Amid the Recesses: A Short Story Collection of Fear

by J. A. Crook

  Preview of A Penny Down the Well: A Short Story Collection of Horrifying Events

  Down the Drain

  “So, what do you think? It’s not, um—“ The manager of the shoddy, fourth story apartment stalled but went on with his pitch. “It’s not so bad. Could use a little work. This apartment was a difficult one. The last tenant had a serious metal allergy. Weird, huh?” The building manager scratched his sweaty neck.

  Jared looked around from the threshold of the apartment’s open door. The paint peeled from the walls and the wooden floors needed replacement. He walked in and the floors creaked and groaned under his feet. A cold must filled the air.

  The building manager placed his hand down on the counter separating the kitchen area from the living space. The tile rocked under his weight. He stepped away. “And, you know, you can’t beat the price!”

  Jared stood middle of the room and looked over the space. He sighed and admit in a defeated tone, “I’ll take it.”

  “You will?” The manager asked with wide eyes. “I mean, you will! Alright, then I’ll draw up the paperwork. Remember, it’s a six-month lease, but that’s not a problem for you, right? You look like a classy guy. No problem at all! I’ll be back. Acquaint yourself with your new apartment, mister!” The chubby man trot outside into the hallway. He banged a fist against the door of a neighboring apartment as he passed. A thumping bass blasted back against the knocking.

  “Turn it down in there, Matt!” The manager muttered as he continued toward the elevator. “How many times do I have to tell that kid?”

  Jared examined the apartment. The kitchen was bare and dirty. Jared noticed that all the faucet handles were plastic, which he expected of a cheap place. It reminded him of building manager’s comment about the prior tenant’s metal allergy.

  Jared stepped through the bedroom into bathroom. He looked into the mirror over the sink. Long streaks that looked like baked flatworms ran across the mirror, each a few inches. Jared brought his face closer to the mirror. A black line ran through the middle of his reflection and split him in two. He noticed a bumpy texture in the streaks that bubbled from the mirror. He swept a finger across the bumps. A residue stuck to his fingers at he touched the mirror, both clearer and thicker than water. He brought the residue to his nose. It smelled like copper or dried blood. Jared turned on the sink. A tapping sound rang through the narrow metal faucet but no water came from it.

  “No water.” Jared shook his head. “Can’t stay here if there’s no—“

  Water burst from the pipes. A red sludge shot into the sink and washed away as clearer water flowed in.

  Rust, he thought.

  He returned to the bedroom. The room was small and would barely fit a queen-sized bed. The carpet’s edges were flat from traffic. White adhesive strips littered the walls, arranged in squared. Jared assumed it was how the prior tenant hung frames.

  “No nails.” He said to himself. He touched a strip. It lacked tackiness.

  Jared stepped into the living room. A blonde, twenty-something year-old leaned against the living room wall. The boy wore bright colors, highlighted through a tie-dye shirt.

  “Hey, man.” The boy said. “You moving in here?”

  Jared looked past the stranger and into the hallway. The neighboring door was open. Music blared from the open apartment. Jared assumed the apartment belonged to the boy in front of him.

  “You usually just walk into stranger’s apartments?” Jared asked.

  “You left the door open.” The boy said.

  Jared looked to the boy’s open door. He said nothing.

  “Just trying to be friendly, man. I can leave if you’d—“

  “No.” Jared lifted a hand. “It’s fine. Sorry. I’m Jared.”

  “Matt.” The boy said.

  “Good to meet you.” Jared wasn’t sure he meant it.

  “Can’t believe you took the place, man.” The boy brushed the long hair from his face. His blue eyes were bright and showed intelligence. His voice made him sound stupid, high-pitched and erratic.

  “Used to know the old resident here. Crazy bitch, you know?” Matt said. “I live right there.” He pointed back to the open door.

  Jared’s eyes followed Matt’s finger. The constant thumping of the music made Jared wince.

  “Why was she crazy?”

  “I don’t know, man. She just was.”

  Jared thought Matt’s response was typical of a young person—they knew everything about the world and were too good to share the secret.

  “Well, I’m not crazy.” Jared said. He tried to not sound defensive.

  “Hope not.” Matt looked at the doorknob on Jared’s front door. “Anything weird about the doorknob?”

  Jared’s brow rose. “The doorknob?”

  “The lady that lived here used wrap a plastic bag around her hand before opening the door. Told you—crazy, man.” Matt shook his head.

  “I heard she had a metal allergy.” Jared stepped to the doorknob and examined it. Normal.

  Matt laughed. “Yeah. Whatever, man. I’ll catch you later.”

  Matt stepped around Jared. The smell of pot wafted from Matt’s clothes. Jared made distance between Matt and him. He stood in the threshold of the open door. Matt stepped into his apartment and closed the door behind him. Jared glanced to the doorknob again, turned it left then right, and then closed the door.

