DEADLY OBSESSION

I am woken in the dead of the night to the telephone ringing beside the bed, it is 2 am. Disconcerted, I reach for it worried that something awful has happened. The ringing lifts me into consciousness, and without switching on the light, I answer it.

“Hello…”

“I am watching you!” Someone screams down the phone.

I quickly hang up; this is the third night in a row this has happened. Sleep is now a long-ago distant thought. Shivering, I make my way to the kitchen. I’m sipping a hot chocolate to help calm my nerves, when a knock at the front door startles me – nearly making me drop my beverage. Placing it on the countertop, I head for the front door; my feet are frigid on the wooden floorboards as I move towards it. The knocking becomes persistent and rapid, it has me scared out of my mind. After switching on the outside light, I slowly open the door, but there is no one there. Suddenly, the back door is hammered with knocking that continues right up until I open it, only to discover there is no one there either. With the lights on, I huddle in the lounge beneath a blanket, too scared to return to my bedroom. Gradually I drift off.

Morning cracks open in egg yolk orange. It's weird that during the day, as I reflect on everything that happened last night, I don’t feel as scared as I did when it happened. I head out to my car to discover a gift box with a red bow tied around it, sitting on the front porch. But this box looks different to anything I’ve seen before. It’s a little wooden rectangle box, with wax around the entirety of it, sealing it shut. I have no time to investigate, so I put it on the side table in the hallway, where I usually leave my keys.

I’m speeding along the motorway on my way to work, when my cellphone rings, the blue-tooth kicks in.

“Hello, Lisa speaking,” I answer.

Nothing answers but white noise and heavy breathing. I end the call – it’s probably a wrong number; I reassure myself.

When I get to work, I decide I am not going to let anything get me down today – I have a presentation to do and a workshop straight afterwards. I am a co-facilitator for a Creative Writing workshop at the University in town. When I get to the office I share with Barb, her smile makes me forget all of my troubles. She is my best friend, and because I live alone, and having been single now for three peaceful years, we have become very close. Although, I have gone on the odd date here and there over that time, it never turned into anything substantial. I left my ex-husband after I discovered he was a raging alcoholic. I didn’t find this out until we’d been married for a couple of years. Then when he lost his job for knocking out the boss with a king punch over his demotion, it landed Caleb in court with an assault charge. After that he became violent towards me, so I filed for divorce.

I’m saying hello to Barb when I see a giant bunch of flowers sitting on the windowsill.

“Wow Barb, Simon knows how to please you!” I giggle.

“Yes, he does,” she pouts. “Actually, they are for you, a courier dropped them off just after I’d arrived. Aren’t they stunning? Go on, have a look at the card, I’ve been waiting for you to open it,” she grins wide, it sparkles in her eyes.

Barb has been a great friend, inviting me over every Christmas and holidays, not wanting me to be alone on those special days. It’s been hard since mum moved away to the UK. Between Barb and her husband Simon, they have set me up on a couple of blind dates. I think the worst was with Matt, a guy from Simon’s work. He was nice at first, then he got clingy, and he literally asked me to marry him on the third date.

I sniff in the scent from the array of flowers; they are gorgeous and must have cost a small fortune. The card is in a little sealed envelope. I freeze in fright when I read the words. I can feel the blood draining from my face. Dropping the card to the floor, I plonk down onto my swivel chair, puzzled.

“What’s wrong Lisa, you look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“I…I don’t know…I just…,” I can’t formulate words as the recent days’ images, inundate my mind.

The knocking on the doors, the phone calls in the middle of the night, the gift box. My landline phone is unlisted, so I am worried that someone horrid knows my number; only my closest friends, family, and work are privy to it. Barb scoops the card off the floor, paling when she reads it.

“I AM WATCHING YOU!!! Who the hell would send something like that?” she asks me; worry frowns her face.

“Something weird is happening in my home,” I inform her, then I tell her everything that has happened thus far.

“I think you should go to the police; it doesn’t sound good. I can come with you after work and we can see them together,” Barb offers.

“No, Barb, I’m sure it is someone playing a prank. It’s nearly Halloween, you know how crazy people get around this time of year,” I battle my internal fear, tamping it down. “If it happens again, I’ll let you know, and we can go to the police then. Thanks, but I think I’ll be okay.”

