Cardigan Weather

Chapter 3

Author's Note: Hi there, readers! I hope you've liked the story so far. This is where things get a bit interesting and a tad scary. To your right is a picture of one of Lily's art pieces. Let me know what you think in a comment and I shall return the favor! Hope you like it!

Lily

I whistle a tune to myself as I unlock the front door. I'm in a wonderful mood. The guy I met at the bar was so sweet. I'd left my phone number with him when we parted outside. Tomorrow is going to be amazing. I'm ecstatic. I throw myself down on the couch and take off my boots. I can't stop smiling.

For about a week now, I've been going to the same bar every night. Some nights, I bring a man home with me to take to bed, but only on the nights I wear red lipstick. It makes me into the person I always wanted to be: bold and adventurous. I become someone else. I put on my red lipstick and it's like a mask. When I'm wearing it, I feel as though I can have any man I want. I'm not nervous and clumsy anymore. I'm sexy and graceful instead. Lily without red was no one anyone took notice of. She let ignorant, worthless men walk all over her, But Lily in red, she's something else. She's beautiful and mysterious... and a murderer. Oh yes, Lily in red is stronger. She is the better version of myself. She in the one who finally released me from all the pain and hatred you made me feel.

Tonight, I didn't bring a man home with me. I was only doing that for you anways. I know you're still here, watching, and I want you to feel what I've felt. No, tonight, I didn't bother with your silly friends. I've already had them. I saw a man at the bar I'd never seen before. I talked to him and now I have a date. All because of my red lipstick. It gave me the courage I needed to talk to the attractive out-of-towner at the bar. I giggle to myself, giddy at the idea of having a date. I haven't been on a date in four years. You never took me on dates after we got married.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a flash of movement. I sit up quickly. "Zues? Amadeus?" The dogs have been missing for a couple weeks now. It's unlike them to stay gone this long, but it's not uncommon for dogs to get lost in the woods around here. "Here, boy. Come here." I click my tongue. "Where'd you go?" I get up and walk to the kitchen where I saw the movement. Nothing in there. I walk slowly back to the living room. I see something disappear at the edge of my vision again, this time down the hall. I go to our bedroom (just mine now). Nothing there.

I decide I must be tired and it's causing my imagination to play tricks on me. I often hallucinate when I'm sleepy. I go to my pajama drawer and grab a matched set. I lay them on my bed. I take off my cardigan, going to the closet to hang it up. I pull my dress over my head. For an instant, I see through the fabric a dark shadow. My breath hitches in my chest. I stumble backward, throwing the dress off. There's nothing there. My heart is pounding.

I gather myself. "I know it's you. You're not going to scare me." I make a show of taking off my bra, since I know you're watching. "Enjoying the view?" I wink over my shoulder.

I can imagine you standing there. I can imagine the face you would make, your expression hungry, longing to touch me. I grin wickedly at the thought. The image is so vivid, it's like you're really there. I touch you, trailing my fingers down your chest. "I met someone today," I tell you. "I met him at the bar. You should be happy for me." You're not. I can see it on your face. I sigh. "Be happy for me. I'm better off without you." I can't read anything from your expression. It's blank and closed. "Tell me you're happy for me." I shove you. You don't say anything. You aren't even looking at me anymore. "Say it! Why won't you say it?" You won't say anything. My voice has risen to a scream. "Say something, goddamnit!" I pick up the clock from the beside table and throw it at you.

It hits the wall and you aren't there anymore. I blink. I had let myself believe you were really there. It felt so real. Was it real? I shake my head. It can't have been real. Youre dead, after all. I'm breathing heavily. Am I missing you? Is that why I'm seeing you? I know you weren't really there, but I can't be missing you. I just can't. Not after what you've done... but I am.

No! I'm not. Stop thinking that. There's a soft thump, as though someone knocked something down on the carpet. I dress in a hurry. I peer around the bedroom doorway. One of my art pieces lays on the floor, a cat with the wings of a crow. I slowly walk toward it and pick it up, sitting it back on the mantle. There's another thud from behind me. Another one has dropped, this time a  rabbit's head on a robin's body. You always hated those. You said it  was sick to put the animals together like that. No one ever bought them. They were my own special pieces. I'm so proud of them. I gave them new life. It's like playing God. I could make whatever I wanted, whatever I imagined. I put the rabbit bird back on the table where it belongs.

There's a crash from one of the rooms down the hall. I head toward the sound. I won't let you scare me. The sound came from the room at the end of the hall. I see a shadow beneath the door, but I won't open it. On the other side of that door lies your study. There's another crash from behind the door.

And another.

And another.

And another.

Each one grows louder. Over and over again. Louder and louder. The sound has become overpowering. I can't hear anything else. I hold my ears. "Stop it. Stop it. Stop it." I can't even hear myself. I wish something would make it stop. It's hurting my ears. Make it stop. Make it stop. "MAKE IT STOP!" And it does. The shadow is gone. Everything is silent except for the violent pounding of my heart. I pick myself up of the ground, where I had somehow ended up. "You will not scare me. I killed you. It is you who should be afraid of me." I say coldly.

There were no more disturbances that night.