  Jared took care of the apartment paperwork and moved in the few belongings he owned, mostly by himself. As he brought in the large objects, like the bed and an old Salvation Army couch, Matt was in the hallway and offered to give him a hand to the beat of his usual anthem. The music made for a productive mood, beating like a heart or the hammering of a nail. The rhythm drove one foot in front of the other until he was moved in. Matt observed the apartment. The apartment seemed weird to Matt. Jared didn’t. The prior tenant had a metal allergy. A metal allergy seemed impossible in the city, like an allergy to the sun.

  Jared thought the place could use a little paint. He thought about HGTV and other “home” networks that freshened up old places. Glamorous hosts would say, “A fresh coat of neutral paint can make an old place look new!” Jared hoped so. As he crammed the flat-head screwdriver beneath the lip of the white paint’s lid, his phone rang. He stood, checked the number, and tightened his grip on the screwdriver. Emily.

  “Hey.” Jared said after reluctantly answering it.

  “Jared, it’s Emily.” A chipper voice, a stark contrast to Jared’s these days, answered.

  “I know, Emily. What’s up?” He opened the paint can lid with the phone on his shoulder.

  “I needed to ask you for something. I was hoping you could help me out.” Emily suggested.

  Jared paused. He took a deep breath and shook his head. “What do you want?”

  “Well...” She paused. “You said that you were going to sign the car over to me. I need that done soon. Like... tomorrow?” The question was a little more reserved.

  Jared looked at the paint. It wasn’t white enough. “Can I ask why?” Confused by the sudden rush. They’d only separated a week before.

  “Well...” She paused again. “I was thinking that since we weren’t going to use the car for work and I don’t need the space, I’d get something a little more myself.”

  “A little more yourself?” Jared thought for a minute if they made cars that broke hearts, sequentially smashing them to bits with each push of a piston until they’re ground into mince.

  “Can you do it or not?” She spit out.

  Jared was quiet for a minute, pouring the paint into the paint tray. He rolled the paint roller back and forth in the thick, white mess and made her wait. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to just have her attention for a minute or if he didn’t want to answer. Eventually, she chimed in.

  “Jared?” Emily asked.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll come by and sign it tomorrow.” And he hung up the phone.

  Jared painted into the night. He
wiped away scars on the old wall and tears from his face. The next day, he felt closer to losing Emily. He loved and hated her. It felt miserable caring. He stopped when the music from Matt’s apartment did and he went to bed.

  Jared placed his wedding ring on the small nightstand next to his bed and stared at it. He thought about his five years with Emily and about their happiness. His life went to hell. He remembered Emily confessing that she didn’t the marriage anymore. The confession was sudden and inexplicable. She “wasn’t ready” after five years of commitment, and she “felt like life was passing her by.” Clichés. Jared could do nothing but think that whatever was wrong was something she wasn’t telling the truth about. The truth didn’t come in the face of divorce. Jared felt like he deserved an explanation. Instead, he stared at the ring that once shined with the promise of eternity. Jared saw tarnished metal and he thought of the scarred walls beneath the coat of white paint.

  The next day’s sun came despite it all. Jared woke and rubbed his eyes, but pulled his hand sharply from his face as he felt a sting while curling his fingers. He examined the rash on his hand and his palm and fingers. The rash was worst around his ring finger. He looked to his nightstand and noticed his ring was missing.

  Jared leaped out of bed and rushed into the living room. He checked the locks and they were fine. He reviewed the windows and everything seemed fine. Jared returned to the room, but paused near the bathroom. He noticed his ring sitting on the floor near the vanity cabinet. He approached the bathroom and peeked around the corner of the door’s threshold before entering. He leaned down, finding his ring in the same strange liquid he’d remembered from the mirror. Jared shook his head, looking around the bathroom for any sign of what could have happened. He shifted and looked back into the room, where his bed and nightstand sat. “Did I knock it off?” He asked himself. Maybe it just rolled in, he thought. He looked for liquid’s source, but there was no sign of moisture. Jared curled the ring into his hand and took it back into the room with him. He dressed and put the ring into his pocket.

  Later that day, Jared made it out to the old house where Emily and Jared spent their time together. It’s where they fell apart. Jared sat across from Emily at the table while she signed documents. Jared imagined the breakfasts they’d have at the table. He thought about when he’d cook if she worked early or she’d cook if he did. They’d laugh and smile, share stories and hopes for the day. Thinking about those days put a smile on his face.

  “Alright, you just need to sign here and here.” Emily pointed to two different places on the long, complicated document. Jared signed. He signed away as he did with the house and everything else he didn’t want. It was something he thought he could do to show her how much he cared, to give her everything that he had. Jared wanted Emily to see that. She didn’t. Emily went through the documentation without skipping a beat. Her disconnection confused him.

  Emily took the papers and nodded. “Thank you, Jared. I know this is hard for you.”

