The House in the Hills

by The House in the Hills (retail) (epub)

  “Well, you’ll find out soon enough, won’t you?” Darcy chirped, her eyes twinkling a little.

  “What do you mean?” Harmony asked, feeling really confused and a little uneasy.

  Darcy cracked up. “Nothing. I’m just messing with you. Lighten up, girl! You live in a rad house and got a good looking man who works hard. Life can’t get much better than that.”

  Harmony nodded. She knew Darcy was right but she also knew that if there was any trouble ahead, it would probably not be coming from ghosts.

  Darcy stopped laughing and sighed, then stood. “I gotta go, girl. It was very nice to meet you and I hope we can be friends.”

  Harmony nodded, not committing to anything. She stood and said, “Okay, thanks for stopping by.”

  Darcy nodded and waved on her way out the door, then called over her shoulder, “Oh, I’ll have the rent at the end of the week.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Harmony said and waved at her as she walked out the door, then shut it. She sighed, already hating this situation and already wondering how she was going to deal with it. She didn’t know. She just knew she didn’t like to be bothered and she certainly didn’t like having to think about what to do about a problem that she didn’t create. And that problem was going to be Darcy, she could just feel it.

  She was about to go into the bedroom and get dressed when, all of a sudden, the front door flew open and Marc came rushing in with a very aggravated look on his face. He was really pissed about something.

  “I forgot my fucking wallet!” he yelled and headed towards the bedroom. “I had to drive all the way back up here and the traffic was a bitch!”

  “Irritated much?” Harmony said and watched him rush down the hall and into the bedroom. She sighed then went after him, hoping he had a minute so she could talk to him about Darcy. She really just wanted some reassurance. When she entered the bedroom, he was looking all over for his wallet, cursing as he did so.

  “Fucking hell, where is it?” he half-yelled then bent to look in the nightstand. It wasn’t in there. He slammed the drawer shut and straightened up and stared at her. “Have you seen it?”

  He was so harried, she knew he didn’t have time to talk, so she just shook her head and said, “Look in the kitchen.”

  He nodded and left the room.

  “So much for that,” Harmony muttered to herself and went into the closet. She took off her sweatshirt then her tank top, then rummaged around in her lingerie drawer for her favorite bra, a black front-close one she’d had forever and probably should stop wearing as it was getting worn out. When she found it, she smiled and pulled it on, then tried to snap it closed. As usual, due to its condition, it didn’t want to cooperate.

  “Fuck me,” she muttered and tried to slide the little pin thing into the slot. Still, nothing. She tried again, getting very frustrated and this time she felt someone behind her.

  “Here, let me,” he said, then the pin slid effortlessly into place and the bra was on.

  Thinking it was Marc, she turned around and smiled, wanting to give him a hug. But when she turned around, no one was there. In fact, she was alone. She was very puzzled for a moment, not comprehending what might have just happened, but fear was slowly making its way up her spine. She shook all of that off and called, “Marc?!”

  “I found it!” he yelled from the living room. “Gotta go! Love you, babe! Remember, I’m, going to be late tonight!”

  And then, she heard the front door slam and once it did, the sound jarred her and she jumped a little. And she was all alone. She looked down at her bra, perfectly secure and in place. She closed her eyes and prayed, “God, please, if there is something in here, please make it go away.”

  When she opened her eyes, nothing was amiss. Everything was calm and as it should be. The only thing that was off was the racing of her heart and the chill she felt at what just happened. If it had happened and that was a big if. Did she imagine it? Was it Marc? No, it wasn’t Marc. He was in another room. Was it real? Had she imagined it? Harmony shook herself, trying to get something to lock in to explain what had happened. But then she realized it had been real, not imagined. And then the panic struck.

  Harmony put her hand over her heart and leaned down, trying to get her breathing under control. But she couldn’t. She was starting to freak out. What the hell was that? She shook her head and felt really weird, off. But what if… What if her mind was just playing tricks on her? It could do that, couldn’t it? It had to be. And the key reason would be the stress she was feeling. And she was feeling a lot. Stress had to be the factor here. Nothing was amiss, nothing was going on and she’d just imagined that someone had helped snap her bra closed.

  She shivered in fright at the thought and tried to just push it out of her mind, especially now since she was alone in the house. But the incident kept returning to her and her mind began to play it over and over again, like it was on a loop. She kept trying to push it out of her mind but something wouldn’t let her.

  “No,” she said and straightened up. “No.” She was not giving into this thing, whatever it was. It was just something in her imagination and she wasn’t about to ruin her day over it. Nope. She was stronger than that and a lot smarter. It was just her imagination running away with her. She just had to get a grip on it.

  She shook everything off and found a nice white top, her favorite pair of skinny jeans and her old reliable Havaianas. After she was dressed, she went into the bathroom and brushed her hair out then braided it and secured it with an elastic band. She checked herself in the mirror and nodded with approval. She looked cute. And she suddenly felt really silly.

