He narrowed his eyes. “Are you married?”
“What? Do I look married?” I gestured around my room. Anything to keep his attention away from the storm brewing in the ceiling.
“Do you have a boyfriend then?” Nick checked the door again. “You said you were single.”
“I am single!”
“Calista.”His disembodied voice sounded like it came from outside the door.“I know you’re in there. I’ll give your visitor a moment to vacate before I become his worst nightmare.”
“Nope. Fuck this shit. I’m out.” He pushed off the bed, shoved his feet into his slides, and searched for his shirt on the floor.
“Don’t leave!” I did not want to be here alone. I fumbled over my words, trying to come up with something to make him stay. “My brother lives next door. He’s always playing pranks on me.”
Nick bent down and looked under the side of my bed. He wasn’t hearing anything I had to say. “Where did you toss my shirt?”
“Down there.” I looked at the ceiling. It was normal again. I flopped against the mattress and scrubbed my hands down my face.
He moved to the other side of my bed and knelt down. I sat up when he screamed, “Let go of me,” and crab-walked all the way to the window in a few swift movements, grabbed the sill, and jerked himself up.
Leaning over the edge of the mattress, I looked under the bed, but no one was there. There were only some missing socks and the flip flop I couldn’t find.
“What kind of kinky shit are you and your brother into?”
Heat burned my cheeks. I hoped Nick wouldn’t post anything on the app. Info like this would spread through the HookUp community at large, and everyone would think I was incestuous.
His frantic tugs on the window almost made me let loose a hysterical laugh. The entire situation was ridiculous. Once he figured out the lock, he slid it open and jumped out.
“Don’t answer. I don’t want to know. Keep my shirt and don’t ever message me again.”
Nick’s feet pounded the concrete as he ran down the sidewalk. I rushed to the window and used the curtain to block my nudity when I heard a scuffle and his shout, but he was already gone.
He must have fallen in his rush to get away.
Closing the window, I snatched my robe and stared at the ceiling as I wrapped it around me. Had Nick not heard him, too, I would’ve thought I was hallucinating. Using my phone tripod,I climbed onto the bed and stretched it out with a shaky hand. Solid drywall.
I went to the bathroom to clean up, mumbling under my breath as I started the water. “Crazy… he better not show his stupid face… kick his ass.”
A faint evil chuckle tickled my ears, and I quickly shut the faucet off. Great, now everything would scare the shit out of me. I got in the shower to rinse off but didn't want to get out. I didn’t know what awaited when I did. Steam filled the small bathroom as I stood zombie-like beneath the spray. It suffocated me, along with the thoughts circling my brain. I finished up and climbed out, drying off with yesterday's towel. My nose wrinkled. It might have been yesterday's, yesterday's towel. I did a quick wipe down and threw it to the side so I wouldn’t use it again. Standing at the mirror, I let my body finish air drying, the cooler air causing bumps to rise over my skin.
Condensation rolled down the mirror as I swiped it clean. The reflection in front of me wasn't my own. It was dark and muddy, and I squinted into the darkness to clarify what I was seeing.
Then he smiled. And I screamed.
Snatching the robe from the hook, I held it up to me and fought to get out. The door protested as I yanked on the knob. It thudded against the frame like he was closing it the instant I opened it. Steam wafted through the air as I struggled with the door. Each breath grew labored and heavy with the added moisture in the room. Movement in my peripheral made me turn my upper body. Elbows pinned to my sides to hold the robe across me, I raised my hands ready to fight, but you can't fight what's not there.
Chills rushed over me. Shadows swirled in the mirror like my ceiling, his reflection becoming unobstructed in the center of the storm.
“Now, now, Calista. I want to have a little chat.”
My body shook from the disembodied tone echoing from farther than the mirror was. This couldn't be happening. I wanted to leave, to get as far away as I could, only I couldn't move my feet. Carpet fibers wove up over them like vines from under the door. The more I moved, the tighter they squeezed. The firmness of the linoleum floor gave way, and I began to sink. The harder I fought, the quicker I sank.
Was the pregnancy test wrong? My knees knocked and nearly gave. I touched my stomach as his reflection began to solidify. Those silvery strands of hair shined in the darkness along with the matching ring around his irises. I couldn't be here when they became as clear as the night sky. I couldn't get lost in the eons held within those cosmic orbs. Not again.
“Are-are you taking me now?”
“Would you like me to?” Like the Cheshire Cat, his mouth stretched into a coy smile, but the rest of his face remained hidden beneath a demonic mask. “I can make all your dreams come true, Calista.”
I swayed forward and caught myself. The way he said my name… it triggered something in me to go to him, give in to a secret need and want. I didn’t understand it, and I was adamant I didn’t truly want it.