  “Is it hard for you?” He asked.

  Emily held the papers in front of her chest like a shield made to repel Jared’s question. “Of course it’s hard for me. I wish you understood.”

  ”I wish I did, too.” He replied. He looked down to the empty table. No eggs. No bacon. No pancakes. No coffee. Nothing they loved.

  “What happened to your hand?” Emily asked.

  Jared shrugged. He lifted his red hand and looked it over. “I don’t know.” His eyes focused on the red ring around his finger where his ring was the day before. The mark there was significantly worse than the irritation on his palm, and he couldn’t help but think of the woman and her metal allergy. The worst of the rash resembled the ring.

  Jared stood and pulled his coat back over his arms and back. “Anything else?”

  “No. No, that’s all. I hope you feel better.” Emily said from behind her paper shield.

  Jared nodded. He stepped to the door. He looked down to the doorknob and used his left hand instead of his right to turn it and push his way out.

  Jared returned to the old apartment after a stop at the grocery store. He picked canned beans and frozen vegetables to hold him over. Instead of the elevator, he took the stairs. He was certain it was only a matter of time before the elevator decided to become a death-trap with the way things were maintained here. Jared returned to the rhythmic thump once he reached the fourth floor and Matt popped out as Jared passed his door, as if he had been waiting.

  “Hey, man.” Matt said.

  Jared halted for a moment to see if Matt would say anything else. Matt was dressed the same. He either hadn’t showered or put on the same clothes as the day before. “Hey.” Jared said.

  “Just thought I’d let you know that some maintenance guys were coming through the building earlier. Stopped by my place, think they might have went into yours, too.” Matt said, leaning against the threshold of his open door, his words nearly inaudible behind the blaring beat.

  Jared’s eyes squinted as the sound seemed overwhelming with the door open, and brought him to wonder how Matt could endure it all day long. “Aren’t they supposed to notify me beforehand or something?” A reasonable question, he thought.

  “They’re supposed to do a lot of things, dude. Have you seen this place?” Matt laughed, red eyed narrowed in a strange surveying of Jared as he stood in the hallway, holding his two grocery bags. He continued, “You bring those so you can open your door, man?” Pointing to the bags. He laughed.

  Jared looked down at the bag of canned goods and shook his head. “No, I’m going to use these to stay alive. Thanks for the suggestion, though.” Jared headed toward his door down the hall. Matt remained in his wake, bopping his head to the rhythm. Jared stood in front of the door and stared at the doorknob. Before turning it, Jared looked over his shoulder to see if Matt was still watching, and he was. Matt’s head and neck stiffened and revealed his attentiveness. Jared shook his head and turned the knob with his right hand and pressed into the apartment. He closed the door behind him.

  Jared placed the groceries on the counter partition between the living area and the kitchen. Open windows aired out the room and allowed light to cast inside.

  Long streaks in the fresh paint were missing, revealing the nasty, discolored paint below. Jared shook his head in disbelief before he examined the room. Similar streaks of missing paint were everywhere. “You have to be kidding me.” He crouched beside the wall and examined one of the wall’s streaks. It smelled of mold with a viscous residue coating. Jared stood and looked around the room for a source. A clanking sound came from the kitchen sink. He spun toward the sound. Nothing obvious. He moved across the room and pulled the cabinets below the sink open. Nothing. He stood. “Rats?”

  As Jared put away his groceries, he considered the maintenance personnel Matt mentioned were responsible for the damaged walls. He considered that they may have been careless while working. He decided not to worry. Emily stayed on his mind.

  That night, Jared repainted the damaged spots on the wall. He made it right. He assembled the dishes in the house in the sink and began washing them quietly, or as quietly as he could, with the sound of Matt’s music in the background. Through the horde of bubbles and water, Jared could see his bare hand, stinging slightly from the irritation. Again, he thought of Emily. He thought of how badly he wished he could turn everything around. He thought of how he wished that she wasn’t systematically removing him from her life, and wished he wasn’t systematically going with it. He wanted a life with her, like the one he shared with her in those five years. He wanted to know what changed in her.

  As Jared finished the dishes and dried his hands, he stood over the sink and stared into the empty basin. His shoved a hand into his pocket and pulled out his wedding ring. Slowly he slipped it over the crest of his finger, but he paused, feeling the pain start to kick in, especially with how tightly the ring fit. He took a deep breath, and as soon as he prepared to push the ring down onto his finger
, there was a knocking on the door that startled him. The ring that was prepared to move back onto Jared’s finger slipped from him entirely and first fell into the sink, then rolled, despite Jared’s efforts to stop it, right down the drain.

  “No! Damn it!” He scrambled, trying to reach into the drain as much as he could, but his hand was too large to fit. The knocking came again. Jared pulled open the cabinets beneath the sink and stared at the pipes. The trap, he thought, would have stopped it. He’d just have to find a way to get it out. The knocking came again. “I’m coming!” He yelled, frustrated. Jared rose from the open cabinets and stepped to the door.