The day carries on as if nothing has happened. When work is over, Barb walks with me to my car, waves goodbye and jumps into her Mini-Coop. My old Honda has been chugging along for years, and although people continuously plead for me to upgrade, I just don’t have the heart – I’ll get a new one when this one dies. I get in and are fixing my seatbelt into place when I spot something on the passenger seat. It’s a piece of folded paper. Sweltering, I put the window down, and a cold chill enters the car. The letter reads: “I am watching you. Everywhere you go I know where you are, where you have been. You are never safe, nor will you ever be. In three days, you will be mine!”

Sick to my gut, I get out of the car, run behind the nearest pillar, and throw up the bile churning inside me. After I’ve expunged myself, and as grief grips me, I drive home a total wreck inside. I debate whether to turn this and the card into the police, but as wary as I am I would rather be home, and not stuck in a police station for hours, when it is possibly a prank. I don’t want to waste their time, nor come off looking crazy!

I’ve been home for several hours; a false sense of safety, lulls me into peace. I fix a small dinner, tuna salad. Mum calls from the UK to catch me up on the family news and gossip. Barb rings to make sure I am okay, but I don’t tell her about the letter I found in the car. I decide to have a shower instead of a nice long lavish soak in the bath. Getting ready for bed, it’s nearly 11 pm, when the landline phone in the hallway starts ringing as I pass it – giving me a hell of a fright. My hand shakes as I lift the handle.

“Hello…” I answer.

“How was your shower?”

I slam down the phone, nearly breaking it, then run around the house ensuring all the doors and windows are secure. Do I call the police? Should I call Barb? I don’t know what to do! Suddenly, there is knocking at the front door, the windows, then the back door, as if someone is running around the outside of my house. Covering my ears, I plead for whomever it is to stop! My knees buckle and I fall to the floor, sobbing quietly in disbelief. Gradually, the noises subside as I lay in the fetal position, my head is a spinning mess of images. I don’t get it! I’m a good person, and as far as I know I’ve never intentionally hurt anyone. I know it’s not my ex, he is long ago over me, he has a new wife and a baby on the way – something I could never give him.

After I drag myself up off the floor, I go to the kitchen. There is a bottle of Jack Daniels calling my name, so I take a shot, it burns my throat, but I need it. Slowly I settle, my breath evens out and I can think clearly. I have another shot and put the bottle away. I have no enemies, but there is a Professor at the University who has asked me out for dinner a few times, but he is not my type, so I gracefully declined. There are the dates I’ve been on, but I can’t see any of them doing something like this.

Turning off all the lights as I get ready to go to bed, I decide to pull the landline phones out of the wall, that way I won’t be disturbed. Shattered and scared, I go to bed, no use getting myself into a tizz. I’m drifting off, when suddenly my cell phone rings. I don’t want to answer it, but the ringing is grating on my nerves, plus it could be an emergency. The caller is unknown, a chill prickles down my spine.

“Hello…” I answer, hesitantly.

“I’ve left you a gift in the house,” says a muffled, somewhat distorted voice.

“Leave me alone!” I scream into the phone, before I disconnect.

I don’t want to check because I am petrified! Has this person really been in my house? My need to find out supersedes my fear, I need to know. So, I wrap my robe around me, and tread softly through the house. The lights are all off as I had left them, and the ticking of the clock is the only sound I hear. I check the doors, they are locked, however the French doors leading out into the yard are ajar – I know I locked them before I went to bed. Baffled, I switch on all the inside and outside lights, hoping to scare them off. I find the gift on the countertop in the kitchen, the box sealed with the wax I’d found this morning. I remember now that I’d left it in the hallway on the side table. I chuck it in the wheelie bin outside.

Too scared to stay in the house any longer, I call Barb. She answers on the second ring.

“Sorry for calling so late, but can I come and stay at yours tonight? I will explain it all when I get there,” I ask, voice trembling.

“Of course! I’ll be waiting for you. Just come straight here,” she says.

After I get there and have explained everything to Barb and Simon, she makes up the spare bed and instantly I fall asleep. But nightmares plague me…I am running from someone I cannot see. They are clutching at my clothes, but I run and run and finally I reach the beach. The water is pitch black, but the sun is shining, the glare burning my eyeballs. Then my skin begins to melt, and I can no longer move. I need to run into the water to escape the sun, but someone keeps dragging me back…I wake breathless and trembling, as the sun kisses the dawn. I can’t live like this! Running from my house. I can’t keep running, I need this all to stop. I will not let whoever is doing this ruin my life.

