I shrugged my shoulders, otherwise ignoring her question. “Hey, give it a rest. What bad could possibly come of this?”
Abby pointed at my brother, wrinkling her nose as though smelling something rotten. “He’s here, isn’t he?”
Closing the door, Andy approached the table–cautiously. “As entertaining as it is to have you two discuss my possible shortcomings in my presence, I would very much prefer a change of topic.”
“Wow, mighty big words for a weasel!” Abby eyed him with a disgusted look on her face.
“I’ll just ignore that,” Andy whispered as though to himself. Then he put a cheerful grin on his face and after placing the box on the table opened it. “I don’t come empty-handed. Here, a peace offering.”
“The Greeks came bearing gifts as well,” Abby said, “and we all know how that ended.” Nonetheless, she took a donut and dunked it in her coffee. “You may go now.” Like a queen ending an audience, she waved a hand at my brother dismissively.
“Thanks,” he said, pulling out a chair and seating himself between me and Abby.
She looked at him with raised eyebrows. “I meant go as in leave. The apartment. Now.”
“I just got here,” Andy objected, helping himself to a donut.
“That doesn’t mean you get to stay.”
“Then make me leave,” he challenged her, a big grin on his face.
“Hey, stop it! Both of you!” I interfered, seeing a furious gleam light up Abby’s eyes. “It’s Sunday. The day to recharge your batteries before another busy week empties them again. But with you two around, I’m not getting any recharging done.”
“What are you looking at me for?” Abby asked, looking slightly offended. “He’s the one causing all the trouble.” She turned to Andy. “You couldn’t just stay away, could you?”
Andy frowned. “Hey, a few days ago you were the one complaining that I didn’t care enough to come around more often. And now that I do, you’re complaining again. Are you just so used to nagging? Or is it me?”
“What can I say?” Abby shrugged her shoulders. “You just bring out the best in me.” She batted her eyelashes at him mockingly.
“I just want to see my sister,” Andy said, looking somewhat defeated.
Abby pointed at me. “There she is. You saw her. Now you can go.”
Andy turned to me, looking tired. “Is she always like that?”
I was about to answer when I realized that the truth would just get me in trouble along with my brother. “I’m afraid I’ll have to plead the fifth.”
Andy grinned. “Good one, Sis.”
“How about we talk about something else?” I suggested. “Something less incriminating?”
“Good idea,” Andy said. “So, who is a stalker?”
“The guy under Jena’s window,” Abby said, turning her attention back to the donut in her hand.
Andy’s eyes opened in alarm. “There’s a guy under your window?”
“Not right now,” I corrected.
“But there was?”
I nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Andy asked, sounding more worried than angry.
Abby snorted. “And what would you have done, little brother?”
Ignoring her, Andy went on, “Do you know who he is?”
I shook my head. “He was at the restaurant a couple of times and asked for me, but we never said a word to each other because he always disappeared before I could get to him. It’s very strange.” I grabbed another donut. “I really wonder who he is.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?” Andy suggested.
Abby laughed. “And tell them what? That there is a guy, who now and then shows up at the restaurant, like many, many other people, and rudely enough he speaks to no one and refuses to order? Sounds like a real psychopath. That’s for sure.”
“Do you ever shut up?” Andy asked, getting annoyed.
“I wouldn’t count on it.”
“Look, I admit it’s a little weird,” I started, and Andy frowned at me. “Okay, maybe more than a little,” I admitted. “But Abby is right. He has never threatened me in any way. I don’t think there is a point in calling the police. I mean, we don’t even know what he wants.”
“Then we should ask him,” Andy said. “Next—”
“Wow, great plan!” Abby said mockingly. “Did you come up with that one all by yourself? Or did you have help?”
Andy shot her an evil glance. “Do you ever contribute anything helpful?” He turned back to me without waiting for an answer. “I’ll be at the restaurant next week, and when he shows up again, we’ll ask him, all right?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure.” He was taking this a lot more seriously than I was.
Placing my cup in the sink, I excused myself and headed for the shower. Sleeping in had felt so wonderful, but with those two constantly baiting each other, I felt drained again. The hot water eased a few of my tense muscles, and when I stepped out, the world did look a little friendlier.
It didn’t sound any friendlier though.
Even through the closed bathroom door, I could hear them arguing. It was like a ping pong match. Only the ball was hateful words being thrown back and forth between them. Strangely, it had a certain regularity to it. It was almost like they lived in their own little world with their own little set of rules.
I frowned. Maybe to them, all this did make some kind of weird sense. For me, though, it was just annoying.
Walking back out into the kitchen, I was about to excuse myself again and head outside for a walk in the hopes of avoiding another headache when I realized they weren’t even aware of my presence. They were too busy coming up with more hurtful things to say, so that I just left without saying a word.
The fresh air felt wonderful–as much as city air can be fresh. But it felt nice nonetheless. However, when I got back after an hour or two, they were still at it. I could hear them arguing from the hallway and almost turned on my heel.
