"Nope, I got it. I was just taking a look at how pretty it was," she called back. Then she emerged from the bedroom and found him impatiently waiting in the hall. She swore he'd been tapping his foot on the soft carpet, because his arms were crossed over his chest. Amanda gave him a sheepish grin. "I kind of forgot where I put it, so it took me a while to remember." She handed over the stone to him, but rather reluctantly. If the small piece hadn't still been laying hidden in the bathroom, she doubted she would have been able to let it go.
"Well, hopefully soon you won't ever remember this thing." She watched in horror as he tossed the stone into the air and nearly dropped it on the fall back into his hand. He gave her a shaky, embarrassed grin. "I think I need to practice a little on that."
"I'd say so," she shot back with more emotion than she'd intended. He noticed her tense tone, and thankfully took that to mean detestation rather than affection toward the rock.
"How about I just shove this into my trunk? It should stay put there until I can toss it back out onto the mountain." He put a hand on her shoulder and nodded back toward her door. "You just get ready for bed and I'll come in later for a goodnight kiss, all right?" Amanda shot him a glare, but he just wagged his eyebrows. "I'll take that as a yes, now be a good girl and scamper off while I go do my chore."
Tony went off to put the rock safely into the trunk of his car. Amanda watched the stone leave with more regret than she cared to admit, and the minute she heard his footsteps retreat down the hall she dashed to the bathroom. Her slid down before the cabinets, and her hands were shaking as she opened the doors and frantically pulled out the bathroom supplies. She had to find that piece of rock, it just had to be here. She couldn't be without some tiny morsel of those delicious, erotic sensations the stone offered her.
Amanda's relief was immense when she spotted the fragment just where she'd put it. She snatched the piece from the shelf and clasped it to herself as though it was the most precious object in the world to her. At that point, sitting there on the floor of the bathroom, she truly believed it was.
However, sitting there and clutching the stone, the lights didn't dim and the heat she'd felt from the larger piece didn't rise from this small fragment. Her hands trembled again, though this time not from excitement but from a creeping fear. She tried turning the stone this way, trying to find some angle which offered even a taste of the sensual feeling. Nothing. There wasn't a single bit of heat nor any sign of any shadows. Her heart sank and her arms dropped down. The rock rolled out of her hands and onto the floor.
Without the larger piece close at hand, this smaller one was a dud.
A sob escaped her throat. She thought about giving in to her sorrow until she heard the front door open and close. Tony had returned. She hurriedly grabbed the stone and shoved it into her jeans pocket, and then stuffed the bathroom materials back into their cupboard. In a moment she was on her feet and running warm water over her face to hide her tears and red cheeks. She heard someone step into her bedroom and remembered that in her rush to get to the bathroom she'd forgotten to shut it.
The footsteps moved closer to the bathroom. With her face scrubbed and a smile on her lips, Amanda stuck her head out.
Professor Ward stood not more than a yard from the bathroom door.
Amanda's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in horror. The man just stood there with that strange smile on his lips and those dark eyes unblinkingly staring at her. She felt her heart nearly burst from her chest at the panic rising inside of her. Her eyes dodged over to the bedroom door, and she was relieved to see it was still open. If she could just get passed him, then she could run out to Tony's car.
"You've given up a great deal," Ward spoke up. The voice was flat and sounded as if it came from a great distance.
She was loath to do it, but she looked closer at the phantasm. The edges of his body were fuzzy, as though he was a projection and the projector was too far away to give a clear picture. She felt rather than knew that the creature was reaching out to her from the distance between Tony's car and the apartment.
"I-I had to. Tony wanted the stone." Amanda didn't know why she was making excuses to this thing, but for some reason she felt she needed to say something in her defense. Perhaps it was an unconscious effort to protect herself, or perhaps she wanted to keep in its good graces to further enjoy its embraces. "I didn't have any other choice."
The creature looked at her as though it was weighing her actions on a scale of sin versus one of necessity. Far off she heard someone stop in front of the entrance to the apartment, and heard the door open. Tony had really arrived this time, and yet the phantom still stood there judging her words, her pleas. Then, just as she heard Tony's footsteps come down the hall, the thing slowly nodded its head and vanished. Tony stuck his head in the door, but thankfully couldn't see her standing just beyond the bathroom door frame.
"You in here?" he called out.
"Y-yes, but I'm just about to take a shower."
Amanda slammed the door to the bathroom and locked the knob. She knew Tony would be suspicious of her keeping him out, but he'd be even more worried if he saw her face just then. Her cheeks were a ghostly white and her body trembled so bad that she had trouble standing. However, her mind was still active, and she slugged through her quivering body to partially close the shower curtain and turn on the shower head.
"Well, I'll get my goodnight kiss when you're out," Tony called out to her. She was immensely grateful when she heard her bedroom door shut behind him.
Amanda clutched onto the cabinets and slowly lowered herself to the floor. She was afraid that standing would only cause her to fall, uncontrolled, to the ground. Images of that smiling face of Ward kept racing through her mind, and she wrapped her arms around herself to protect herself from the horrible memories. The message from that phantasm, the warning in his voice. She'd angered the creature by giving the stone over to Tony.
