Mysophobia

Chapter One: The Call

  He peeked through the blinds and watched as the people of the outside world quickly passed by left and right carrying themselves through the musty street of Manhattan. 

  It was a rainy day, a little past noon, and Kade Taylor, a 24 year old, had already washed his hands 18 times.  He looked over to his pet goldfish, Floyd. "Who needs outdoors anyways, huh Floyd?"

Kade talked to Floyd constantly, as if the goldfish could actually understand, let alone respond.

"Look Floyd.."

  He spun the fish bowl around so Floyd was facing out the window.

"People are scary, everything is terrifying. That's why me and you stay right here, we have each other and that's all we need, right? Right."

Kade got up and walked over to the kitchen to pour his third cup of coffee. He sat right back down at his desk, and continued his work on his computer, he liked to write stories. He never published them or anything, just had a bunch of them bundled together with a thin thread and piled all over the house. There wasn't much walking space, you might think this is a little odd for a person with severe OCD, but when it came to organization, that was not what Kade was worried about. Lactococcus, Legionella, and Listeria were the type of things that crawled under his skin, that kept him in his small dark New York apartment for the past six years. The phone rang, he rushed to the kitchen to pick up a blue old fashioned rotary that was screwed to the wall, it had been there since the apartment was first built in 1912, Kade was surprised that it functioned still. 

"Hello?"

"Kade?" a girl from the other end of the phone was crying.

"Who is this?"

"It's your sister."

"Emerson?" Kade was surprised.

"Yes, you idiot, how many sisters do you have?" she laughed out of tears.

"Sorry, what's up?"

"I need your help.."

"What kind of help?"

"These men are after me, I'm stuck in a motel in Nevada, it's very deserted, I'm pretty sure they've tracked my phone and I'm afraid they'll be here soon."

"How soon, Emerson? Why are they after you? What did you do?"

"No time for questions, I'll tell you later, just please come and get me."

"Come get you? You know I can't come get you."

"Kade, please, there aren't any people around here, only the owner of the motel, Roy,  but he's an old bag and only drives his little wagon in and out of town to get groceries, he's stubborn, and I have no money. I'm lucky he's letting me stay here, but he told me if I cause any trouble he will make me leave. I don't know exactly what's going to happen when those bastards show up but I sure as hell can tell you it's not going to be good."

"Em, I told you, I can't!"

She became hysterical. 

"I'm sorry, but you know how I feel about leaving my apartment."

There was a moment of silence.

She took a breathe, her raspy, cold, soulful kind of voice replied, "Mom is gone, you could've been there, but you didn't even try, and now me? I'm you're sister, can't you man up for anything? Your family? Look, I know I got myself into this situation, we both know how disappointed mom would be, but would should be more disappointed in me for being here, or you not being here for me?"

No reply.

"Kade..?"

"Kade! Answer me!"

He stood still with his left hand in his pocket of his blue Tommy Hilfiger board shorts, with his right hand holding the phone up to his ear, staring blank at the ceiling as he leaned against the dining room table. 

"Fine, but if you find yourself to begin to give a shit, the motel's address is 1017 Knox Road, it's a long gravel path, about 3 miles off the freeway, love you"

The line went dead.