Guilt
Once
“Answer the phone, Julianne,” Kelly whispered softly as Julianne’s cell phone vibrated on the coffee table. Julianne clenched her eyes shut and shook her head back and forth, tucking her hands under her thighs and willing herself not to follow Kelly’s command. Mercifully, her cell phone stopped ringing. But, moments later, her home phone began to ring, and Julianne quickly crossed her legs until they hurt to ward off Kelly’s soft ghost persuasion he used so adeptly sometimes. Before long, the phone stopped ringing, and a message began.
“Stop ignoring me, Julianne,” Matt chided gently into the answering machine. “I know you’re ignoring me. I don’t know what your game is or why you’re doing this, but I’m ten seconds away from just coming over and breaking in if I find your door locked again. So, do yourself a favor and call me back.”
The message stopped, and Julianne slowly unwound her legs from each other and pulled her hands out from underneath her. She reached forward and grabbed her phone with no intention of calling Matt back. Instead, she flipped the phone open and deftly turned it off before tossing it back onto the coffee table. She would leave her home phone plugged in, just in case of emergency. Her home phone was easier to ignore anyway.
Lately, Julianne had made the conscious decision to withdraw from Matt. She’d continued to be plagued by the horrible nightmare that always ended in Kelly nearly strangling her with her own sheets. She took it as a sign of Kelly’s anger that she’d betrayed him and decided the only way to make it stop was to pull away from Matt, no matter how much it hurt. Upsetting Kelly hurt worse.
She started keeping the door locked all the time. She ignored all of Matt’s calls. In a way, it was good for her. If she had continued to be friends with Matt, eventually it would’ve developed into something else and she would end up doing something she regretted, something that would piss Kelly off even more than he was now. She couldn’t decode why he always wanted her to answer her phone for Matt—maybe he was searching for some way to make her life even more of a hell than it already was. Her kiss with Matt had been the tell-tale sign. He had kissed her back, eagerly even, so he obviously returned Julianne’s feelings. There was no way in Hell she could let herself betray Kelly more than she already had, so she began to simply withdraw. So far, the hardest part had been fighting Kelly’s soft persuasion to answer the phone.
Julianne rose to her feet and walked into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. As she stood at the sink watching the water pool into the glass, the pantry door gently slid open, squeaking on its hinges like it always had. It was a homely sound, and Julianne had always told Kelly to never oil it. Julianne turned the water off and looked around at the door as it slowly slid further and further open. Then, once it had opened all the way, it slammed shut as though some inhumanly strong force had shut it. She heard several boxes and cans in the pantry fall from their shelves.
Julianne stood staring at the pantry for several moments, and then all chaos broke loose.
In perfect unison, all the cabinet doors in the kitchen snapped open as though invisible elves had pulled them open. And, in perfect unison, they slammed shut. They continued to slam open and shut. Coupled with the beat of the pantry door opening and shutting and the sound of cans and boxes dropping to the floor, a rhythm began, a ghostly rhythm that terrified Julianne into motionlessness.
Within moments, Julianne heard the distant sound of all the other doors in the house opening and slamming shut in perfect unison but at a different time than the cabinets and pantry. The cupboard that held Julianne’s coffee mugs and crystal glasses snapped open, and all the glasses began to clink together, creating a melody over the rhythm of slamming doors. It sounded poetic and musical, but Julianne had never heard anything more terrifying.
“Stop it,” Julianne whispered as her glass of water slipped from her grasp. It fell and shattered at her feet, shooting water and shards of crystal across the tile. “Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it!” Her voice began to rise in volume. The slamming doors and clinking glasses got louder and louder with her voice. “STOP IT! STOP IT! KELLY, STOP IT!” Julianne shrieked, covering her ears and wondering if maybe she’d finally gone crazy.
Julianne shot out of the kitchen and up the stairs. The doors upstairs continued to slam open and shut. Julianne heard the mirror over the medicine cabinet in the bathroom splinter and clatter into the sink as the door opened and slammed repeatedly. The lights began to flicker, and with a wordless shriek, Julianne wrenched open one of hallway closets and stepped inside of it. She dragged the door closed, holding the doorknob tightly with both hands as she slid down to the floor.
