she's ever told, discovering all the secrets she keeps from him.

 

"Well, as long as your fine" he shrugs, placing a soft kiss on her forehead before walking out of the kitchen.

 

She sighs in relief. He believed her story and the voice was gone. All she has to do is up her dosage of the strange blue pills and everything will be fine.

 

"Boo bitch" the voice was back, it's laughter echoes