UNINVITED

Chapter 20

The first plop of water on the roof didn’t catch my attention. I heard it, but I thought it was probably from the tap. Heedlessly, I continued with my book, flipping to the next page. Chapter 33. I read the first line, then the first paragraph till I devoured the page.

     Clara jumped onto the couch. She wove through my legs, then started nibbling my feet, sending a tingle down my spine. I ignored her until it started to hurt.

     Wriggling my toes, I sat up and gave her a stare. “Stop, Clara.”

     She glanced at me and went back to the floor, lying on the rug by the fireplace.

     Before I resumed my previous position, there were more of them on the roof. A plop, plop, plop... that didn’t seem to stop. Finally. After much anticipation and giving me a terrible scare on the road, the rain came days after I had settled in. Great!

     Hauling myself from the couch, I slid my feet into the slippers, then spent the next three minutes running around the house, closing doors and windows, and making sure they were locked. I stopped in the middle of the living room, panting when I was done. Following Dr. Philips’ advice, I inhale, then exhale through my mouth and nose.

     I retraced my steps to the fireplace and collapsed onto the couch, pulling the blanket over my body. I picked up the novel from the table next to me and continued from where I had left off. Ten minutes in, and my eyes began to hurt. I squinted and yawned, then sat up. Clara was already asleep. She seemed to be enjoying the warmth from the cheery fire. I decided against changing her sleeping position and went upstairs with the blanket.

     I flung it on the bed, crossing the room to the window. Beads of rain had formed on the glass pane. I watched in silence as they bumped into each other, forming a rivulet and gliding toward the sill. I yawned again and then strained my eyes to the Bergers’ house through the clouded window.

     Bright lights illuminated their room. They were probably not asleep yet. As I stared, I saw the outline of a figure approaching the window. Three seconds. Two. One. And then a hand yanked the curtain open and there stood Amy, at her usual spot.

     She stared at me. In reciprocation, I also stared at her. She looked in my direction for a short while and when she lifted a hand, I expected the curtain to cover the window, but it didn’t. Instead, she raised a finger to the glass pane and made a long line. What was she doing? Probably she was bored and decided to come out and play with the glass pane covered in rainwater. I used to write on the windowpane when it rained, but that was so long ago.

     My eyes wide open, I watched her finger as it moved sloppily across the pane, then it scrawled an aitch. It didn’t stop. Lines extended as she made another letter. When she was done, I looked at two words that made my heart beat faster. Help Me. My pulse quickened trying to make sense of what was in front of me. Was Amy trying to send me a message? Was she safe?

     As I stood, pulverised with confusion, she started wiping what she’d just written. Then slowly another figure I knew like the back of my hand appeared. Alec. He stood close by her, massaging her nape. He bent down and kissed her cheek. When he glanced up and saw me, a smirk curled around his lips.

     Swallowing hard, I watched as he closed the curtain. Two or three seconds later, their lights went out. I started pacing the floor.

     Help me.

     It sounded like Amy was in danger. Maybe she had been trying to send me a message all this while, but I failed to decipher it. It explained why she stood behind the window and would just look at me without so much as a smile. All this while, she had been trying to communicate with me, to tell me she wasn’t safe. Help me.

     What should I do? I couldn’t leave the house to find out what was happening in this rain. And even if I passed in the rain and went over to their house, what exactly could I do? Amy didn’t look like she was in trouble, just a lonely woman with a lot on her mind. Alec could argue I was intruding on their property. I couldn’t go with the pretext of visiting them too. Who visited someone in the middle of a heavy rainfall when it was almost 10:00 PM?

     911? No, not a good option. I couldn’t call the cops. To tell them what exactly? That I think my neighbor was in danger because she scrawled Help Me on the windowpane? They wouldn’t believe me, especially when the evidence was gone.

     Think, think, think... I urged myself, but I couldn’t. Nothing popped up. It was as though my brain cells were dead. Then the smirk on Alec’s face appeared in my mind. Perhaps it wasn’t a smirk, and he was just smiling, saying hello. I realized he smiled a lot. At the convenience store, diner, restaurant... Probably that was his hallmark. Did I misconstrue his smile for a smirk because I saw him as a threat after what Amy wrote on the pane?

     Possibly. But then I reminded myself I had suspected Alec of abusing his wife. Was Amy trying to tell me Alec was abusing him?

     Help me.

     Somehow I could hear her voice, screaming it into my ears. If I did nothing and something happened to Amy on my accord... The brutal truth was that there wasn’t anything I could do. At least not yet. I could do something tomorrow when the rain had ceased. But what if Amy didn’t have tomorrow?

     The questions ricocheted in my mind, leaving me more confused every single second. I couldn’t do anything at the moment. I couldn’t ...

     I walked to the window again, hoping Amy would show up, but their room was pitch-black. No such luck. I neared the large bed and tucked myself into it, hiding my face under the blanket. Stretching a hand, I turned off the lamp and forced myself to sleep.

     Help Me.

     I’d have a sleepless night—no doubts about it. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to the rain. Five minutes, ten, fifteen, twenty...

     I woke up before the alarm blared. I checked the time. 5:00 AM. I yawned and sat up, wondering how I could have slept off yesterday. I didn’t hear the plops anymore. The rain had passed. Instinctively, I jumped out of the bed and skittered toward the window, then peered out. The Bergers stood on their porch in a matching jogging suit.

     What! I couldn’t believe my eyes. From where I stood, I saw Amy’s face. She didn’t look like she was in trouble. If anything, she looked like herself. Alec deposited his arm on her nape and they strolled to their Mazda 6. Had it all been a false alarm? Or had I imagined Amy writing on the pane like I had imagined seeing Tom outside the diner?

     No. I wasn’t hallucinating. I saw Amy yesterday and she wrote Help Me on the glass pane. If I did, then it meant I saw her dress too. What was the color? Red...? Pink? How come I couldn’t remember the nightgown she wore yesterday?

     Because I had too much alcohol in my system and I was boozed. But I took only one bottle of beer to drown my sorrows yesterday. I sighed. Okay. I must admit I drank too much wine with James the day before at the restaurant. It accumulated and made me delirious because the woman getting inside the Mazda didn’t look like she needed protection from anyone.

     I had to snap out of it. Twice now I had imagined things that weren’t there. I let go of the curtain and went into the bathroom. Opening the tap, I scooped water and splashed it on my face, then placed my hands on the rim. Help me.

     It felt so real. I couldn’t have imagined it. Well, there was only one way to find out. I’d have to speak to Amy about last night.