  Jared opened the door to the fat, sweaty building manager. He seemed impatient and prepared to knock again as the door opened.

  Jared answered with an irritated, “Yes?”

  “Ah, Jared. Hey! How’re you? How are you liking the new place, huh?” The manager began with small talk, peering a bit over Jared’s shoulder to see the new paint. “Painted the place, huh? Looks better. Well, that’ll make my job a little easier.”

  “I’m fine.” Jared wasn’t fine. He could hardly pay attention to the building manager. He thought about his wedding ring sitting in the old, murky trap of the sink pipes, and he considered the irony of it all. “What job?” He assumed the visit concerned the maintenance visit or the damaged walls.

  “Well, seems to be some apartments in the building that have, you know, some problems.” He paused and scratched his hairy neck.

  Jared grimaced as the manager’s Vienna sausage fingers slid through damp, curly hair. “Problems?” Jared looked back over the apartment. He thought there were plenty of problems. “Like?”

  “Well, Jared—“ still delaying, “—You know these damn Chinese bastards, always sending out things with things in them that shouldn’t be and so.” The manager said without saying much.

  Jared stepped in. “Tell me what’s wrong with the place. I don’t have time for this right now.” More assertively.

  “Alright, kid, calm it down. There’s some apartments that have lead-based paint in them. Some cocky inspector came through and found some of it. So, we’re gonna have to do some work to stay in ‘code.’” It’s gonna be a hassle, but since you painted the place, I think we can wait a while before we get into this one.” The manager said, as if the paint rid the place of poison.

  “Lead-based paint? Seriously?” Jared said in disbelief. He asked immediately, “I heard there were some maintenance people in my apartment the other day.” Jared kept quiet about the unexpected maintenance visit. “Did they do anything? Tear away paint from the base of the wall?”

  “What? No. All I heard was that they walked in, saw the place freshly painted and walked out.” The manager said.

  “They didn’t do anything at all?” Jared didn’t believe him.

  The manager shook his head. “Jared, we wouldn’t do anything to damage any of your stuff. We’re respectable people, we like to take care of our community. They’re like our family, you know?” The manager gave Jared a smile seemed fake.

  Jared rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I have to get back to business.” He stepped back from the door.

  “Listen, Jared, twenty dollars off this month’s rent, for all of your trouble.” The smile widened on the manager’s face.

  Jared stared at the man in his doorway and shut the door in his face. He left the manager standing an inch or two from solid wood. Jared turned around and looked the room over. “Lead-based paint. Pests. Creaking floors. Loud neighbors. I fucking feel like family here, alright.” He pushed from the door and head back into the kitchen sink.

  Jared assessed the pipes under the sink. He knocked on the curved trap and listened for rattling metal. Nothing. Jared had no tools. He tugged with his hands and tried to pull the pipes apart. They didn’t give. He thought about kicking the pipes off but considered the damage it could cause. He decided to wait until morning.

  Jared took a long shower that night and thought about the day. He was a day closer to divorce. He thought about his wedding band sitting in the disgusting drain of the decrepit apartment. He felt like he’d abandoned a friend. He knew there was nothing he could do. He’d be patient. As Jared got out of the shower, he heard his phone ring. He wrapped a towel around his body and ran toward the sound. Emily.

  “Hello?”

  “Jared?” Her voice shook.

  “Yeah. What’s up?” He’d known her well enough to understand something was wrong. There was a hurt in her voice he knew. Jared loved this deep understanding of her.

  “Jared.” Emily began to cry. “Jared, I’m so sorry. I know this has been difficult. It’s been difficult for me too. I wish things hadn’t turned out this way. I just…” She paused.

  “What is it?” Jared asked. He slid down against the wall.

  “Is this all a mistake? Should we try harder to work this out? I think maybe I’m just confused. This seems so dumb, you know? But…” She paused again.

  “But?”

  “I don’t know. I just don’t know what to do. How to make it right again.

  Jared felt hope. “How about you come over in a couple days? We’ll have dinner. I’ll show you the new place? Maybe we can talk?” He suggested. Jared thought that if she saw the place, she’d understand his capacity for sacrifice. He wanted a chance to talk to her in person. It may have been his last chance to fix their problems or to understand what went wrong.

  Emily whispered, “Okay.”

  “Okay. Get some sleep. Everything’s going to be alright.” Jared said. He thought of the ring in the sink. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “Goodnight.” She said.

  “Goodnight.”

  That’s when something unexpected occurred.

  Clink. Clink clink.

  Jared sat up in bed. The sound came from the kitchen. He threw his legs off of the bed and stood. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and tried to make sense of the apartment in darkness.

  Clink clink.

