“Thanks, I appreciate your concern for my well-being, but I want to do this,” she said as she put the key in the door, but not making a move to invite him in.
“Look. It’s your house, your decision. I have a big mouth and I’m sorry. I just…well, I like you, and I’m concerned. We’re talking a lot of money here. I just want to make sure you’ve thought about all your options.”
“I have. I’ve even had two offers for it since I’ve inherited it, from this old guy who’s been hounding my grandmother for years,” she admitted.
“Hmm.”
“What?” she asked defensively as he leaned up against the doorjamb just inches from her, his hands casually in his pockets.
“Well, I wonder if you are refusing to sell to this guy just because your grandmother wouldn’t.”
Caught off guard by his comment, she wondered for a moment if he was right. Had that been the reason? The fight with her mother, moving into the house, the mirror and weird dreams—it had all happened so fast she hadn’t really had a chance to think about it. Had she refused the offer just because she had nowhere to live at the time? Or was it just because her grandmother wouldn’t sell to him she felt she shouldn’t? If that was the case, it wasn’t a very educated reason. Was she making a mistake investing her inheritance in the house? Was her fondness for the house based only on the fact that it was her grandmother’s and anything of hers was valuable to Ella at this delicate time? Or was Ella truly fond of the house for her own reasons? These were all things she thought she should re-evaluate now that things had settled down.
“Look, I’m sorry. My friends tell me I can be outspoken and insensitive at times. You’re a smart girl; I’m sure you’ve taken all the possible problems under consideration. I hope I haven’t offended you. I’d hate to go away thinking I wrecked your car and hurt your feelings all in the same day,” he said, his eyes looking so sincere.
“It’s fine,” she said, not really sure if it was or not just yet.
“Could I have a tour and maybe a glass of water? I am rather parched.”
Reluctantly at first, but smiling again after looking at Matt’s golden hair and pouting lips, she opened the door wide and relented, “Sure, why not.”
*****
Jeremy came flying through the door, just about taking it off of its hinges, when Matt and Ella were about to sit down in the living room with their water. Boots full of slippery wet mud, Jeremy went sliding by the archway opening to the living room as if he were in his socks on a highly waxed floor. It wasn’t until his feet went beyond his body’s center of gravity that his feet went up in the air in a back peddling motion and down he went.
Not a word had come out of his mouth in all the commotion but his expressions told lengthy tales. At first and at the start of the sliding, it was alarm; as the slide progressed it turned to confusion, and with the fall, embarrassment.
“Wow, I was wrong; with entertainment like that you definitely can’t sell,” Matt said practically spraying his water out of his nose and laughing at the sight of Jeremy sprawled on his back on the floor.
Ella quickly set her glass down and ran for Jeremy. By the time she reached him he had righted himself, flashed a nasty look at the laughing house guest, and tried to compose himself.
“Are you okay?” Jeremy asked Ella with grave concern.
Confused by his look, she replied, “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“I’m fine,” he said abruptly. “Your car. I drove up and saw…have you been in an accident? Are you okay?”
“Oh, that. Yes. I almost forgot. Matt here hit my car in the parking lot while backing up. He was kind enough to see me home to make sure the car was fine.”
“Least he could do,” Jeremy said under his breath rather rudely as he flashed a glare at the still laughing Matt.
“Let me introduce you.” Matt took his cue and stepped forward towards the pair. “This is Matt. Matt, this is Jeremy,” Ella said.
They both nodded but it was not cordial in the least and an awkward silence befell the room.
“I’ll get back to it,” Jeremy said wanting nothing more than to leave the social embarrassment.
“Oh. Okay. I bought the stuff on the list that was in the kitchen; it’s all in the backseat of my car if you need it,” she said as Jeremy started to slink away.
“Back to it? What is it that he does?” Matt asked, rather jokingly but also in a prying way.
“Jeremy is my handyman. He’s supervising the contractors and other tradesmen that will have to be hired to restore the house and grounds,” Ella explained.
“Ooohhh!” Matt said sounding relieved.
“Why do you ask?” Ella asked.
“Well, the way he ran in here, it seemed as if he lived here,” Matt admitted.
“He does.”
“He does, what?” he asked.
“He does live here,” Ella said.
“You live with your handyman?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Why not? He needed a place to stay and well, I have a lot of space as you can see, so I told him he could stay here,” she said.
“You did what? You let a total stranger in to live with you?” Matt exclaimed.
“I wouldn’t say he is a total stranger; my uncle, I mean, a friend of the family recommended his work and we’ve gotten to know one another pretty well.”
“Well, I guess so, if you are living together.”
“It’s not like that. We’re…friends. He’s very good at his trade and I trust him,” Ella defended.
“Hmmm,” he said with a disgusted look but it was more than that. It was as if he were dismissing Jeremy as a possible threat. Ella tried to ignore it, as she and Matt went back into the living room and continued their jovial conversation about where he had traveled and what new movies were coming out. When he finished his water, he suggested dinner and a movie the following night to which he would not take no for an answer. Ella agreed, thanked him for seeing her home, and said goodbye.
