Dead Living (39 page)

“Hey Tammy, how you doing?” Cindy asked.

“I’m . . . okay, thanks.”

Alicia gave me a look and glanced at the time
on her cell phone.

“Come get me at ten?”

“Why don’t you guys just hang out here?”
Tammy asked. There was something in her voice. It bordered on
desperation.

“Eh I don’t know,” I said. I looked at Cindy.
“We were just gonna get a pizza and watch some baseball.”

“Well we can do that here. Come on. It’ll be
fun. It’ll be nice to have a cute guy around.”

Cindy laughed. “Alex? Cute? Maybe in an ugly
bulldog way.”

Everyone laughed back. I did too, but I
wasn’t flattered by Tammy’s comment. She wasn’t trying to flirt. I
could see she just really wanted our company. I wasn’t sure why. I
just shrugged.

“Sound okay to you Cindy?”

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll call
Daryl when he’s done working on his car and get a
real
cute guy over
here.”

“Funny.”

I was the last one to step into the house. I
immediately folded my arms. It was like walking into a freezer.

“Jesus, Tammy. You trying to make ice cubes
in the living room?”

The girls looked at each other for a moment,
then back at me.

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah Alex. Stop being such a bitch.”

It’s hard to describe what happened next. The
girls were chatting, but I wasn’t listening. Cindy and Alicia sat
on the couch while Tammy went into the kitchen to get drinks for
everyone. I didn’t move an inch from the front door.

Something was wrong.

I didn’t know what
the
something
was. I studied everything I could see. The house looked
normal enough. The living room was right in front of me with a TV,
couch, and chair. The dining room was just to the left, complete
with a table and chairs. Through an open archway I could see Tammy
in the kitchen. Pictures of Tammy and her parents were on the
walls. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

I felt something lightly touch the back of my
head. It felt like fingers.

I whirled around. There was only the front
door.

Even though I was freezing I could feel the
sweat on my forehead.

“Alex? You deaf over there?”

I turned to see Cindy giving me a concerned
look.

“Huh? What?”

“You okay?”

No, I wasn’t. But I did manage a nod.

I was terrified, and I didn’t know why. It
was just like stepping into a creepy basement, only this was
Tammy’s living room. I looked in every direction before I sat down
next to Cindy. The only thing I couldn’t see very well was the
stairs leading upstairs in the far corner.

Tammy handed me a glass of soda and I smiled
graciously. I wiped the sweat from my forehead before taking a
drink. She put the ballgame on to satisfy me and Cindy while she
and Alicia talked.

“So where’s the folks at tonight?”

“They’re out having dinner. Thanks for coming
over.”

“Oh yeah anytime. Party at your place.”

Everyone laughed but me.

“Oh come on man that was at the knees,” Cindy
said, shaking her head at the ball game. “Alex, was that a
strike?”

“Huh? Oh yeah.”

I wasn’t paying attention, and Cindy knew it.
I felt her eyes on me, trying to figure out what was wrong. I said
nothing. We teased each other a lot, but we cared for one another
more than words could say, and we knew when something was wrong
with the other. But she wouldn’t ask me now, in front of everyone,
and I was thankful for that, because I didn’t know myself.

I knew I just wanted to leave.

An hour passed. The sun had set outside. I
could see the glow of the streetlight just outside the dining room
window. Alicia and Tammy still talked about everything they could
think of. Tammy looked much better than she did when we got to her
house.

I wish I could say the same for me.

The nightfall made the house creepier. The
living room and kitchen lights were on, but that didn’t help any. I
stole a glance into the kitchen. There was something there. I
didn’t know what it was, but something was in the kitchen watching
us. I could feel a set of eyes on us. I could actually tell who it
was looking at too. It looked at Cindy for a few seconds. Then, to
Alicia. Then it stared at Tammy a little longer. It seemed more
interested in her. Its eyes fell on everyone as they spoke, but it
kept going back to Tammy.

Cindy touched my shoulder. I jumped. I
wouldn’t have cared if Alicia or Tammy noticed, but they
didn’t.

