The Horrific Tale of Silver ✖

Turn-7

"Hey, Sil, how you doing? Are you alright now?" Silver heard Candice's concerned voice.

Everything was dark for Silver. Her friend's voice was the only thing keeping her from freaking out. She knew it wasn't a dream. She knew Candice was somewhere near her.

Slowly, Silver opened her eyes and saw a little purple bird hanging on the edge of her dressing table. She felt safe knowing that she was in her room.

Silver saw Candice sitting beside her, holding her hand.

"How did I get here? I was in the kitchen when I..." Silver asked.

The last thing she remembered was running back home and paving between her kitchen and living room.

Someone made a sound, alerting Silver. She looked beside Candice and saw Red sitting on the blue blue bean bag with his legs crossed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, trying to exert pressure on her throat.

"Sitting on your bean bag. It's kind of old. I think you should get a new one. I can get you discount, if you'd like." Red typed something on his phone.

Silver felt anger rushing through her veins. "What are you doing in my room? In my house? Did you follow me here? How did you even get in?"

Candice squeezed Silver's hand. "Calm down, Sil. Just relax. He is here to help. I got home and found you unconscious on the kitchen floor. I called Dave, but I kept getting his voice mail. Then your phone rang, I answered the call it was Red Clifton. I told him everything, and then he got here. He helped me to get you into your room. There was no way I could have done that on my own. You have put on weight, I guess."

"That's not true," Silver said in her defence.

Red interuppted in between. "Don't trust your friend. She is just messing with you. You are okay."

"I'm not." Candice smiled, softly nudging Red.

Silver find herself in an awkward position. Seeing her friend and the guy she met two days ago giggling like best friends. "What is happening?" she asked.

"Nothing. We are just chatting. Getting to know each other, aren't we, Red?" Candice bit her lip.

"Oh, yes. We are." Red looked at Candice and gave a wide smile.

"Please, don't. At least not in front of me. My head still hurts, okay? Can I get some silence here. I'm still recovering." There was a hint of irritation in Silver's voice.

"That reminds me why were you asleep on the kitchen's floor?" Candice asked.

The smile disappeared from Candice's face for a while.

On hearing the question, Silver tried to think of an answer and for doing that her mind went back to the time when she just got home after getting off the subway.

One hour ago...

Silver was lucky that her house was near from where she got off the train. She herself didn't know why she did that. It was not a spur of the moment kind of thing either. The sound of rain brought back the memories from what happened with her in the office and last night. She couldn't get her mind off it. The rain didn't bother her, it was the sound of it. She kept on asking herself the reason why and ended up with nothing.

She tried to replay the voice she heard earlier, it was still crystal clear in her mind, in her ears. Every time she dismissed it as the work of her tired mind and a night of improper sleep, the voice called her again. Taking her name repeatedly as if somebody was playing a song on the repeat mode.

She went home and locked the doors properly. She was afraid of being outside with all the people but after reaching home she was afraid of being alone. Silver went to the kitchen area and saw a post it note from Candice saying that she'll be back by 11.

Silver made some coffee for her. She knew it was the wrong time to drink caffeine. She feared that it might mess up her sleep cycle again but she needed something strong. She added a little cocoa powder and chocolate syrup to enhance the taste.

She drank the coffee quietly, sitting on her couch. Tune of the carousel song started playing. Silver flipped on the couch, loosing her balance. The sound grew louder and louder. She stood at the end of the stairs. There was a complete silence followed by the nickering of a horse.

"Candice, are you up there?" Silver's voice flickered.

The background tune became unbearable for her. She felt like her ears will start to bleed at any point of time.

Silver wanted to run away from the house but her feet jammed. She couldn't move, she couldn't turn. She heard the hopping of a horse. The sound began to come towards her. Moving closer to her with every second that was passing by.

"Who are you?" She cried.

She could hear the loud, crisp sound reaching to her ears. The sound was pressed to her body. She felt damp air touching her body. Her hair moving in different directions.

"Why are you doing this to me? Please, stop. This sound is killing me, please."

Now...

That was the last thing Silver could recall.

"Silver, can you hear me?" Candice shook her shoulder gently.

Silver's body tingled. "I heard a sound."

"Sound? What sound?" Candice asked.

"It was a song actually. The carousel song, that tune was. Someone was playing it." Silver's face grew tensed.

"What are you talking about? The song? Where did you hear that?" Candice was getting more and more worried.

Silver clutched the sheets beneath her. "When I got back home, I heard a sound. It was coming from upstairs. Then I heard some animal. I think it was a horse."

Red looked at Candice, signalling her to not say anything further.

Red moved closer to the bed, watching Silver eye to eye. "Hey, you need to relax. We are here with you. You don't have to be scared. You are not alone."

"But, I-I..." Silver panicked.

Red sat beside her, holding her. "Ssshhh. Just breathe."

Silver put her head on Red's chest. "I don't know what's happening."

The carousel song begin playing again. "Did you hear it? You hear it, too? You guys can hear it too, right?"

Silver tightened her grip on Red's collar, almost choking him.

"Yes, we can hear it, too," he said, caressing her hands. "Relax. It must be coming from outside. There are a couple of kids playing outside your house."

Red helped Silver to calm down. He took the help of Candice and managed to put Silver back to sleep. They walked out of her room, leaving the door half opened.

"Why did you lie, Red?" Candice whispered.

"About what?" He asked, knowing the question already.

"About the song. There was no song playing in the room. We didn't hear a thing."

"I had to, okay," he moved away from her. "I had to."

A/N: The instrumental version of the carousel song in the media.