Crystal

Chapter 8: The Break in

I came home and opened up a beer. I just felt like I needed one. I decided to put on a brave face and go upstairs. I turned on the lights immediately. There was a short hallway upstairs. The bedroom and bathroom were the only two rooms up there so there wasn't a huge hallway. A large photo of Leza and our mom was framed by her door and a photo of us was on the other side.

I took a deep breath and opened the door. It seemed so ordinary. Like nothing ever happened in here. The sheets were disturbed the way I left them. The window was still closed. It was dark even though I left the lights on. It just seemed dark. I slowly walked to the bed and sat down. I took a deep breath and I jumped back up.

"Leza?" I whispered.

I felt my eyes water. I dropped the beer bottle letting it spill all over the floor. My hands fell on my stomach.

I felt her. I just felt her pass through me. I knew it was her. I smelled her. I pulled my hoodie closer to my face and sniffed. It was her!

"Leza?" I asked loudly. I looked around. Nothing. No movement, no sounds. Did I really want to hear anything though? What was I doing? I shook my head and shut my eyes tight trying to make the soon-to-be tears go away. It worked.

I ran to the bathroom to grab a cleaning spray and paper towels to clean up the beer. I went back down stairs when I finished.

I ran to the bathroom and splashed my face with cold water. I glanced back at the mirror. My eyeliner was smeared and running. I didn't really care though. I just wiped the stains from my cheeks and left the bathroom.

I needed to get out of this house. I found myself walking to the car and driving away. I went to the grocery store to get some food. I was running low on beer as well. On my way back home I got lost in my thoughts. I guess I've been trying really hard to avoid Leza. But what else was I going to do? Who says it's the law to constantly mourn a lost life? I wasn't going to let the sadness overwhelm me. I wouldn't allow it. My mother thought I was being selfish. If I was so selfish why did I leave my life to end up here?

I stopped the car and got out trying to relax my mind. But when I got out I realized I wasn't in my driveway. I was in front of the blue house with the pretty pink door. How the fuck did I end up here? I was so confused. Did I just drive here subconsciously? Fuck it. I walked up to the house and stopped in front of the door. I paused for a moment, contemplating if I should go through with whatever stupid thought was running through my mind. I slowly placed my hand on the door knob and turned, pushing the door open slowly. I wasn’t surprised that it was opened, since the occupant hasn’t been in to lock everything up. It was a little light outside still so it made me feel a lot better. I looked around to see if anyone was looking.

I took a step inside. I don't know what I was doing honestly. I had looked for a light switch and flipped it up, turning on the hallway lights. The first thing I saw was a large framed photo on the wall of two baby girls which I assumed were the little girls I met. I stepped in a little further and saw the living room area. There were dolls on the floor. The girls were probably playing before they left the house. It gave me chills. I felt like I stepped into a murder scene. No one was killed but it still gave me a weird feeling for some reason. I walked into the kitchen. The refrigerator had photos held by magnets. A few child drawings, one said by Mary the other by Charlotte. I guess I now know their names.

I decided not to explore further and head towards the door. I think I had enough of breaking in anyway. Before I reached the door I heard footsteps upstairs. They were heavy, and slow. They seemed to slowly walk in the direction of the stairs which was still in my sight. I stood there frozen as they stopped at the foot of the steps.