KK returned her watery smile. “Anna, you are gonna be fine.”
She coughed wetly. Even the pain seemed distant now.
“Sorry you never go your proof,” Anna whispered.
“Pfft. We’re walking proof,” KK joked weakly.
Anna coughed out a pained laugh. At least she wasn’t alone at the end. She thought again of Mike and Claire. Were they already wondering where she was? Was Mike getting impatient and annoyed that she hadn’t shown up? No, that was more Lex’s style. Mike didn’t have anything resembling a temper. Would they find her body here? Or would she disappear, one more missing person attached to the house? She hoped KK could find a way out after she was gone. She prayed that someone would be able to escape this nightmare. She licked at her lips, trying to find the strength to make him promise to get out and never come back. She had to save him. It was too late for her.
RING-RING! RING-RING!
Anna and KK stared at each other, stunned, as the sound of the front doorbell reached them.
“Holy shit,” KK breathed.
His weak grin widened into a true smile as he helped Anna to her feet. She felt her own hope surge, giving her the strength to clamber out of the tub. They stumbled out of the bathroom and down the stairs as fast as they could manage, her arm thrown across KK’s shoulders for support as they limped across the foyer.
Through the windows alongside the front door they could see Donna, fumbling with her too-crowded key chain and muttering to herself.
“In here!” KK shouted.
“Let us out!” Anna yelled at the same time.
She never thought in her entire life she would be so happy to see Aunt Donna. At that moment, Anna didn’t care whatever stupid surcharge Donna was planning to tack on, she would pay it, gladly, if Donna could just get the door open.
They reached the front door as Donna lost patience with her multitude of keys and pounded hard on the heavy wood.
“Kenneth! Did you fix the pipe?” She screeched.
KK pounded the door from their side, trying to get Donna’s attention.
“Open the door,” Anna pleaded.
She didn’t know how long they had before Sister Catherine found them again. Outside, Donna checked her phone with a pinched expression. KK reluctantly gave up on his frantic pounding. Anna was pressed against the window to the right of the door, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. Their salvation stood just on the other side of the door, oblivious. Anna’s strength dwindled with her hope. Why wasn’t Donna responding? Was she really that much of a bitch, pretending to ignore them? As quickly as she thought it, Anna dismissed the possibility. There was no way Donna would let someone die in the house. Not when it could make her liable or drop the property value.
“She can’t hear us,” KK realized. “Our only chance is if she opens that door.”
“What if she doesn’t?” Anna asked.
It certainly didn’t look like it was going to happen.
As if in response, an inhuman scream echoed down from the second floor. Anna let out a defeated moan. KK pressed against her, trying to offer what comfort he could.
“I’m sorry, Anna,” he whispered sadly.
Anna shook her head. It wasn’t his fault. He’d tried his very best to help her. They could hear Donna fumbling with her keyring again from outside the door.
“Stupid kid,” Donna muttered. “He better not be screwing that goth chick.”
Anna rolled her eyes. Of course Donna would assume that. Afterall, to her Anna was just a gold-digger who had never loved Mike in the first place. I’m gonna die here because you have too many fucking keys, you bitch. What a joke. Maybe Donna was just one more hallucination. She’d seen Lex outside, too, she had thought.
Anna looked away from the illusion of freedom through the door and back to the stairwell. Sister Catherine stared down at them. Her eyes had become even more sunken in, the grey skin on her face peeling and riddled with wounds. Maybe KK had been right and she was weakening, and without a moment to spare. Anna couldn’t even find the energy to run.
Catherine descended the stairs. Each blackened, bare foot placed down a step with strange twists of ankles and knees that did not belong on human joints.
The door clicked open.
Anna whirled, surprise overriding even the horror in front of her for a moment.
“Kenneth!” Donna shouted as she stepped inside. “Where are you?”
Anna and KK lunged at Donna almost as one person, shoving her back outside through the door. They tumbled onto the porch in a messy tangle of limbs. Anna landed prone at the perfect angle to see Sister Catherine shriek as the door slammed shut in her face. Take that you bitch, Anna thought smugly, breathing in the fresh air in great shuddering lungfuls as the sky spun wildly overhead. She could hear KK beside her doing the same.
Donna flailed herself back into a standing position and looked down at herself in horror.
“Oh my god,” she shrieked. “That better not be my blood!”
Donna’s indignant noises of disgust and horror was a welcomed sound. She was out. They had actually made it out. She felt KK’s hands fall on her shoulders. The world was spinning too much for her to focus on his face, but she could hear him.
“Hold on, Anna. We’re gonna get you help.”
She thought about getting to hold Claire again. She would get to kiss Mike, and sleep in the bed in the house they owned. She tried to take another deep breath but found she couldn’t quite muster up the energy. That was okay, there would be time enough for that later. The sky spun faster overhead.
Anna closed her eyes and sound faded for a time.
Chapter 11:
“Is she going to be okay?” Mike said from somewhere nearby.
