3. Janie
Chapter 3
Janie
I stepped inside my apartment. My keys jangled in my hand as I threw my purse on the loveseat and walked to the kitchen. As I stood frozen in front of the kitchen table, a sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. A stunning display of black irises and blood red dahlias adorned the table, their vibrant colors creating a beautiful contrast with the black crystal vase. My heart raced. I knew I had locked the front door. As fear gripped my soul, I grabbed the enormous umbrella near my front door, its weight reassuringly sturdy in my hands. This could knock someone out if they snuck inside. I walked to every window in the apartment, hearing the distant sounds of car horns and sirens. Each one was locked. When I was at the last window in my bedroom, as I tried to check the window, the lights above me blinked again. I stopped and stared at the lightbulb. Horror fell through my body as I shook my head. My hands shook as I remembered I never got new light bulbs. I groaned as I walked back to the table. How did these flowers get here?
My hand brushed against the frozen surface of a dinner as I plucked it from the freezer, hastily tossing it into the microwave with a clang. As I sat in front of the flowers, I reached out and felt the soft, velvety texture of their petals. I wished I had friends. Who could I talk to about these flowers that appeared in my kitchen? I ran a hand through my hair as I released it from my ponytail. The microwave beeped. I stood up, grabbed a fork, and grabbed the hot plate. I didn’t see a card in the bouquet. Not that I wanted to touch it and really search for a card. I wish I had Tana’s number. What would Tana say, though? Would everyone think I was crazy? Did they somehow contact my landlord to ask them to open the door? That would be weird and not really conceivable. I pushed my food back and laid my head on the table.
Tears filled my eyes. What was going on? The lights flickered above me even faster . Sucking in a breath, I looked back at the lightbulb. I stood up and trashed my food. I grabbed my purse and walked out of the door. As I turned the keys in the lock, I could feel the resistance before the lock finally gave way. This time, I knew it was locked. As I pulled out the keys, I twisted the knob and tried to jam the door open. It didn’t move. I walked down the stairs to walk to the dollar store that was a few blocks away. The sun was setting. The shadows were closing in on me. I tried to calm my racing heartbeat.
The flowers on my table.
The blinking lights.
This was too much. No need to be seeing ghosts everywhere. Everything was normal.
I had no interest in sex and maybe my dreams were talking to me. It was only a case of bad bulbs. The sun was setting and shadows crawl out at night. This was perfectly normal. My imagination was just running wild. Shadows don’t move. Everything had to be normal. I gripped the side of my purse tighter. I watched too many scary movies as a child, obviously.
The bright yellow sign of the store blinked warmly as I entered the parking lot. The shadow of the sign shifted. I blinked as I stared at the ground. Frozen. Terrified. A car horn honked. My head jerked up as I rushed out of the parking lot into the building. The door chimed loudly as I walked inside. I walked to the back of the store and grabbed a couple of boxes of new LED bulbs. I piled them into my arms, ensuring they were different brands as I walked to the front of the store.
As I walked by a man, his headphones blared a podcast as he was stacking boxes of items on the shelf. I glared at him as the words blasted from his headphones. “…On this week’s podcast, we’ll talk about shadow people. What are you seeing in the dark?”
My heart fluttered a bit as the words sank into my being. I hurried past him. Shadow people don’t exist. Shadows don’t move. I am just having a bad few days. I put my boxes on the checkout. The cashier popped her gum as she started scanning.
“How ya doing?” she asked.
I nodded. “I’m fine.” Lie. I’m not. But she doesn’t care. There was an unspoken rule when it came to small talk. Don’t be real. “How are you?”
She blew out. “Can’t wait till closing time!” she said brightly.
I smiled weakly. “I feel ya. I’ve had those days.”
“Fifteen-twenty-six, hun,” she said.
I slid my card into the reader. I passed through the prompts on the card reader and grabbed my bag. She handed me my receipt. I walked out of the comforting light of the store and into the darkness outside, where shadows waited for me. From the corner of my eye, a humanoid shadow stirred. It was larger than any man I had ever met. My heart raced. I turned toward the corner of the building where the figure had been standing. There was nothing there. I swallowed as I bit my lip repeatedly. I blew out a breath and turned back toward the sidewalk. Maybe I need to see a doctor. Maybe there was something wrong with me. This was all in my imagination. I was just letting it run amok.
When did this all start? The dreams started a few weeks ago. Or the ones I remembered. What if I didn’t remember the others? The blinking of my lights a couple months ago. Now the flowers. Now seeing shadows move. None of this could be connected, right?
When I got home, I carefully checked my home for anyone else. It was clear. I went to the flowers. I didn’t want to touch them, but if I didn’t, they would stay. Flowers can’t hurt me. They were beautiful, but this was a bad sign. I picked them up and put them in front of my door outside. That will teach whoever did it. I don’t want their favors. Maybe I was sleepwalking and I ordered them in my sleep?
I put on pajamas tonight. I made sure I was wearing pants to bed tonight. No ripped up panties for this chick. How many dreams of shadowy tendrils have I had in the last few weeks? Would I dream about them again? I couldn’t remember the last time I had a normal dream. The exhaustion filled my bones because whatever my dreams were, they weren’t restful. As I laid in my bed, I curled up in a ball. I made sure I tucked my blanket all around my body. No foot hanging over the bed for this girl. Nope.