Chapter 29
Theo
I hated being at this house, even more than normal. But thanks to whatever Claire gave me, I gave no fucks right now. I walked over to her couch and sat down. She was probably going to bitch at me about it, but again, no fucks.
“Do you want some tea, sweetheart?”
Why was she talking? Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard to me right now. Did I have to answer her? If I wanted her to shut up, then yes, answer her.
“Sure.” I hated that I constantly asked and answered my own questions in my head. It was like this battle between who I wanted to be and who I was wouldn’t ever stop. But why? Do I want it to stop or was it better to keep battling until there was no more to battle for? Fuck, I hated my head.
“Do you remember me talking about my late husband?” What the fuck was she talking about now? I laid myself back on the couch and closed my eyes hoping she would leave me alone.
“Theo! I’m talking to you. Don’t you know it’s rude to ignore people when they ask you a question?” Then I felt a hard slap to my head.
”Goddamnit, woman!” I was angry now and I didn’t know if it was because of what she gave me or because I was just over this arrangement.
”What about your dead husband?” I started wiping my face, trying to get my bearings straight.
”Rude again, Theo. Here, drinking this tea will clear your mind.” Fine, if it made her chill out. I reached, grabbed the tea, and took a sniff.
”What the fuck is this?” She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at me with disappointment, or at least that’s what I thought.
”It’s herbal tea. Drink it so we can talk about business.” Whatever, but before that I needed to take a piss.
”I need to go to the bathroom really quick.” She huffed as if she was irritated, but it was either let me or it was happening on her carpet.
”Use the bathroom upstairs and be quick. I don’t have time for your issues tonight.” My fucking issues? This lady needed professional help.
As I was walking up the stairs, I started to get dizzy. I reached out and grabbed the railing to help me from knocking my ass out. I paused for a second and made it to the top of the stairs. I walked into the bathroom and took a leak. When I was done, I walked over to the window and glanced outside. It was so dark out right now. I wished it could be dark all the time, life would be so much more peaceful, I thought. No, it wouldn’t. It would be lonely and even more depressing than it already was, idiot. Again, voices arguing it out in my fucking head.
I turned away from the window and walked out of the bathroom, back to the stairs. I really didn’t want to go back down there. My gut was giving me this ‘don’t do it’ feeling, but maybe I was just hungry. Who the fuck knows? These pills were pretty good though, other than making me a dick. I got to the bottom of the stairs and went back to the couch.
”Drink your tea before it gets cold.” I looked up and she was standing right in front of me now. Why was she being so persistent about this damn tea?
“What do you want, Claire? I’m not playing any of your games tonight.”
She just stood there, giving me this wicked grin. It was one of those looks that would make a normal person sick, but not me. I couldn”t care less how she was looking at me right now. I smelled the tea next to me and it did smell kind of good, but I needed to know what she wanted from me.
“You knew my poor husband had a heart attack, right, Theo?” What kind of question was that? She knew I knew that.
“And?” I knew that I sound like a heartless prick, but she needed to get to the point.
“It took him so long to die. It was all rather sad, I suppose.” This lady was bat shit crazy. My mouth was starting to get extremely dry and I smelled that tea again. I grabbed the cup and took a sip.
“Where are you going with this, Claire, other than you’re a psycho sadistic person?” She turned back to me and laughed slightly.
“He died faster than my first husband, but I’m guessing that’s just because I didn’t have the dose right.” While I was mid-drink, I stopped and put the cup down. After swallowing what was in my mouth, I stood and went to her.
“Did you kill both of your husbands, Claire?” There was no way that she did. They both had heart attacks or that’s what was told to me. She looked up at me and cupped my face.
“It’s been fun, Theo, but you’re starting to get too complicated for me.” Then I felt this instant pain in my chest. What the fuck was happening? My throat started to tighten up, but I could still breathe.
“And if I can’t have you, no one can, sweetheart,” she said.
“What the fuck did you do to me?” I barely choked it out. I fell to my knees but was still in front of her. She was looking down at me now.
“I’m helping you out, Theo. Didn’t you want to die? I’m pretty sure you have told me that a handful of times over our time together.” I was starting to feel hot and I tried to pull myself up. I made it to the couch. By the time I pulled myself up and laid down, I almost couldn’t see straight.
“What is happening to me, Claire? Call 911 please. I don’t want to die.”
The whole thing came out slurred. The more that I tried to talk, the worse that it got. It felt like I had razors clawing at my throat and a hand gripping it closed all at the same time. This was it. I was actually going to die. I didn’t want to die, I wanted to live and get better. How did I get this far? Why was Claire trying to kill me right now?
“Claire, please.” I felt a presence next to me and I tried to reach my hand out, but it was slapped away.
“Suck it up, Theo. This is what you wanted. I’m only helping you get there. The funny part is that the only thing that people will know is that you were a sick man and tried to break into my home. Then you overdosed in the middle of my living room. They will find the bottle of pills in your pocket. Remember the ones you took earlier, darling?” Was she fucking serious? I felt myself starting to fade, everything was starting to spin in my head.
“The whole story is such a tragedy, really. Heartbroken man who lost everything dies of overdose. I can see the headline now. I’ll even shed a few tears for you, sweetheart. All I want is to watch you let go of your last breath.”
It was really happening. I felt my throat tighten a little bit more, but I tried to calm my breathing the best that I could. It was not working. My body was fighting against itself right now. I closed my eyes and saw Serenity.
“I’m sorry.” I didn’t know why I said that. Then I heard a crash, but I couldn’t open my eyes.
“How the hell did you get in here?”