If I looked like I felt, then I understand
the concern in Cindy’s eyes. I felt nauseous, like I could throw up
at any second. I was still freezing. The goosebumps on my arms were
evidence to that. The back of my shirt was damp with sweat.

“Alex, you look terrible,” she said. There
was no sarcasm, no humor in her voice. She was worried about me.
“What’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth to say something.

“Get out.”

The voice was quiet, almost a whisper, but
still crystal clear. It chilled me to the bone. I couldn’t tell if
it was a man or woman. It came from just a few feet away to my
left, near the kitchen. I spun my head and pressed back a little
against Cindy.

There was nothing there.

I could no longer feel the presence of
whatever it was in the kitchen, but that didn’t calm me down.
Alicia and Tammy were still talking behind me, but I didn’t hear a
word they said. I could only hear the thumping of my heart and feel
the touch of Cindy’s hand on my shoulder.

Tammy noticed me staring. She muted the TV.
Alicia stopped talking, just curious about what was going on. The
house was dead quiet nearly half a minute. Finally Alicia
spoke.

“Uh, guys? Did I miss something?”

I turned and searched each of their faces.
They were confused, not frightened.

“You guys didn’t hear that, did you?”

Alicia shrugged for the rest of them. Cindy
shook her head. But I saw Tammy’s expression begin to change.

Another whisper behind me. This time
closer.

“I will kill you.”

I jumped off the couch and spun around. I
knew I wouldn’t see anything, but looked anyway. Cindy jumped up
too. Alicia just looked annoyed.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she
asked.

A loud thump brought everyone to their feet.
It was right above us. It sounded like something fell upstairs.

Then there was a softer thump.

Then another.

Footsteps. There were five or so before they
stopped.

“I thought you said your parents were at
dinner?” Alicia said. I could hear a little shakiness in her
voice.

“They are.”

A creaking noise from the kitchen. We looked
in and had a clear view of one of the cabinets opening by itself,
revealing a collection of pots and pans. Even after it opened we
just stared, not quite sure what else was going to happen.

“It’s the ghost,” Tammy said.

Alicia gave her a look.
“The
what
?”

“I told you, we have a ghost here.”

“I thought you were just kidding.”

Tammy looked irritated. “Oh yeah. Ha ha.”

The kitchen cabinet closed with a loud bang.
Then another slowly opened.

I’m not sure if the girls realized it, but
they drew closer to me. Kinda ironic, as I was probably more scared
than any of them.

“It just makes noise,” Tammy explained. She
tried to be calm, but her voice told us otherwise. “Scary as shit.
But that’s all it does. It’ll stop in another minute. It doesn’t do
anything when other people are over.”

“I guess it likes us,” Cindy said, trying to
lighten the mood. I could hear the fear in her voice too.

They couldn’t hear the voice. Apparently I
could.

I will kill you.

The ghost definitely didn’t like us.

“What do you say we go outside? Get some
air?” Alicia suggested.

“I’m for that.”

I nodded. We started to circle around the
couch, me pulling up the rear. We made it halfway to the door.

It was no longer a whisper. It was a roar
that echoed in my ears.

“Fucking bitch!”

I heard a smack, and saw Tammy stumble and
cry out in pain. She fell to one knee and brought a hand up to her
face. I got to her first and knelt down in front of her.

Her expression said it all. A look of terror
and surprise. The ghost had never hit her before. A red mark was
already forming under her eye.

“Tammy, are you-?” Cindy never got to
finish.

Alicia started screaming. I looked up to see
every chair, every end-table, everything on the first floor
bouncing up and down at a speed that just wasn’t possible. The
noise was deafening. I could see the kitchen cabinets flying open
and closed.

Then the laugh came.

I could tell the girls heard it too. The
laugh seemed to come from all around and last forever. There was no
joy in it. It was an evil, frightful sound that made every hair on
me stand up.

Alicia was the first one to the door. She
swung it open and tried to shout something to us, but we couldn’t
hear her over the noise and laughter. I pulled Tammy to her feet,
who was crying freely, and walked her the few remaining feet to the
door. Cindy took over for me and was just a foot behind Alicia. I
hoped that shutting the door would stop the madness.

