3.
“Thank
you and have a nice day.” Kelly said as
she handed change back to her customer. Her
store, Bradford Books, had been steadily busy all morning and just died off in
time for Delaware to come strolling through the front door. In the age of tablets and phones, it seemed
books were still quite in demand, at least in her small town.
“Alright,
what do you want?” He asked as the last customer exited.
“You’re
almost two hours late.” Kelly said as
she pointed to the large clock on the wall behind her.
Delaware
looked up at the clock, “Yeah, well my watch is broken.” He said.
Kelly
looked down and noticed his two bare wrists. “You’re not wearing a watch.”
“Of
course not,” He said, “Why would I wear a broken watch?”
Kelly
shook her head. “You know, punctuality
says a lot about a person.”
“So
does profession, Ms. Librarian.” Delaware
said back as he looked around.
“I’m
not a librarian, I’m an entrepreneur. I
own the store.” Kelly corrected him
sharply.
“Ah,
so ‘Bradford Books’ wasn’t just a creative name.” He smirked as he pointed to her nametag
declaring “Kelly Bradford”.
“My
dad named it.” She said.
“You
wanna tell me what this is about?” Delaware cut to the point.
“I want
to show you something.” She said as she walked to the front of the store.
“Is
this about your ghost hunting hobby again?”
“Paranormal
investigation,” she corrected him, she said as she flipped the sign in the
front window to ‘Out to Lunch,’ “Follow me.”
Kelly
led Delaware to the back of the store and up a spiral staircase. At the top of the stairs Delaware saw a loft
with several PC’s and endless shelves of books. There were gadgets everywhere he didn’t
recognize but they looked like something straight out of a science fiction
movie.
“I
guess I know who to come to for computer repair.” Delaware said as he took in the room full of
technology, then added, “If I ever get a computer.”
“Why
don’t you sit down here, I’d like to take you through a few…” Kelly hesitated
for a second and then finished, “…questions.”
“I
don’t do interviews.”
“This
isn’t an interview. Just humor me, ok?”
she said as she took a pack of cards off a shelf nearby and sat at a table.
“If
you’re expecting me to do card tricks, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.” Delaware
said, a bit annoyed as he suspected what was coming. He really didn’t want to go through this but
he rationed if this is what he needs to do to settle his debt to her then it
could all be over with quickly and he could be on his way.
Kelly
opened the pack, ignoring his sarcasm. “I’m going to hold up a card, tell me if
you know what face and suit it is, ok?”
Delaware
smiled and sat down. She thought he was
some sort of mind reader. “And what makes you think I can do that? Can you?”
“Of
course not,” Kelly said, “I don’t have… abilities like you.” Kelly shuffled the
cards and put the deck face down on the table. She slid the top card off with the back facing
Delaware.
Delaware
looked at Kelly and smirked. He put his
pointer fingers up to his temples and started to move them gently in a circular
motion. After a moment of feigned
concentration he said, “Ace of spades.”
Kelly
smiled. He was right! She put the card down and grabbed the next one.
“Uh, king
of diamonds.” Delaware said when the
card was up in front of her face.
Unbelievable!
He was right again. Kelly’s face lit up as she picked up the next
card.
“Two
of clubs.” He said, with seemingly more
ease.
She
was astonished at his accuracy. “This is
amazing, that’s three for three, it’s… it’s like…”
“It’s
like I can see the reflection of the card in your glasses?” Delaware said as he
leaned back in his chair and grinned.
“Yeah, it’s something.”
Kelly’s
smile left as she realized holding the cards up in front of her face allowed
them to reflect in her glasses. She
quickly took them off and set them on the table, she pulled a new card.
Delaware
smiled. “This is pointless. I can’t tell
you what that card is no better than I could predict the winning lottery
numbers. You’ve got me wrong.” Delaware
said as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
Kelly
put the card down. “Okay then, enlighten
me. How can you prove what happened at
the house yesterday wasn’t just a coincidence or trick?”
Delaware
laughed, “Well for one I don’t make a habit of cementing little kids into walls
and then releasing them in front of witnesses years later.”
“I’m
serious!” Kelly said, still a little upset by the card reading debacle.
Delaware
uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. “Look, what you saw is real and I don’t
have to do anything to prove it. If you
want to live in denial, so be it but don’t question me just because you doubt
what you saw and felt for yourself.”
