Blood On My Hands

Natasha's distress became so severe that nothing the girls did to comfort her was effective. Cecily called the girl's parents several times but didn't get an answer every single time she tried. Sarah and Cecily had never seen anyone in this kind of traumatized state. Whatever she dreamt about had her deeply disturbed.

Cecily finally made the decision to call an ambulance. It was a last resort but she knew trained physicians would be more help than two scared girls, who knew nothing on the matter. When the ambulance arrived, Sarah grabbed a bag and packed Natasha's things while Cecily talked with the paramedics, telling them what exactly was wrong with their roommate.

"Got it packed?" Cecily asked as she grabbed a coat.

"Yeah," Sarah replied as she handed her the bag. "Have you gotten in touch with her parents?"

"No, they're out of the country for the week and I don't know anyone else to call."

"Want me to come up to the hospital?" Sarah volunteered.

"No, get some rest. I need someone here that I can trust."

"Yeah, Mia might burn the house down out of pure spite," Sarah rolled her eyes.

"I get that there's tension between you two and she's a bit of a diva but I promise she'll grow on you. She's really not that awful."

"Yeah, we'll see," she paused, still not convinced in the least, but Sarah would try and give her new roommate a chance. She would do it for the sake of hers and Cecily’s friendship. After all, the two girls couldn’t be at each other’s throats all the time. Otherwise, there would be no peace in the household. Also, not to mention, college was about to start and Sarah sure as hell didn’t have time for unwanted stress and drama in her life. "Please call me when you find out what's going on."

Cecily nodded and headed out the door to follow the ambulance. Sarah returned back to bed and slept peacefully until her alarm clock went off. She checked Cecily's room but couldn't find her anywhere. She must have stayed overnight at the hospital. Sarah's phone dinged indicating that she had received a message. Speak of the devil, Sarah said as she unlocked her phone and opened the message.

It was a text from Cecily: Hey girl, still at the hospital. You can come by if you want. I'll text the address.



"So what did the doctor's say?”

"They think it's stress and homesickness. She was always a homebody and moving six hours is a huge change. We'll know for sure in a few days. They want to keep her the rest of the week for testing and observation."

"Did Mia visit?"

"No, she had some things to handle at the financial aid office. She did send those flowers though," Cecily pointed to the beautiful arrangement on the window sill. "She's trying, Sarah. Just cut her some slack."

"Okay," Sarah sighed, crossed her arms and sat in the recliner beside Natasha. Maybe Mia would take it a step farther and apologize for the way she had acted last night. But, Sarah knew Hell would have to freeze over before that ever happened.

Cecily took a seat on the armrest until her phone began ringing, "It's her parents. I need to take this." She quietly exited the room, leaving Natasha and Sarah alone together.

"Hey, Sarah," Natasha opened her eyes sluggishly from the hospital bed. Her complexion was still pale and she had bags under her eyes from the restless night she had endured.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not so great. I wanna go home. I hate hospitals.”

"I'm really sorry," Sarah sympathized. “Maybe you won’t be in here too long. We’re worried sick about you, especially Cecily.”

"Everyone thinks I'm crazy, don't they?" The girl's eyes began to water, blurring her vision. Natasha didn’t even bother blinking the tears back. She let them fall down.

"No, of course not. We just want to get you well again."

"I'm not unwell! I wish everybody could see that!”

"The doctor says it's just a little stress. It was probably giving you crazy dreams."

"It wasn't a dream," she said adamantly, her eyes remained on the ceiling, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Well, you saw something, right? I believe you, Natasha. You can be honest with me." Sarah was sure it was a nightmare but she knew the girl had been evaluated by doctors all night and was sure they thought she was insane. Maybe she just needed to vent about whatever happened. Maybe that acceptance would help her conquer the stress and anxiety that was taking over her life.