Before I shut the door behind me I heard a
female voice just barely rise above the laughter.

“Please help!”

I saw Alicia running to my truck. Cindy was
right behind her, still walking Tammy by the shoulders. I was about
halfway down the sidewalk when I slowed down. I watched Cindy put
Tammy in the back seat. Alicia was already inside, and starting to
cry.

Cindy shut the door for Tammy and turned to
face me.

“Come on Alex. Let’s get the hell out of
here.”

Even as I fished in my pocket for the keys, I
couldn’t believe I was doing it. I tossed them to Cindy.

“Go back to my house. I’ll be there in a
while.”

I turned around. From the moment I stepped
into Tammy’s house I was more terrified than any of the girls. Now
I was strangely calm, and ready to go back inside.

I took a step forward, then a hand grabbed my
shoulder and spun me around. Cindy grabbed both my arms.

“Are you crazy? Alex? What the hell is wrong
with you?”

There was anger in her voice now, along with
fear.

“You didn’t hear it, did you? The voice?
Asking for help?”

“The only thing I heard was shit bouncing
around. And that laugh. Jesus,” she shuddered at the memory, only a
minute old.

“There’s someone in there who needs
help.”

Cindy took a deep breath and looked over my
shoulder at the now-quiet house.

“Okay, I’ll go with you.”

She straightened her blouse and lowered her
head slightly to look at the ground, apparently preparing herself
mentally for going back in.

“No. Just take Alicia and Tammy back to my
house.”

“I’m not letting you go back in there alone,
Alex. So get that crap out of your head right now.”

Cindy, my tough friend who had saved me from
the big bad bully when we were in kindergarten. She definitely had
a strong side. Despite everything that was happening, I felt myself
smiling just a little. It dawned on me as I stood on the sidewalk
that I’d never have another friend like her.

My smile only annoyed her more. She already
thought I was nuts.

“What the hell is so funny?”

“Nothing. Look, Cindy, Tammy and Alicia can’t
drive, remember? Just trust me, everything will be okay.”

She looked worried. “Alex-”

I smiled. Back then I usually gave in to
Cindy. But not this time. Suddenly I was confident, even enough to
make jokes.

“Look,” I cut her off. “Next haunted house I
promise we’ll tackle together.”

She sighed and backed off. But she wasn’t
completely giving up.

“I’m dropping them off at your place, then
I’m coming back.”

I nodded.

I turned around and stared at the house. I
heard Cindy pull away quickly behind me.

I took a deep breath and walked back to the
door. I knew deep down if it weren’t for the female voice I heard
on the way out, I’d be driving the truck instead of Cindy.

I stared at the door for at least twenty
seconds before reaching out. I couldn’t hear any of the terrifying
noises. The only sound I could hear was the door creaking open.

I took a single step inside. The first place
I looked was the kitchen. Every cabinet was shut. The dining room
table was where we’d left it, but the photo of Tammy and her family
was face down. A few pictures from the walls had fallen as well.
The TV was still muted, but it wasn’t centered on the stand
anymore. It sat at a slight angle from everything bouncing up and
down.

I grew cold again, but I didn’t feel anything
watching me.

“Uh, hello?”

I didn’t expect a response. I jumped when I
got two at once, overlapping each other. One was the genderless
voice that threatened us. The other was the female voice.

“I'll kill you forever.”

“Help me.”

I shut the door behind me. For reasons I
can’t explain, I was terrified, yet somehow I was thinking clearly.
I tried to think about what could possibly be happening. Ghosts
fighting each other?

“I, uh, I’d like to talk to the lady,
please.”

She didn’t respond. There was only that evil
laugh. Softly, at first, then louder.

A blood curdling scream cut off the laugh. It
was a woman’s scream coming from upstairs. A man cut her off,
shouting at the top of his lungs.

“I told you, bitch! You belong to me! You
fucking understand me? You don’t leave this house unless I tell you
to!”