by Nelly Asher
***
Next morning Evanford was awakened by his ringing phone. At first he was angry at the one who calls so early, but noticed that it's already 10 AM. No wonder; yesterday it took him a while to fall asleep... The phone fell silent for a few seconds and started ringing again. Kevin reluctantly got up and answered it:
“Hello?”
“I can't go on like that,” a female voice nervously said. “Kevin, we have to meet.”
“Tiffany?” he was a bit annoyed. “First of all, it's not like I 'have' to do anything for you. You know pretty well, there's nothing for us to talk about.”
“How can you be so... so...” it seemed she was about to burst into tears.
“You're too persistent and you make ungrounded guesses,” Evanford wearily exhaled. Tiffany and him were students of the same department. They communicated, but a few months ago their relationship became somewhat more than casual. Kevin couldn't even tell how it happened. This girl just wanted to be around, and he didn't mind. That's how it always normally started, and eventually relationships fell apart on their own. Young man was fine with that, assuming that people should be together while it's comfortable, otherwise they shouldn't impose themselves on each other. Tiffany obviously didn't hold this view – Kevin quickly sensed it and didn't even tell her his landline number to avoid problems in the future. He turned out to be correct – she was calling his cell once in a while, despite the rates.
“I don't know what you're trying to achieve. You do realize that one can't expect much from the relationship with me,” he honestly reminded. “Do yourself a favor and stop calling me.”
“But... I can't just... Can't forget it all just like that,” Tiffany sobbed.
“I'm sorry,” Evanford sincerely replied, hanging up.
Getting up this late felt weird. His head was barely working. After washing his face with cool water for some refreshment, brushing his teeth and shaving. But when Kevin touched the bathroom door handle, he felt something similar to electrical shock. He jumped away, dumbfounded. Reached to the handle, but his hand started shivering as if it felt that its owner is going to chop it off. Evanford jerked it away, trying to repress the trembling. Lost in guesses, he made a determined step towards the door.
A wave of inexplicable horror seized, almost knocking him off his feet. Heart was beating like crazy, spasms were building up in his stomach. The door before him was the pinnacle of everything scary and dangerous in the universe... Kevin sat down on the edge of the bath, breathing heavily. In half a minute his consciousness cleared up a bit, but fear didn't go anywhere. Looking at the door, Evanford was baffled – what could possibly scare him that much? But still, he realized that he can't open it. Simply can not.
Kevin heard the cellphone ringing again. If only he had a phone here to get in touch with someone, to call for help... But who will he call? Noone he knows has the keys, and they can enter only if he'll unlock the gate himself. Rescue services? So, they will break into the house to find an owner sitting in the unlocked bathroom? In either case, none of this matters – the phone isn't here. The fear of doors will probably disappear as suddenly as it struck, but when will it happen? He has to act...
Young man took a moment to collect himself, shut his eyes tight, grabbed the handle and jerked it with all possible force, falling out into the corridor. Kevin crawled away and leaned against the opposite wall. The wide-open bathroom door didn't look all that dreadful any longer. In a minute he felt that his body gained enough strength, got up and unsteadily walked to his room. Fortunately, the door was slightly open, so it didn't cause much fear. He quickly entered the room and collapsed onto a chair, trying to figure what to do next. This incident definitely has something to do with the book... After some searching Evanford found the paper Selena's pager number was written on – fortunately, he didn't throw it away. He called the operator and left a message: “Bring the book to my house immediately! The door manifested itself.”