"I was in the basement when I saw him. H-he was a doctor, I think? He had a cabinet full of body parts, just body parts floating in jars...some were human and others animal. He was working on stitching something together when a woman came in. She shot him and then she saw me. She told me that guy was a sick bastard and it had to be done. She took me back upstairs and I saw these two girls bound like someone was going to torture them. A guy in a weird bodysuit came up and slit their throats," Natasha began shaking uncontrollably in horror at just the memory of the guy sinking his blade into the defenseless women’s throats one by one, putting an end their lives. "I looked down and I was covered in the blood. I got up and ran but he chased me down. He grabbed me by the ankles and dragged me through the house and back to the basement. I tried everything I could to get away, but he was too strong.”

The girl stopped, choked back more oncoming tears that threatened to fall while Sarah got up to grab a Kleenex from the Kleenex box at the girl’s bedside table. She handed one to her roommate before Natasha continued recounting her terrifying story - nightmare, that had occurred last night. Natasha thanked Sarah before dabbing at her already reddened eyes. “There was a monster down there. I really can't describe it. It was awful, Sarah. I can tell you this, it wasn’t human. It was like something straight out of Hell."

To Sarah it all just seemed like a nightmare — a royally fucked up nightmare. But to Natasha, Sarah realized, it was more than that. This was real to her, and this really in her mindset happened to her and nothing else would deter her from believing otherwise. Sarah would have to choose her words carefully because she didn’t want to upset her new roommate. Right now, Natasha was in a fragile state. This whole horrific event was more than one could bear. Sarah didn’t want to add onto that by making Natasha out to be a liar about what she claimed to have witnessed last night.

“Are you sure this happened?” Sarah asked as soothingly as possible as she took hold of Natasha’s hand and gave it a tight, consoling squeeze with sympathy in her cerulean blue eyes. “It must have been awful.”

“It was, and Sarah, it did happened. It was real, not a bad dream, like the doctors have been saying. I’m not crazy. You’ve gotta believe me. Something isn’t right about that house.” Her eyes grew wide with fear, realizing something. “I bet it’s haunted.”

“Haunted by what?” Sarah was skeptical about such things. She was a rational person, always believed there were logical explanations for unexplainable events. Like this one. It was a nightmare, nothing less, nothing more, not paranormal activity.

“Think about it, Sarah. Why did Mia get this house so affordable? Ghosts. It all makes perfect sense. That damn house is haunted, and I’m not going back there ever again. Nothing in this entire world could or ever would convince me otherwise.”

Sarah wasn’t buying into all this mumbo-jumbo. Ghosts, really? Next it’ll be aliens. This must have been one hell of a nightmare for Natasha to be jumping to conclusions. It didn’t make sense. Ghosts didn’t exist. There wasn’t any tangible evidence to convince her otherwise, not unless she witnessed “paranormal activity” herself, which Sarah had always believed would never in a million years happen to her. All of it was fiction, made up to scare people. All of this was in Natasha’s mind, that was all there was to it. But she couldn’t come right out and say that to her roommate’s face. I’ll just have to convince her otherwise, Sarah thought.

“Don’t say that. Think about college. Where are you gonna find lodging at a time like this one? The semester’s about to start in a few days, you can’t just drop everything to go back home. I know you’re shaken by what happened, and you have every right to be, but you can’t let that deter you from going to college, to achieve a career in what you are passionate about. Natasha, all I am really trying to say here, is to think about this before you make a rash decision that you will regret later on.”

There was a glint in Natasha’s forest green eyes that hinted to Sarah that she might just be breaking into the other girl’s resolve. It was a start at least. Maybe she had influenced Natasha’s decision a little about what really happened last night and all this mumbo-jumbo about the paranormal. Sarah knew, though, that the doctors could do more, and maybe if Natasha’s parents returned from wherever they were across the country, they would be able to persuade their daughter to stay and finish her first year of college. If she felt still so strongly about the house after a year, she could rent an apartment or even stay in the dormitories on UCLA campus next year instead of returning to the house. Sarah was sure that Cecily would be extremely disappointed about Natasha leaving, but that was if she decided to go. Maybe a few days away from the house would do their roommate some good, clear her head and reflect on what actually occurred last night. At least, until the semester started.

After an hour of waiting for Cecily’s return, the girl finally returned bearing news of what Natasha’s parents had said, as well some snacks and drinks from the vending machine. That’s one thing about Cecily, she was unrelentingly compassionate about others will-being, selflessly putting herself before others. Sarah always wondered why her best friend hadn’t wanted to major in Nursing instead of Education.

