Chapter 1 #2
“Not my problem,” I snapped, interrupting him before he could give me pitiful excuses. “She signed the contract; she knew the terms of the agreement.”
“She recently lost her job-”
“Again. Not my problem. If she can’t afford to pay her bills, then she’s out.”
“Mr. McScroodge, please. Just give her a bit of time. Her rent might be a bit late, but surely it’s better to have it late than to have another vacant property not earning you any money,” Rob replied, desperation lacing his voice.
I knew he was right, of course it would have been better to have the income, even if it was a bit late. But if I made an exception for Bella, others would expect the same, and I wasn’t a goddamn charity case.
“No,” I said, an air of finality to my tone.
“She’s had too many chances. The eviction notice will be prepared and delivered this afternoon.
She’s got twenty-four hours to get her shit together and get out of the apartment.
There’ll be someone else interested in the place; it’s cheaper than most of my properties. ”
Rob sighed, but he knew better than to push me. Once my mind was made up, my decision was final. “I understand, sir.”
“Good. And make sure this is the only mistake you make, Mr. Crutchens. Don’t think you’re irreplaceable.”
“It won’t happen again, I assure you.”
Telling him I would see him at the office in the morning, I hung up and sat back down in front of my computer.
With a few clicks of the mouse, I loaded up the template for the eviction notice, intent on getting it written as quickly as possible so I could personally deliver it to Bella Matthews with a smile on my face.
With Bella’s eviction notice hand-delivered, I returned home to finish the accounts, intent on making sure Rob hadn’t made any other mistakes. Hours ticked by, and when the sun set, I took it as my cue to call it a day.
Switching the computer off, I headed to the kitchen and made my dinner: a plate of leftover cold chicken and salad that had started turning brown. Neither were particularly appetizing, but I hated wasting food; it was a waste of money.
Like always, I ate in the living room in silence. I didn’t own a TV; I had no interest in the mindless reality shows that seemed to be continuously aired, nor did I need to watch the TV for news. If I wanted to know what was going on in the world, I had the internet.
I preferred silence when I wasn’t working. The group home I’d grown up in had always been filled with chaotic noises; kids crying, adults shouting. Even in sleep, their screams haunted me. I often locked myself away in my room with a pillow over my head to drown out the noise, but it rarely worked.
Silence soothed me. It brought calm to the continuous storm in my head. For some, silence made them face their demons. For me, it brought me a black hole where only I existed, and it suited me perfectly.
After I’d eaten, I washed my plates and tidied the kitchen. I hated mess—the irony wasn’t lost on me, given the state of the interior decor. The outside, too. I couldn’t remember the last time the backyard had been mowed. It wasn’t like I went out there to enjoy it.
Sometimes I wondered why I bought the house.
When it came across the market at a cheap price, I’d envisioned turning it into a beautiful mansion and selling it for a tidy profit.
The reality, though, was that it was a bad investment.
I’d underestimated just how much work needed to be done, and how much it would cost.
I’d tried to resell it, but no one was interested, and over a year later, I was still stuck with the place, only instead of it making me money, it was draining my bank account.
Just like the business seemed to be doing.
Once the kitchen was tidied, I headed upstairs to shower before bed. It’d been a long day going through the accounts with a fine-tooth comb, and I was ready to sleep. Almost as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell into a deep sleep.
I woke with a start, a strange feeling coursing through me that I was being watched. Bolting upright, I flicked the bedside lamp on, shrieking like a terrified girl and pulling the covers over me at finding the dark figure of a man standing in the shadows.
My heart raced as I hid under the covers like a coward, and I took several deep breaths, willing myself to calm. It was just a dream; it had to be. Why would a man be standing in my room? Surely, I would have heard if someone had broken into the house, right?
Feeling stupid, I lowered the covers, and my heart instantly froze in my chest at seeing the man still standing there. Only now, he had moved into the light filtering in from the moon, and he stared at me with a familiar grin.
“Jake?” My brows furrowed as I called the name of my former business partner, disbelief coating my voice.
