Finding Anna Charles
Chapter Three
2011
A second empty glass of red now sat on the bedside table before me, and I considered just ordering an entire bottle and to be done with it. Hell, I was on holiday, but I knew that was no excuse. The cord of the phone twisted about in my fingers as I dialled, though not to get that wine. I didn’t really feel like getting drunk alone in a hotel room. It seemed that always brought about trouble.
Pick up.
Pick up.
“Hello?”
“Stefan! How are you?”
“Brian? Are you drunk?”
“No… Well I had a glass or so of wine but –”
“It’s 3am, Brian.”
“Ohh…” It was later where I was, but I wasn’t really tired. Or rather, I couldn’t sleep. The heavy rain pounding on the windows had me a little restless.
“What do you want?”
“I guess I just wanted to know how you are. You know, how things are back at home.”
“This couldn’t wait until daylight?” I could imagine him rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It was obvious by his voice that I’d woken him up, but I didn’t care. I needed to talk to someone, and he was the only one I knew that’d not hold an early morning phone call against me. He sighed a little louder than necessary before answering me anyway. “I’m fine, Brian, and home is fine.”
“Are you sure you can’t come on holiday with me? Even for just a week or two?”
“Brian I really can’t be bothered packing all my suitcases to travel not nearly far enough away for it to be considered a holiday.”
“But it’s nice here! There’s a lovely restaurant across from the hotel I’m at and a sauna and a pool… well, I’m not too keen on the pool but the rest are great.”
“You usually like the pool,” Stefan pointed out, and I could sense he wanted to know what was wrong with it.
“There’s nothing wrong with it, as such. Just…”
“What?”
“I think it’s a little haunted.”
“A little haunted, Brian? What are you on?”
“Nothing, and don’t be a jerk. I’m serious…” He laughed and I frowned, upset that he didn’t believe me. Just because I didn’t believe in that crap usually didn’t mean I couldn’t change my mind. I had no other way of explaining what had happened last week in that pool, because no amount of sleep deprivation had caused anything like that in me before. If I didn’t believe it to be haunted, or something equally as creepy, then I would have gone back in there by now. Not only had I not been back in, but I couldn’t even find the courage to look at it. I was avoiding a body of water, and that was not right.
“Well what happened?” He was intrigued now, but I didn’t feel like going into it. I wanted time to get over it first.
“I don’t feel like explaining.” There was silence for a moment and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. It was eating me from the inside out. “Remember those dreams I said I had as a kid?”
“The ones with the red dress?” Stefan sniggered and I felt like thumping him, because this was serious.
“No, you clown, not the red dress ones. These dreams never had me in them. They had that girl in them, remember?”
“What girl?”
“I don’t know what girl. I can’t really remember it all properly…”
“I can vaguely recall a drunken conversation with you about one girl or another in your dreams…”
“I had one again last night. I haven’t had one in so long, I think since I was last living here. I can’t stop thinking about it, Stef. It’s driving me crazy.”
“Well it was probably just a once off thing. I’m not sure. I gotta go Brian, but be safe, yes?”
“Alright. Seeya.” I put the phone back down and thought for a moment. I could remember the dreams I used to have properly. I could remember them with an unnecessary amount of detail. I wondered why I hadn’t told Stefan this but with it being so early in the morning, I figured he’d not have remembered it anyway. She was screaming in this particular dream I used to have a lot, and had again just a few nights ago. She was screaming down a hall as I dragged her into a room and closed the door on her, then hurried off in the opposite direction. I had dreams of being this person a lot, and that girl was in a lot of them. I used to often wonder what they meant, but never really let myself think about it. If they had meant anything, then it certainly couldn’t have been anything good. I let myself fall back onto the soft white pillows, and sleep found me sooner than I thought possible with the rain still sounding loud.
I was awoken during the night by something, though couldn’t recall what it had been as I lay in that dazed state between awake and asleep. I remember I ruffled my hair from my face and rolled onto my back before I closed my eyes, and then fell further into my pillows. But then something strange happened, and I didn’t have time enough to register what it was until it’d taken place. Someone’s hands wrapped about my bare ankles and pulled me with some force, though it wouldn’t have taken that much, really, until my butt hit the floor at the end of my bed. I sat there wide-eyed looking into the darkness of my hotel room where no one stood and nothing had changed since I last saw it, and cringed as I felt a wetness soak through my underwear. I thought for a moment that I’d pissed myself, but that really wasn’t my style. As I stood up, quite a bit shaken, I saw that a puddle had formed on the floor and had soaked into the carpet. Perhaps the ceiling had leaked from the rain. I’d call about it in the morning, I figured, and walked off to find a change of underwear.
Still unsure as to how to react to the situation, I simply crawled back beneath the covers of the hotel bed. I closed my eyes, but no more sleep came for me that night. I listened to the springs of the bed beneath me, the humming of the digital clock beside me, and that ominous feeling all about me.