“What did they say?” Natasha asked immediately as soon as Cecily passed the threshold of the room.

“Your parents are gonna catch the next airplane out here as soon as possible,” Cecily said while distributing the snacks and beverages between the three of them. She sat down at her friend’s bedside, taking her hand in hers with a gentle smile. “They’re worried sick about you. They thought maybe this move was little bit too much. Your mom said she wants you to get some rest. Let the doctors help you.”

“Speaking of rest, Cecily, I think you’ll need some too,” Natasha smiled softly after opening her can of Coca-Cola. “Go home. Both of you. I’ll be fine and dandy before you know it. You’re not helping anyone if you pass out on us.”

“What’s up with this change of heart?” Cecily asked surprised by her friend’s positive response. “What happened in the hour I was gone?”

“Well, let’s just say, I’ve had some time to reflect,” Natasha said with shrug of her shoulders while glancing over at Sarah knowingly.



Cecily had insisted on spending the night at the hospital to keep Natasha company. At least, until the girl’s parents arrived back home, so Sarah left the hospital but not before wishing Natasha to get well soon. Cecily promised to keep Sarah up-to-date on their roommate’s recovery.

Sarah slowly opened the front door of the house and threw her bag down on the floor. She headed straight for the kitchen to make a snack before some much needed rest. With school starting in the next few days, she had to begin to adjust her sleep schedule. Staying up until 4 a.m. watching TV shows just wasn't going to cut it during the weekdays.

"Shit," she cursed as opened the empty cabinets, remembering the group still hadn't made a trip to the grocery store. Sarah opened another cabinet to find a box of granola bars with Mia's name written on them. The box, covered from top to bottom in red ink, read: Mia's food! Don’t touch! Sarah grabbed one anyway with a shrug, not caring if the other girl got mad. After all, it was just food. I'll replace it...maybe, the girl smirked as she tore the wrapper and took a bite, savoring each bite.

She turned back around, not expecting to come face to face with an older redheaded woman dressed in what looked like a maid’s costume. Heart skipping a beat, Sarah jumped back while holding a hand to her chest startled by the woman’s rather abrupt appearance. At least, it wasn’t Mia. She would have been caught redhanded.

"You startled me," Sarah said as she breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Moira, I'm the maid."

"I didn't know we had a maid," the girl raised her eyebrows and tried to recall Cecily saying anything about a maid or a cleaning service.

"I work for the real estate agency you girls rent from. They require maids at all of their rental properties."

"That's...interesting. Well, I'm Sarah. It's nice to meet you. What days will you be here?"

"Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday," Moira picked up the cleaning supplies from counter. "Well, this house isn't going to clean itself. It was nice to meet you, Miss Sarah."

"You as well," Sarah said as she retreated to her room, and the moment she touched the bed, she was asleep instantly. She opened her eyes to see it was already 10 a.m. by the alarm clock sitting on her nightstand by her bedside. The girl had slept so hard that her slumber only felt like it lasted for minutes rather than hours. Sarah felt as if she could stand for a few more winks of sleep, but decided against it, remembering her plan of maintaining a routine sleeping schedule for the upcoming college year. She couldn’t afford falling asleep in any of her classes even if she had an above average grade point.

Buzzz, her phone began vibrating, shaking the nightstand. "Stop," she sighed groggily as she buried her head into her pillow. Slowly, she reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the phone. The bright screen flashed with several notifications. 1 missed called, 1 new voicemail, 3 texts. Sarah thumbed over to the message icon and began checking her messages. Three new messages from Dad, figures, she smirked as opened them, glad to be hearing from her father.

Do u want to have lunch 2day?

I was thinking Chinese. I can bring over or we can go out.

The voicemail was me. I figured i'd text since I know how much u hate voicemails. :p love dad

"Dork," Sarah said aloud with a chortle as she replied to his messages. Bring me ALL the Chinese food PLEASE. Had a long night. I'll explain when you get here. See ya soon!



