Peripheral Vision: A Supernatural Thriller(19)
“Not tonight” she said out loud.
As she closed the door, her foot slipped and she accidentally kicked a glass jar that was sitting at the top of the stairs, “Oh shit!” she cried. The jar bounced from one step to another, surprisingly, not breaking until it hit the concrete at the bottom, shattering the jar and its contents all over the basement floor. Sarah noticed little spheres rolling and bouncing all around in every direction. They were marbles. Their bright colors sparkled in the starved light of the lone bulb.
Sarah thought about going down to clean them up, but decided she was too drunk to fare the stairs in the dimly lit basement. She closed the basement door, thankful to leave the cold air behind her, and looked at her empty wine glass.
“I think you’ve had enough for one evening, baby.” She slurred to herself.
She stumbled a bit as she walked toward the kitchen. She placed her empty glass on the counter, opened the fridge and poured herself a glass of water this time. As she drank the water, she again found herself looking at the photo in her hand. She looked at the fridge, beat-up and bare, and a little depressing. She reached out and stuck the photo on the fridge with the solitary magnet she found abandoned on the freezer door. She stood and stared at it for a moment, pleased with what she had done, and then turned and stumbled off and up the stairs to the guest room. She collapsed on the bed and passed out. Almost immediately the dreams began.
11:46pm
Sarah was walking through a dimly lit basement, while an old-fashioned record player skipped softly in the distance. The cinder blocks of the far wall were cracked. There was an old wooden pump organ, a strange looking artificial Christmas tree, and number of broken sewing machines resting along the wall... she kept walking. From the shadows, at the far end of the basement someone called her name. She walked towards the sound. In the darkness, she heard a woman scream. She turned toward the scream and saw a woman with long, black hair standing in the corner of the room, facing the wall.
Sarah awoke suddenly from her dream and sat straight up in her bed. Half asleep and disoriented, she saw a figure standing in the corner of her room. She screamed and at the same time flipped on the bedside lamp, but when she turned back the figure was gone.
“Great, now I’m in a cheesy, B horror movie.” She mumbled. It was easier to joke sometimes-much easier.
But she was still spooked by both the dream and the vanishing figure. She reached blindly for her cell phone, which sat next to the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. The clock read 4:15 A.M. She knew this was an ungodly hour to call someone but ungodly seemed to be the ongoing theme.
“Hey. You’ve reached Nick Fielding. Please leave a message.”
“Hi it’s Sarah. Sorry to call so late, but I just had the strangest dream, and to be honest, kind of a strange evening. I’m sorry, I just didn’t know who else to call. Can you... would you be able to come over in the morning? I’ll tell you all about it... It’s Sarah... I said that already... alright, good night. Sorry. “
Sarah hung up the phone and hugged her knees up to her chest, not sure if she was more afraid to sleep or dream, she instead decided to just listen. She strained her ears. She wasn’t sure what she was listening for, but eventually the creaks of the house faded away and she drifted off to sleep once more.
Chapter 8
Small Town Hero
The following morning, Nick was at the front door with a well-rested smile, two coffees in hand, and some hot breakfast, eggs, bacon, and buttered triangle cut toast in styrofoam. The steam escaped from beneath the lid and rose up into the early morning air.
“Morning.” He said as Sarah opened the front door. His breath came out like clouds. It was growing much colder. “I hope you’re hungry. I brought you some of Homewood’s finest for breakfast.”
“That’s sweet, thank you.” Sarah was exhausted and embarrassed, but she was happy to see Nick.
“Are you okay?” He seemed genuinely concerned.
“Yeah, just tired. Please come inside.”
Nick followed Sarah into the house and towards the kitchen.
“I’m sorry about calling so late, Nick. I didn’t really sleep very well last night. I had this strange dream. It freaked me out a little bit... being here alone.”
Nick could see the exhaustion in her eyes. The dark bags were hard to miss. Sarah sat down at the kitchen table, but Nick turned back to the living room.
“Let me get a fire going for you, Sarah. Meanwhile, why don’t you try some of that coffee I brought you. It’s cold in here, it’ll warm you up.”
Sarah didn’t object and found the hot coffee soothing and safe. The idea seemed ridiculous, but it was true. She always started the day with hot coffee back home, and this took her there. It was a bittersweet feeling. Sarah missed Emma. She missed her job. She missed her life. Trying to get out of her thoughts, Sarah found herself staring at the cup sleeve. “Home Brew” it read. She smiled at that, but her mind was somewhere else.
Sarah found herself struggling hard trying to remember the details of her Mother’s face. Why can’t I see it? She questioned herself. The outline would be there, but the edges grew fuzzy and grey. Why can’t I see it?! Her mind shouted, and that’s when Nick came back into the kitchen, and Sarah’s thoughts came to an unexpected stop.