*****
After Matt left, Ella went in search of Jeremy. It had looked like he might have hit his head pretty hard on the floor and she was worried about him. She grabbed a bag of frozen peas from the freezer on her way out to the shed. There she found Jeremy pounding something with a hammer, but Ella couldn’t see the purpose of pounding. It didn’t seem like the item needed any repair but she figured, what do I know about it anyway?
“How’s your head?” she asked.
He turned with surprise. He obviously hadn’t heard her enter the shed. He seemed a little confused by the bag of peas in her hand when he answered, “It’s fine.”
“This might help,” she said referring to the peas. “May I?” She gestured that she’d like to check his head. He nodded.
A hiss whistled through his teeth when she found the forming ‘goose egg’ on his head with her fingers, then quickly applied the bag of peas to the swelling bump.
“This will help with the swelling. Do you feel dizzy or nauseous?”
Their hands touched as his hand took the place of hers on the bag. They exchanged a glance and he answered quietly, “No. I’m fine.”
“Okay, then,” she replied rather disappointed that it appeared as if Jeremy was holding on to his anger and was not going to let her in to talk about it. She quickly exited the shed, leaving Jeremy to be alone with his thoughts and discontent.
Ella knew it was too soon to imagine that Jeremy would want to have a cordial dinner like they always did, so she made him a sandwich and left it in the fridge with a note and ate her sandwich in her room and made an early night of it.
*****
Sleep did not come to Ella quickly that night; though cuddling with Boo was comforting and eased her mind, it did not calm her heart. This silence and animosity between her and Jeremy weighed heavily on her. In just a few weeks, she had come to depend on his advice and thought highly of his opinions and convictions. She’d
learned so much about architecture and old houses during their evenings together. She hoped that what had happened that morning wouldn’t prevent that from continuing, but after this evening in the shed, she wasn’t sure. There had been that look between them, but maybe like all the rest, it had all been in her mind.
It wasn’t until late when she heard the familiar footsteps come up the stairs and head away from her room to the opposite end of the hall that she finally gave in to slumber.
Sometime during the fitful night she awoke, at least she thought she did. She thought she heard something downstairs and she headed to the stairs. The interior of the house was eerily misty. It covered the floor and gave off a bit of a glow making it easier to see in the dark. She crept swiftly down the stairs. Her mind did not seem to know where it was going, but her feet seemed to know exactly where to go.
She found herself turning the corner to the hall where the mirror had been before Jeremy had moved it. To Ella’s horror, the mirror was back on the wall as if it had never been moved. An unearthly green glow came from behind the ever present black stirring shadows. She could not stop herself; she moved towards the mirror. The black shadows moved faster as if agitated or excited by her presence and moved away from the center towards its frame, presenting what looked like an old movie, jumping and jerky. A woman in a white nightgown was running. Ella could only see the back of the woman’s head as she ran, her hair behind her like a silky gold veil fluttering in a turbulent wind.
There was a mob of unseen faces gaining on her and then finally surrounding and engulfing her until she could no longer be seen. Then it was dark and there was a horrible squeaking noise, like something heavy swaying in the wind—from the end of a rope. The mirror confirmed her suspicions. The young woman had been hung in what looked to be one of the old dead oaks the town was named after. A woman with golden hair that no longer flowed and waved in the wind behind her as she ran, but hung there unmoving, as lifeless the woman that hung from the bough.
Ella wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. She watched the woman swinging by her neck back and forth and slowly turning to face Ella in the mirror. Ella’s heart quickened as more and more of the woman’s face was revealed in the darkness. A chill raced up Ella’s spine and made her entire body tremble as the face of the woman became known. Eyes closed, mouth agape as if gasping for one final breath that could not be achieved—it was Ella. Ella’s stomach turned and all went gray as she lost consciousness and bolted upright, finding herself in her bed.
It had been a dream. It was morning and the sun was peeking out from behind a cloud, brightening the room for a moment. Boo was rubbing her whiskers on Ella’s elbow. Ella turned to Boo and pet her happily. She was alive; it had all been a dream.
Chapter 10
In the kitchen Ella found a fully dressed Jeremy finishing up his scrambled eggs as he ate them over the sink. A large bouquet of pink roses—maybe two dozen—sat in a vase on the kitchen table.
Jeremy grumbled as he landed his plate in the sink with a crash, almost breaking it. “Those came for you this morning. You must have made quite an impression on MATT,” he said with irritation.
“I don’t think so, not really. I think he just feels bad about hitting my car. That’s the only reason he took me to lunch and made sure I got home okay,” Ella retorted, pulling the card from the flowers and opening the tiny envelope.
“You really are naive, Ella. The guy is definitely making a move on you.”
She smiled as she read the contents then dropped the card and its envelope on the table next to the vase and said, “I wouldn’t say that. Sure he’s been a little flirty but nothing terrible and besides, so what if he does.”
“You’re joking right? He was all over you. He was playing you like a bad tune.”
“That’s kind of harsh. You don’t even know him.”