A second empty glass of red now sat on the bedside table before me, and I considered just ordering an entire bottle and to be done with it. Hell, I was on holiday, but I knew that was no excuse. The cord of the phone twisted about in my fingers as I dialled, though not to get that wine. I didn’t really feel like getting drunk alone in a hotel room. It seemed that always brought about trouble.
Pick up.
Pick up.
“Hello?”
“Stefan! How are you?”
“Brian? Are you drunk?”
“No… Well I had a glass or so of wine but –”
“It’s 3am, Brian.”
“Ohh…” It was later where I was, but I wasn’t really tired. Or rather, I couldn’t sleep. The heavy rain pounding on the windows had me a little restless.
“What do you want?”
“I guess I just wanted to know how you are. You know, how things are back at home.”
“This couldn’t wait until daylight?” I could imagine him rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It was obvious by his voice that I’d woken him up, but I didn’t care. I needed to talk to someone, and he was the only one I knew that’d not hold an early morning phone call against me. He sighed a little louder than necessary before answering me anyway. “I’m fine, Brian, and home is fine.”
“Are you sure you can’t come on holiday with me? Even for just a week or two?”
“Brian I really can’t be bothered packing all my suitcases to travel not nearly far enough away for it to be considered a holiday.”
“But it’s nice here! There’s a lovely restaurant across from the hotel I’m at and a sauna and a pool… well, I’m not too keen on the pool but the rest are great.”
“You usually like the pool,” Stefan pointed out, and I could sense he wanted to know what was wrong with it.
“There’s nothing wrong with it, as such. Just…”
“What?”
“I think it’s a little haunted.”
“A little haunted, Brian? What are you on?”
“Nothing, and don’t be a jerk. I’m serious…” He laughed and I frowned, upset that he didn’t believe me. Just because I didn’t believe in that crap usually didn’t mean I couldn’t change my mind. I had no other way of explaining what had happened last week in that pool, because no amount of sleep deprivation had caused anything like that in me before. If I didn’t believe it to be haunted, or something equally as creepy, then I would have gone back in there by now. Not only had I not been back in, but I couldn’t even find the courage to look at it. I was avoiding a body of water, and that was not right.
“Well what happened?” He was intrigued now, but I didn’t feel like going into it. I wanted time to get over it first.
“I don’t feel like explaining.” There was silence for a moment and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. It was eating me from the inside out. “Remember those dreams I said I had as a kid?”
“The ones with the red dress?” Stefan sniggered and I felt like thumping him, because this was serious.
“No, you clown, not the red dress ones. These dreams never had me in them. They had that girl in them, remember?”
“What girl?”
“I don’t know what girl. I can’t really remember it all properly…”
“I can vaguely recall a drunken conversation with you about one girl or another in your dreams…”
“I had one again last night. I haven’t had one in so long, I think since I was last living here. I can’t stop thinking about it, Stef. It’s driving me crazy.”
“Well it was probably just a once off thing. I’m not sure. I gotta go Brian, but be safe, yes?”
“Alright. Seeya.” I put the phone back down and thought for a moment. I could remember the dreams I used to have properly. I could remember them with an unnecessary amount of detail. I wondered why I hadn’t told Stefan this but with it being so early in the morning, I figured he’d not have remembered it anyway. She was screaming in this particular dream I used to have a lot, and had again just a few nights ago. She was screaming down a hall as I dragged her into a room and closed the door on her, then hurried off in the opposite direction. I had dreams of being this person a lot, and that girl was in a lot of them. I used to often wonder what they meant, but never really let myself think about it. If they had meant anything, then it certainly couldn’t have been anything good. I let myself fall back onto the soft white pillows, and sleep found me sooner than I thought possible with the rain still sounding loud.
I was awoken during the night by something, though couldn’t recall what it had been as I lay in that dazed state between awake and asleep. I remember I ruffled my hair from my face and rolled onto my back before I closed my eyes, and then fell further into my pillows. But then something strange happened, and I didn’t have time enough to register what it was until it’d taken place. Someone’s hands wrapped about my bare ankles and pulled me with some force, though it wouldn’t have taken that much, really, until my butt hit the floor at the end of my bed. I sat there wide-eyed looking into the darkness of my hotel room where no one stood and nothing had changed since I last saw it, and cringed as I felt a wetness soak through my underwear. I thought for a moment that I’d pissed myself, but that really wasn’t my style. As I stood up, quite a bit shaken, I saw that a puddle had formed on the floor and had soaked into the carpet. Perhaps the ceiling had leaked from the rain. I’d call about it in the morning, I figured, and walked off to find a change of underwear.
Still unsure as to how to react to the situation, I simply crawled back beneath the covers of the hotel bed. I closed my eyes, but no more sleep came for me that night. I listened to the springs of the bed beneath me, the humming of the digital clock beside me, and that ominous feeling all about me.