The Drafted Reality and Dreams

CHAPTER 7

It has been a few days since I have fired him, I don't feel bad or anything especially not when he was only using me. I've been blind and only wished for comfort when I dealt with troubles back then. My eyes have only healed at the best time, but the only thing that isn't so great is to not have any assistance. I could ask Edson to be my assistant but he has school to attend to. I open up the place an hour before he goes to school, the building is around 40 minutes away from home while his school is about 20-30 minutes away.
    Edson has been into my work that I kept alive ever since my father passed away. We moved here to get a new start after what happened to Edson's friend but also to open this place up. Ashlyn passed away a few months after we had moved here. Ashlyn and I believed that it was for the best for all of us.
    I brushed my teeth and had a cup of coffee; the coffee tasted a bit minty along with the pumpkin spice coffee creamer. I sat at the couch that was in the basement; my so-called man cave. I had a fruit salad along with my coffee. The air was a bit damp, haven't really done anything to the basement since Ashlyn has passed away. Other than that the basement was taken care of but just needed more life to it. What I want the basement to be is almost luxurious, for it to be something that you can't take your eyes off of.
    I sat there for what seemed like 10 minutes. I forgot all about the mail; Usually have mail sent to us every monday. I went upstairs onto the first floor, I walked towards the front porch and down towards the road to get the mail. I scavenged through the pile of mail; insurance, bills, coupons, and a strange letter. This letter did not have anything on it like any other letter would have. I went back inside to place the stack of mail on the kitchen counter. I opened the letter, as I unfold it I felt uneasy. I scanned the letter from top to bottom before I read it.
    It says,

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Francis,
You have a wonderful home that is like no other. It may seem big on the outside but is really small on the inside. You have a wonderful son and daughter, your son is who I saw the other day. Have you ever asked him about me? Has he spoken of me while on the phone with you? An incident happened at the house behind yours, did you hear the sirens? Did you hear the cries of the teenagers' parents like I have? Were you there at the funeral that was a few days after? Where were you, Mr. and Mrs. Francis? Too busy living the best life that you have always wanted? I must say that your son may just be another trophy that I will display on my trophy case. And then your daughter, Mary Francis, is it? I have seen you too at the hospital, Mary told you that she needed to be discharged. Is it because of me perhaps? I have been watching for some time now anyway so it is understandable to get away from the danger. The danger that was set on fire, this danger has awoken and will never go back to being asleep.

Sincerely,
The man with the melted skin

What the hell? This must be some kind of joke; a sick joke. Who in the right mind would write a letter just to give threats? Should I show this to Clarence or keep it to myself and act like this never happened? I'm not sure what to do, but I should probably ask Edson about who he saw. And what incident exactly? Did I miss many details about that day?
I was curious, a bit too curious. I left the house while everyone else was still asleep. I walked around the block half way just to reach the house that was behind ours. The house looked haunted, abandoned even. The parents must've left the house for it to get cleaned up by the crime scene cleaners.
A light turned on from the second floor, there was a shadow of who appeared to be slim; it must've been the mother. I had enough courage to go up to their front door just to ask about their kid who had passed away that day. I knocked on the door a couple of times, but nobody answered. When I was about to leave, someone opened the door. It was the mother of the dead kid.
"May I help you?" She asked, her voice sounded muffled; Her eyes looked dark and emotionless.
"Oh- uhm- Yes, I live behind you and I heard that your kid passed away not that long ago. What happened to them exactly?" I could tell that she was uncomfortable about this subject, "You don't have to tell me, I will just lea-"
She spoke over me, "No, It's alright, I can tell you." She moved aside, "Please. Come in." She cleared her throat, following behind me.
"How much do you want to know? Oh please sit down." She pointed at the couch that was on the other side of an arch. "Lovely home." I gave her a friendly smile as I sat down on the couch.
"Oh, thanks. Would you like anything to drink?" She fiddled with her fingers, "Oh, sure, a cup of water would be nice. Thank you." So far this conversation was a bit awkward, there was hardly any noise in the house; Hearing only her digging through the cabinets.
"Is anyone home?" I look around, hardly peeking out of the two arches; One leads into the hallway and the other leads into the kitchen.
"No, nobody is home. Just me. My son and my husband went to a birthday party. Ever since my daughter passed- in this house, me and my husband grew distant." I could hear her sigh, her voice echoed through the house. There were hardly any decorations and furniture.
"So, where do you want to start?" She came back into the room, holding two cups of water. "The day she was found." I took the cup from her hand when she extended her arm. She sat down in front of me, looking down at the cup. "Well." She stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. "My husband and I went out on a date, took our son to his grandmas for the time being since our daughter wasn't home at the time."
"After our date we went straight home and we heard heavy footsteps on the second floor, we thought it was Stacy, our daughter. But it wasn't her, it was whoever killed her." She took a couple of sips to cool down.
She bit her lip, still having her head down. "We were in the kitchen when we heard footsteps, but those footsteps came crashing down the stairs and out of the front door. As if they were in the rush." She huffed harshly, Her eyes teary. "We went up the stairs and into her bedroom, she wasn't there. But the bathroom door was closed so I was like. Oh she's probably taking a bath- since the water was running."
She chuckled weakly, "I was stupid, I forgot all about the footsteps, thinking that I was hearing things. My husband did too." She had a weak smile on her face; wiping her eyes. "Uhm- at some point I noticed that the water was running for a while so I went to check on her; Knocking on the door before entering." She licked her dry, scratchy lips, "The floor was wet by the door, I opened it up and saw that the bathtub was overflowing. I went over and turned it off, and there she was. Her wrists had been cut; Vertically." Her chin grumbled, making wrinkles. "Her face was terribly burned- and uhm... I panicked, all I could do was to break down on the floor. I was so stupid thinking that nothing bad happened." She bursted out crying, covering her face; Her cries were all muffled.
"I'm so sorry for your loss." I went over to her, patting her on her back. She sniffled, wiping away her tears; Eyes red. "Till this day, I can still hear those footsteps." Her voice sounded like a broken record, shaking her head as she fiddled with her fingers unceasingly. "I'm so sorry." I mumbled, she raised her head, looking at me slightly. "Its alright." She whispered loud enough for me to hear.
After a little while, I left the house and went back home by going around the block half way once again. I felt my bright, happy day slipping away from me. It was no more jolly and no more bright colors; Black and white, hearing the cries of that woman made me feel lifeless. I didn't do much to comfort her nor do I really know how to, to begin with. As I walked inside of the house, I plopped down on the couch. I Wish I had never gone over there in the beginning. The letter is what made me curious and I regret letting my curiosity take hold of me.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Clarence walked towards me, bending down to meet eye and eye. I nodded weakly, feeling groggy. "You don't seem okay, what happened?" I sighed when I made eye contact with her,  "I got the mail this morning and found a letter from 'the man with melted skin.'" She stayed quiet, waiting for me to say more. "It's on the counter, I put it there before I left to go to one of our neighbors that lives behind us." I closed my eyes, my cheek resting on the cushion of the couch; smooshed.
I ended up falling asleep on the couch unconditionally.