Kelly was so much more powerful than Julianne had realized. She would need to tread lightly with his emotions from now on. She didn’t want to know what would happen to her if she made him any angrier.
“Stop ignoring me, Julianne,” Matt chided gently into the answering machine. “I know you’re ignoring me. I don’t know what your game is or why you’re doing this, but I’m ten seconds away from just coming over and breaking in if I find your door locked again. So, do yourself a favor and call me back.”
The message stopped, and Julianne slowly unwound her legs from each other and pulled her hands out from underneath her. She reached forward and grabbed her phone with no intention of calling Matt back. Instead, she flipped the phone open and deftly turned it off before tossing it back onto the coffee table. She would leave her home phone plugged in, just in case of emergency. Her home phone was easier to ignore anyway.
Lately, Julianne had made the conscious decision to withdraw from Matt. She’d continued to be plagued by the horrible nightmare that always ended in Kelly nearly strangling her with her own sheets. She took it as a sign of Kelly’s anger that she’d betrayed him and decided the only way to make it stop was to pull away from Matt, no matter how much it hurt. Upsetting Kelly hurt worse.
She started keeping the door locked all the time. She ignored all of Matt’s calls. In a way, it was good for her. If she had continued to be friends with Matt, eventually it would’ve developed into something else and she would end up doing something she regretted, something that would piss Kelly off even more than he was now. She couldn’t decode why he always wanted her to answer her phone for Matt—maybe he was searching for some way to make her life even more of a hell than it already was. Her kiss with Matt had been the tell-tale sign. He had kissed her back, eagerly even, so he obviously returned Julianne’s feelings. There was no way in Hell she could let herself betray Kelly more than she already had, so she began to simply withdraw. So far, the hardest part had been fighting Kelly’s soft persuasion to answer the phone.
Julianne rose to her feet and walked into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. As she stood at the sink watching the water pool into the glass, the pantry door gently slid open, squeaking on its hinges like it always had. It was a homely sound, and Julianne had always told Kelly to never oil it. Julianne turned the water off and looked around at the door as it slowly slid further and further open. Then, once it had opened all the way, it slammed shut as though some inhumanly strong force had shut it. She heard several boxes and cans in the pantry fall from their shelves.
Julianne stood staring at the pantry for several moments, and then all chaos broke loose.
In perfect unison, all the cabinet doors in the kitchen snapped open as though invisible elves had pulled them open. And, in perfect unison, they slammed shut. They continued to slam open and shut. Coupled with the beat of the pantry door opening and shutting and the sound of cans and boxes dropping to the floor, a rhythm began, a ghostly rhythm that terrified Julianne into motionlessness.
Within moments, Julianne heard the distant sound of all the other doors in the house opening and slamming shut in perfect unison but at a different time than the cabinets and pantry. The cupboard that held Julianne’s coffee mugs and crystal glasses snapped open, and all the glasses began to clink together, creating a melody over the rhythm of slamming doors. It sounded poetic and musical, but Julianne had never heard anything more terrifying.
“Stop it,” Julianne whispered as her glass of water slipped from her grasp. It fell and shattered at her feet, shooting water and shards of crystal across the tile. “Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it!” Her voice began to rise in volume. The slamming doors and clinking glasses got louder and louder with her voice. “STOP IT! STOP IT! KELLY, STOP IT!” Julianne shrieked, covering her ears and wondering if maybe she’d finally gone crazy.
Julianne shot out of the kitchen and up the stairs. The doors upstairs continued to slam open and shut. Julianne heard the mirror over the medicine cabinet in the bathroom splinter and clatter into the sink as the door opened and slammed repeatedly. The lights began to flicker, and with a wordless shriek, Julianne wrenched open one of hallway closets and stepped inside of it. She dragged the door closed, holding the doorknob tightly with both hands as she slid down to the floor.
Kelly was so much more powerful than Julianne had realized. She would need to tread lightly with his emotions from now on. She didn’t want to know what would happen to her if she made him any angrier.
♠ ♠ ♠
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