Amanda dug a hand into her pocket and pulled forth the fragment. The small, innocent-looking object rattled in her shaking hand. She was having deep doubts about whether to keep this small piece or toss it aside. At least then there wouldn't be any chance of her being haunted by that ghastly phantom. Her eyes wandered over to the shower. The water ran down the walls and swirled around the drain before dipping into the hole. It would be so easy to just toss the fragment into the drain. Then she'd be free of it forever.
The hand that clutched the stone slowly extended over the bathtub. She turned so her palm faced down, but her fingers were clasped around the item and kept it from falling to the bottom of the tub. The water rained from the shower head rained down on her arm, but she ignored it. All her attention was focused on the rock in her closed hand. Amanda turned her face away and shut her eyes. Her trembling fingers loosened their grip around the fragment just a little bit. Then a little bit more.
Amanda paused just on the verge of opening her fingers, but she hadn't counted on the shower helping her along. The water seeped passed her fingers and caused the surface of the rock to become as slippery as a bar of soap. The rock slipped from her grip and bounced onto the bottom of the tub with the same rubbery sound as the larger piece. Her eyes shot open and she watched in horror as the fragment was taken by the curving current of water around the edge of the tub and swept toward the drain.
She crashed through the shower curtain and dove for the piece just as it swirled the outer edge of the metal drain. Her fingers snatched the precious item from the brink of oblivion and she clutched it to her chest. Amanda was now quite a sight to behold. Her hair was matted and her clothing was soaked from the shower. She couldn't stop her body from trembling at the intense fear and adrenaline which were fading from her body.
Amanda jumped a few inches in the air when there was a sudden knock on her door. She squirmed back from the entrance, fearful it was Ward returned to give her another reprimand.
"Hey Mandy, can you hear me?" Tony called from the other side. Amanda's shoulders slu
mped and she let out a sigh of relief. She just hadn't heard him reenter the bedroom because of her focus on the rock and the noise of the water running.
"Yes, what were you wanting?" she answered back.
"I was just wondering when you were going to call Sylvia. She might think it's a little too short notice to get a hold of her tomorrow."
"I'll do it as soon as I'm done in here," Amanda promised.
"All right, see you in a bit."
"Yeah."
Now that Amanda was listening, she heard his footsteps move away from the door and out of the bedroom. Then she sighed and looked down at the object still clutched in her hands. The rock still didn't give off the warmth or shadows of its larger parent, but she still felt better for having saved it from a fate down the drain. She stuffed the wet thing back into her pocket and then went about taking her shower. In a few minutes she was clean and refreshed, though not near ready to make that call Tony asked her about.
Talking with her friend Sylvia was always a tax on her patience. It wasn't that the woman was mean, rude or annoying, quite the opposite. She was kind toward others, especially those in need, but sometimes she wasn't as considerate when it came to the simple pleasure of a double-sided conversation. Sylvia was fond of taking control of the conversation and then running off with it. If you nodded your head at the right times you could go several hours without needing to verbally reply. Sylvia was that bad in person, so Amanda's hesitation was understandable when it came to speaking with her on the phone. There wouldn't be any physical hints or gestures Amanda could give off to show Sylvia she needed to stop talking and listen. Amanda had to rely solely on her getting in a word edge-wise by talking her friend down.
With her cellphone retrieved from her purse, Amanda went out into the living room and found Tony seated on the couch with a bowl of ice cream in front of him. The tv was on to a sports channel as he wolfed down the delicious dessert. However, he noticed her come in and turned around to see how she looked after her shower. He was glad to see there was some life back in her pale, sunken cheeks. Tony let out a whistle to know how he felt.
"Looking good, sex," he complimented. She blushed and waved off his comment.
"You probably say that to all the girls," she teased back.
"Yeah, but none of them are in my apartment right now."
"Probably because you have some pretty corny pickup lines." Amanda plopped herself down on one of the stools on the living room side of the kitchen counter. There was a small shelf for a bar there, and she searched through her phone to find Sylvia's number. Because of her chattering nature, Amanda didn't often call her up so the number wasn't on the top of her head.
"So what's the story we're sticking to for you inviting her over?" Tony asked her.
"That I'd like to hang out with some girls because all your testosterone is just too much for me." Amanda laughed when Tony perked up and flexed his limited muscles on his arms. "Or maybe I just need a good, feminine shoulder to cry on after hearing the news." Tony was glad to hear there wasn't much left of that depression over her inability to have children. Unfortunately, that was because she was having far greater problems to worry about.
"And what about the cabin? You going to mention that?"
"Just a little, but only if she asks what I've been up to. Ah, there it is!" She'd found the number and dialed it. Thankfully it wasn't too late in the night and the phone was picked up after a few seconds.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded so calm and normal. Amanda knew better.
"Hi Sylvia, it's me, Amanda Stenser."
"Amanda! Oh my god, how have you been? How's your vacation going? Is that boyfriend treating you right? He's not abusing you, is he? Oh my god, he's not leaving you because he heard you can't have kids, is he?" That was Sylvia, always willing to follow any train of thought and quickly derail it.
