Chapter 5

V

Amy watched from the kitchen window as Calvin got into their car. He beeped the horn and she waved as she watched the car move down the driveway. She planned to get through some of the boxes today and at least get some organization back into her life. She walked up the staircase to the bathroom to grab the towels and washcloths and take them downstairs to be washed. She passed by the bedroom and something caught her eye. It was lying on her pillow. A picture of Jeremy, but the eyes were scratched out with a pen. She sat at the edge of the bed staring at the picture. Tears falling onto this captured moment. He was wearing his favorite hat, the only one he ever wore, a red Boston Red Sox baseball cap. Calvin bought it for him at their first baseball game together. It sat a little too big on his three year old head, but he never went any where without it. The memories of her son overwhelmed her. His first words, his first Christmas, the picture of him on his birthday completely covered in cake and icing. Pictures of her son flooding her mind, almost too much to bear.

She tucked the picture into her back pocket and tried to get her mind off things. She decided to go to the basement to finish the clothes. She grabbed the towels, washcloths, and the dirty clothes from the hamper and headed down the stairs. She turned the basement light on which gave an eerie, yellow hue to everything. This would have creeped Amy out if her mind wasn't elsewhere. As she sorted through the clothes she heard what sounded like an infant crying from upstairs. Her first thought was that the TV was on, but as she leaned into the direction of the crying she could hear what sounded like a woman singing, very faint, but she could make out a definite melody. As she climbed the stairs the voice became louder almost as though the woman was right beside her. Amy placed her hand on the railing at the bottom of the stairs and looked up toward the bedroom. She could hear a woman's voice a bit clearer now.

“Hush little baby don't say a word, mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird. If that mocking bird don't sing, mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.”

As she ascended the stairs Amy could hear that the singing was coming from the room next to her bedroom. The nursery for her soon to be son or daughter. Calvin bought some plastic tarp from the hardware store on his way home from work the other day. They planned on painting the walls this coming weekend. The door of the room was removed and a thin piece of opaque tarp was hanging from the frame.

“If that diamond ring turns brass, mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.”

Amy pulled back the tarp and saw what looked like a woman dressed in white. It looked like the young girl they picked on the side of the road just a few short days ago, but it couldn't be. She was sitting on a rocking chair with something wrapped in her arms.

“If that looking glass gets broke, mama's gonna slit your little throat.”

Amy could see blood dripping onto the floor like a faucet into and empty basin. She rushed over the the chair, but the woman disappeared. On the chair was another picture of Jeremy. It was taken on a family trip to the zoo only weeks before he died. Jeremy was standing in front of Amy as they both stood beside the lion exhibit. The lion had his mouth open like he was roaring. Although in actuality it was probably just yawning, but it was Jeremy's favorite picture from the day. Amy picked up the picture from the seat of the rocking chair. Her eyes welled up with tears.

“What the f**k is going on? Am I going crazy?”

Amy decided not to tell Calvin about what happened when he got home from work. He would worry too much. She didn't want to tell him until she knew what was going on for her self. Calvin went in the living room the watch the baseball game and Amy stood by the kitchen sink staring out the window. Outside the rain overwhelmed everything. It's that cold, miserable rain that falls in the autumn, drenching the grass, stripping the trees of their colorful foliage. Leaving everyone trapped inside like prisoners. All Amy wanted was to get out of the house. This house that has been turning against her.

That night Amy laid in bed staring at he ceiling, afraid to close her eyes in fear that the nightmares would creep back in. She could feel the baby inside her becoming more active, moving and kicking against her stomach. She lifted up her nightshirt and saw a little indentation of a foot moving against her skin. She felt a painful clench in her stomach and moved her arms wrapping them against herself. She wanted to scream, but didn't want to wake Calvin. She rolled to her side and placed her legs over the side of the bed. She tried to find the floor with her feet as her eyes closed with pain. She pushed herself up from the bad and the pain nearly sent her to the floor. She reached forward for the door frame and stood against the wall with her hand against her stomach. She looked down to see blood slowly trickle down her legs and pool onto the floor beneath her. She walked toward the bathroom leaning on the wall to keep her upright. The pain was unrelenting. The outline against her stomach was becoming bigger, stretching out further. Suddenly, a claw broke through her skin, black as midnight. It ripped through and pulled itself through as Amy screamed. This thing turned upward toward Amy and she could see its face. It was all black, even the whites of its eyes. Large malevolent eyes staring at Amy like a predator at its prey. She tried to grab it, but it lept at her sinking its large fangs into her neck. Amy woke up drenched in sweat. She immediately pulled back the sheets to find, nothing she was fine. No blood, no tearing demonic being, nothing. She doesn't remember screaming when she woke up, but she must have because Calvin rolled over toward her in a jump.

“What happened? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just another nightmare.”
“This has been happening a lot lately maybe you should see somebody.”

“No, I'm okay. It's probably just pregnancy hormones. This kiddo is just messing with me.” Amy said this last part with a facetious tone. She didn't want Calvin to find out just how true it might be.