  “What the hell is wrong with me?” she asked herself in the mirror. She laughed a little and then remembered that whenever she’d watch a particularly scary movie, she’d feel like this—jittery and frightened. She’d get jumpy, too. She felt like that now, but even more so. But it was nothing—nothing! The stress was getting to her and she would just have to find a way to reduce it. She’d always had a lot of stress and she’d certainly been experiencing even more of it lately with the move and an impending giant mortgage. She knew this to be true about herself, so she shrugged it off, thinking she was just imaging things. And having that conversation with Darcy about ghosts probably hadn’t helped, either.

  Yeah. That’s all it was and once her mind accepted this, she felt really, really foolish. And she didn’t have time for all this nonsense. She had a lot to get done today and she was really looking forward to finding her new favorite grocery store.

  No more scary movies for a while, she thought to herself, but then realized she hadn’t watched one in a few weeks, not since they’d moved into the house. However, she refused to allow her mind to go down that road again, and she left the bathroom and headed out to the foyer where she’d tossed her purse on the table.

  And then she left the house, locking the front door on her way out. As she walked towards her car, she noticed that the third garage door was slightly open. Neither she nor Marc had been parking in the garage because it was still full of boxes from the move. But why was the door opened and who could have opened it?

  “What the hell?” she muttered and bent down and tried to get it to close. It wouldn’t. It was stuck. “Shit!” she hissed and went back into the house and around the kitchen and then out the garage access door. Once she was in the garage she saw something very odd in the last slot of the garage. It was a car, a very unusual car. The car was small and fit almost perfectly into the slot, even though all the boxes were piled up around it. It looked like someone had moved a bunch of stuff around to get it to fit in. And who could blame them? It appeared to be a very expensive old car, one that needed to be kept in a garage. It was the coolest thing she’d ever seen, a little black convertible.

  Harmony approached the car timidly, wondering what it was doing there. It was so shiny and pretty, though, that she just stood there slack-jawed for a minute or so looking it over. It h
ad this vintage glove leather interior and was just gorgeous. She was so enthralled with the car that she didn’t hear Darcy enter the garage and approach her.

  “Boo!” Darcy teased.

  Harmony jumped then turned and shook her head at Darcy. “Why did you do that?”

  “I thought it would be fun,” she said and grinned. “You like my wheels?” She jerked her head towards the car.

  “This is your car?” Harmony asked in wonderment.

  “Yup, this baby is mine,” she said and patted the top of it. “1958 Porsche 356 Speedster ragtop.”

  “Wow,” Harmony muttered, wondering how in the hell Darcy could afford a car like this. And she’d never imagined Darcy as this kind of car person. She looked more like a Volkswagen Beetle convertible kind of girl. Or, even, a Prius.

  “It was my dad’s,” Darcy said, as if she’d read her mind. “I had to wrestle it from his gnarled old hands.” She laughed, then saw the look of horror on Harmony’s face. “No! I’m kidding. I inherited it when he died.”

  “Oh, sorry to hear about your father,” Harmony said and felt sad for her.

  “That’s okay. He’s been dead a while,” Darcy replied, though a shadow did seem to cross her face.

  “What about your mother?” Harmony asked.

  “Ditto,” Darcy said and smiled a little, as if she were thinking about how nice they had been to her. “They’ve both been gone a long time, Harmony. I try not to think about it.”

  Harmony eyed her and wondered, exactly, what was up with her. She wanted to ask her more about her parents, but then decided that it was none of her business. If Darcy wanted to share, she could. Harmony wasn’t one to pry into anyone’s business.

  Darcy turned to the car and said, “He loved this car. Had it retro-modded and everything.”

  “Cool,” Harmony said and nodded. “Marc’s car is retro-modded, too. Odd that I know something like that but he’s crazy for cars, so I’ve picked up a few things from him. All he watches on TV are shows about cars. Some reality, too. But mostly car shows.”

  “He seems like a car guy,” Darcy said and nodded, then added, “I love his car. Checked it out when I got home late last night.”

  Harmony nodded and turned back to the car, taking it in. It was just so cool. “Marc will flip when he sees this thing.”

  “Oh, he can drive it anytime he wants to,” she said. “You can, too, if you like.”

  “Oh, no thanks,” Harmony said. “I wouldn’t want to mess it up.”

  “You won’t mess it up,” she said and tutted her.

  “I might,” Harmony said. “But thanks anyway.” She went over to the garage door button and pressed it. The door closed all the way. She pointed at it as Darcy watched her. “It’s just the door was open and I didn’t want any critters getting in here.”

  Darcy nodded. “Oh, raise it up for me, will you? I have to leave. Got an audition.”

  “To be a showcase model?” Harmony asked and smiled at her.

  “I wish,” Darcy said. “But, sadly, no. Just some beer commercial. Wish me luck!”

  “Good luck,” Harmony said and watched her get in the car. She started the engine and then revved it.

  “Hey, wanna go on a ride?” Darcy called over the noise of the engine. “I can get you down the hill and back in no time!”

  “Can’t,” Harmony hollered over the sound of the engine. “Sorry!”

  Darcy nodded then pointed at the button. Harmony pushed it and the garage door rose and then Darcy backed the car out with expertise, easing by her car in the drive. Once she was on the street, she put the car in gear and roared down the hill.

  FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FUN

  It was around midnight when Harmony, who had been lying in bed alone for a few hours, finally heard Marc come home. She didn’t know what had started her ruminating, but she’d been going over a few things in her mind and was really beginning to wonder if living in this house was such a good idea. It was just a house, after all. They didn’t need this fancy of a house and they certainly didn’t need this much room. As long as they were together, what did it matter where they lived?

  The thought of Darcy living in their guesthouse didn’t sit well with her, either. She didn’t like to think of herself as a jealous person but she feared she might just become one if Darcy didn’t move out.

  When Marc quietly got into bed beside her, she rolled over onto her side and stared at the wall. She heard him sigh with irritation, probably over her body language which told him she was upset over something and it was up to him to find out what. For this, she felt bad. She knew he’d had a long day and was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. She felt him staring at her. She could feel his mounting anger, though she knew he’d try to keep it down.

  He said softly, “Are you mad?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “I told you I was going to be late,” he said. “Don’t pretend you’re asleep.”

  “I’m not pretending,” she said and rolled over and stared at him. “I think we made a mistake moving in here.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “It just doesn’t feel right,” she told him.

  He studied her. “You were happy this morning. What happened?” When she didn’t answer, he eyed her for a moment, then he nodded, like he understood everything now. “Oh, I get it.”

  “You get what?” she asked and sat up.

  “Why you’re acting like this. It’s because of Darcy, isn’t it?”

  Harmony didn’t even try to sugarcoat it. She simply nodded and said, “Maybe. She did say she wouldn’t sleep with you.”

  “That was nice of her,” he said, then shook his head in confusion. “Why did she say that? That’s kinda weird.”

  “She said women always think she’s going to steal their men or something but she wasn’t going to do that to me.”

  “What sort of person says something like that?” he asked. “But, just so you’ll know, I am not interested in her like that. In fact, in case you didn’t realize, I haven’t been interested in anyone like that since the day I laid eyes on you.” He leaned back and stared at her. “Listen, it’s late and I don’t know how to react to all this but, just so you’ll know, I don’t have any intention of doing anything. It never even crossed my mind.”

  Harmony was quick to respond, wanting to get her words out there as soon possible, “But that’s just it. What if something happens? I know things like that happen all the time. What if it does happen? Where am I? I’m out.”

  “Stop, Harmony,” he said. “You’re getting to me. In fact, I’m getting beyond irritated at being kept awake to discuss all this crap instead of sleeping. All of this is your insecurity talking.”

  “My insecurity?” she asked, almost aghast.

  “Yes,” he said. “And you don’t have a leg to stand on. And you know that. And it’s time I told you.”

  “What are you talking about?” she asked, shaking her head in confusion. “What do you mean I don’t have a leg to stand on?”

  “Good grief, you are… Seriously. You’re not doing this to me,” he said sternly.

  “Doing what?” she asked, staring at him.

  “Making me pay for something I didn’t even do,” he said and stared her dead in the eye.

  “I’m not doing that!” she exclaimed and wondered why he was all of a sudden being so defensive. She hadn’t actually accused him of anything. But she did think they should nip this Darcy thing in the bud. So, she said, “I do think we should ask her to move out.”

  “We can’t do that,” Marc told her and shook his head. “I mean, that’s crazy. We can’t do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “You can’t just kick someone out because you think something might happen. This is California. There are laws for that. She’s our tenant and until she leaves, we can’t do anything. As long as she pays her rent on time, that is.”

  This didn’t set well with
Harmony and she didn’t mind telling him so. He had to know that something could happen and they needed to avoid it. “I don’t trust her,” she said. “She will fuck up our marriage.”

  “No, that’s you,” Marc mumbled and sat up, then crossed his arms.

  She didn’t catch his words. “What did you say?” she asked, staring at him from the corner of her eye.

  He took her chin and moved her face to his. “I said, ‘No, that’s you.’”

  Oh, no, Harmony thought and then she pushed that thought away and became very, very angry, and slightly panicked, then jumped out of bed. She turned to him and said, nearly screeching, “Why would you say that to me?”

  It’s been like three years, Harmony,” he replied as calmly as he could. “When are you ever going to fess up?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she exclaimed, on the verge of a meltdown.

  “Oh, you do,” he said. “I wish it wasn’t coming to this, but, of course, it is. And it’s been a long time in coming.”

  “Fuck, Marc!” she exclaimed. “What the hell are you getting at?”

  “You act like I’m the one who’s going to do something and we both know what you did. So, let’s stop pretending.”

  “Pretending what?” she asked in distress.

  “You know what,” he said evenly. “You know what I mean.”

  “I don’t think I do,” she said, though, of course, she did. She knew exactly what he meant. But she didn’t want to go down that road.

  “Since you insist on playing dumb, let’s just address the issue, then, shall we?” he said, getting even more irritated. “You try to convince yourself that I will randomly sleep with someone as a cover to what you did. You’re just projecting your guilt, that’s all. And I’m not going to kick some girl out of her home because of that.”