Rancor: Sinister Attachments, Book 1 (Haunted)

SIXTEEN

Maggie opened her eyes. Her bedroom door was open. Had she gotten up during the night to use the bathroom and forgotten to close it? She could not remember. After adjusting her pillow she looked at the nightstand clock, it was seven-thirty. Oh, great, I cannot believe I slept this late, she thought. Debbie will be here soon to pick up Susie.

Then she rolled on her back to give herself a few more minutes of snooze time before she got up. That is when her elbow touched something. She froze. Something was in bed with her. Too terrified to turn her head toward it, she could tell there was a figure under the blanket next to her, a human figure. Susie, it had to be Susie. 

Maggie did not breathe for a moment, not wanting to awaken whatever it was beside her. It was not moving. It was lying there like a dead body. It had to be Susie sleeping; she probably came into her room during the night because she was afraid. But it was so still and so quiet. She could feel coldness radiate from it and hear no breathing.

As Maggie saw it, in the slow-motion seconds of the moment, she had two choices, either turn her head to see who it was or jump out of bed. If she jumped out of bed, she would awaken it, but then she would no longer be next to it. If she turned her head to look at its face, she would know who it was; Susie, of course.

She convinced herself it was Susie, who else could it be? And she would know that it was a child and not an it or a thing. So with her eyes taking the lead, she turned her head slowly, very slowly to see it. First, she saw Susie's snarled hair lying over the shoulders, then she saw the face. It was Susie's face, and she was staring at Maggie with black, cloudy eyes that did not blink or even seem to focus. Was Susie sleeping with her eyes open?

Maggie jumped out of bed without thinking as adrenaline surged through her body like an accelerator pump spraying gasoline. Then, performing her nursing duty, she reached over and shook Susie's shoulder to see if she was alive. God forbid if she had to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Maggie felt for a pulse on the side of Susie's icy neck. She was not feeling the heart pumping blood through the artery.

Then suddenly Susie pulled her teddy bear up to her chest and sat up. Maggie was so startled she thought she would collapse from shock and Susie would be reviving her.

"Susie, are you okay?" Maggie said, relieved Susie was alive but baffled as to why she was.

Susie shrugged.

Bang, bang, bang sounded from the apartment door. Maggie was startled as her heart fluttered in her chest. Why was Debbie knocking like someone pissed off?

"Stay right there, Susie. That must be your mom." Maggie went to the door, pushed the couch to the side, and looked out the peephole. It was Debbie, so she unlocked and opened the door. "Debbie, I think Susie needs to go to the hospital."

Debbie was not her usual bubbly self, but rather a tired shift worker. "What's going on?"

"Follow me." Maggie turned to walk toward the bedroom, almost running into Susie, who was standing directly behind her. "Oh, are you feeling better?"

Susie nodded.

"She's fine," Debbie said, holding out her hand for Susie to take. "Like I said before, she sometimes has spells."