There was no sign of Bianca. Michelle grabbed her pillow and pushed it against her face thinking it would help distract her from the uneasy feeling surrounding her. She closed her eyes and felt herself slipping away. Suddenly, pressure on the other side of the pillow drives it against her nose and mouth suffocating her.
Michelle flailed her limbs frantically trying to draw air into her lungs. She could feel what appeared to be the outline of a hand on the opposite side of the pillow. Someone was trying to smother her. She struggled to scream but they were muffled by the fabric. She can feel her face swelling as the blood vessels expand desperately trying to get air to her brain.
She feels herself slipping as her energy fades. 'What will Bianca do without me?' she thinks as she fades out. Thinking of her daughter gives the dying woman one last burst of adrenaline. She uses every muscle in her body to try and get the invisible hand off of her. She rolls over landing on Ben and then finally onto the floor.
He jumps up from his sleep in a panic. "What..!?" he shouts out with his eyes still closed. Michelle lies on the floor coughing and struggling to breathe. Ben sits up and stares down at his suffering wife with concern.
"Michelle, what's wrong?" He rolls out of bed and stoops down to her level.
"Something... something was... trying to kill me..." she manages to choke out between deep breathes. Ben's concern diminishes the second he hears her explanation.
"You've got to be kidding me." he sighs out as he rolls his eyes.
Michelle squints her eyes at him. "What?" She snaps at him. "You think I'm lying about it?"
"I think you had a bad dream and you're rushing to blame a ghost."
Michelle glares at her husband with disbelief. "I was almost killed no thanks to you!" she blames him for not coming to her rescue.
"Me? I didn't do anything to you. You're the one letting yourself get all worked up over some ghost story..."
"It's not some 'ghost story'." Michelle climbs to her feet. "But you'd understand that if you opened your mind." She grabs the blanket from the bed leaving Ben with no warmth.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" He challenges his wife.
"You're closed minded." She states as a matter of fact as she turns her back to him.
"And where do you think you're going?" He asks her as he stands up.
"I don't have to answer to you." she leaves the bedroom with the blanket in a huff. Ben sits on the edge of the bed angry and annoyed at his wife. 'What the hell is her problem?' he thinks to himself.
It was the weekend again and Bianca was home from school playing upstairs. The tension between Michelle and Ben has finally started to subside. Michelle finished the load of laundry and headed upstairs to put it away.
She passes Bianca's room with a glance. Empty. She must be in the living room Michelle thought briefly. She entered her bedroom in time to hear an ear drum shattering blast. Terror fills every vein as Bianca drops her father's gun on the carpet in a state of panic and fear. A bullet hole above the head board of the California king sized bed emits a small puff of dust and smoke.
"Bianca! What the...!" Michelle rushes to her daughter's aide. Bianca stands in the middle of the room with a face of fear. Luckily, Michelle's sudden emergence startled Bianca just in time to make her miss the target; her head. Michelle can't believe what she was witnessing. Her daughter was just seconds away from blowing her own brains out.
"What were you thinking?" Michelle coos as she takes her daughter in her arms. "Why were you playing with Daddy's gun? We told you countless of times not to come in here." Michelle scolds her as she pulls her tighter into a hug.
The commotion has drawn Ben out of his study and in the doorway of the bedroom. It takes him just a second to look at the hole in the wall to realize what was going on.
"Michelle! What were you trying to do?" He asks as he swoops Bianca up in his arms. He turns to his wife with accusation written all over his face.
"Are you trying to kill my daughter?" He raises his voice to his wife. Michelle shakes her head in denial. She knows what Ben is thinking and it's absurd. Does he really think that his own wife would try to shoot Bianca?
"It wasn't me. I..."
"Save it! I don't even know you anymore. I need some time to reevaluate us. You need to leave. " He turns with Bianca in his arms. Michelle opens her mouth to defend herself but before she can Bianca finally speaks up.
"Daddy, stop!" She squirms out of his grip and away from him. "Stop being mean to Mommy. She listens to me unlike you. She didn't try to hurt me. I did." Ben's eyes search his daughter's for any sign of a lie. But her look is genuine and he can't believe it.
"Bianca, why?" His voice is soft and eager. He wants answers on to why his baby almost took her own precious life.