  Jared moved into the kitchen. He picked up a hammer he’d bought in a few days earlier to replace the sticky film with nails. “Alright, you little bastard.” He expected a rat. Jared moved around the counter partition between the living area and the kitchen and waited. There was silence for a long time before he heard it again, from near the sink. He twisted and held the hammer high in his hand. He crept toward the kitchen sink, one foot in front of another. ‘Don’t worry, little guy.” He whispered as he neared the sink. He stopped and waited. There was a different sound that came, which sounded like a guttural grunt. Jared’s head cocked to the side in bewilderment.

  Clink clink clink.

  The sound came from the sink. He thought about his ring. Jared sprang into action, afraid that if he didn’t act quickly, the pest in the drain might try to scurry off with his ring. He flipped on the kitchen light and pulled open the cabinets under the sink. The drain trap was dripping with what looked like water, but after quick inspection, it was thicker. Jared took a deep breath and squeezed the hammer in his hand, ready to kill. “Alright, fucker, time to die!” He smashed the hammer across the trap pipe and knocked it clear off. Jared shot backwards and crawled toward the refrigerator. His ring fell from the broken pipe, but from the pipe that remained, a long, salivating tongue rolled around in circles and searched for the ring. Grunts came from the pipe.

  Jared’s heart beat faster than he thought possible. He put the hammer down beside him and slapped his face twice. “I’m dreaming. I’m dreaming.” If he was, the quick blows didn’t wake him. He gripped the hammer again. “What?” He shook his head and the tongue withdraw into the pipe.

  Jared rolled onto his knees. The pain in his hand shot through his arm as he crawled forward. He kept the hammer handy. “H-Hello?” Jared asked. He realized the absurdity of the question. With gnashed teeth, Jared stared into the hole where the tongue hid away. He leaned toward it and stopped a few feet away. “Hel—“ He stopped as an eye emerged against the pipe, as an eye woul
d peer through a keyhole. The eye had a sickly green iris and it rolled around until it settled on Jared, fleshy lid narrowing over the harrowing, glossy sphere.

  Jared screamed and dropped the hammer. He shot back from the pipe. The eye withdrew and lips, purple and green, came forward. They spoke and revealed rotting, green teeth.

  “Give… me… your… metal.” The voice whispered from the pipe. The lips smiled, withdrew, and the eye reemerged.

  “W-What are you?” Jared said, frightened.

  It repeated as the eye withdrew and the lips came forward. “Give… me… your… metal.” The eye came forth again, watched Jared and rolled around in its metal socket. It turned its gaze to the ring that fell from the broken pipe.

  Jared looked to his ring and shook his head. “No. No, you can’t have that. You hear me? You can’t have that!” He lifted the hammer from his side and moved toward the pipe. As Jared swung the hammer at the eye, it withdrew leaving only darkness inside the pipe. He held the hammer back and waited, but the eye didn’t return.

  Jared put a hand to his head in disbelief before he snatched his ring up with his good hand. He grabbed a rag from a drawer and sprayed it with bleach from a spray bottle. He stuffed the rag into the open pipe. He backed away and examined his ring. Muck covered the ring. It smelled of mold. Jared understood the thick liquid here, the mirrors, the walls was the saliva of creeping tongue. He rose to his feet, kept his hammer with him and returned to his room. He looked at his phone. 3 A.M. He considered calling the police, then he thought about what he would say. Yes, officer, there’s a monster in my drain. Jared closed and locked the door of his room and closed the vents. He sat up in bed that night with the hammer and waited to see if it would come again. It didn’t.

  Jared had fallen asleep against his will. When he woke up, he immediately lifted his hammer, prepared to strike in the case that something had sprung on him. As he lifted the hammer, he felt an intense pain shoot through his hand and arm. He looked at his hand in shock. It was red and irritated, with a circular imprint in the middle of his palm where his ring was. His ring, however, was missing.

  He cradled his freshly damaged hand close to his body, Jared moved from the bed and toward the door of his bedroom. It was no longer locked. The door was cracked open. Jared pulled the door open and inspected the living area. The walls bore smeared streaks along their bases. “How?” His jaw fell before he stepped out into the living room. His foot came down on something and he leapt back toward the bedroom door. His ring sat on the ground in front of the bedroom door. Jared’s eyes shot around before he bent over and lifted the ring in front of his eyes. A thick, moldy mucus covered the ring. Jared whispered as he eyed the golden band, “Give me your metal.” He glanced to the walls then the ring. “Lead-based paint.” His eyes narrowed. “That fucking tongue is trying to get to the walls!” Jared went into the bathroom and watched the mirror. “Silver? Mirrors have silver. It’s eating—“ Jared stepped back and shook his head. “Impossible.” Jared’s eyes glazed over and he tried to process everything that had happened the night before. He heard the familiar ring tone of his phone. He left the bathroom, went into his bedroom, and lifted the phone. Emily. He answered.

  “H-Hello?” Jared shook out.

