Page 61
Story: I'll Be Waiting
Anton wouldn’t pull out a rug from under me in the bathroom.
Did Cirillo sense some dark force that’s only targeting me? Except the experiences that seem to be Anton also almost exclusively target me.
What if that dark forceisAnton?
Jekyll and Hyde.
No, that’s ridiculous.
Is it?
Remember what happened in high school. You’ve never been completely sure—
Of course I was sure Anton wasn’t involved. I’d never have married him otherwise.
Jekyll and Hyde.
A whisper rises from my memory, from being in this room, hearing Anton’s voice.
The apology.
What if he wasn’t apologizing for frightening me? What if he was apologizing for whatever compelled him to do it?
No.
I know Anton. I never caught a glimpse of anything darker.
I turn to Cirillo. “Is it safe to stay? Finish the séances.”
“Definitely,” he says, a little too quickly. “But you must tell meeverything you experience, however much your mind is insisting there’s a rational explanation.”
I force myself not to hesitate. I don’t agree, either, just make a noise he can interpret as that.
What if the danger is Anton?
Then I need to know that. Maybe someone else would march out of this house the moment they felt the first twinge of doubt. They’d want to hold their loved one’s memory sacred and polished and block anything that could tarnish it.
Nope, sorry, I can’t hear you. La-la-la.
I want to know, and maybe that doubt already tarnishes his memory.
If it does, then I’m sorry, Anton. I don’t honestly believe you tried to hurt me, but it would be worse to leave with those doubts festering, always wondering “what if.” I need to set those fears to rest and be confident—absolutely confident—that you were the man I remember.
SEVENTEEN
We go back to bed after that. Cirillo makes me promise to be careful. He even asks, for tomorrow night, whether I’d be okay switching to the room with two twin beds and sharing with Jin or Shania. I say I will, on the condition we don’t tell Jin about my near falls. If Jin knows, he’ll worry, and he’ll also be compelled to tell Keith, who will drag my ass home.
Iwillbe more careful. That was the real danger both times. Carelessness. On the stairs, I’d been distracted by hearing noises downstairs. In the bathroom, I’d been distracted by the dumbwaiter.
Walk with care. Hold railings. Pay attention.
I crawl into bed but it’s soon obvious that I’m not going back to sleep. It’s after five, and I’m far too unsettled. Maybe I’ll go for a walk to clear my head.
I roll out of bed and open the blind. It’s still dark, but the bugs are definitely there, their buzzing audible even through the windows.
I yank the blind down hard enough that it flips back up when I let go. I ignore it, dress, and head downstairs. If I can’t walk today, I’ll wear my vest while emptying the dishwasher, tidying the kitchen, all the little things in a house where everyone feels like a guest and waits for the nonexistent host to clean up.
At least everyone’s been putting their dishes in the dishwasher, although I have doubts about whether they were rinsed. Rentals don’t usually have new or high-powered dishwashers. Maybe I should wash dishes by hand. It’s been a long time since I did that, and I don’t mind—it was my chore as a teen. Put in my earbuds, hit a podcast, and off I go.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61 (Reading here)
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134