“I’m
sorry.” She said, suddenly feeling like she’d been cracking the whip at animals
to get them to perform. After a bit of a
pause, she attempted to redirect the conversation. “How did you know about Michael?”
“It
just happens.” He said, suddenly serious. “I could be alone in my room or at
the movies and something could… just happen. I have no control over any of it.”
“Something
like what?” Kelly said just as the store
buzzer went off.
Delaware
paused for a bit then finally answered; “Voices, people, places, I see and hear
things as if they’re right there or sometimes it’s just partial thoughts or
ideas. I have nightmares,
hallucinations, daydreams, whatever you want to call them. It could be things about to happen or things
that already happened. I saw the house. I saw his step father hit him with the
sledgehammer and...”
The
door buzzer went off again, twice this time. Kelly got up from her chair. “I’m sorry, let me go take care of this.” She stood up and walked back to the stairs.
“Don’t’ go anywhere, please.” She said before she climbed down the stairs and walked
to the front of the store where the sign still said ‘Out to Lunch’. She pulled the shade to the side and looked
outside. It was Mrs. Engleberg.
Kelly
walked half way back across the floor towards the balcony and called up to
Delaware. “I need you to stay up there
and stay quiet while I take care of this customer. Ok?”
“She’ll
never know I’m here.” came from upstairs.
Mrs.
Engleberg was the town busybody, if gossip were a profession she’d be a
president and CEO. She was a member of
town council as well as organizer of several weekly social events. Kelly suspected she didn’t even care about
half of the events, it was just a way to interact with more people and get more
gossip. Whatever anyone shared with her
would become public knowledge within anywhere between a few minutes to a few
hours, depending on what level of confidentiality she agreed to acquire the
information. Her skill to expose and
share conversation was unparalleled.
Kelly
walked back to the front door, hoping Delaware would stay put. She didn’t want to have to explain to Mrs.
Engleberg who he was, or worse, have her start in with the invasive questions.
Kelly
opened the door slightly and greeted her with a big smile.
“Hi
Mrs. Engleberg, I…”
“The
sign said ‘out to lunch’ but I know you, Kelly,” she cut her off as she barged
into the store, “you’re always here!”
Kelly
held her forced smile. “Your book came in this morning. I’ll go get it for you. Just wait right here.”
Mrs.
Engleberg loved biographies, especially of psychic mediums. Kelly assumed her fascination came from her
desire to be involved in as many lives as possible. She usually visited Bradford Books 3 or 4
times a week. So, naturally, she thought
she owned the place.
Kelly
walked to the back of the store where she kept the new stock.
“I
don’t have a lot of time to stay today, Kelly. Our women’s church group had to have an
emergency meeting because I just realized nobody bothered to plan our monthly
meeting!” Mrs. Engleberg rattled off as if it was the end of the world.
“You’ve
got a meeting to plan a meeting?” Kelly asked while looking through the books.
“Well
sometimes extra organization is what people need! Lord knows if you let people
do what they want, they do nothing!” she went on. Then, without warning, in
true Engleberg fashion, the topic changed. “So what’s this I hear about you and
Mike breaking up?”
Kelly
winced at the sound of his name. Sure
she’d made some dating mistakes in the past but nothing made her question her
choices as much as her short but explosive relationship with Mike.
Mike
was a local police officer. He was
handsome, sure, but it was his sweetness that had attracted her. It wasn’t until a few months in that Kelly
experienced the dark side that surfaced when things didn’t go his way. She often thought of him as a venus fly trap;
you’re lured in by the promise of sweet reward but all you get is a clamp
that’ll squeeze the life out of you.
“It
just didn’t work out.” Kelly said, trying to give her nothing to work with.
“The book’s not here. It’s gotta be in the back room. I’ll be right back.”
“Didn’t
work out or you didn’t put the effort in, young lady?” She started in. Kelly was disappointingly impressed with her
ability to work with nothing. “That boy is a fine, upstanding catch! I mean he’s a police officer for the good
lord’s sake! You don’t get any more
upstanding than that!”
Unable
to resist the curiosity, Delaware peaked his head up over the ledge to get a
view. He could see she was a heavy set
woman in her fifties. She was wearing
big gold earrings and looked like she applied her makeup with a paint roller. Her hair was like a big red ball shaped
perfectly around her head. Her
egg-shaped body was highlighted by her form-fitting black stretch pants and
contrasted with her bright red sequins shirt. She was quite the character, even from this
view. She was the type of woman who made
an entrance anywhere she went. Her
appearance just begged to become the center of attention, exactly how she loved
it. She was still lecturing Kelly about
her failed relationship when suddenly she looked up and locked eyes with
Delaware.