  “Jared, it’s Emily. Everything alright?” She asked.

  “Um.” No, everything was not alright, he thought. “Yeah. What’s going on?” His eyes shifted this way then that. He expected anything at any moment.

  “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind maybe having dinner tonight instead of tomorrow. I’d—“ she paused, “—I’d like to talk to you, if you wouldn’t mind. Is that alright?” She asked.

  “Tonight?” Jared said as he peeked out of the bathroom to the living area, toward the sink. “Any reason for the rush?” He tried to delay. He searched for the unordinary.

  “I just have a couple things I want to talk to you about while they’re fresh on my mind. You know how things get when everything becomes busy. You forget about the points you want to make, things like that. So?” Emily asked again.

  “Um.” He paused. “Yeah, tonight will work just fine. How about eight? I’ll call you if anything shows up, alright?” He said, not realizing he spoke out of context.

  “Shows up? What do you mean?” She seemed confused.

  “Comes up, rather. Comes up. That’s what I meant. See you tonight. I’ll text you the address, okay?” He hung up the phone as she began to reply.

  Jared felt his plans were falling apart. He didn’t want to seem like a crazy person. He had to get Emily back tonight if ever. Tonight had to be perfect. Nothing could go wrong. He did the only thing he thought he could do. He made an offer to the unknown.

  Jared called out from the middle of the kitchen. His hands pulsed with pain from having touched the phone. “Alright. Whatever you are. Listen, I know what you want. You want metal, right? You like metal? You like gold and silver? I’m going to make you a deal, okay? This one time, you and me.” He paused. He heard a groan from the building, as if it shifted on its foundation. “Okay. Listen, you stay out of my business tonight and I’ll give you gold. Okay? When she comes here, you stay away!” He cried out again to no response. Jared had no idea what he was doing, but it was his best shot. He wanted Emily to see the place. He wanted to make her feel sorry for his living conditions. He wanted to make the best impression he could and he couldn’t deal with a tongue-filled drain. It had to work.

  Jared took a shower and stood a distance from the drain. He washed his hair with his eyes open and felt the sting of the soap as it dripped into his eyes. He stared at the black little hole and waited for a tongue to fling out when unprepared. Nothing came. He dressed and repainted the walls of the apartment. They were white again. Not white enough, he thought. Jared prepared simple meal. He fetched his water from the bathroom sink. He thought it safer, as it was a distance from the kitchen pipes.

  There was a knock on the door. Jared looked at his watch. It was too early for Emily. He opened the door to Matt. Jared’s gauze-wrapped hands caught Matt’s attention.

  “Doorknob get you?” Matt laughed, unsympathetic.

  “What do you want?” Jared asked with blunt force. He tried not to seem impatient.

  “Heard noise coming from your apartment last night. Wanted to see if everything was alright.” Matt said. He seemed genuinely concerned. Matt’s eyes darted over Jared’s shoulder. It was obvious to Jared he was merely curious, not concerned.

  “Everything’s fine. My wife is coming out tonight. I was just doing some last minute... cleaning.” Jared said, with little confidence after the short pause.

  “Wife? I didn’t know you were married.” Matt said with surprise.

  “It’s complicated. Still, everything’s fine. I’m hoping it’ll be a nice night.” Jared smiled. “I do have a lot of things to do. Was there anything else?”

  Matt shook his head. “No, man. Have fun with ‘the wife.’” Matt grinned and stepped back from the door. He bopped his head as he waded toward the pulsing sound of his apartment.

  Jared called out as he was walking away. “Matt, do you think you could turn down the music tonight? I’d like to have a nice night and the music’s distracting.” Jared tried to reason with Matt.

  “Sure, man. I’ll turn it down.” Matt lifted his chin toward Jared, in a nondescript sign of “getting it.” Jared nodded and stepped out of the apartment. He headed to the jewelry store.

  Emily was a fan of jewelry. Jared thought jewelry was an enormous waste of money. He never understood the symbolism. He conceded from his own ideas to do whatever he could in the last try at getting Emily back. He’d hold nothing back.

  “That gold one there, with the diamond? How much is that?” Jared asked the salesperson as Jared’s reflection stared at him in the glass. The jewelry case’s lights glowed in a way that made the diamonds inside glimmer.

  “That one there?” The man reached into the case after he unlocked it. He lifted the
small display toward Jared and showed it off before he gave the price. “One-thousand for that one, Sir, but I could give it to you for nine-hundred?”

  “Nine-hundred?” Jared didn’t have that kind of money, but he had a credit card. All the stops. Jared thought about it and lifted the necklace with gauzed fingers. He thought of the voice from the kitchen pipes, “give me your metal.” He shuddered then nodded. “I’ll take it.”

  The salesperson clapped with a delighted smile. “Wonderful. Let me package it up for you, Sir.” Then he did, in a ribbon-strewn, decorative box.