"No, nothing like that. He's actually been pretty great." Amanda turned to him and smiled, while he gave her a big, proud toothy grin. "But listen, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me after work tomorrow. We could make it a kind of sleepover party, but during the-"
"Sleepover! Oh my god, I love sleepovers!" Amanda jerked the phone away from her ear at the head-splitting tone from her overly excited friend. "And you've never invited me over to your apartment before! This is going to be so much fun! We'll take a trip around town and eat where we want, maybe play some pool and see us some sexy boys." Sylvia paused there for a some laugh and a breath of air. "Then after everyone's gone home to their kids-" Amanda was surprised there was a pause so soon after the last one.
"Something wrong?"
"Well, it's just, well, listen, I'm really sorry to hear about, um, your problem."
"My problem?" Amanda asked her. She figured it was for her barrenness, but she had left explicit instructions for her boss not to tell anyone why she was taking a vacation. If he was spreading the story around, she was definitely going to have a word with him. That is, when she got up the courage to deal with him. He was a rough customer and one of those old-types who didn't take kindly to being told what he could and couldn't say.
"You know, with not being able to have kids and all. It's just, well, I can't imagine how tough that must be." Amanda pinched the bridge of her nose and tried not to sigh into the phone.
"How many people in the office know about my problem?" she asked her friend.
"Oh, just a few here and there. You know, me and a-"
"How many?" Amanda's voice was firm and demanding.
"The whole office," her friend squeaked out. Amanda could just imagine Sylvia shrinking back from the phone against the onslaught of anger she expected. Now Amanda really did sigh into the receiver.
"I can't believe that guy didn't keep his mouth shut. Isn't there a law somewhere where the boss isn't supposed to let out this type of health info?"
"Actually, Ms. Busybody overheard through the door. She's the one who blurted it out to everyone."
The Ms. Busybody referred to by Sylvia was the personal secretary to their manager, Tiffany Humbert. She snooped into everyone's business and then told everyone else about the info. There were times everyone was sure she'd be fired for releasing certain personal secrets about others in the building, but nothing ever happened. Rumor had it she and the boss were on intimate terms. That, or she had some nice blackmail on him to ensure she'd never be fired. Now everyone hoped she'd either retire or kick the bucket over her desk.
"But of course she would overhear it, but I swear I shut that door," Amanda mused with a frown on her lips.
"She's got ears like a rabbit, but definitely not as cute," Sylvia pointed out. Her whispered tone grew louder and more chipper again. "But let's not talk about that old hag. What time did you want me to be over at your place tomorrow? If you want me to I can leave early." The sound of fake coughing floated through the phone. "Haven't been feeling well, you know. Got some sort of virus or something else that's catchable."
"Viruses aren't catchable, better try for a cold or stomach bug," Amanda told her.
"Then that's settled. I'll be at your place at three and we can hit the town right after that."
"Sounds like a date. See you then." Amanda hung up the line and glanced over to Tony, who had been listening very intently to the conversation.
"So do you have a babysitter for tomorrow?" he teased. She rolled her eyes, but nodded.
"She's overjoyed at the thought of hanging out with me. I'd be flattered, but she gets pretty excited when she sees kittens, too."
"Well, you are as cute as a kitten," Tony pointed out. Amanda turned to him with a brow raised.
"And you're being awfully complimenting tonight. What do you want?" He sighed and half turned to his an arm over the back of the couch.
"To tell you the truth, I've been wondering if I should leave you alone. Well, practically alone, since I'm not sure leaving you with Sylvia is leaving you in intelligent company."
"She does
mean well," Amanda argued on her friend's behalf. "She's just a little flighty, that's all."
"Well, I'm still worried about you and worried about leaving you. You want me to call this whole visiting-the-mountain-again thing off?" he asked her. Amanda shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know, but I do know that you can't watch me forever. I need to go to work on Wednesday, and at some point I need to go back to my apartment. The food in the fridge has probably rebelled by now and taken over the entire kitchen. I expect to have to fend off carrots and celery with a butter knife."
"As much as I'd like to see that, I'm trying to be serious here," Tony insisted. "Do you want me to go or not?" Amanda leaned back against the counter and thought over the choice he was giving her. One part of her wanted him to stick around, to be there at her side until she got through this, but there was a deeper part that remembered that tiny fragment of the rock still sitting in the pocket of her jeans. She was both curious and afraid of where her curiosity would lead her. Much against her common sense, she opted for the more dangerous path.
"I think you should try to find out what you can, and if that means going back to that place then I don't see how it can be avoided," Amanda replied.
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Tony answered, but there was a small smile on his face. He slumped over the back of the couch and thought over his plans. "I suppose I'll go to the cabin first and then see if I can get any more info out of that old man. Then there's gotta be a library around there somewhere, maybe in one of those small towns."
"I'm sure they have something as simple as a library," Amanda scolded him. "They're not uncivilized, they just have a possessed mountain."
"Well, if all the locals turn out to be as weird as that gas station owner, then I'm in for one heck of a long day."