Her

This is only one part of a larger story, but I thought I'd write it as a short story first, just to get some practice. Enjoy reading it, and thank you if you did!

Her

There was a red puddle on the floor. I somehow couldn't tear my eyes away. Horrible thoughts found it's way into my imagination. Whose blood this was, for example. Perhaps the blood of my parents, since they weren't there. The blood of our house maid, since she wasn't there. The blood of some person I didn't even know, but she wanted to make me get apprehended for it again. She did it, I was sure. I am sure.

My knees were shaking and I felt as if I was overwhelmed by everything. "Keep in mind what Ms. Langdon said" echoed in my mind as I reached out a trembling hand to the nearest wall to keep myself up.

She went too far. And once again, they would all believe her and make applications for more sessions with Ms. Langdon for me again. Yes, they would all believe her. With her pretty blonde curls and soft brown eyes. I knew her eyes better than anyone else. They were not what they seemed.

I let out a shaky wheezing sound as my mind raced. What should I do? Call the ambulance, or no, call the police, or lock the house, lock the windows, the doors, the doors, get yourself to safety, go to Ms. Langdon, but will you make it there in time? God, if there really was a person injured, I had to do something! Tears were overflowing from my eyes as I stared frantically around my house.

It was dark. Darker than it should be at seven o'clock. And if she went as far as hurting someone in my own home, presumably either my parents or anyone close to me, she would not leave. She would stay to watch my reaction. She would still be around.

Or was it a warning? A warning perhaps? Could it be that she wasn't here? It was just a warning, a message, a sign, a statement that she was after me, just like she's always been, I could picture her gruesome smile in my mind all too vividly, but my parents, what of my parents-

The sound of my phone got me back into reality. I had put it down on the counter next to the door and it was currently glowing and vibrating with a message.

"Call the police!" I whispered to myself, tried to calm my breathing and crept over to the counter. Whether they would believe me after all that has happened in the past, I did not know. But the fear was almost making me black out and it was better to be sent to the place with the padded rooms rather than staying in this place at this moment. I took the phone �" it felt warm in my cold hands �" but again my mind went blank, as I stared at the message.

"like my surprise? be there in 10. love you"

Another wheezing sound escaped my throat as I collapsed on the floor once again, putting my hands over my ears and rocking back and forth to calm my thoughts.

The panic overwhelmed me, and Ms. Langdon's methods to deal with panic attacks were sweeped off my mind entirely.

I would have sat on the cold tiles for all eternity, but my mind pushed me to take action.

She was coming, and I had very little time.

I forgot about the idea of calling the police. If I called them now, she would know and she would either make it look as if I committed a crime or as if I was going crazy again. I worried about the injured person but all I could imagine was what she would do to me again. What she had done and how she gradually became more violent, more brutal, more �" no! I had to take action!

I closed the main door first, locked it and shoved the cask we used to place umbrellas in before it. Then I locked the bathroom windows, closed the shutters, locked the bathroom door. I continued with the kitchen, the living room, until each and every room was locked. I worked as fast as I could.

I ran upstairs, tripped, fell down. Hit my knee and sprained my ankle, crept upstairs, repeated the locking and closing of shutters with every room there was until I arrived in my room.

I locked it and pulled a wardrobe before the door, then I collapsed on the bed. My limbs were throbbing with pain. As I turned my head, it was getting dark outside and it started raining.

I listened to the dull sound of the rain, as I pulled several blankets over me. A heavy fatigue took hold of me but at least I was at peace. The ten minutes had to be over by now and yet I heard nothing.

I pondered my situation. Windows were locked, shutters closed, doors locked. I had opened my window a bit to let some fresh air in just this morning. But my room was located on the second floor, so I was quite calm about it. Just endure the night, I thought. My parents would eventually show up again. I silently hoped that if anyone had been killed, it would've been the house maid and not my parents. I firmly believed they weren't dead. Even though I knew I was the worst daughter ever. Not taking action and then putting the lifes of my parents above that of our innocent Teresa. But if I explained it to them, explained it all �" they would surely understand.

But who should I call then? "Ms. Langdon" I thought while a spark of hope lightened up in my chest. "I will call her tomorrow morning and tell her about what happened. She's the only one who would believe me."

This was the moment it hit me : I forgot my phone downstairs.

I had been about to doze off but when that thought crept into my still half-conscious mind, I abruptly woke up. Cold fear took hold of me again, the blankets did nothing to warm me up. While I searched for a way to still call her anyway, I heard a noise downstairs. It was the sound of a phone buzzing. And it was my own phone. Someone was either calling me or spamming me with messages.

Perhaps it was Ms. Langdon? Perhaps the police? If they called me and I didn't respond, would they worry about me and come here? The desperate hope was immediately crushed by cold despair.

It could also be her. She could be sending me these messages or calling me to terrorize me.

I tried to calm myself down with the very prominent sound of the rain outside. The buzzing would not stop and I was playing with the thought of jumping up, moving the wardrobe and dashing downstairs to get it and see whether the person trying to reach me could help me somehow.

And if not? What if it was really her?

"But I'm safe" I tried to convince myself "No one can come in here."

I was still listening to the crashing of water drops on the pavement outside and I felt as if I was about to vomit. The rain had sounded dull. Someone had opened the window while I had been asleep.

The buzzing had stopped.

My breath hitched as panic overwhelmed me again and I clutched the bed sheets tightly until my knuckles turned white. It felt as if everything was spinning and oh god, I couldn't stop staring up to my ceiling because what else might I be looking at?

It was her! Certainly her! She was here, she was coming for me! What would she do this time? Drag the battered corpses of my parents to my place? Dismember them and put their body parts on hooks? Would she force me to look at their cut off heads? Would she? Would she?

I started whimpering, shaking my head violently while pressing my hands onto my ears.

There was no escape from this nightmare, I should've known, I should've started running far away when I had the time, not trying to resist. "You fool!" I scolded myself, "You never learn, do you?"

But then again, I heard the wind howling outside.

Could it be that the wind had opened the window? Could it be that she wasn't here?

I spend about twenty minutes with convincing myself of that fact. I even took deep and long breaths to calm myself down, just as Ms. Langdon had told me to do. Ms. Langdon! God bless that woman. I brought myself to smile a faint smile. She would help me for sure.

Again I worked out in my mind what to do the next morning, planned my each and every move and was content with myself. All this worrying did nothing at all but putting me under pressure. That was also what Ms. Langdon had said.

I sighed and was relieved, then I pondered whether some fresh air would help me fall asleep again.

I decided it was a good idea, since I was still all sweaty from my latest panic attack and my face burned by all the tears. Ms. Langdon told me to get some fresh air whenever I felt bad or overwhelmed.

I sat up.

Brown eyes, usually soft, now contorted in a devilish manner, stared provokingly into mine.

Her smile, that I had pictured in my mind all the time, seemed even more cruel and lustful.

Before I had the chance to scream the black shadow had pressed her ice-cold hand onto my mouth and forced me down onto the bed again.

I tried struggling but my limbs were numb from the terror.

"You were not replying to my messages, love. I was so worried about you."

Author's Note

It's the first short story I've ever written, so please give me your honest opinion and if you think there's anything that could've been done better, tell me!

Reviews

[Jessica Jaufmann]

I think this can benefit from a different title. Of course, when naming a piece like this "Her", the draw is there for the readers, but to really get them interested in wanted MORE after reading this, you need a title that let's the reader THINK they know what they're about to read and then hit them with a twist! You definitely provided a good story here and I really enjoyed it.