Barb and I go to the police station and file a report. It’s Saturday, so we don’t have to be at work until Monday. I tell them everything that has happened, and they take it very seriously. One of the cops asks me to write down any names that I can think of, but the list is short. I write down the couple of dates that went awry. Also, Professor Denton, who I know felt rejected when I dismissed his advances. I give them my ex-husband’s name, even though I’m certain he has nothing to do with this. I feel slightly better having spoken to the police.

Monday comes, and thankfully the weekend had been uneventful – no more calls, letters, or gifts. Perhaps they know now that I have been to the police, especially since they apparently know everything I do. I am hopeful it was enough to frighten them off. Work goes to plan, Barb is coddling me like a child, super worried, and like a dog with a bone, she doesn’t want to let go of the subject. Nagging me here and there throughout the day…it gets annoying, and she seems surprised when I ask her to stop and change the subject.

“Don’t you want to know who is doing this? Perhaps you should call the detective back?” she urges.

“They will call me if they find anything,” I reply, frustrated.

After work, I arrive home, as sunset is breaking across the sky, drenching it in gold and magenta. The front door is wide open. Instantly, I know something is terribly wrong. My legs are trembling as I approach the house and hesitate at the front door. Leaving it open, I walk through the house, checking and rechecking, but nothing is amiss. All of my expensive gadgets, jewellery, and other items have not been taken. Nothing has been tampered with; this confounds me senseless. I must have forgotten to lock the door, with everything going on, it doesn’t surprise me.

The pumpkins I’d brought yesterday are still sitting on the dining room table. Barb and Simon invited me over to celebrate Halloween with their family. It’s a hoot watching all the kids out on the street trick or treating, in their ghoulish costumes, with big candy smiles on their faces. After getting changed, I begin the process of carving out the pumpkins. I have three to complete by tomorrow night. I am finishing off the first one, when I hear music coming from my bedroom.

With the carving knife in my trembling hand, I slowly walk towards the sound. When I enter my bedroom, I am gobsmacked. There on the bed is my lingerie placed strategically onto soft flower petals. Candles are spread around the room, and a sweet scent perfumes the air. This is so wrong! What the hell is happening? I walk over to the ensuite door, I push it and it swings open, but it is empty. On closer inspection, I realise the music is coming from inside the closet. I back out, wanting desperately to escape, but as I pass the closet door, it flies open, a hand grabs at me, trying to take purchase of my clothes, I scream and flee the room.

I run along the hallway, trying to reach the front door. I need to get out of the house. Darkness envelops me as I make it out onto the porch. Someone wrenches me back in by my hair, nearly ripping it from my scalp. I scream in agony. With all the fight I have in me, I turn the knife and plunge it into the hand that is dragging me. He yells out cussing and lets me go. Now is my only chance. Full throttle I get up, I turn to face my adversary, and am stunned beyond belief. Simon grabs my throat, tackling me down to the ground. The knife falls from my grasp. He’s on top of me, screaming in my face, his spittle wetting my cheeks.

“Simon! Stop! What are you fucking doing?”

“You stupid bitch, can’t you see? We are meant to be together!” he screams, ignoring the obvious injury to his hand. “You know that right? Barb means nothing to me, it’s you I want! Don’t you get it?” he says, face red with anger, “I know you want me too, that’s why you come around isn’t it?” he grabs my arms and straddles me, pinning me down.

“No, you are wrong Simon. Barb is my best friend; I would never do that to her! Get off me, you’re hurting me,” I scream in pure terror.

He licks my face and I know I’m about to die…

I hear a commotion coming from the doorway. Then I see Barb standing above Simon. Time slows down; I see Simon’s hands gripping my throat, Barb picks up the knife, Simon’s dead body falls across me, as she plunges it into his back, over and over. Splatters of blood cloud my view. I hear Barb wailing along with the sirens heading in our direction. She stops, sees the fear in my eyes, and throws Simon off me. She lovingly wraps me in her arms, I see blood mixed with red and blue lights flashing outside. Barb saved my life.

It’s been a week since it happened, when Simon tried to murder me. I wouldn’t say everything has gone back to normal. I’m anxious all the time, and I can’t stop the memory of it all, ruminating in my mind. I know I am just being paranoid.

I’m in bed, reading a book when suddenly my cell phone rings, so I answer it.

“Hello…”

“I’m watching you!”