Andy

We stood at the window in tense silence for several seconds before backing off. Andy slammed the window shut so hard the glass rattled.

He was gone in an instant, blazing a trail out of the room, slamming the door behind him on the way out. Ashley was fuming, pacing a path into the crisp white carpet while gnawing on his knuckles through the thick black leather of his gloves.

“Shit...” I mutter under my breath, gritting my teeth. We’d had some hard blows below the belt before, but this was the worst of them. Why though... Why would that woman pick us as her targets if it were so obvious that we were desperate... Then again, non-believers are quick to joke and cause trouble when they don’t understand.

I yank open the guest room door and exit swiftly, marching down the hall to seal myself in my own private crypt. When I got inside, I secured the door tightly behind me and went to the window bench to pull my knees up to my chest and stare out the glass blankly. From my window, I don’t have a view 0f where the book landed; and that’s for the best. I’m already pissed enough as it is.

“Is it not enough for us to be slowly hunted? Some unknown entity trying to pick us off one by one?... Without the risks of a cruel old woman giving us her second hand cookbook promising relief with the gift.” I mutter to myself, snorting is disbelief. “Her eyes were so honest this morning when she gave it to me, her words rang pure and innocent. How she hid her malicious nature behind kind words and wise, experienced warnings is beyond me.”

I knot my fingers together and look down at the recent coat of green nail polish and notice the chips already forming near the edges. Nothing lasts forever, it seems... Perhaps I have set myself up to fail all along.

The sun glares down on the street outside, making the asphalt glow. Looking out there now, the only evidence of the freak flood is the matted, dirt-coated grass growing in everyone’s front yard.

It came and went, and while it was here, it temporarily rallied the town together into a legitimate community that for once, didn’t turn on one another and stab fingers of blame in everyone’s direction. Pendant is famous for it’s witch-hunt style community.

I remained in my room until my mother called me down for dinner. I lingered by the window for a few more minutes before getting up and heading down. For the small bit of time I was alone, it felt all too familiar and reminicent of the day Andy disappeared. I’ve done my best to block out that part of our relationship, but in my dreams, the details are vivid and precise, almost as if I’m there again... Running down the street in the downpour barefoot, clutching my sandals in one hand, and the paper bag containing his jacket in the other.

At the time, all I could think to do was run. I needed to be away from there, even if it were several blocks from my house and pouring down icy spring rain by the gallons. The jagged concrete wore blisters and cuts into the soles of my feet, but I didn’t stop running until I’d burst through the front door of my house and bolted up to my room.

The feeling of running feels dull in my memory now, faded, even... But sometimes when I sleep, I have vivid nightmares of that day. Luckily, they’re not every night, but they’re often enough...

I can feel the drops of rain rolling of my saturated locks of hair, and falling into my eyes. I can taste the frozen droplets on my lips, and feel the weight of the soaked fabric of my dress dragging behind me, the train of the dress snagging on every imperfection in the concrete, tearing it up into a nightmarish bride of Frankenstein gown.

Nothing actually terrible happens in the dreams, though... No one dies or gets maimed, the world isn’t ending, and no one is after my family. It’s just that my subconscience decided to hang onto the exact feelings of cold, hardened loss from that day, and inject it into my dreams every other night.

When I get into the kitchen, I find the island empty, but I hear voices coming from the adjacent room. I peek into the dining room, and find my parents there. Of course, it’s unusual. We never use the dining room for anything other than special events, yet here they were... Dressed in decent attire, chatting animatedly while my mom laid out plates around the table. One, two, three... Four.

Four plates for our cheerful family of three. It confirms that we have a dinner guest, but who?

“Oh, hi Ash!” My Dad spots me peering into the dining room before I could complete my ninja-style observing. My gaze snaps up to meet his and he smiles, straightening the hem of his baby blue button down shirt that I haven’t seen him wear in years.

“Hi Dad... What’s going on?”

“Father Davis will be joining us for dinner.”

I frown in confusion, “... Our priest?”

He nods, smiling cheerfully, confusing the life out of me.

“Can I ask why?” I hedge.

“I ran into him at the store and invited him over. It’s not going to be an intense ghost exercising, Ash. Just dinner and conversation.”

I flinch a bit at how casually he spoke of ghosts. I’m not sure if my parents even believe in ghosts, but considering they’re Christian and believe that Jesus rose from the dead, they ought to.

“Right...”

He lays down the last fork in his hand next to the plate at the head of the table and Mom leaves the dining room, busy mrumuring to herself about needing more napkins.

With just the two of us left there, he redirected his full, undivided attention on me, and frowned a bit after looking at my bleak jeans and tank top. “Ash, I normally don’t ask you to appear in a certain fashion, but would you mind cleaning up a bit?”

“Do you mean put on a dress?” I deadpan.

He scrunches his face a bit to confirm his answer and I nod slowly, backing away, clipping the shoulder of Andy who unexpectantly planted himself behind me.

I turn and give him a look, and tug him along behind me back through the kitchen and to the staircase. We don’t speak until I get into my bedroom and lock the door behind us, and I turn on him.

“Well, what’s the plan for tonight then?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugs, “you tell me. It seems you have a dinnerparty to attend tonight.” He smirks a bit and it tempts me to smack his arm.

“I’m not sure how this turn of events came about... But we might need help getting out of the house.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’d like to leave as soon as possible, and I can’t just excuse myself from dinner without giving them a good excuse.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking we stage Elizabeth coming over to get me for a study evening. I’ll tell my parents about it when I go back down. After one hour, you or Ashley need to knock on the front door, giving me the chance to excuse myself without being suspicious to Father Davis or my own parents.”

He nods, thinking over the plan. “That’ll work,” he agrees, “Are you planning on ‘spending the night’ at Elizabeth’s? That’ll give us the most time to work with, but the problem there is, you can’t wake up in your own room.”

“Maybe I’ll just say I’ll be home when we’re done?”

“Will your parents buy that? Won’t they just tell you to stay the night?”

I frown and look him in the eyes for several seconds before turning and scooping my phone off the bed and dialing in a number.

“What are you doing?”

I sigh, and hold the phone to my ear, looking back at him. “Asking Elizabeth if she’s down for a ghostly sleepover tonight.”