Jeremy was sitting in the driver’s seat. A small smile curved on his lips. He raised his arm and simply waved once just like the shadow from my past. At that exact moment, all of the lights cut off in the house across the street. My heart stopped as the car disappeared down the dark road.
• • •
I was asleep when I heard the drip, drip, drop. I breathed in a heavy sigh and tried to keep my eyes closed tightly. However, the sound wouldn’t waiver. Drip. Drip. Drop.
My eyes slowly opened. It was pitch black in my tiny room. I removed the blankets that were covering me and slowly stood from the bed, walking the short distance to the hallway bathroom. When I pushed the door open, just like my bedroom, darkness masked the space. The sounds of the water had grown louder; the dripping was resounding off of the bare walls. I flipped the lights on and found the tub filling up with water. I pulled the drain plug and turned the knob to stop the dripping. I turned the light off and went back to bed.
It happened again. Every night that week.
On the eighth night, I knew I was going to get a good night’s sleep. I had yelled at my siblings to stop playing this horrific prank on me. I made sure the knob was turned all the way off. I took the drain plug and hid it under the pillow in my room. I woke up the next morning having slept through the night. But when I went to the bathroom to get ready for the day, I collapsed to the floor.
The tub was filled with water.
My lips trembled as I crawled toward the ceramic tub. The cold floor against my knees felt like sharp knives digging into my skin. I stretched my shaking hands toward the knob. I grabbed the smooth handle and tugged down. It didn’t budge. There was no water coming out. It was completely off, the way I had left it when I closed my eyes in my warm bed the night before.
I moved my gaze from the knob down to the bottom of the tub. The drain plug was in place. My mouth went dry. I felt my lips begin to crack. I needed a drink so badly the water in the tub was drawing me in. I leaned toward the liquid filled bath and was about to submerge my auburn-colored head into the dark abyss, when something forced my body away from the tub. I simply stood in a trance and slowly turned back toward my room.
As I made my way to my room, I checked on my brothers. They were asleep soundly in their twin beds in the room across from mine. I entered my room and stared at my bed momentarily until I built up the courage to reach out for my pillow. I lifted it and again fell to the ground. The drain plug. It was where I had hid it the night before. Sitting there. Untouched.
Drip. Drip. Drop.
My lids flew open like dusty shades.
3:07 am.
I laid in my bed on my stomach. My hands were resting under the pillows beneath my cheek. I looked past the clock and stared at the window. There were no lights on. No music was playing. The scratching on the window hadn’t occurred in a while. There was something else happening. Something new. The floorboards outside of my room were creaking.
As much as I wanted to remain still, I had to turn over. I needed to know what was happening inside of my home. The thoughts of my past disappeared as I sat up in the bed and looked over toward my bedroom door. The creaking grew louder and that’s when I heard the footsteps. The sounds of the floorboards were masking the sounds of the steps, but I knew I heard them.
They were shuffling closer to my room. I continued watching my door. A quick shadow flitted across the gap between the bottom of my door and carpet on the floor. Had I blinked, I would have missed it.
As quick as it was gone, I was out of my bed and heading toward my door. I flung it open and looked down the hallway in front of my room. There was no one. And nothing. The creaking had stopped, the footsteps had ceased. I carefully walked down the stairs, then turned on every light on the floor. I found nothing. No one.
As dread coursed through my veins, a small voice inside my head told me to go toward the large bay window at the front of the house. I stepped up to the window and opened up the blinds. I saw a dark figure walking quickly down the street. Something. Someone. I couldn’t make out anything more than a blurry shadow moving away from my house. I closed the blinds and scanned the front door. It was closed, locked, and undisturbed. Maybe I was just imagining things. There was no way someone could have been inside of my home. I needed sleep. I just needed to close my eyes and finally get some rest. I turned all of the lights off and made my way back up the stairs.
I walked my tired body past my room and down the hall toward Stassi’s. As slowly and as quietly as I could, I turned the knob to open her door. I tiptoed over to her bed to find her breathing heavily. Her lids were drawn over her eyes. She was okay, fast asleep and probably dreaming sweet dreams. There was no one in her room. Nothing pestering her as she slept. I bent down and placed a soft peck on the top of her blonde head.
As I was making my way to my bedroom, I noticed the hall bathroom light was on. I opened the cracked door and was about to turn off the light when I noticed water dripping out of the sink faucet. I twisted the knob tight and the water stopped falling. I looked at my reflection in the small mirror. I was so tired from the constant waking up in the middle of the night and it was written all over my face. I pulled my hair up and wiped my face. I flipped off the light and walked back into my bedroom.
I laid my head down on the pillow and closed my eyes.
Drip. Drip. Drop.
My lids flew open.
STASSI CAME DOWN the stairs in a knee-length, dark purple t-shirt dress. Her floral boots matched perfectly. Matched her dress and her personality. Dark and colorful all at once. A small smile formed on my lips as she moved stray strands of blonde hair out of her face.
“Going somewhere?” I asked as I closed my laptop.
Tux looked up from where he was sleeping on the floor next to me.
“I was hoping it was okay for me to go grab some food with Jeremy?”
I crossed my arms. I wouldn’t have realized I had done it if Stassi hadn’t rolled her eyes and dropped her gaze from my face down to my chest. I uncrossed my arms as I stood and turned toward the kitchen. Tux followed close behind me.
“How much do you know about this guy?” I questioned as I opened the freezer and pulled out a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
I walked over toward the drawer containing the utensils and pulled out a spoon. I lifted another and looked at Stassi. She shook her head no to my silent question. I put the second spoon back in the drawer and closed it, then dug into the pint of ice cream.
Stassi continued to regard me with a blank stare. I looked into her eyes as I waited for an answer.
“Isn’t that the whole point?” she argued.
“What do you mean?” My mouth was full with the sweet cream.
“I mean, isn’t the whole point of going out with him for me to get to know him?” She put her hand on her hip.
I spooned more ice cream into my mouth. “I guess it is.”
I didn’t have another answer to give her.
“Why don’t you like him, Mom? Is there something you know about him that you’d like to share with me?” Attitude laced her words.
I raised an eyebrow at the slight defiance she exuberated. She noticed and dropped her hand simultaneously with her gaze. I put the pint and spoon on the counter next to me. Tux was sniffing around the kitchen, looking for anything I may have let drop to the floor beneath my bare feet.