Shortstories In English

Midnight in the Castle

It was eleven o'clock at night when my phone rang. I ignored it for a while and continued watching my film, Maze Runner: The Death Cure. I was right at the scene where Thomas, Newt and Minho jump out the window, so I was quite annoyed for the disruption. But my phone continued ringing, so I put down my bag of popcorn and peeled myself off my many cozy blankets. As I watched on the display I was surprised.

It was Lisa who called me.

That was unusual for a Saturday night, as for these are reserved for couple time for her and Caroline.

As soon as Lisa started talking, I realised that something was not all right. She sounded frightened and insecure. And as she told me that Caroline hung off while a call that lasted almost three hours, I knew something was totally out of order.

"Did something happened before she hung off, Lisa?", I asked her in a mad rush, "You know that I know her since our childhood. She would never hang off to you if there isn't an adequate reason!"

"I'm coming to this part, okay?! So yeah, there was something. Caroline walked away and said she would be right back. Then she greeted someone. At first, she was surprised, I could tell that from her voice, but then she suddenly panicked. Like really panicked! I heard her footsteps heading back to her phone, then there was a scratching noise. I don't know what I was, Tanya, but soon after that it was silent. She hung up."

Once Lisa finished telling, I was stunned.

That sounded like a tale Caroline and me would admire to read, because you would never know what happened to the person. But I knew she would never stage this.

She was the only one who knew of my paranoia and never in her life she would do such a thing to me.

So, when Lisa asked me to go with her to Caroline's flat I agreed immediately.

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On the way there I tried to stay calm. The last thing I could need while driving, is a panic attack caused by my paranoia. So, I thought about what will happen later in The Death Cure.

I can do that and simultaneously focus on the traffic.

I arrived at the same time at the save heaven in my mind as I bowed in Caroline's gateway. Lisa was not yet there, so I had to wait, then she was the one with the second key.

Obviously, as Caroline's girlfriend.

Two minutes later, what felt like half an hour, she came with her brother's car. She did not bother with correct parking, just shut the motor down and jumped out. The keys jingled as she took them out of her pocket. Without greeting we stormed into the stairwell, up to the third floor and to Caroline's door. Silent, because we did not know what was in there, Lisa opened the door.

At the first sight all looked like a normal student flat, but if you knew Caroline you noticed a few things. At first, the blankets on the sofa were laying in a complete mess. Even if she did not clean up, she would at least lay them one over another.

Second, the wine was still on the coffee table. She always puts her white wine back in the fridge.

And third, there was a book on the coffee table, a pen beneath and this even though she had her Saturday-night-couple-time-phone-call-session with her amazing girlfriend. And she would never write in a book that's too important.

While Lisa searched for Caroline's phone, I straight walked to the book. "The Fault in Our Stars" Ouch, she wanted to have heart attacks all over again. I could only agree to this.