October 31

Chapter 13

Ok, so NOW it's Halloween. Wow, I need to stop drinking and sleep just a little bit more. Surprisingly I thought that now I was on vacation from both work and school, I would at least try to return my body to a normal schedule. Yea, fat chance of that happening. But for some reason classes were scheduled off until further notice as we have been having some issues with our heating and what not. Oh well, I didn't ask, so now I'm sitting in my ice cold bed at 6:22 am writing in my only companion. Kristy isn't here, staying the night with some guy named Bradley or Branden or something to that nature.Which,of course, left me all alone yet again. Or so I thought. At 6:25 am, my cell phone began to ring non-stop where I heard "Bad Reputation" for at least fifteen minutes. I finally reached over and picked it up.

 

"Hello?" I asked in an irratated manner hoping that whoever it was on the other line would get the hint. I noticed a hesitation as I heard some shuffling around and finally a voice that I had missed so dearly spoke up.

 

"Harley? It's me. I had to hear your voice again."  Jonathan said as I heard him shudder and breathe heavily for a moment. I sat up in bed and listened.

 

"Hey, calm down. What's wrong?" I ask him as I finally hear him sobbing and he lets it all out sobbing how sorry he was and how I didn't deserve this. After a few moments he finally regained enough composure to talk.

 

 "Mara is gone, so please come stay here with me tonight. I miss you so much." Jonathan kept repeating over and over again. Inside I had a warning bell ringing inside of me telling me that this would be a bad idea, but what I heard next really surprised me and shut the bell off. "I'm coming to pick you up myself. Be there in five minutes." He said and then the line went dead. I rolled my eyes as I got dressed and packed up a small bag thinking I would leave the next morning like I would every other morning that I had spent the night with him. I walked out of the dorm room and outside instantly getting slapped by a chilly sting of air as I stood and waited. Just as the five minute mark came up I saw his car speeding up to me and skid to a stop. He puts the window down and nods his head.

 

"Get in please." He asked and I followed him in without any hesitation what so ever. We drove in silence back to his apartment. Once we were inside, he took my hand and led me into his bedroom. He sat me down, went to the window and stared for a long time.

 

"Mara is staying with her family for a few weeks. Her father is very ill. I have been thinking about the way I have been treating you. You didn't deserve it, you deserve love and being comforted, not to be treated with ugliness and indifference. You are my little doll and it's up to me to keep you safe. Harleen, what I'm trying to tell you is that I love you. I've loved you for quite some time and I want you to move in with me. I want you to eventually become my wife, I want us to be together." Thomas said and let his words hang in the air. he finally turned to me and took my hand once more.

 

"You're freezing. Please stay here, and Kristy can stay too. It breaks my heart thinking about you two girls in that cold room. That evil night wind chilling and killing my Annabel Lee." When I heard him say that I bolted up quickly, remembering what had happened last night at Mugeys.

 

"It was YOU at Mugseys, You were the one hunting me down and watching me!" I screamed as he grabbed me quickly and tried to calm me down.

 

"Harley I promise you wasn't there. I was at a dinner with Professor Isley and Harvey Dent. I promise you that I wasn't there." He explained as I took a few deep breaths and explained what had happened to me the night before. He listened intently as i explained to him his face growing harder and harder like stone. When I told him what had happened when I heard the voice reciting "Annabel Lee" I saw his eyes begin to glow red with anger, but he didn't say anything. Instead he put me into bed and kissed my forehead.

 

"I'm going to make a quick phone call. I will be right back darling." He said as he pulled out a cell phone and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. For a few moments I sat in his bedroom, just wondering what the hell had just happened to me, I got up and walked quietly over to the door and opened it. I saw Jonathan standing there talking on his cell phone. I crept a little closer so I could listen to the conversation better, or at least one side of it.

 

"Edward? It's Jonathan. Listen to me and listen good. I heard what you did last night and so help me if you come near that girl again I will not hesitate to kill you myself and risk returning to Arkham. At least I'd have a better chance of surviving there then you do. You were always the weakest of us."