“Kelly!
There’s someone up there!” She screamed
without hesitation.
Kelly
came running out of the back carrying the book. Dammit! Was it so hard to do as she asked? There was no hiding it now, she could only
play it casual. “Mrs. Engleberg, I know,
that’s Delaware, he’s a friend… coworker.” She changed suddenly, biting her
bottom lip at her slip up.
“A
friend? Or a coworker?” She said as she pushed
her oversized glasses up her nose and squinted her eyes to get a better look. “Which is it?”
“Well
he’s a friend who’s going to be helping me do some work in the store.” Kelly said, as she went around the counter to
ring up the book. She dropped the book
to the counter in an effort to get Mrs. Engleberg’s attention off Delaware but
it was too late. “So, I guess he’s both.”
“That’s
right, I’m going to be helping Kelly out with security,” Delaware said with a
smile, “I’ll be making sure nobody’s causing trouble around here. You know, get rid of the undesirables.”
“Well,”
Mrs. Engleberg said after a second, “That is a good idea, there are a LOT of
troublemakers out there.” She said to Delaware. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Evelyn
Engleberg.”
“Nice
to meet you, ma’am.” He replied as a gentleman, intending to keep it vague.
“I
didn’t catch your name.” She insisted.
“Delaware
St. John, ma’am.” He replied. He could
see Kelly practically gritting her teeth as she shifted her eyes to the side,
sending him the motion of “go away, stop!” but he couldn’t help himself.
“St.
John? You’re not from around here, are you?” She asked as Kelly could see her
going over every contact in her head to try and see if she knew who he was
already.
“Aren’t
you going to be late for your meeting?” Kelly reminded her gently as she rang
up the book.
“Oh my
goodness! I lost track of time!” Mrs. Engleberg said, suddenly horrified that
she’d be the one late to her own meeting. She reached into her purse and pulled out a bill.
“It
just didn’t work out, huh?” She said to
Kelly as she motioned her eyes back towards Delaware. As Kelly reached out to take the money, Mrs.
Engleberg let out a gasp. “Kelly! This
book cover is TORN!” She said in an inappropriately astonished voice.
Kelly
looked at the slight tear in the paper sleeve covering the book. “This is a
special order book, Mrs. Engleberg…”
“I
think that’s at least worth ten percent off,” interrupted the pushy woman. Kelly adjusted the price to avoid getting into
an argument she knew she’d never win. It
had been a long time since she paid full price for any book she’d bought. There was always some reason for a discount. Kelly took the cash and handed back the change.
Mrs.
Engleberg looked to Kelly then up at the balcony where Delaware was no longer
standing. She turned back to Kelly and
whispered, “You just watch him closely. Strangers
are never good news, especially those dapper types.”
“Thanks
for the warning, Mrs. Engleberg.” Kelly said as she walked her to the front of
the store and opened the door. “Have a nice day.” She said, relieved to have
her out of the store. Kelly locked the
front door. “Well if your plan was to keep a low profile, you just blew that!”
she yelled as she walked back towards the spiral staircase.
He
didn’t respond but when she reached the stairs she heard his voice. It sounded like he was talking to someone. She wondered if someone else was up there but
then rationalized that was impossible because the staircase was the only way up
to the loft. She paused for a second but
couldn’t make out the words he was saying. She climbed the stairs and found Delaware
sitting at the table, staring up at a wall. When Kelly walked into sight he turned towards
her and smiled.
“Talking
to ourselves, are we?” She asked, half joking.
“It
must be a lot easier to be an entrepreneur when your dad leaves you the
business.” He said.
Kelly
was caught off guard. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked as she walked over to where he was
sitting. She looked to the table for
something he might have read; her journal notes, a newspaper article,
something. But the table was clear,
there was nothing but the deck of cards.
“Your
dad,” He explained, “he owned this bookstore, when he died he left it to you.”
Kelly
knew there was no way he could know this information. “My father,” She said, a
little upset, “has been dead for over two years.”
“Yeah,
that’s what he said.”
“He’s
here?” Kelly asked, her eyes wide with
the thought of communicating with her father again.
“Was
here.”