It looked like him; he still wore the hospital gown he’d died in, and his face was pale and gaunt, the same as it was the night I sat with him in the hospice as he took his last, wheezing breath. I’d been his only visitor for the last few weeks of his life; like me, Jake had no family or friends.
We only had each other, and then he left me.
There was a difference with the man standing in front of me, though. A startlingly obvious one. Wrapped around him were thick metal chains, his body sagging from their weight. He stepped further into my room, the chains clanging as he moved.
“Good to see you, Benny Boy,” Jake grinned, knowing how much I hated him calling me that. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
His deep, grating voice boomed around the room as he laughed at his own joke. He often was the only one laughing at his jokes; I rarely found them funny, mainly because they were aimed at my expense.
I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that when I opened them, I would be alone in my room, and this was just a dream. Although it didn’t feel like a dream, it felt too real, too vivid. The shuffling of chains made my eyes fly open, and I flinched at seeing that Jake had moved closer.
“This is a dream,” I muttered, unable to pull my horrified gaze from him.
Jake smirked. “A dream or reality. It matters not. I’m still here.”
“Why are you here?” I snarled, fear flowing through my veins.
He lifted a shoulder, shrugging. “To give you a message.” He clicked his fingers, the sound echoing around the otherwise silent room. “No. A warning. I’m here to warn you.”
His eyes darkened before he sat on the bed by my feet. The mattress dipped with his weight, adding to my worry that this wasn’t a dream. If it were, would I have noticed a detail like that?
“A…A warning?” I stuttered, my heart once again thundering like a speeding train. “What sort of a warning?”
Jake lifted the chains drooping around his neck, rattling them.
“You see these chains? They were forged in my life. For every shitty thing I did, we did, another chink was added to them. I’ll carry these around with me for the rest of eternity, I’ll never be free of them.
” He moved closer, and I found myself holding my breath.
“There’s a set waiting for you, too, Benny Boy.
And it grows thicker and longer with every passing day. ”
I shook my head, his words burrowing into the marrow of my bones. “This is bullshit. I’m dreaming. This is a dream.”
I slammed the palms of my hands into my eyes, pressing hard to block out the vision before me. Cold fingers wrapped around my wrist, turning my blood to ice. Frozen in pure terror, I didn’t resist when my hands were pulled away from my eyes, and I met Jake’s lifeless gaze.
“This isn’t a dream. I told you, it’s a warning.
It’s too late for me; these chains will be with me forever, but you have time, Ben.
You can change your path, but this is your only shot.
You have one chance to rid yourself of the chains that await you.
” The plea in his voice was undeniable, and I didn’t dare blink or breathe as he continued talking.
“Heed my warning, Ben. You’re reaching a fork in the path of your life, but it’s up to you which path you take into your future.
The time to change is now. Your end will come sooner than you think if you don’t change your ways. ”
Nausea swam in my stomach, the chicken I’d eaten earlier threatening to come back up when the sallow skin under his eyes and over his nose began to rot away. I swallowed it down, forcing myself to say the words repeating in my head. “I don’t know how to change… I am who I am.”
He shook his head. “No. You are what your past made you, but your future doesn’t have to be defined by it. It won’t come easy, though. Change is hard, and to change, you have to accept your past. That’s why I’m going to help.”
I blinked several times when Jake’s body turned transparent, allowing me to see my bedroom straight through his torso. I reached for him, not wanting him to go, and needing him to explain more. “How? How can you help?”
My hand fell to the bed as he faded away, and the last words he spoke were barely audible. “There’ll be signs, Benny Boy. Look out for the signs.”
My body sagged as he completely disappeared, but I wasn’t sure if it was in relief that the encounter was over, or if it was in resignation that all my questions remained unanswered.
It took several long minutes for my heart to return to its normal pace and for the tremor in my hands to subside. I didn’t know how long I sat staring into thin air, but eventually, sleep claimed me once more.
Bright sun streaming into my bedroom woke me before my alarm.
I sat up, rubbing my eyes as the dream rushed back to me with every vivid detail replaying.
I shook my head, telling myself it was just a dream until I realized two things: the bedside light was still on, and there was a distant sound of rattling chains echoing around the room.