05

I-Shirley

Chapter 5

Shirley went into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. She’d worn her hair up, smeared a good amount of Aloe Vera on her face, but kept the region around her eyes dry for the blindfold. Drinking water before bed was something Shirley had done almost all her life, though she only found out about the health benefits a few years ago. Throughout the years, she knew it was a good practice to drink a glass of warm water before going to bed; at least, that’s what her mother told her when she was still a little girl. The woman would bring her a glass of water, make her gulp everything and then send her to sleep. Sometimes if Shirley goes to sleep without drinking, it wouldn’t make a difference to the mother because she’d wake her daughter up and hand her the glass, and Shirley would always be annoyed with her for waking her up, but the mother wouldn’t mind. After some time, Shirley would get a glass of water, stand in front of the mother, and finish it to avoid anyone interrupting her sleep. One of Shirley’s favorite things in the world when she was growing up was good sleep, and she’d always get irritated when mainly anyone woke her up. The mother knew about this, so she would once in a while try to annoy the little girl for its amusement. Even when Shirley makes her aware that she had a glass of water before bed, the woman will still wake her up and talk about a glass of water.

TAP! TAP!

“Shirley… Shirley, wake up.”

“mmhm… mmhm… Mom?” -- Shirley, with her eyes, still closed.

“You did well tonight, don’t forget to drink water before you go to bed tomorrow.”

“Mom!!!”

Then she’d laugh and exit the room. Shirley started locking her door at the age of around 16. She’d get a glass of water, make the mother notice before drinking it, and she’d go to her room and lock the door. Still, the mother would get the keys if she wanted to annoy her little girl.

 ---------------------------------------------

Shirley had become accustomed to it, so she felt a little indifferent when she learned about the health benefits because it was nothing new to her.

After gulping down the entire glass, she turned off every light bulb in the house and went into her room. She covered her eyes with the blindfold and tied it around her head. She collapsed into the bed almost immediately. She’d been waiting for a while to get on the bed. The amount of tiredness she felt in her bones and soul was particularly too much, and an average person would dive right into bed and sleep for 18 hours straight. But Shirley being Shirley, did her laundry after work, cooked, did the dishes, and cleared the tables; She did every chore after she’d returned from work. So when she fell into the bed, she was prepared to go all out and sleep till she couldn’t anymore. She stretched while on the bed, assembling herself for the longest and deepest sleep she’d never had since becoming a police officer.

 A slight “TAP TAP” sound came from the entrance almost immediately after Shirley had closed her eyes behind the blindfold. She didn’t move – she didn’t open her eyes. She just pretended she didn’t hear it. “Whoever it is should return to wherever they came from, there’s no one home.” She thought while still keeping her mind from overthinking it; else, she might go on and check who it was behind the door. 

“That’s it, just go away!” Said Shirley after a few moments. She was convinced the person behind the door had given up so quickly after one try – she hoped.

 Another one sounded a little harsh this time. Shirley clenched her fist so hard; that her fingernails almost penetrated her palm. How she wished she could get to the door, opened it, and punch the person into a different planet so she wouldn’t have to deal with them and come back to bed. Shirley stood beside her bed and untied the blindfold. She was a little irritated, but she still wore her regular face. Shirley didn’t like to make people uncomfortable; even if she were in a foul mood, she always presented herself to others like everything was okay – except for people who were close to her.

 Shirley went into the living and wheeled the knob to switch on the light in the living room, but the bulb wouldn’t light. She turned it back and forth several times, but the bulb wouldn’t turn on still. Shirley managed to trek into the kitchen regardless of how dark the entire place was. She was aware of her house inside out; she could close her eyes and know where every single thing was. She hit the switch, and the kitchen light lit up. Shirley unintentionally looked above the refrigerator and spotted the time on the clock. 

 Her eyes widened as she read the time. It was fifteen minutes after midnight.

 Wild thoughts just dived into her head out of nowhere.