“Was?”
Kelly said as her face transitioned to disappointment, her eyes tearing up.
“I
told you,” he began, “Things just happen sometimes.”
Kelly’s
eyes began to well up more with tears. She
was trying her hardest not to show such vulnerability in front of someone she
barely knew. But the pain of loss came
flooding back and was as fresh as the day he passed.
Her
display of emotion made Delaware uncomfortable so he did the best he could to
try and make her stop. “He said to remind you: A happy customer tells a friend,
an unhappy customer…”
“…tells
ten,” Kelly said as she burst into a laugh and cry at the same time. Delaware’s intention backfired. She couldn’t
hold back the surge of emotion. She put
her hand up to her face and sat down at the table. She moved her hands across her face to wipe
away the tears. “My father used to tell
me that all the time.” She missed him, a lot, and it felt good to hear his
words again, even from someone else.
Kelly
looked at Delaware then looked down at the cards still sitting on the table. She pushed them aside when she realized her
little experiment was a bit insulting.
“I
think I should get going.” Delaware said as he stood up.
Kelly feigned
a smile. “Sorry about that card stuff. I really didn’t think that all the way through.”
“Yeah, well it happens.” Delaware said. Though he didn’t actually mind hanging around
Kelly, her current emotional state left him in unfamiliar territory and he
thought it best to remove himself.
“Before
you go,” Kelly said as she grabbed a pen and started writing on one of the
cards. “This is my number. You know, if you want to contact me for anything.”
Delaware
reached out to take the card and his hand contacted hers slightly. He paused for a moment then took the card from
her. “No promises.” He said as he put it in his pocket and started walking
away.
“None
insinuated.” She replied. She was relieved to hear the sound of the front door
close. She suddenly didn’t feel like
having company anymore.
4.
Karen Moore
sat up in bed as she read her latest in a long line of spy novels. She sipped some warm milk from a coffee cup
and placed it back on the nightstand as she continued her gripping thriller. She noted the clock on the night stand
claimed it was almost three a.m. She was
once again up later than she anticipated but she couldn’t help it. She was right in the middle of the story where
everything was going wrong for the main character and the twists and turns she
was taking to escape the clutches of the organization out to get her was just
too addictive. The action going on in Karen’s
head was a stark contrast to the deafening silence she was surrounded by in her
home. She was gripping her book tight as
the tension of the story peaked when the sound of a door opening came from the
hallway.
Karen
dismissed the sound. Her imagination was
running wild again, as it had done in the past when she got wrapped up in a
good book. She quickly resumed the
adventures of the heroine and was settling back in when she heard a crashing
sound. She dropped the book to her lap,
now knowing this was not her imagination playing tricks on her. Was she being
robbed? She quickly threw her covers
off, stepped quietly to her door in her bare feet and slowly closed it until it
was only open enough for her to see out.
She couldn’t see anyone in the hallway but the door to her daughter’s
room was open.
“I’ve
got a gun!” she said loudly, in the sternest voice she could muster. There was
no reaction.
She
opened her door cautiously and looked towards the open bathroom on her left. She could see it was empty. She reached out and flipped the switch to
turn the hall light on. The area lit up immediately
but there was no one in sight. Her heartbeat
escalated as she stepped out of her room and walked quietly towards her
daughter’s room. Each step she took, she
looked cautiously around. She thought about calling someone but then she
realized her phone was charging downstairs.
She always left her phone downstairs as not to interrupt her reading
time before bed. Now it was a habit she
regretted.
It was
quiet, which should have eased her a bit, but she found her anxiety increasing
as she moved closer to the bedroom. This
was her daughter’s room. “Was her daughter’s room,” the unwelcome thought
popped into her head. She stopped short
of the door and slowly reached her hand out.
She gently pushed the door open the rest of the way. She reached in and hit the light switch. The room was immaculate, the bed was made,
shelves were neatly lined with trophies, stuffed animals, and other various
items of her daughter’s collection, but the room was empty. She suddenly felt a wave of relief when she noticed
the window in the room was slightly open.
She exhaled and with it went all of her collected unease. She shook her
head as she went to the window and shut it.
