A New Mistress

Red Walls

I waved goodbye to Roxy as I walked down the hallway to my apartment feeling relief as I heard her door shut with a gentle thud.

I slowed to a stop and slowly leaned against the wall before pulling my hood up hiding my face and the tears slowly sliding down my face.

My vision was blurry as I stared at the red carpet my fingers digging into the purple blanket that I had completely forgotten about until I noticed the purple blob in my arms and suddenly it was like my mind had gone completely blank.

I didn't feel anything I didn't hurt anymore it was so sudden I didn't even know what to think. I absent mindedly start walking down the hall sliding my hand in my hoodie pocket and pulling out my keys as I neared my apartment.

I slid my key into the lock and twisted it before nudging the door open with my foot and stepping into the room leaving the door wide open and the keys in the lock.

I walked down the small hallway taking my hoodie off and placeing it on its hook alongside all my other hoodies before kicking my sneakers off and trudging into the kitchen in my socks leaving wet footprints along the way.

I opened the fridge and pulled out the chinease left over from yesterday and the almost full pitcher of tea barely holding onto it. As I stumbled to the counter with my heavy load a faint jingle went through the room.

I froze and set everything down before reaching into my left pocket and pulling out my phone, it was silent, I slid it back into the left pocket and then slid my hand into the other pocket and pulled out the silk bag that contained the bell.

I groaned and turned tossing the bag over the bar and in the direction of the coffee table the faint jingle telling me that I had missed as usual. I huffed and tossed open a white cabinet and pulled out a glass setting it on the counter.

Suddenly I heard another jingle and I froze, no one else lived with me and I didn't own any pets so what could have made that sound? I walked around the bar the living room completely devoid of anything except my huge TV and three white couches shaped in an upside down U.

And then I realized what was missing, the puppet and bell were gone. I walked slowly into the living room and looked around everything was the same except for the missing items so I walked down the hall and into my room cautiously.

As i peered around the doorway and examined the room movement on the other side of the bed causing me to catch my breathe.

From what I could tell it had been nothing but a shadow but I jumped on the bed and peared over the edge. It was the puppet curled up in the blanket and the bag was in between its paws the only major difference was that it wasn't a puppet anymore, it was a real cat!

My eyes widened in fear as it looked up at me its eyes were two different colors, blue and an almost gold brown. But what scared me the most was how angry those eyes were.

The cat and i didn't move we sat there staring at each other until the cat lept up from its spot and hissed at me before leaping over my head momentarily touching the bed and it was out the door in the blink of an eye.

I suddenly remembered that my front door was open I snatched the bag up and jumped from the bed and raced out of my room.

The instant I turned the corner I stopped, the door was closed the keys were on the table and Roxy was staring at me from the couch like I had lost my mind.

I repeated that thought several times in my head and shivered as old memories surfaced and my body felt cold as fear seaped into my bones but I quickly shook off the feeling and glanced around the room.

The cat was nowhere in sight and i stepped forward slowly into the living room walking to the couch and sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the couch Roxy's eyes following me the entire time.

My eyes couldn't get any wider as i noticed the puppet laying on the table still wrapped in its purple blanket.

Roxy's voice cut through my thoughts. "Um Violet?" I looked at her and noticed her bewildered expression and I instantly tensed further. "Yeah?"

She bit her lip and looked away and I was taken aback. She was never nervous about asking anything. "Are you hiding something?"

I instantly shook my head and said quickly. "No. I had just remembered that I had left the door open so I came in here to close it.

She raised an eyebrow. " While running like your life depends on it?"

I shrugged and tried changing the topic. "I still have no idea what I'm going to do with this thing." I gestured at the wrapped puppet hoping I wasn't going crazy. She shrugged and smiled. "Hang it above your bed maybe?" She said sarcastically.

I looked at her with a blank face and she snorted and muttered something. I stood and shuffled into the kitchen and spotted the pitcher of tea and my glass remembering what I had been doing before my little psychotic episode.

I slid the bag into my pocket and grabbed the pitcher and poured the tea into my glass before grabbing anlther one and filling it.

I shuffled back into the living room and shuddered as I saw her unwrapping the puppet. "Can you leave that thing alone?" She glanced at me and shrugged as she finally pulled the puppet out of the blanket and set both back down on the coffee table gently.

I ignored the puppet and sat cross legged on the floor looking at Roxy waiting on her to speak as I handed her glass to her and took a sip of mine.

She stared at the floor before she looked up at me and spoke softly. "Violet are you alright? You've been acting a tiny bit strange today." I grimaced and brushed off her question with a shrug. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

She frowned but nodded and stood. "Well I came to drop off that tea you wanted its on the counter by the fridge." My eyes followed her every movement as she grabbed her coat and purse and walked to the door.

As she placed her hand on the doorknob she paused and turned back to me a small smile on her face. "You do know that if there's anything wrong you can tell me right?" I nodded slowly playing with a lose string from my black tank top nervously.

She nodded and opened the door and walked out closing the door softly behind her, I jumped from the couch the minute the door closed and ran to the bathroom.

I slammed the bathroom door closed and opened the mirror cabinet pausing as panic and fear flooded my veins before grabbing a bottle and twisting the top off dumping two white pills into my hand, I paused again before tilting my head back dropped the pills into my mouth and swallowed.

After a moment I closed my eyes gently shutting the cabinet before letting my head fall forward to thump against the mirror.

It was back, the fucking schizophrenia was back and cold horror rushed through my body as I collapsed on the bathroom floor.