The Psychic Next Door

[First Draft] Chapter 5: Answer

I woke up to the sound of banging. I sat up suddenly, my heart thumping, though I wasn't sure why. Where was I? This wasn't my apartment... My mind was still clouded with the effects of heavy sleep.  

When it all came flooding back to me, I was impressed that I had slept at all. It was late at night, the sun had set; this afternoon seemed like ages ago. It felt like years had past since I heard that horrible animalistic scream, months since Polly had taken me into her home and locked me in a room and weeks since I opened my disappearing laptop and found a threatening note on my desktop. Yet it had been a matter of hours.  

The banging came again. I froze, suddenly fearful that the phantom beast had returned, had followed me to this unfamiliar home. Fear surged through me, because I was trapped in this room... maybe trapped with it... with no way out...  

But my paranoia was dispelled when a voice accompanied the knocking. The noise was coming from the door, and Polly was on the other side. "Rachel? Are you okay?" her voice was a little shaky.  

A tiny clunking noise told me she had unlocked the door, and I was right. The door swung open a crack, Polly peering through. "Ah! You're awake."  

I nodded, my hand on my chest, trying to calm my erratic heart. It was like I was fearful that she could see it, and that would make her suspect my sanity even more.  

"How are you feeling?" She said, her voice back to calm, sing-song and distant. What was she afraid had happened when I didn't answer her right away?  

"I feel a lot better, actually, after resting. Calmer." I emphasized the word calmer to let Polly know that I wasn't totally losing it like she obviously assumed.  

"Would you like some tea?"  

"Uhm..." I paused. My throat burned with thirst, but mind was already preoccupied on the message I received last night; the strange little text file left on my desktop bothered me immensely.  

How did it arrive there? What was its source? Though it was being shaken, my steadfast belief that the supernatural didn't exist still clung to me. I sought a logical explanation. I was determined to find where it came from.  

I had decided last night that my home network had been compromised. My explanation was that some sneaky neighbour had hacked my connection and placed the file on my desktop just to fuck with me and that the noise was a mere coincidence and was really just a dog on the street or a stray cat in the alley. Of course, it didn't explain the sudden disappearance of my laptop, but I was too scared to admit to myself that my grip on reality was hanging by a string and I was willing to accept any explanation that was rooted in the physical, the explainable.  

I wanted to return to my apartment to test my theory, desperate to regain some feeling of safety. I wanted to check the security of my internet connection, in hopes that my last desperate theory was right so i could regain some confidence in my own sanity.  

"Polly," I began, forming the word carefully. I approached it cautiously, calmly, worried that Polly would shoot me down. I hoped that she didn't think of me as damaged enough that I couldn't be trusted out of the house. "You did a great job of packing my things last night, but you forgot some stuff. Can we go back to my apartment to get it?"  

My voice threatened to tremble at the mention of my apartment, the place I dreaded going the most, but I was sure that I had been rash to think that something supernatural was the cause of all this and fought to keep it even.  

Polly eyed me cautiously, and I was sure she was hesitant whether to trust my sudden confidence. But it worked, she shrugged opened the door for me leave the room. "Alright, if it's quick." she said with a skeptical edge, confirming my suspicions.