We said our goodbyes; I waited for Myra to get through her door safely before I backed out of the driveway.
On the drive out of town, I couldn’t help but think about Psycho guy. It was strange that I was thinking about him at all. I never thought about any of the customers after my shift ended. Well, actually, I didn’t really think about them when I was at work. I tried to think of something else, but my thoughts continued to drift back to our encounter at the bar... and those black eyes. “Who the hell has black eyes?”
When I arrived home, there was a car in my driveway. I instantly froze. I didn't recognize the car and there was a light on in the living room. Cautiously, I crept to the living room window. My heart raced; there was a man, sitting in my recliner. My heart started to pound.
“Who is he?” I murmured to myself as I bit my bottom lip to keep from hyperventilating. I quietly and slowly pulled my phone out to call the police when I saw an all-too-familiar person enter the room. I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Ugh… What does she want?” I snarled. As much as I didn’t want to see her, I hurried in. Better to get it over with.
“Well, well… It’s you,” I said, not bothering to hide my irritation.
“Hello, little sister,” she greeted me with her usual deceivingly angelic tone. “How have you been?”
The last time I saw my loser sister was five years ago, when our mother died. The authorities marked it as a suicide, but I knew better. She didn’t even stick around for the funeral. She was the type that ran when things got uncomfortable.
“What are you doin’ in town?” The standoffish, cold streak in my voice was undeniable.
“I thought I’d come home. Is that a problem?” She sneered.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. Why haven't you called or written over the last five years? Or at least let me know you were coming? Who’s he? And for that matter, how did you get in?”
“Keys,” she said, holding them in my face. “That’s my friend, Jake Ashton. He’ll be staying too.”
I should have thought to change the locks. “Maybe you should stay in a hotel,” I suggested.
“I will not. This is my house too. Mom left it to both of us.” Shannon scowled.
“Well then, I’ll go stay at a hotel. I’m not staying here with you or your friend. I don’t know him, and I don’t trust you.” My voice stabbed at her much more intensely than I had meant it to, but I refused to take it back. Standing my ground, I burned my stare into her. She had so many things to explain.
“Fine then, go,” she said.
“No one has to go. We can all sit and get acquainted.” Jake suggested tentatively. “Why don’t we all go to bed and then talk over breakfast? I’m exhausted. I’m sure you two are as well.”
I rolled my eyes, throwing my hands up in defeat. I was too tired to fight. Thank God, my bedroom door has a lock, I thought, storming off to my room. After slamming my door shut, I crawled into bed and began to cry.
Seeing my sister again had brought back memories I hadn’t allowed to surface in so long. As I drifted into sleep memories about my parents flooded my mind.
My dad was a practical man. Patient, loving, and creative. He was a great artist and enjoyed writing. I learned so many life lessons from him. He served in the army, and was a boxer in his younger days. He tried to teach us to box but we hadn’t taken it seriously . We liked to rough house with him.. I would move quickly and erratically, confusing him, kind of my signature move. We’d have taco eating contests. I always won, though he probably let me. We would drive from our house to the lake with our bikes in tow and would ride the five miles around the lake, together.
When I was a child, I had long hair which would get horribly tangled. Dad spent hours combing it. I was his princess. It wasn’t that he played favorites, but Shannon was too busy, too self-involved to spend much time with us.
Dad rebuilt car engines, giving each of us a car when we were old enough to drive; we’d often go on father/daughter date nights. My car was a Toyota, dark blue and ancient. It needed a respray but sadly Dad wasn’t able to repaint it before he died. It devastated me when, having run her own car into the ground, Shannon took mine, without my permission, and totaled it. I would have kept that car forever.
Three
“Come… Come to me,” I heard a whisper echo around me. It was pitch black. I put out my hands in front of me to feel around, but I felt nothing.
“Who are you?” My heart raced from the crippling blindness.
“You know who I am… Remember me. Just remember.” The voice whispered, “Pa bliye m.”
Pa bliye m? I knew this. I just couldn’t remember how I knew. I stood in the darkness trying to figure out why this was so familiar. Somehow, I knew it translated to “remember me.” Why?
My thought was cut short when a glowing man appeared in the distance. Dark purple flowers surrounded him. Even though the wind was absent, the flowers were waving back and forth in the direction of the two standing in the distance, as if leading a trail straight to him, but I didn’t want to go anywhere near him.
He