  On the drive home, Jared popped open the case of the necklace. He glanced at it in the passenger seat as he drove along. The necklace was a symbol of a new beginning. It meant that him and Emily could put everything behind them, move on. It seemed simple to Jared. He wanted to remind her of his love and his willingness to sacrifice. He imagined Emily would feel pity when she saw the apartment and be mesmerized by the necklace. Everything was going to work. It had to.

  When Jared arrived at his apartment, the music was down. He and he called out a quick “thanks” as he passed by. There was no response. Inside, Jared cooked the meal he’d prepared and dressed in his best clothes. He put the necklace and case inside of pocket of his slacks. Jared cooked the meal then stood over the sink with both gauzed hands on the sides of the metal basin.

  “Listen. I know you want metal and I have it, alright? You just stay in there and out of view until we’re done here and you can have every bit of metal you want. I don’t imagine I’ll be staying at the apartment long.” Jared said into the drain’s abyss.

  He heard the building’s pipes groan in response. Taps and ticks echoed through the emptiness. The pipes below his feet and above his head sounded as though they were twisting and contorting. Jared accepted it as a response—maybe even an agreement.

  The knock came. Jared tugged on his collar, ensured it was crisp, lit a couple of candles at the table, and made it to the door when the second knock came. He opened the door to Emily, who looked solemn, and then disturbed by the apartment behind him.

  “My God, Jared, what is this place?” She said, concerned while looking over his shoulder as Matt had earlier. Matt, too, stood in the hallway. He chewed on potato chips and stared at Emily. Emily peeked over her shoulder to Matt.

  “Come in.” Jared escorted her in and he narrowed his eyes on Matt, who returned a wide, greasy grin.

  Inside of the apartment, Jared removed Emily’s coat and placed on the couch’s back. He presented the space with a swing of his arms.

  “So, what do you think? It’s not much. I just painted.” Jared said.

  Emily looked around the room for a long time. She didn’t smile or frown. Her face was still like a doll.

  Jared intervened. “I made us steak and asparagus. Our favorite.” He dashed off toward the kitchen to bring back the pan of asparagus first. The plates were already at the small table at the edge of the kitchen. With a pair of tongs, he placed the asparagus on the plates.

  Emily migrated from the center of the bleak living room. She ran a hand along the old, Salvation Army couch and her red lips rose at one end. He knew that she disapproved. She wore a simple white dress, white always a color that Emily wore well and one that Jared thought highlighted her purity. Glossy white heels made her perfection. White enough, he thought.

  “Why don’t you come and sit down?” Jared asked after he placed the pan down. He pulled a seat out for her at the table and waited for her to finish her inspection of Jared’s furniture.

  Emily looked up to him with a smile, her eyes glossed in the dim candlelight. She nodded and stepped toward the seat and sat. “I’m sorry, Jared, if I had realized—“

  Jared stopped her. “No. I wanted you to be alright. I can’t have you living like this, so I want you to have everything. Really.” Jared smiled, but an unknown feeling weakened it. It was enough for Emily to see.

  “Why, Jared? After all of this? Why aren’t you upset with me? Why aren’t you mad, or spiteful?” Emily asked, confused. She sounded like she wanted anger and spite.

  Jared served the steak and sat down across from her. He poured two glassed of wine and avoided the question. The silence created a thickness in the air. She waited for his answer in suspense. He cut into his steak and Emily chimed up.

  “Are your hands getting worse?” She pointed to the bandages that were over his hands. She didn’t notice them before.

  “Yeah, I think so. I’m not sure. It might be some sort of reaction to a chemical I used, or the paint or something. I don’t know. I’m sure it’ll clear up.” Jared said. He put a fork-full of steak into his mouth and chewed.

  “Don’t you think you should go to the hospital?” Emily asked with her brows knotted

  “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, Emily. I’m sure it’s going to be just fine. I don’t have anything else to paint.” Until that thing decides it wants to come out and lick toward the lead, Jared thought. He continued to chew and kept his expression cheerful against the odds. He wanted everything to work. “Why don’t you try it? It’s really good. I left it rare, the way you like it.”

  Emily looked down to the steak. She stared at it like a dead pet. She cut into it and smiled after mouthing a “thank you.” She took her first bite and closed her eyes in gentle bliss. “Mm.”

  Jared knew that Emily loved great steak. She kept a great form, exercised compulsively, but when she sat down and indulged, she was in heaven. Emily opened her eyes and nodded to Jared with a wide, satisfied smile.

  “It’s delicious.” Her mouth still full of the rare steak. He remembered their brand of comfort.

  “I’m glad. So, did you get the new car?” Jared asked. He cut into the asparagus.

  “Yes. A new sedan. Keyless-entry, automatic everything. A real sharp gunmetal color.”

  As she stated the color, the pipes in the apartment groaned. Jared’s eyes shot to the sink. Emily wasn’t the only one that enjoyed her meals.