Opening the door, I found them doing the dishes. Both of them. Abby was rinsing them off, and Andy stood there with a dishtowel in his hand waiting for her to hand him the clean ones. And yet, they were still arguing. It was the most bizarre thing I had ever seen.
“What are you even majoring in?” Abby snapped. “10 ways to a more annoying you?”
Andy grinned. “Hey, maybe I should talk to my professor and have you come in as a guest lecturer, you being the expert and all. How would you feel about that?”
“Do you even attend lectures? I always thought you were too busy doing nothing and getting on other people’s nerves to do some actual studying.”
Without saying a word, I headed to my room, closed the door, and concentrated on not hearing them. Lying down on the bed, I grabbed my mother’s book from the nightstand. As I opened it, the silver bookmark I’d seen before fell out. I had completely forgotten about it, but looking at it now, I felt absolutely sure that I had never seen it until a couple of days ago.
And yet, it seemed strangely familiar.
Shaking my head, I put it aside and opened Little Women at a random page, reading a little just to keep my thoughts occupied. It worked. I didn’t hear them anymore. So I read and read and read until there came a knock on the door.
“I wondered if you were asleep,” Abby said, sticking her head in. “It was so quiet.”
“You actually noticed?”
“What do you mean?”
“Me being quiet,” I said. “With you guys yelling at each other, I didn’t think you’d notice the world ending as long as it didn’t interrupt you.”
“We weren’t that loud, were we?”
I nodded ‘yes’.
Abby shrugged. “Sorry about that. It was just a heated discussion about…something,” she said, a concentrated frown appearing on her face.
“You don’t even know, do you?”
“Gosh, it was this and that,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Nothing important.”
/>
“And yet, it was important enough to argue about. And I’m not talking minutes. I’m talking hours.” I rubbed my eyes, feeling tired. “And frankly, it was more than just annoying. You know what? Now, I’m the one insisting that my brother won’t come over again. At least not any time soon. Or at least not when you’re around.”
A faint smile appeared on Abby’s face. “As you wish,” she said, closing the door behind her, and for a moment, I wondered if she had just orchestrated the whole thing to get rid of my brother more permanently.
The following night was another restless one. Even during the hours of deep sleep, I felt like neither my mind nor body were able to relax and let go of…what exactly? It was as though there was something constantly keeping me energized.
Before I woke up, I knew I had dreamed of something. But the moment my eyes opened, it was like a thick fog rose from the ground covering my dream, not allowing me a single glimpse at it. The only thing I did remember were the same things I always remembered; the voice and the strange beeping sound. It was as though my senses had been reduced to only allow sounds to make their way to my mind. All my other senses seemed to be out of order.
However, as soon as the lulling clouds of sleep evaporated, something else started knocking on the door to my consciousness, a feeling of nausea and dizziness.
First, I ignored my alarm clock, but when that proved too annoying, I turned it off. I stayed in bed though, curled up in a ball, waiting for that sickening feeling to leave.
It didn’t, though.
Sometime later, Abby stuck her head in. “You awake?”
“Yes.” Even to my own ears my voice sounded croaky.
Without turning on the light, Abby found her way to my bed in the half-dark and sitting down beside me put her hand on my forehead. “You don’t have a temperature,” she said matter-of-factly.
“I know. But I feel nauseous somehow. Maybe I ate something weird.”
“Maybe it was the donuts,” Abby suggested.
I eyed her in the dark. “Are you only saying that because my brother brought them over?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a reasonable assumption.”
“If that’s so, then how come you’re fine?”
“I’m just more resilient than you are. No offense, Sweetie, but you are easily put off your feet.”
“Thanks. That makes me feel so much better,” I said, pulling the blanket tighter around my shoulders.
“All right, you’re staying home,” Abby announced. “Get some sleep.” She rose and headed for the door.
“I’m not sure that will help,” I mumbled.
“What do you mean?”
Not knowing how to explain the strange feeling of detachedness I’d been experiencing for days, I just started babbling. I said whatever came to mind, not thinking about choosing my words. I was too tired for that. “I’ve been having weird dreams. And when I wake up, I feel…I don’t know, but not rested at all. I feel tense. Like I’m forgetting something important. And the dreams seem to get more urgent every night. I don’t know what to make of them.”
Abby frowned. “What do you dream about?”
“That’s just it,” I said, feeling more exhausted with every word. “I have no idea. If anything happens in these dreams, then I don’t remember. When I wake up, all that stays with me is a weird sound that makes me feel…very uneasy, like it’s something bad or dangerous. A warning or so. I don’t know.” My eyes closed for good. It was too tiring to keep them open. “And then there is a voice. A voice I know I’ve heard before. It definitely sounds familiar. But I don’t know who it is or where I might have heard it before.”
“I admit that does sound freaky,” Abby said lightly. But despite her effort to hide it, I detected concern in her voice. “Maybe you really should go see a doctor.”
“About my dreams?” I frowned.
“Maybe it’s a symptom or something, I don’t know.”
“A symptom of what?”
She shook her head. “Blimey, you’re daft this morning!” she exclaimed, sounding slightly annoyed. “You do remember that you hit your head recently and passed out, right? Who knows, what got loose up there and needs tightening up? Maybe you should really have it checked out.”
