3
AINSLEY
My bones hurt. Fuck, they hurt so bad.
I flung my bag on the living room chair after locking my front door, and made my way to the kitchen to have some water.
I made twenty-nine dollars today—cleaned two houses. One of which made my bones ache to death. I’d scrubbed bathroom floors, done the dishes, cleaned all the rooms, and cooked. Yes, I did that. The old man lived alone and his caretaker had called in sick, so I had to make some side dishes for an extra five dollars.
Fifteen percent of people who lived in this town knew me because I graduated high school here. The good part was that my mates had moved out of here to big cities like I did, so doing this dirty job wasn’t much of an embarrassment, unless their parents recognised me. Now, that was the bad news.
I took a cup and turned on the faucet, but not even a drop of water fell. “No, no, no, please don’t,” I chanted as I slapped the faucet. “Just a drop, please.” I was close to breaking down when nothing changed, my trembling bottom lip in between my teeth. Was the pipe broken?
“No, don’t fucking tell me.” Panic seized me as I ran to my bathroom. After a short prayer, I twisted the shower on. Water came out steadily for four seconds, but began to dwindle as the seconds passed…until it finally stopped.
This time, I really broke down. Life couldn’t be any worse. Why? Why? Why me?
A scream tore out of me as I sent the nearby object crashing to the floor. I hated it. I was the most unlucky person to ever walk this earth, and I’d accepted my fate, hoping the acceptance would make it less intolerable. But no, it kept getting worse and worse. I couldn’t keep up with the amount of times I’d felt the strong urge to jump off a cliff, run into an incoming truck, or overdose to death.It was one suicidal thought after another.
When I was done sulking on the floor, I dragged myself to my bed, thoroughly exhausted—emotionally and physically. I stopped beside my dresser and picked up the locket that had sent chills down my body yesterday. It was familiar, so familiar. But I didn’t know where I’d seen it. And the letter inside, Vin had suggested I tell the police about it. But it wasn’t anything to involve the police yet. Not yet. If it persisted, I would.
My phone’s ringtone pulled my focus to the door, and I dropped the locket, hurrying to retrieve it from the bag I’d left in the living room. The number was unknown, but it was on my second SIM card—the one I only gave out for work—so I didn’t think much of it.
I cleared my throat. “Hello?”
Silence.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” I said slowly.
There was a small noise in the background, faint, then nothing. I pulled the phone from my ear, frowning. If this person thought they could play prank sh—
“Hello.” The deep voice from the other end sliced through my thoughts. It was low, controlled, with an edge that made me freeze for a second.
I hesitated, putting the phone back to my ear. “Hi, this is Ainsley. I’m assuming you called to have your house cleaned tomorrow? If so, I’ll need your address and the time you’d like me to—”
“Tonight.”
I blinked. “W-what?”
Silence hung heavy between us for a moment. Then, he spoke again, his voice sharp. “Make it tonight.”
“You want me to come…tonight? It’s already eight p.m. I don’t think I can—”
“Hundred dollars.”
I nearly choked. “E-excuse me? A hundred dollars for what? I think you might have misunderstood. I clean houses, not rebuild them.”
“I heard you. Clean my house tonight, and you’ll have a hundred.”
I opened my mouth, closed it again. Torn between saying no and curiosity. “Can’t you wait until tomorrow?”
“I have somewhere to be tomorrow.”
“That’s fine. I can come as early as four—”
“One-fifty.”
“Sorry?”
“Two hundred. That’s my final offer.”
I swallowed hard, words failing me. Two hundred dollars just to clean his place? Something wasn’t adding up. I should say no because there was something unnerving in his voice. Something.
“This isn’t about the money,” I mumbled, my words trailing off. My conscience was begging me to hang up, but my greed kept me tethered to the call. “I don’t think I—”
“Are you coming or not?” His voice was cold now, stripped of patience.
I clenched my jaw, feeling his question sink into my bones. There was something wrong with this whole thing, but I couldn’t deny the money would solve a lot of my problems. Adjustment, food. Maybe even a little extra for once. “You can’t just call someone and offer her two hundred dollars to come clean your house at eight in the night. Doesn’t that sound weird and suspicious to you?”
He didn’t say anything.
“Hello?” This man was creepy as hell.
“You’re coming or not?”
Did he not hear what I just said? “I asked if—”
“Yes. Or. No. Answer the question.”
I scoffed at his audacity. Why did he sound detached? He clearly had no manners. I swallowed, weighing my options. I couldn’t let two hundred slide by me. And it could be a trap. He could be a killer. With the ease at which he offered me that much money, he could possibly be a serial killer who wanted to lure me into his trap.
“Give me a minute, please.”
For a second, I thought he might say more, but all I heard was the sharp click of the line going dead. Asshole.
Quickly, I dialled Vin’s number and he picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, quick question. If someone offered you a hundred dollars to clean his house at eight, would you accept it?”
“Uhm, hello to you, too. And no. It sounds suspicious.”
“Right! It sounds suspicious. But why do I wanna go?”
His exhale was loud and heavy. “I know what you’re thinking so don’t even try it. You’re gonna risk your life for a hundred dollars?”
“Two hundred.”
“What? He offered two hundred? That’s a huge reason for you to sit still.”
“But...what if it’s not? Do you know how many houses I’d have to scrub to get that amount of money?” I mentally did the maths. “Seventeen houses. And you know, better than anyone, how much cleaning houses suck.”
“I do. And I also know how risky it is for you to leave your house tonight because he offered you money you can’t make in two weeks. No offence.”
“You’re not convincing me, Vincent. I called you to do that.”
“What more do you want me to say? Don’t lie to yourself, Ainsley. You want to go, and no matter what I say, you’re going to follow your instinct. But I hope you don’t. People are very dangerous these days.”
“I could take a knife.”
“Ainsl—”
“I know Kung Fu. You saw me that day, right?”
“That’s karate. And no, you’re a shit at it. You can’t even throw a kick right.”
I rolled my eyes. “The point is, I’ll be armed. And also, I’m gonna be texting you every ten minutes. So if you don’t see my text, you know something is wrong.”
“What if I’m too late? Look, I’m not into this whole idea—”
“Please, Vin. I love you so much. I’ll forward you the address now, okay.”
“Ainsley—”
I apologised and cut the call.
Me: Text me your address. I’m on my way.
The reply came in immediately