Clearly the wind must have made the door creak. She then looked down to the floor where a
doll laid. “And this is the banging
sound I heard,” she thought as she picked it up off the floor and set it back
on the shelf near the window. As she
turned to exit the room, the doll let out a “mama” sound behind her. Karen turned to the doll. It just sat there,
smiling at her with a plastic grin and wide blue eyes. She shook her head again and exited the room,
closing the door behind her. Despite the
amount of time that had passed she was still not comfortable being in the room. Crisis resolved, she walked back to her
bedroom, slid back between her sheets and resumed reading.
It
didn’t take long before she was once against absorbed in the fictional
drama. It was getting late so she had to
commit to finishing the chapter and then cutting herself off to get some
sleep. However, while she was in the
final few pages, she heard a sound coming from the hallway again. It was the sound of a door handle turning and
a door squeaking opening. She dropped
her book again. She locked the window.
She knew she did. What could it
be now?
Karen got
out of bed and turned on the hall light once again. “I’m going to call the police!” she shouted,
again realizing her phone was downstairs.
The hallway remained quiet.
After
a few moments of hesitation she realized this was silly. She’s a grown woman afraid of what? Bumps in the night? That’s when she noticed that the door to her
daughter’s room was open again. There
was no way the window was open. Was the door
handle broken? She opened her door and
immediately walked across the hall to the door.
She grabbed the door handle and pulled it hard to make sure it shut
tight this time. She then pushed on the
door to make sure it stayed in place. She
even shook the knob to make sure it wasn’t loose. It was tight. There was no way it could’ve opened on its
own. She was just getting too wrapped up
in her stories. For the second time tonight
her imagination had gotten the best of her.
She decided to call it a night as she walked back to her room.
~
Karen stepped
out of the bathroom and walked to her bed.
She sat down on her smooth sheets and pulled the covers up over her legs. After she adjusted her pillow, she reached
for her cup of milk on the nightstand but it wasn’t where she’d left it. It was now on the farther side of the
nightstand, out of her reach. Karen
leaned over to grab the handle of the mug and just as she was about to grasp
it, it fell to the floor as if it was pushed off. She immediately climbed out of bed again,
keeping her eye on the fallen cup as if it were a rattle snake. Her heart began pounding louder and her eyes
grew wider. She backed away, making a
path for the bedroom door.
She
stepped out of her room and into the hallway.
As soon as she was in the hall, her bedroom door slammed shut. Karen let out a whimper then turned and began
walking hurriedly down the hall, looking back several times towards her bedroom
door. When she reached the top of the
stairs she heard crying. It sounded like
a girl. Instinctively she called out, “Who’s
there?”
There
was a long moment of silence and then the sound of crying again. Karen grabbed the banister for support. She felt faint. The sound was coming from her daughter’s room
and now sounded familiar. “Faith?” She
asked in a shaking voice as she moved from the stairs towards her daughter’s
bedroom door.
With
each step the realization of what was happening became more absurd. Her daughter had been dead for almost six
months, there’s no way she could be in her room. She knew this but she still felt compelled to
move towards the door anyhow. She also
knew her daughter’s voice… and this was her voice. She had to see for herself.
As she
approached the door, the sobbing sounds grew louder. Her mind raced. “What was going on?!” repeated over and over
in her head. All hesitation vanished as Karen
grabbed the door knob. But she immediately
pulled her hand away. It was cold. No,
not just cold, it was as if it had been carved from ice. She heard the crying again, more intense this
time. She looked down at the door knob,
which appeared normal in every way. Cold
door knob or not, she was getting into that room. Years of mystery novels and thrillers taught
had her to get to the bottom of everything!
She grabbed part of the loose material of her nightgown and reached
out. In one quick motion, she grabbed
the knob and thrust the door open. The door opened with ease and exposed the
room. There was nothing inside. She reached in and turned on the light.
The
room was still empty as she entered cautiously.
The crying had stopped. “Faith?”
She whispered after a short pause. There
was no response because there was no one there.
She
was just about to chalk it all up to her imagination when she suddenly found
herself forcefully thrown from the room, slamming into the wall of the hallway.
Karen
instinctively got herself to her feet and ran as hard as she could towards the
stairs. She was shaking so much she had
to grasp the railing tightly as she raced down to the first floor. She cried hysterically as she reached for her
phone in the kitchen. But who was she
going to call? She’d pressed the 9 on
her phone but then she imagined trying to explain this to an operator. She shook and sobbed in a panic as she
wracked her brain to figure out who could help her. She hung the phone up as she slid down the
wall to the floor and pulled her knees into her chest. Who would believe her?
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