  Jared stuttered a response, “Oh yeah? That’s great. I’m glad you found something you liked.” He tried to be happy about the purchase, but he wasn’t.

  “I am too.” She said. She put her fork down on the plate.

  Jared’s brows rose. “Something wrong?”

  “I’ve had trouble lately. I feel so lost, Jared. I feel like everything is changing so quickly.” She stared at her fork. Her hands came to the table and she kept quiet after her confession.

  Jared listened in the silence.

  “The past few nights when I’ve been in bed, alone, I just think... did this all have to happen this way? Why is everything so complicated right now?” She confessed. She drank a large swig of wine and asked for a refill.

  Jared filled the glass and kept his eyes on hers. “Emily, I thought this is what you wanted. You said you weren’t sure you were ready.” He felt a twinge of anger saying it aloud. “You said you were confused. I thought it would be best if you had space, you know? Comfortable space, space your own.” He missed their space.

  “Yeah.” Emily sighed. Her eyes were on Jared’s, but he knew she didn’t see him.

  “Emily...” Jared paused and placed a hand on his thigh. He felt the necklace case in his pocket. “It doesn’t have to be this way, you know? We can still work this out. We can get counseling. We can start over. Get to know each other again. Date, maybe, like the old days?” Jared smiled. He placed his hands over Emily’s. Her hands shook under his.

  “Jared, I...” She lowered her head and her eyes glossed with tears.

  Jared stood from his seat and stepped around the table. He pulled the necklace case from his pocket and opened it. In the dim light of the kitchen, it shined like a star. “I got you something I thought you’d like.” He smiled. He didn’t want her to go any further without seeing it.

  Emily’s eyes widened and her hands shot to her mouth. “Jared! Oh. It’s so beautiful!” She squealed. She looked up at him and shook her head as a t
ear broke from her bright eyes and ran down her cheek. “You bought this for me?” Her mouth kept wide in awe.

  “Yes.” He knelt down beside her chair. “I don’t want to give up on us. I know that you’re confused. I know that you’re unsure about us, but think about how great we are together. Think about how much we trusted each other and how comfortable everything was. We were perfect, Emily. You’re perfect. I want you to have this as a symbol of how much I love you. I want you to really know.” He pulled the necklace from the case, unclasped it, and moved around behind her.

  Emily sat silent. Beneath Jared’s fidgeting fingers, he felt her tremble. When he finished, he moved to the front of her and admired the diamond hanging near her breast. “Emily, it’s—“ But she cut him off.

  “I cheated, Jared. I slept with someone else. I fell in love with him and that’s why all of this happened!” She shouted out and burst into tears.

  Jared’s eyes went wide. His mouth fell open and he shook his head. He felt he didn’t hear her right.

  “I don’t know, I was just so confused about everything. I didn’t know what to do! He just swept in and changed everything and...” Emily paused and looked up to Jared. She saw only shock. “Jared?”

  The pipes groaned.

  “Jared. I’m so sorry. I know you’ll never forgive me.”

  “You love him?” Jared broke his silence, his words glossed with a spiteful hiss.

  “I... Jared, I’m so sorry.” Emily plead behind a voice mangled by tears.

  Jared took a deep breath. He heard a sound. The rhythmic beat of music rose from down the hall. The beat penetrated the walls and intervened in a moment that deserved silence. There was something industrious about the sound. Jared lifted Emily’s plate from the table and dumped the remaining food onto the table’s surface. He swung it the plate into her head and knocked her to the ground, unconscious. Emily laid there in front of him with her head at his feet. He clutched the broken plate in his hand. The necklace hung on the old wooden floor and the pipes groaned. A rattle came from beneath the sink, a grunt. Jared knew something stirred.

  “You did this, Emily. We had everything and you didn’t think it was enough.” Jared stared down at his unconscious wife, entranced with madness.

  A voice came from below the sink. “Give… me… your… metal.” A grainy rasp.

  Jared looked back to the sink. He leaned down and grasped both of her wrists with his gauzed hands. Jared dragged her to the thumping beat of Matt’s music. The date was over. Jared didn’t care. He dragged Emily across the stained floor until he reached the cabinets below the sink. Jared opened the cabinets and was hit by the harsh smell of the bleach that he soaked the rag in. Jared leaned down to Emily and looked her over. Blood trickled down the right side of her bruised head. Jared’s lips neared the wound and he whispered. “I loved you.” He pulled away. Jared shoved Emily’s head beneath the sink, where the diamond necklace caught the dim light of the kitchen for the last time. He pulled the rag out of the pipe, uncorking it. A foul must filled the space.

  Jared left her there, with her head stuffed beneath the kitchen sink. He walked into his bedroom, turned off the light, locked his door and went to sleep. He slept to a serenade of crunching.

  PURCHASE A PENNY DOWN THE WELL

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