Fourteen Days(15)

And then he smiled.

Good times.

Nicky began to stir next to him, so he froze, trying not to make any unnecessary movements. But now he wasn’t even close to being relaxed, which made sleep even more unfeasible.

God, I’m tired. What’s wrong with me?

Frustrated, he shuffled to find a more comfortable position, risking disturbing Nicky. He closed his eyes and swore to himself that he wouldn’t open them again until morning.

After perhaps twenty minutes, he slipped into a trance. Thoughts of work, and Nicky, and college flooded his mind. Then he imagined being back in Worcester, Nicky in her little side office again, smiling at him as he clocked in. As more and more images filled his head, they became more vague and illogical. A mess of thoughts that only a madman could decipher.

Sleep was coming.

The sounds of the night were now lost in his trance. He could feel the events of the day fading into nothingness as he slipped deeper and deeper toward sleep.

It felt good. Such a relief.

A screeching police siren filled his dreams. Or was it an ambulance? He could never tell the difference.

But the shriek was still with him in the bedroom when he opened his tired eyes. Nicky sat up in a flash, her eyes wide with panic.

It was the smoke detector.

Richard leaped out of bed, almost tripping on the overhanging quilt.

“What the hell’s that noise?” Nicky said, covering her ears with her palms.

“It’s the smoke alarm,” he said as he dashed out onto the dark landing to find the culprit.

It was the same one from yesterday. And the day before.

Racing down the stairs, he reached up at the device. Just as his fingers touched the plastic body, the sound vanished.

“I changed you already, you cheap piece of crap.” He reached over the banister and managed to switch on the hallway light to see into the kitchen. “Where’s the fire? Piece of junk.”

As he scanned the kitchen for smoke, he caught a glimpse of the kitchen chair. That feeling of dread he had experienced at lunchtime returned. He tried to shake it off but couldn’t. So he decided to do the one sensible thing he could think of. He reached over the banister again, turned off the hallway light, and ran as fast as he could up the stairs and back into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

“Is everything all right?” Nicky asked, half asleep. “Any fire?”

“Everything’s fine,” he whispered, as he crept back over to his side of the bed. “No fire. Go back to sleep.”

“Then why did it go off?”

He climbed back into bed. “Good question.”

“Must be the battery. You should change it.”

“I did.”

“Good thinking, babe.” Her voice was now faint and her eyes were closed.

“Yesterday.”

“What was yesterday?”

“The battery. I changed it yesterday.”

“Why?”

“Because it went off yesterday—and the day before.”

“Oh, right.” She pulled the quilt up to her neck. “Good night, babe. See you in the morning.”

Leaning on his elbow, Richard peered over her. “You don’t think that’s a little strange?”

“What’s strange?”

“That it went off three times without any smoke—and with a brand new battery?”

She opened her eyes and scowled. “Babe, I’m trying to sleep. I’ve got to be up in the morning.”

“Sorry, Nic. I think it’s weird, that’s all.”

“Look, I know what you’re thinking.”

He frowned. “What am I thinking?”

“You think it’s a bloody ghost doing it, don’t you?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s just a mystery.”

“Look, was it the same smoke alarm all three times?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Well then.” She turned to face the other way. “We’ve got two others. So it’s just faulty. It’s only weird if one of the other ones went off as well. Now go to sleep. There’s no such thing as ghosts—good night.”

Richard put his head against the pillow, staring up at the ceiling. I didn’t say it was a ghost, he thought. I don’t even believe in ghosts. It’s just weird, that’s all. A mystery. I’m not scared of anything. Especially not bloody ghosts. And nothing under my roof.