The Devils Gift

Chapter 5

I woke peacefully. No headache, no overthinking, just calmness. Sitting up I looked around my sun filled room. The window opened a bit allowing a small breeze to come through. Even though I don't remember opening the window I welcomed the coolness the breeze brought.

Swinging my legs over I got up and stretched my arms a bit before walking into my bathroom. The plate no longer on the floor caused confusion to bubble in me. I knew for a fact I hadn't picked it up or anything. I just continued on what I was doing without a thought as to not bring back the headache.

I walked back out into my room and searched for some clothes to wear. It was going to be a simple lazy day at home so I wasn't planning on wearing anything extra. I settled on sweats and a blue tank top.

"Where's my perfume?" I questioned. After I had gotten dressed I took a closer look at my dresser top. My jewelry sat untouched with not so much of a swing of a chain but my perfume had gone. I used it so often it was about half full but it was gone. "Shit," I thought maybe I had misplaced it.

I began looking behind my dresser, rummaging through drawers, looking in boxes and yet I couldn't find it. It was like it had just disappeared. "I really liked that perfume." Sighing annoyed, I walked out to the kitchen.

"No, maybe lower." I said to myself. I stepped back a bit more and looked at the placement of the last picture. "There we go." I had been talking to myself a lot. I wasn't used to being alone for so much time and so I caught myself having random conversations out loud.

The next thing for me to do was put the cabinet the pictures were leaning on and build it. I peered over at the metal cabinet. It was in the shape of a coffin and wasn't very easy to put together. I had found it at a garage sale and kept it with Maire until I could bring it into my own house.

Sitting on the wood floor I laid all the pieces out. My eyes moved from piece to piece taking in each small detail on how to get them to stay. My body jumped at the sudden ring from my phone. A text message.

"Hey this is John I was wondering if you wanted to get together?" A chill up my spine. Not a good chill but not a bad one. More of excitement but a cold feeling entered my bones. Quickly I typed back. "Yeah I'd be down to get together. What did you have in mind?" My thumbs typed quickly.

When 'John' didn't respond right away I put my phone down and went back to fidgeting with my shelf. Another minute went by when my phone went off. "Would you like to go on a walk around town?" "Sounds nice. "I can be ready in twenty." I responded and shot up.

A walk around town meant people would see us so if he was a murderer I would be saved by someone. I chuckled at the thought and brought my phone into my room. Then it buzzed again. "Ok, meet you outside your place in twenty."

I sort of disregarded the fact he knew where I lived. I hadn't seen him enter my building indicating he didn't live here. Nor had Celia seen him before and so I had no clue where he lived.

I gave myself a once over in the mirror. My boot cut black pants with a red wine silk and black lace top. One of my favorite tops. My boots on but hidden by the pants. I didn't think to take a jacket seeing how nice the day was. My make up simple with a small eyeliner wing and mascara.

"Hey I'm here." My phone said. 'John' was down stairs. I hated myself for not having my perfume but I couldn't do much about it so I began the descent down stairs.

Excitement filled my body. I felt jittery and ready for anything. I couldn't describe the pure joy I was feeling. Though I did find the man creepy in all ways and the fact I couldn't see his face just made it creepier, I couldn't help but let the exhilaration I was feeling take over.

I reached the bottom of the steps and looked up. There was 'John' dressed in jeans and the same gray hoodie from when we first met. His mask still on with the hood popped up but in the moment I didn't mind. It was like a fun game of 'Guess What's Under The Hood.' I had made a game out of it at that moment to keep my own interest peaked.

"Hey." I neared 'John'. "Oh hey. You look nice." I could hear the smile in his voice making him seem harmless. "So I was thinking we could just wander around. I know you just moved here and stuff." He seemed confident I would say yes. No sound of nervousness or uneasiness in his voice. It made him seem more attractive.

"Yeah that sounds nice." I smiled and followed him outside. Of course he held the door for me before walking on the road side. "How did he know I just moved here?" The question suddenly crossed my mind. I mean I did look sort of out of place and it would be hard to miss me on the street but it still seemed weird.

"I have to ask, why did you move here?" 'John' broke the silence. "Well my sister recommended it. Nice quiet place." I kept my eyes on the walk but I could feel 'John' staring. What shocked me was how similar it felt to the staring feeling I got back in my apartment. It was identical. A small shiver ran up my spine but I brushed it off.

"Well it is nice here. Simple and quiet. Not much excitement." A chuckle broke through his mask. The chuckle that made that uneasy feeling fleet away. "Well that's definitely something I could use." I chuckled with him as we continued on walking.

'John' and I had been walking and chatting for the past hour maybe two. We had taken random turn after random turn. We talked about animals, different kinds of music and basic things people talked about on dates or get-togethers. He seemed really passionate about music though and I began to wonder what he did for a living.

"If you don't mind me asking what you do for a living?" I thought nothing of the question but 'John' seemed to. I heard a small hitch in his breath as he grew quiet, clearly in thought. "I work in music." The most plain basic answer ever. That could mean so much. "Oh nice, what do you do?" I tried to press further but he didn't seem to give in. "That's it, I just work in music." The question was quickly shot down.

I ignored the weird answer and just focused on our surroundings. We had begun to make our way slowly back to my apartment. The birds cooed and only a few cars drove by. Dusk began to set in causing a pretty orange hue to fall over the once blue sky.

'John' and I neared the gravel road leading to the ministry. "What's with this road?" I asked in a dumbing sounding voice. Seeing as I hadn't gotten an answer from Megan I wondered if I could get it from him. "Oh well umm." He trailed off and refused to look at the road. "Well I heard it was an abandoned church." He was hiding something and I knew it. "Oh sounds cool. I might check it out."

That was a lie. I never wanted to go back to that place. It creeped even me out and that was saying a lot. "Why don't we go now?" His once calm and simple voice turned into one of persuasion and convincing. I had backed myself into a corner. I couldn't tell him because I just said I wanted to check it out.

"Sure." My voice got high pitched and squeaky as I spoke. A pit in my stomach formed as 'John' began to lead the way down the gravel road.