There was a steady beeping noise underscoring his words. Anna wanted to know why no one was turning the alarm clock off. She didn’t have to get up for work did she?
“We don’t know,” an unfamiliar voice replied. “We’ll just have to wait.”
Was Mike letting strangers in the bedroom? That wasn’t right, she thought distantly, but the why escaped her for the moment. She didn’t want to get up and go to work. She was going to sleep in.
Anna let the noise fade away again.
Anna opened her eyes again, but no farther than blurry slits. She could see white walls and hear the distant beeps of hospital machinery. Mike was sitting next to her, his hand tightly clasped about her own.
KK’s voice drifted to her ear from somewhere beyond her field of sight.
“She’s gonna be okay. Your mom’s tough.”
Mom. Mother. Claire. Where was Claire? She wanted to hold Claire so badly. She’d been fighting so hard for that, hadn’t she? Anna knew she had. Why was no one letting her hold Claire? She tried to sit up and look for Claire, but then there was a screech of protest from the machines around her.
Anna faded out again.
She faded in again to the sound of Lex’s voice.
“I love you, Anna. I always will.”
She kept her eyes closed. She didn’t understand why he was there. Go away, Lex. He didn’t love her. He wanted to possess her. He hadn’t tried to help her at all. Why was he there? Where was Mike? Where was Claire? She was supposed to be holding Claire.
“She needs her peace,” a female voice said gently.
She needed Claire.
“Thank you, Sister, for letting me see her,” Lex replied.
Sound and thought swirled away again, and left only the sense of memories behind.
Chapter 12:
THREE MONTHS LATER
Anna rolled over in bed to greet Mike who smiled sweetly at her. The morning sunlight was streaming into the bedroom, highlighting everything in a soft glow that seemed almost magical.
“Good morning,” Anna murmured, smiling back at her husband.
“Sleep well?” Mike asked her gently.
Anna nodded.
“Y
eah, first good sleep in a while.”
Recovery had played merry hell with her ability to sleep comfortably. Pain kept her up as often as the nightmares had. For the first month, she had woken up screaming every time she closed her eyes. Part of her was very glad she couldn’t remember what she dreamed of, and part of her chafed at the mystery of it all. The Doctor had assured her that it was normal, and that eventually both the nightmare and the pain would lessen. Thankfully, he had been right. Anna was so glad that she was finally moving past that.
“Claire’s still at her sleepover,” Mike said. “Do you want to go somewhere?”
“Yeah!” Anna agreed enthusiastically.
Between the hospital and bed rest, once she’d been discharged, Anna had about enough of being cooped up. Mike allowed himself to be talked into a shopping outing. Anna knew he wasn’t at all upset about going, but they had both enjoyed Anna’s methods of persuasion.
Anna had spotted a little thrift store on their way to the mall and had begged Mike to make a stop there first. The clothes hung on circular racks, separated by size and nothing else, all colors and styles thrown together. She spent a good while trying on outfits, mostly just for the fun of it. At first she had stayed close to what she usually wore, Mike watching indulgently from a little stool that had been set up near the dressing room, but something just didn’t settle right. She ran her hands along the racks fingering jewel-toned blouses speculatively. Things were so different now. Perhaps it was time to let go of the angry teenager at last. She lingered on one sundress in particular, and almost guiltily ducked into the changing room with it.
She slipped the sundress over her head. It was white with tiny red rosettes printed on it. It was about as from her usual baggy grays and blacks as she could get. Looking at herself in the mirror, Anna smiled hesitantly. She was surprised at how much she liked it. She looked good. She could look in the mirror and, for the first time, not see the same person who got hurt over and over again by her choices. She stepped out of the changing room to show Mike.
“Wow…” Mike uttered softly.
Anna eyed him nervously. Her confidence from moments before faltered slightly. What if Mike didn’t like the idea of a new Anna?
“Good wow or bad wow?”
“Definitely good wow. You look amazing.”
Anna smiled at him, a weight lifting off of her shoulders.
“Thanks. I can’t believe I like it this much,” she admitted.
“I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you wearing not black,” Mike teased.
Anna walked over to the full-length mirror and gave a little twirl.
“I hope you’re not doing this because you think I like it,” Mike added more seriously.
“No. I want to do it.”
It might seem silly, but the sundress made her feel good about herself. She felt like a woman, and not a victim. It was time to put all the horrible things that had happened behind her. Let them stay in the past where they belonged.
“I’m shocked, frankly.”
Anna did another twirl and smiled.
“I want to move on. I’m leaving behind the old me.”
Mike stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.
“I’m really proud of you,” he said.
“Thank you. I’m not ditching the attitude though.”
Mike laughed. “I wouldn’t want you to.”
Anna drove them home. She had enjoyed the day out, but she could feel the physical strain it had put on her mostly healed wounds. She held the steering wheel one handed as she tossed back her pain medication with the other.
Mike turned the bottle over in his hands reading the label. Demerol.
“Dr. Palmer gave you these?” He asked, a note of concern in his voice.
