Knock Knock... Don't Invite Me In

Chapter 6: Voices

Caleb slid away on his butt, pushing as fast as he could and I watched with a grin.

"We don't want you here Caleb. We never have."

Pain shot through his face. "Karoline, snap out of it please. This isn't Jake. Jake wouldn't do this, he wouldn't use you or force you to-"

"He's not forcing me to do anything. Now I want you to leave."

He quickly got up and ran down the hallway. I heard to door slam and sat on the corner of my bed.

"Oh Jake. I knew you were here." A gust of wind blew threw my hair and I smiled. I spent the next hours talking to him. Obviously, he couldn't talk back, but it's like I could hear his voice in my head. It was barely a whisper, but I heard it. It didn't sound like Jake when he was alive, but I wouldn't expect it to, I just know it's him. Once it got dark outside, I felt a pull towards my closet.

"Jake, I'm not allowed out past 9. Let's just stay here." I said, but the tug continued. I walked towards my closet and look in disgust. Nearly everything I owned was pink or bright. Why hasn't anyone told me I dressed so... Girly? I pulled out all my bright and girly clothes, leaving only a few brown or black shirts and dark washed jeans hanging. I took them outside, grabbing a lighter on the way, and threw the clothes in a pile on the ground. They needed to go. Once I saw them laying there, my eyes widened in shock. Why was I doing this? I loved my clothes, pink is my favorite color.

'Do. It.' The voice whispered. 'They. Aren't. You.'

I sighed, of course they weren't. I smiled and lit the top of the pile. I laughed hysterically as the fire spread down and watched until the clothes were nearly ashes. Suddenly, I heard a door slam behind my and turned around to see my mom running towards me.

"Karoline! What happened?! Are you okay? Are those your CLOTHES??" She turned to me, anger flaming in her eyes. "What did you do?!"

"I hated them. I decided to get rid of them." I said, smiling.

"If you hated them, why didn't you just tell me? Do you know how much money I spent on those? We could have given them to someone else!"

"No one would have wanted these ugly clothes mother." I said with a snarl.

"What is wrong with you Karoline?" She asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. I quickly pushed it away.

"You." I said, turning and walking away. I didn't turn back to see her reaction, but I knew she'd look either hurt or mad.

"Where do you think you're going?" She yelled, obviously mad. I ignored her and continued walking straight down the street. I felt guilty for hurting my mom, but it's like I couldn't control my own movements. Still, she's been my only friend for the past 16 years, it's not like my dad was ever in the picture.

"Jake, why did you make me do that?" But there was no response. "JAKE!" I yelled, desperate for a response, but there was only silence. Finally, I felt the power let me go and I could finally stop walking and walk with my own free will, but at the moment, I felt too guilty to go home now. I knew there would be a huge, unavoidable blowup with my mom that I didn't want to deal with right now. I had to let my mom calm down a little bit first so I walked down the street, heading for this 24-hour gas station around the corner.

As I walked in, my stomach growled, but I hadn't brought my money. I walked around to kill time, pausing longer by the chips. I felt cold on my back and heard the whisper again.

'Take. It.' I shook my head no. I've never stolen in my life and didn't want to start now. I felt the power grabbing a hold of my body again as I struggled to fight it. I didn't want to steal, I didn't want to have that burden on my shoulders, but I couldn't control my hand. I watched myself grab the bag and stumble out the door, trying to fight the control. Upon passing the door, the alarm rang in my ears so I stopped fighting it and ran, a tear sliding down my face. I had no choice but to run. Even if I were to have explained that I didn't realize it was in my hand, who would believe a teenager wandering around at midnight in her pajamas? Not any cops in this town, that's for sure.

As I ran, I yelled, "Why are you doing this to me Jake?! Why are you getting me into trouble?!" I was running so fast, I wasn't paying attention to my surrounding and ran straight into something hard, sending myself flying back and into the ground. I heard a grunt and lifted my pounding head.

"Caleb, what the heck are you doing here?" He slowly sat up, rubbing his bleeding elbow.

"I heard you and your mom fighting and went to see what was wrong and she was worried about you so I came to find you. I was worried about you too. This town could be dangerous at night."

"I don't need your protection. I can take care of myself."

"I understand that, but that wont ever stop me from worrying, Kar." I heard sirens getting closer behind my and my eyes shot open. I jumped up and ran behind a bush on the side of the road.

"Karoline what are you doing??" He said, following me.

"Caleb, get down and shut up!!" I yelled, the sirens just down the street now. He looked worried but crouched down anyways. We waited there as the sirens got closer. I couldn't control my shaking, my whole body seemed to be trembling as Caleb pulled me into his grip. I watched through the holes as a cop car drove by slowing, its sirens blasting and the cop in the passenger seat shining a flashlight out the window in search of me. Eventually, when they didn't see anyone suspicious, the continued onto another street, therefore freeing me from my anxiety as I shook Caleb's arms off of me. He look at me with confusion and hurt in his eyes.

"Now please tell me what's going on." He said, grabbing my wrist so I couldn't run. I had no choice but to tell him.

"I, um, was hungry and didn't have money so I..." I tapered off, lifting the bag of chips.

"You stole? Karoline, that doesn't seem like you." He said, mouth agape.

"I was hungry, it's just chips, it's not a big deal. Plus, you don't know me, not really." I said, rolling my eyes.

"It is a big deal, and maybe I don't know you well, but I know you're too go for that. Karoline.." He said, looking at me wide-eyed. I looked into his eyes and knew what was coming, "did Jake make you do this?"

I looked away, a tear sliding down my face.

"Tell me Karoline, did he?" But I continued to ignore him. Suddenly, I heard the voice return.

'He's going to be an issue.' The voice said, seeming to be stronger every time I heard it. I shook my head, not wanting to believe anything bad about Caleb. He'd been nothing but nice to me. 'Don't you want to be together, Karoline?' The voice asked. I looked up to see Caleb looking at me wide-eyed. I got up and left him sitting there, not taking one glance back. All I was thinking about in that moment was Jake. I couldn't let him go.