“I know the type and his type is untrustworthy. Trust me. You don’t want to get yourself mixed up with someone like him.”
“You’re overreacting. He was a perfect gentleman.”
“Hardly,” he said under his breath as he read the note sitting atop the envelope. Pointing at the card he continued, “So what, are you two dating now? Dinner and a movie?”
“No, we’re not dating, I told you he just feels bad and is trying to be nice,” Ella defended.
“He wants something, Ella. I can feel it. You shouldn’t trust him. He’s up to something.”
“What is your problem with him? Are you still mad because he laughed at you as you went sailing through the room? I agree he shouldn’t have laughed, especially when you hit your head so hard, but even I have to admit, it was a little comical seeing you in the air horizontal to the floor, but that’s no reason to say such mean things. You don’t even know him,” she said as she started to unload the dishwasher.
“And neither do you, Ella. You are too trusting.”
“Funny, he said the same thing about me letting a stranger live here,” she said as she pulled out a step-ladder to put away a serving platter in a cupboard high above.
“Of course he did.”
“What’s that supposed to mean,” she said turning quickly on the wobbly third step of the ladder.
“It means that he doesn’t like the competition I pose.”
Now she was mad. “According to you, there isn’t anything to be competitive about, so what do you care if we have dinner, date, or whatever?” she said as she stomped down the step-ladder, missing a rung, losing her balance, and falling towards the still hot stove.
Jeremy was there in an instant and caught her mid-fall in his arms before she was anywhere near danger. Shocked by the mishap and with her heart still pounding with rage, their eyes met and for one small moment time stopped. It was peaceful and glorious for those few nanoseconds in his arms, but reality reared its ugly head as he gently set her down. She nodded to him in thanks, and then stomped off to her room, not hearing the sadness in his voice as he muttered out of earshot, “It matters.”
*****
That evening, Ella readied herself for her dinner date with Matt and as she did so, she wondered if she was going on this date to spite Jeremy or because she truly wanted to spend time with Matt. She wrestled with this dilemma, staring in the mirror as she put on a touch of color to her lips.
Looking at her own image in the mirror reminded her of the horrible dream of the night before and she remembered some details about the image she saw that hadn’t registered in her dream. Though the hair color of the woman hanging was exactly the same as her own, it was styled differently and the gown she had worn while running through the woods was a heavy linen material and nothing like anything Ella owned. It was plain but beautiful and rather antique looking—like something from the late 1800’s. These subtle details made her wonder about the dream, bringing up more questions than answers. It was true the dream had been horrifying, but she could not stop thinking about it, much like the last vision she’d seen of her grandmother in the mirror warning her of impending danger.
Putting on the final touches—earrings and a bracelet—she grabbed her coat, purse, and checked the time as she headed downstairs to the living room to wait for Matt. She threw her coat over the back of the settee, laying her purse upon it, and headed down the hall to the kitchen for a glass of water with Boo hot on her tail. Boo was obviously intrigued by the clickity-clack the high heels made on the hardwood floor, as she chased Ella down the hall nearly tripping her.
Ella stopped dead in the middle of the hallway. Out of the corner of her eye she spied something familiar on the wall. She stood frozen in fear as she turned her head slightly to the right to confirm what she was sure she already knew. The Mirror. It was hanging there, as if it had never been moved. Her pretty reflection, though pale with fear, stared back at her as reality poured over her like ice cold water. Why was it there? Was Jeremy playing some sick joke on her? Was he being so petty about Matt that he was trying to terrify her by re-hanging the mirror out of spi
te?
The ice cold feeling changed quickly to a blistering hot inferno of rage. If she had seen Jeremy at that moment she might have slapped him for being so cruel. But before she could calm down, the doorbell rang. It was probably for the best that she have some time to cool down. Maybe there was a logical explanation for Jeremy rehanging the mirror, though nothing came to mind. Ella quickly backtracked towards the front door and let in Matt. Her face was still flushed with anger, but the pink tinge it brought to her face made her look lovely and Matt’s reaction to her when she opened the door dissipated most of the anger she felt towards Jeremy.
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she said, and then continued, “Would you like to come in?”
“Actually, I underestimated how long it would take to get up here, so if you don’t mind, maybe we could just head to dinner?”
“Sure, just let me grab my coat and purse and we’ll be off,” she said.
Boo had settled on her coat and was cleaning herself when Ella went to the settee. She gave Boo a loving pet and chin scratch as she moved the kitten to the side to retrieve her coat. “Bye, Sweetie, you’re in charge of the house,” she said to Boo as she pet her again on the head and retreated to the door.
“You have a cat, huh?”
“She came with the house,” Ella explained.
“Oh,” Matt said as Ella closed and locked the door behind her.
“Jerry’s not home?”
“No. Jeremy isn’t here,” Ella answered with a tinge of anger.
“Have a little roomie spat, did we?”
“Something like that. I don’t really want to talk about it, if you don’t mind.”
“Great. Neither do I. Hope you like Italian,” Matt said quickly, changing the subject.
Mirror of Shadows Page 7