Anna smiled at the worry in his tone. She didn’t blame him for his apprehension, but it wasn’t like it was before. She was grateful for the relief from pain, but she didn’t crave them all the time.
“Yeah.”
“But they’re—”
“I know,” Anna replied.
“Does he think that’s safe?” Mike questioned.
Anna gave a little half-shrug. She was confident that it wouldn’t be an issue, but Mike being there as a backup just in case was comforting in its own way.
“Well, all the other medications made me sick. I’ll be fine as long as we keep an eye on it,” Anna reminded him.
“As long as you feel safe.”
Anna smiled to herself.
“I do,” she replied confidently. “I can handle it now.”
“This has really changed you,” Mike commented.
“Most near-death experiences do,” she said wryly.
“Even ones you don’t remember?”
Anna frowned at little. She was still a bit torn on how she felt about the memory loss. She didn’t like that there was this awful gap in her mind, but if the nightmares were any indication, there wasn’t anything good about remembering. That’s what she kept telling herself anyways.
“Well I remember recovering in the hospital. That’s still scary.”
She didn’t even truly remember much of that, just random flashes. More impressions than actual memories. Some of which she wasn’t entirely sure weren’t just dreams themselves.
“True,” Mike agreed readily.
“It’s not a bad change is it?” She asked, insecure again.
She liked the idea of a clean slate and a fresh start, but she couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing Mike. Not after all he had done for her.
Mike shook his head.
“No, not at all. You feel peaceful.”
Anna smiled to herself. She liked that.
“That’s a good word. Peaceful.”
They had decided to plant flowers out in front of the new house. Claire had insisted on tulips, and there were now baskets of bulbs laid out next to the beds, separated out by what color they would bloom. Anna was half of the mind to see if she could use the bulbs to spell out something rude, but resisted the temptation for Claire’s sake. Claire and Mike had spent the morning covered in dirt up to their elbows and Anna had never felt happier. She watched, amused, as Claire waddle-carried a large bag of mulch over to them. Anna clapped enthusiastically as Claire deposited it next the flowerbed they were working on with a triumphant huff.
“Look at you!” Anna crowed. “You’re not all brains after all!”
“Still want to go out for track next year?” Mike asked Claire, smiling broadly.
“Track or basketball,” Claire replied. “Depends on the coach.”
“I can’t believe they let you skip fifth grade,” Anna said, not for the first time.
She was so proud of Claire. It was hard, watching her baby grow up so fast, but she couldn’t be happier for Claire. Her daughter had all the opportunities Anna wanted for her, everything she had never had herself growing up and promised herself that Claire would not do without. Anna was still amazed that she had somehow managed to secure it for her.
“I think I’m ready for middle school,” Claire said bravely, her face set in a determined expression.
“No one is ready for middle school,” Mike replied sagely.
Anna stood up and brushed the dirt off of herself as an old car pulled up at the end of the driveway.
“I’ll get it,” she said and marched down to meet the driver.
“Twenty-one oh nine,” the delivery man said in a bored tone as he handed over the pizza.
Anna handed him a pair of bills and some change with a cheery “thanks!”
She turned to head back up the drive.
“Wait!” The pizza man shouted.
Anna looked back and raised an eyebrow at him.
“This is twenty-one oh six. It was twenty-one oh nine.”
Anna blinked, frowning heavily. She felt the strangest feeling wash over her at those wo
rds. Her heartbeat quickened and a drop of sweat that had nothing to do with the day of hard work slid down her back, between her shoulder blades.
“I’m sorry?” She said, confused.
“I’m short!” The pizza guy protested.
“It’s three cents,” Anna said in an annoyed tone, suddenly defensive.
The pizza man just shrugged unsympathetically.
“That’s all I have,” Anna replied.
She needed to leave, get out of this situation. Something felt very wrong. She walked back to the front porch, trying to ignore the nagging sensation that she was missing something important. There was something she should know, but she didn’t know what it could possibly be.
Mike came out with glasses of lemonade to go with their pizza.
“Déjà vu,” Anna murmured to him, unsteadily.
She watched as Claire practically wolfed down her first slice.
“What?” Mike asked.
Anna makes a vague gesture with her hand, trying to encompass everything that was going on her head in the last five minutes.
“This, all this.”
Mike eyed her a little strangely. He looked around at the porch and the pizza box open next to her.
“We had pizza in the moving truck,” he offered, sounding more confused than anything.
“Right,” Anna said, defeated.
She remembered that, if only vaguely. It wasn’t what she meant however. The golden overglow of the day had seemed to fade a little.
Chapter 13:
Anna stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She lifted the hem of her shirt to inspect the twisted scar on her stomach. Mike came in behind her, checking her over with concern in his eyes.
“How’s it looking?”
“Much better,” Anna said.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Nah, just sore.”
The worst of the pain was behind her; all that was left was the aching feel of the scar tissue as it pulled.
“You still don’t remember anything?” Mike asked.
“Last thing I remember is sending you and Claire off,” Anna replied.
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