by Janean Worth
Chapter Five
The six‑block walk to work through the early autumn chill had been very awkward. Lucien had kept pace with her, remaining silent, but casting questioning glances of unconcealed concern at her every few steps.
Bella had remained silent too, still deeply shaken by the frightening hallucination she’d had in the elevator. She had never experienced a hallucination before, and wasn’t sure why she’d had one then. Was she losing her mind? Was the stress of standing firm for her morals and bearing the repercussions of those choices in the loss of her fiancé starting to get to her? Or was it a cumulative effect, starting months and months ago when she’d lost both of her frail, elderly parents to unexpected complications from the flu?
She didn’t know. She just hoped that the rest of the day got better.
But, of course, it didn’t.
Hours later, she was heartily wishing for the end of the sale, and that perhaps they’d just miraculously run out of stock.
The day was a horror, just as she’d thought it would be. With only one hour left in her shift, Bella stood behind the service desk counter and tried to mentally tame her raging headache.
It wasn’t working, but it would be another whole 59 agonizing minutes before she could leave her station, clock out, and grab some aspirin out of her purse.
Though she’d been expecting a miserable day, she’d been unpleasantly surprised when it had exceeded her prediction of wretchedness. The iPhone sale had drawn in quite a few customers, and it had been an extremely busy day. There had been a line for over three hours at the service desk after lunch, and she’d just finished dealing with the last, lingering man, barely managing to gracefully fend off his requests that she have dinner with him.
The bell over the door chimed shrilly, signaling another customer, and Bella nearly groaned when she saw who entered.
Mr. Eckles had been there before. He came in nearly every week, in fact. She thought that he came in just to harass her. She’d even told her boss about it, but he’d told her to handle it and get over herself.
Headache pounding, stomach lurching in nausea from the pain, Bella watched Mr. Eckles approach and thought again how wonderful it would be to be invisible. If he couldn’t see her, he couldn’t hit on her. If only, somehow, she could avoid being seen.
She contemplated hiding behind the desk, but the bottom half was open, and she’d easily be seen if she crouched behind it.
To amuse herself, she imagined that he couldn’t see her and would just skip his visit to the service desk and go talk to Lucien instead.
She knew it was wishful thinking, fanciful behavior, even, but, with her defenses down, she had nothing else to do except hope for the impossible. The whimsical idea had probably only occurred to her because she read too many fiction books. And really, she knew deep down that he would continue to her desk whether she wanted him to or not, but imagining herself becoming suddenly invisible to his eyes gave her a bit of amusement. Which she badly needed at that point in the day.
Smiling wistfully at her own foolishness, she watched as he meandered into the store, wondering if he knew how cheesy his appearance was.
Middle aged, with a heavy paunch, Mr. Eckles had chosen perhaps the least flattering clothing that he possibly could have. Today, he wore a bright green‑and‑orange striped Polo shirt tucked into sixties‑style polyester pants in a sickly shade of pea green. The leather loafers on his feet were perhaps the only stylish things that he owned, and Bella fleetingly thought that they’d probably been a gift.
He pulled down his aviator‑style sunglasses, as if to allow his eyes to adjust, and scanned the room in what Bella thought must be a move he practiced in front of the mirror on a daily basis.
Again, she had the urge to duck behind the counter, wishing that his gaze would just pass right on by her.
After this thought, a blinding, stabbing pain lanced through her head and she winced, wishing heartily for the aspirin in her purse.
Blinking her eyes, which were tearing in pain, she glanced back at the door, expecting to see the customer nearing her desk.
To her complete shock, Mr. Eckles was not advancing upon the service desk. He was, instead, looking confused. He ambled over to Lucien, then gestured to the service desk counter with one hand.
“Where’d Bella go? I thought I saw her there when I came in,” he said, his voice a little uncertain and just a little miffed. “I only come in here to see her, you know.”
Lucien looked at her, and his gaze met hers.
Bella could feel her mouth hanging open in wonder. She quickly closed it and shook her head at Lucien, mouthing I don’t know, but don’t tell him.
Lucien’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded slightly in acknowledgement.
“I don’t,” Lucien said, staring intently at the man. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Well,” Mr. Eckles said, his voice sounding even more uncertain than it had a moment before, and his eyes flicking left and right. He licked his lips nervously. “I guess . . . Yes . . . I think I want . . .”
He closed his eyes, blinked hard, and then opened them to stare at Lucien.
“I guess I want an iPhone 6s plus. You get a commission on that, right?”
Lucien nodded, looking pleased.
Bella couldn’t help but stare at Mr. Eckles. He was known to be extremely thrifty. In all of the weeks that he’d been coming into the store, he hadn’t bought a single thing. He’d only asked questions at the service desk.
That model of iPhone was the newest on the market, and a bit pricey, so the purchase was very out of character for the man.
Lucian was smiling widely. And Bella couldn’t blame him. He would get a good commission on the sale. A really good one.
“I didn’t really want one when I came in, because, well, I really only came in to see Bella. But now, yeah, I think I want an iPhone,” the customer said.
Bella felt a chill skate up her spine.
Not only could he not see her—as she’d wished—but he was acting completely out of character and very confused.
She sidled to the side of the service desk so that she could more closely watch him interact with Lucian, trying to make sense of his behavior.
Was the man playing an elaborate joke? But no, he couldn’t be. He couldn’t have possibly known what she was thinking when he came in. And, if Mr. Eckles truly couldn’t see her, why could he see Lucien?
Bella’s head throbbed powerfully again, and she held back a moan.
It was all just too much. She didn’t know what to think of the man’s strange behavior, and her head was killing her. Another lancing pain spiked through her head, and she closed her eyes again, swaying a bit behind the service desk as dizziness assailed her.
When she opened her eyes again, Mr. Eckles had turned back to her.
“Hey, Bella, there you are. I was just asking this guy where you’d gone,” the customer smiled his lascivious smile, and sauntered toward the service desk.
“Do you still want the iPhone, sir?” Lucien called after him, looking deeply disappointed, and perhaps even a little angry.
“Nah,” the customer said, waving his hand dismissively as he stopped in front of Bella. “I just want to talk to Bella. I’m having a problem with my phone that only she can help me with.”
The customer gave her a wink, and, when he did, a shadow bloomed over his head. A shadow with red eyes and long shadow claws. The shadow reached inside the man’s skull with those claws and squeezed.
And as it squeezed, Bella’s head ached even more, as if she could feel the pain that it should have been inflicting upon Mr. Eckles. As the shadow gripped his skull, Mr. Eckles leered at her, his expression changing into one of prurient hunger and vile lust, morphing beyond what any normal human face should be capable of showing, becoming almost a caricature of himself. And, in her head, Bella heard a whisper, very faint.
She’s not wearing her ring today. She can’t shove it i
n my face. That pretty boy of hers must’ve had his fill and dumped her. That’s okay, I don’t mind leftovers.
Sickened by the whisper, Bella stumbled backward, grabbing the counter behind her to keep herself from falling. At her movement, the shadow looked up at her, red eyes flickering with malevolence, and leapt toward her.
Bella couldn’t help it. She screamed. And then she fainted.