"Emily told me to do it. She wants me to join her." Bianca looks her father straight in the eye with no hint of dishonesty and once again he is baffled. He didn't care if it came straight from his daughter. He blamed Michelle as always. To him, Emily was Michelle. Emily was his wife's subconscious rearing it's ugly head. He believed that deep down Michelle wanted Bianca dead. So her mind made up this imaginary girl and convinced Bianca that she was real. Emily would be the one to blame if something were to happen to Bianca.
"I can't believe this." He's silent for a few moments seemingly collecting his thoughts. "Bianca, go downstairs and wait for me. I need to talk to your mother." Bianca follows his instructions. Michelle looks up to him with pain etched in every pore on her face.
"What did I tell you? Because of your superstition our daughter almost shot herself. You've encouraged all of this bizarre behavior. I can't trust you around not only my daughter but now me. You're unstable. I can't even look at you right now." He adverts his eyes from his wife. "You'll be hearing from my lawyer." He leaves Michelle alone in the room. Did he just hint at a divorce? She can't bare it. Not this. None of this was her fault. Emily was real and she was causing destruction and pain everywhere she went. Why wouldn't Ben believe her? She wasn't mentally ill. But he wouldn't hear it.
After sealing up the bullet hole Michelle goes to search for her daughter. There was no way she was going to let Ben take Bianca. Michelle finds her daughter sitting on the couch with a tear in her eye. Michelle takes a seat next to her.
"Bianca, honey. Listen. I know Daddy isn't very understanding but it's okay. That's just how he is. It doesn't mean that he loves you or me any less. Okay?" The girl nods acknowledging her mom's words. "He just doesn't believe in the same things that we do. And that's okay." She strokes her daughter's long blonde locks. "I want you to promise me something. Promise that you won't listen to Emily anymore. She is a bad girl. She's trying to hurt you. Don't listen to her. Alright?" Bianca nods to her mother's surprise. Michelle would have expected a bigger argument to ensue but maybe Bianca sees it as well. Emily is bad news and Bianca has no problem severing their friendship.
Just mere days have passed since the incident in the kitchen. Ben hasn't spoken one word to Michelle since Bianca tried to kill herself. He still blamed Michelle for everything. She felt betrayed. Her own husband wouldn't believe her. Her own husband believed that she was trying to kill their daughter.
Ben enters the living room and stares down at his wife with cold, hate-fill eyes. His once warm and cheery attitude has done a full 360. He didn't love her anymore. In fact, he seemed to loathe her.
"Here." He hands his wife a pile of stapled pages. He looks down at his own feet for a second while Michelle glances at the pages. Grief strikes her. She can't speak. She can't protest. All she can do is cry. Tears stream down her pink cheeks as her eyes plead with him to reconsider.
"I'm sorry but I can't deal with this. You're not the same woman I fell in love with. You're not the same mother to my child. You're unstable, Michelle. And you need help. Professional help. I want you to sign them and then admit yourself to the mental hospital. I'll take care of Bianca. And then
maybe, just maybe, when you're better we'll try things out again." The knot in Michelle's throat prevents her from replying.
Is this where things have gone so fast? To divorce papers being dealt? They've only been in this house less than a month and already their marriage has went to hell. They used to be so happy. In fact, it was just a few months ago that Ben and her tied the knot. It was the happiest day of both of their lives. They've been madly in love since high school. Next month they were set to make their 10 year anniversary. Michelle was excited.
Now none of that would ever happen. Michelle had hopes that she and Ben would grow old together. She thought they were perfect for each other. But she must have thought wrong. Ben wouldn't even give her the benefit of the doubt and try to listen to her. He never would believe anything was wrong with this house. The house that destroyed her life.
"Bianca doesn't need to know about this, got it? I'll talk to her and explain..." His sentence is hindered by screams in the kitchen. Michelle and Ben both hustle into the kitchen to find Bianca holding her hands in front of her face with tears of pain. The stove is nothing but a hunk of flames.
"Oh my God!" Ben yells out in a panic as he grabs the fire extinguisher next to the fridge. He pulls the nozzle and white fluffy foam shoots out diminishing the threat. Michelle hauls her daughter to the kitchen