 The knock sounded again, except this time, it was a lot more aggressive and brutal. Shirley’s heart lost a beat – and then made up for the next because it hit her very hard that she felt her rib cage was almost about to snap. She knew Gehrig was out of town and wouldn’t return until the following week. She also knew it wouldn’t be her friends, she didn’t have many, and the few ones she had wouldn’t come to her home unannounced. They always called first because they knew how she felt about surprise visits. And what kind of friend would visit at this ungodly hour? She knew it would be someone she didn’t know. Shirley tip-toed back into her and reached for her handgun on the desk beside her bed. She came back into the living room, gripping the loaded pistol firmly in her right hand. She stood a few feet behind the door quietly, waiting to see what would happen if the person thought no one was around.

 Another double knock sounded, slowly this time as if the person knew Shirley was at the other side of the door. For some reason, the kitchen bulb popped right after the knock. Shirley gasped deeply and shook, even almost losing her footing. 

 Her breath began to shorten. She put her hand and leaned on the wall beside her and took deep breaths to relax her nerves. She wondered why she was freaking out, though. On a typical day, she wouldn’t care about who was at the door knocking at whatever time because she was a carefree person. But that particular night felt strange for whatever reason – it might have been because she was working on a ruthless free-roaming serial killer who visited people and killed them in their own homes.

 She saw the person through the translucent glass in between the door from where she stood, a shadow to be exact. She couldn’t see the face because it was incredibly dark, but she got this vibe that the person was trying to look through. Now, she was convinced it was a burglar. 

“But why would a burglar knock at your door?”  She asked herself but didn’t pay any attention to it.

 Shirley tip-toed and moved silently behind the door. She grabbed the knob, still looking attentively at the shadow, monitoring the person’s movements. The person’s hand went up, and the moment it landed on the door, Shirley burst the door open and aimed the gun in the direction of whoever was there. She faced the person with vigor and courage, full of energy, even though she was fearful – but that’s what being a state sworn officer means. 

ONLY, Shirley pointed her gun at nothing. There was no one at the door, not even the shadow she saw through the glass. If it were only the shadow at the door, it would’ve been weird and horrific, but at least you get to be fulfilled because you know there was something at your door. But here, there was strictly no one behind the door. And if you say the person made a run before Shirley opened the door, it would make no sense because Shirley opened the door and the person knocking occurred almost simultaneously.

 Shirley took a quick scan around, and before she closed the door, she felt a cold wind around her, the chilliest she’d ever felt, even during winter. Her jaw twitched and spasmed; her teeth started chattering. Goosebumps appeared all over her skin, and vapor came out of her mouth when she exhaled. She closed shut her eyes hard as the weather around her was too much for her to handle. 

 “Where from all this cold, at this period of the year?”  She asked herself.

 After a few moments of her shutting her eyes, she heard another slight knock. 

 She jumped and opened her eyes immediately. She knew she was at the door, and the door was wide open, so hearing a knock on the door would only mean that the person was standing right in front of her. Shirley’s examination wasn’t necessarily wrong because that should be the only explanation. ONLY, she wasn’t even at the door, to begin with. She was standing a few feet away from the door --- the exact place she stood before approaching the door.

 Could she have imagined it? No, she didn’t think so. She knew there was something wrong with what was going on at the time, but she didn’t know what.

 The cold wind approached her again, and suddenly, she felt a strong arm grab her shoulder from behind and pulled her down violently. She landed on her back, and the pressure sent pain throughout her chest. She coughed so hard as a result and felt the taste of blood in her mouth. The arm on her shoulder began to drag her roughly. She starts screaming and rapidly waving her hands, trying to get off the grip, but her efforts appear futile. The arm kept pulling her back to a never-ending destination, and Shirley kept screaming.

Shirley forcefully opened her eyes and jumped out of the couch. Loads of sweat dripped from her face, her heart pounding on her chest hard and fast like it was trying to sync with the bass drum of rock music. Her breath shortened as if she’d been deprived of oxygen for a month. She looked to her left, and fear and shock had been written all over Gehrig’s face; she looked to the right, and Azriel had the same look on her face.

“You were having a nightmare… You really scared us!”  Said Gehrig.

“A nightmare…? More like a day-mare,”  Shirley joked.