 

At this point he paused and I could see some of his features turn stone cold and angry. What amazed me was that he never raised his voice once when he was angry. But, for some reason I felt like this was one time he would be the most dangerous person I'd ever have to meet. I couldn't pull myself away from what I was listening to. Jonathans voice picked up again and it snapped me back to the outside world.

 

"Yes, she is my girl and my student which gives you absolutely NO right to put her in danger. She's hasn't had any hallucinations yet from what I know. So help me Nash, I will kill you if there is anything wrong with her and I have to find out about it."  Another pause as I turned and crept back upstairs to wait for him to return. As I did so I made sure to store the name "Edward Nash" into my memory so I could look him up later. I sat at the vanity in his room. He told me so many times how much Mara loved it and it was her favorite piece of furniture. It was a dark mahogany color which matched the bedroom perfectly. I stared at the reflection in the mirror and I saw her return, again her lips curved into a evil smirk.

 

"You really think it's going to be that easy? He hasn't left his wife yet for you so why would he now? Why now?" She said to me as I took a deep breath and replied.

 

"Because he loves me and doesn't want me to be alone anymore." I realized that when I said it that it was absolutely stupid. She saw this too and started to laugh again.

 

"Oh please! You are just an obligation for him. He just feels sorry for you." She said as I clenched the sides of the vanity and squeezed my eyes shut. For some reason this felt more real then it did all the other times before. I opened my eyes slowly and saw a pale white face staring at me with these eyes,these blank,cold evil eyes. My breath got cold in my throat as I felt myself starting to gasp for air. The red lips on the face smiled widely, opened the mouth and started to laugh this joyful laugh and just kept laughing as I fell trying to get my breath, my hands swipping at my throat. At that point Jonathan ran in, grabbed my shoulders and began to shake me.

 

"Fight it Harley! Fight it, for the love of God you have to fight!" He screamed as I felt my throat becoming warm again and air rushing into my lungs. I collapsed into his arms and he held me tightly, obviously worried that I would have another episode.

 

"Harley, what happened?" He said as I was finally able to fully calm down. I looked up at him as pieces of my hair clung to my pale and sweaty face.

 

"I saw a face and the next thing I knew I felt like I was being strangled." I explained as he nodded his head, but I saw a look come over his eyes that scared me.

 

"What did that face look like?" He asked as he squeezed me even tighter. I thought for a moment making sure that I really saw what I saw regardless of my medications. Either way I had a feeling that maybe "Edward Nash" had something to do with this.

 

"It was a pale white face with bright red lips, like lipstick. And it laughed, it laughed this horrible joyful laugh." I explained as he sat upright and went to his closet, I watched after him as he pulled on his coat and he was shoving something into his pocket.

 

"Harley, I have to go see a friend of mine. Lock the door and all the windows. I will be home soon. But you do not open the door for anyone. Do you understand me?" He asked with such an intensity that I never heard him use before. All I managed to do was nod my head. He pushed his lips to mine strongly and pulled away. He went to the door, pulled it open and pushed it quickly shut. I ran over to it and made sure it was locked. I went back to his room where I waited desperately for sleep. What just happened? Where was he going? Who was this "Edward Nash"? But most importantly, who's face did I see?"

Author's Note

Again, thank you Sarah M. for your input!!

Reviews

[Sarah McConnaughey]

"Halloween" should be capitalized because it's a holiday.

Same suggestion here as the last chapter: splitting the paragraphs where different characters are talking.

"I would leave the next morning like I would every other morning that I had spent the night with him." It would read better if you worded it more like, "I would leave the next morning like I had every other night I had spent with him."

"saw a pale white face staring at me with these eyes staring at me, these blank , cold evil eyes" It's a bit confusing when it repeats "staring at me".

I don't usually like heterosexual love stories (unless I like the characters), but I really like yours. Your characters likable, especially your main character. Your story is very original, sweetie, and I love it! :)