“Maybe,” I mumbled, feeling the pull of unconsciousness again. As soon as I gave in to it, there they were again. Like clockwork. The sound and the voice. They were trying to tell me something. I just wished I knew what.
Book Two
Chapter Five – A Good Night's Sleep
Opening my eyes, the first thing I noticed was that the nausea and dizziness had disappeared. I felt fine.
Exhilarated, I got up and grabbed a woolen sweater from the pile of clothes stored by my bed. I was already halfway to the door when I stopped. Something had caught my attention, though right then and there, I couldn’t say what.
I turned around and focused my gaze on the nightstand, letting my eyes glide over every item. At first, I didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary, but only a moment later, it hit me right between the eyes.
Right there next to my much-hated alarm clock and the bedside lamp laid one of my mother’s books. However, it wasn’t Little Women, which I had thumped through only a day ago, but Jane Eyre.
I sat down on my bed and picked up the book. Opening it, I found the by now somewhat familiar and yet unknown silver bookmark that read Today & Tomorrow.
Frowning, I stared at the book.
This was truly strange. I didn’t remember taking Jane Eyre off the shelf, much less reading it recently. Still shaking my head about the little things in life that sometimes just didn’t seem to make any sense at all, I opened my bedroom door and headed for the kitchen.
And once again, I stopped.
Sitting at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper was my brother.
Although that alone could definitely be categorized as weird, it got even weirder.
In one hand, he held a cup of coffee while the other was busy dunking a half-eaten roll in the jam pot. So far so good, however, what was most bizarre about this picture was that my brother, the eternal student, unable–or at least unwilling–to comb his hair, always sleeping till noon, wore a suit and tie, hair neatly brushed out of his face.
With mouth agape, I stared at him for what seemed like forever. Once I’d finally rediscovered my voice, I croaked, “What the hell are you doing here?”
He looked up from the paper, confusion putting his forehead in a frown. “What do you mean?”
I shook my head, still not sure I was seeing things right. “I mean ‘what the hell are you doing here?’”
The frown on his face deepened. Then he stood up and shook his head, a hint of anger in his eyes. “Look, you said I could crash on your couch. If you changed your mind, just say so, but don’t play me for a fool.”
“I said what?” I stared at him, thinking he had to have lost his mind.
Andy just nodded.
“Why would I do that? What’s wrong with your place?” Looking at him again, I finally had to ask, “And what the hell are you wearing?”
Once more, the frown on his face deepened. “What are you talking about? Are you all right?”
For a second, I wondered about that myself. “I think so.”
“You said I could stay here…for a while,” he repeated.
I nodded. None of this made any sense. “So you said. But when? And why?”
“Why?” he asked, looking at me as though I’d finally lost my mind. “Because your best friend kicked me out of our apartment. And since you’re my sister, you said I could stay for a few days.”
“My best friend?” I mumbled before my mouth fell open, and I gaped at him. “Abby?” Staring at him in disbelief, I felt like I’d been pulled into some freaky alternative universe.
“Yes, of course Abby,” he said, sounding angry. “What are you playing at? You know this is really not the time to make fun of me. If you want me out, just sa
y so. If not, I’d appreciate it if you could be a little supportive.”
“I’m sorry,” I stammered. Andy and Abby, I wondered. “When did this happen? How…I mean…”
Again, he stared at me. “What is going on? Why are you asking this?”
I shook my head, feeling a frown spread over my own face. “I don’t know. I feel a little confused. It’s like I’m still stuck in a dream or something.”
“Okay,” he said slowly, still looking at me like I was in serious need of counseling. “I need to go to work,” he added, taking another sip of coffee. Then he picked up a briefcase and headed out the door. “See you tonight.”
I had no idea how long I just stood there, staring at the closed door and thinking that I’d finally lost it. Maybe Abby was right and the head injury was more serious than I’d thought. Maybe I should really go have my head checked out. Whatever was going on here couldn’t possibly be real. It had to be a full-blown hallucination.
However, everything looked and felt so real. Not like a dream at all.
Slowly, I returned to my room and got dressed, everywhere discovering tiny things that had changed. Here and there, a different picture hung on the wall, a new couch stood in the living room and a greater number of magnets decorated the refrigerator front. All these things were a little weird but somehow I could accept them. They didn’t throw me off my feet. When I went into Abby’s room, though, a shock wave hit me.
Abby’s room simply wasn’t Abby’s room anymore.
I should have known from what Andy had said, and yet, my mind hadn’t made the leap.
A lonely desk and an old office chair stood under the window, next to them a few boxes and a shelf with old knickknacks. But it was clear that Abby didn’t live here anymore. Had she moved out, I wondered. When? How come I didn’t remember?
Returning to the kitchen, I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. With my face buried in my hands, I tried to think. What was going on? Maybe I should just head out and see a doctor immediately. But he probably would have me committed without thinking about it twice.
Abby had moved out, and it had to have been a while ago. However, as far as I remembered she had lived here up until yesterday. What was even more disturbing was that there seemed to have been something going on between Andy and Abby.