The doorbell rang causing Sarah to jump backwards. She still wasn’t used to the house; every little noise caused her to stir. She knew soon enough she’d be perfectly adjusted, it would just take some time to get used to the creeping sounds of the old home. Sarah opened the door and smiled as her dad brought in two paper bags full of food.

“Did you bring enough?!”

“Well, you did say to ‘bring ALL the Chinese food’. And you’re a college kid now, I figured you’d be okay with leftovers,” Alan laughed as he placed the food on the countertop and handed Sarah her food. “So tell me about what’s been going on.”

“Well, let’s see. Natasha had awful nightmares on Tuesday night and she kept screaming. Cecily and I did everything we could to calm her down but nothing worked. We thought she was having a nervous breakdown so Cee called the ambulance. She’s still at the hospital getting help. I just hope she’ll get better soon.”

“Don’t you have another roommate?”

“Oh, you mean Mia. Mia, The queen fucking Bitch,” Sarah spat venomously, rolling her eyes at the very thought of the girl.

“Language,” Alan joked with a chuckle over his meal of sweet and sour chicken and rice. “So I’m guessing 'Mia, The queen fucking Bitch' didn’t help the situation?”

“She did the exact opposite,” the girl said as she cracked opened her fortune cookie. “She started screaming back at Natasha and telling her to go back to bed ‘cause she needed her beauty rest. Dad, I just can’t handle her,” Sarah let out a frustrated sigh, anger growing in the pit of her stomach. “She is so damn entitled and tries to be the center of attention and has to control every little thing…just like mom.” The realization dawned on her as she said these words. That’s why she hadn’t taken a liking to her new roommate. Mia was exactly like Lindsey Kenway, the woman she had been struggling to get away from for years. Seems like I can’t escape that woman, Sarah thought bitterly as every terrible memory of her mother came back to her. She remembered all the screaming matches and beatings that she had endured over those years before her father rescued her and took her away from that toxic environment.

“Just do your best to put up with her. It will be easier once your classes start. And no, I won’t be mad if you need to swing at her face a few times. You have my permission.”

“Wow, thanks dad,” Sarah laughed and looked down at her fortune. The red ink looked fresh and vibrant, almost as if it would coat the whole strip if it was smeared. You’re never leaving this house alive. A bit shocked, Sarah dropped the slip of paper onto the table and then, tentatively picked it back up, knowing she was being silly. Maybe she had misread it, and sure enough she had. Your setbacks will never hold you back from goals. The girl took a deep breath and reassured herself that she was still groggy from the past 24 hours.

“So, I might have gotten you a little surprise,” Alan interrupted his daughter’s thoughts. “Sit tight and I’ll get it out of my car.”

Sarah looked at the fortune a few more times before ripping it in half and throwing it in her empty take out box. A few moments later, her dad returned with a large box in hand. He placed it on the table in front of his daughter and smiled, “I know what you’re thinking and no, it’s not a puppy.”

“Are you sure?” Sarah carefully shook the box, curiously while eyeing her father. “You could fit a litter of puppies in this box.” She grinned as she began tearing the wrapping paper. Once she had the box completely unwrapped, she gently cut the tape that was holding the edges of the box together with a pair of scissors that were in the kitchen drawer. Alan helped her removed the large box top revealing a beautiful, black and mahogany stained acoustic guitar. "No, you didn't," the girl said in disbelief as tears of happiness formed in her eyes.

"Just picked it up from the luthier this morning," her father smiled at her reaction. "Got it custom made just for you. You were long overdue for a new one."

Sarah thought back to that night when her prized guitar was destroyed. She came home from school and went straight to her guitar to relieve some stress before studying. A few hours later and she was still strumming the guitar instead of doing homework. When her mother came home drunk from the bar, she marched into Sarah's room and began yelling at her. The girl always fought back against her mother's harsh words by reminding her how much she studied and her grade point average but nothing would stop Lindsay Kenway's rage. The woman grabbed the guitar from her daughter and slammed it against the ground repeatedly. Sarah's heart sank as she watched the only thing keeping her sane being thrashed into pieces. That day her resentment for her mother grew tenfold.

She picked up the new guitar and began plucking the strings. "It's perfect. Thank you so much," she sat the guitar down and wrapped her arms around her dad. "Best present ever."