by Pace, Pepper
“Then tonight, I’ll ask them to come to me.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea-”
And because Danielle didn’t believe that her friend was lying, but still couldn’t quite bring herself to believe this story either, she plunged on fearlessly. “I’m not afraid of the unknown. I’ll see if they’ll come to me.”
There wasn’t much more to say and Patricia left soon after. It was Sunday and Dani promised her an update at lunch tomorrow in school. No sooner had her friend left did Dani proceeded to put the entire thing out of her mind as her lazy Sunday continued. That night, as she prepared for bed, she remembered the conversation with her friend as she slipped on sleep shorts and a nightshirt.
Mama was already in bed. Working two jobs she was always tired. Danielle climbed into her bed and yawned. She’d had an eventful and full weekend. She reached over and cut off the bedside lamp and then lay comfortably on her back, allowing her body to relax into the mattress.
What are you? Who are you? Why are you coming to her? Dani’s eyes were half closed as she thought these things. “Tell me.” She whispered.
Whatever. Nothing was happening and she was drifting towards sleep. “Come to me, then.” She continued to whisper. “I want to see you.” Dani yawned and thought, If you’re coming then come now, right now. Come now.
And very suddenly, though there was no sound nor any movement, Dani felt that she wasn’t alone. Her body instantly became alert. She lay in bed, eyes wide, not moving but listening to every creak of the small apartment. Her heart was beating fast and after a moment she prepared to relax and maybe even to laugh because she’d just scared herself.
And that was when the room began to fill with bodies.
So many bodies appeared that she couldn’t even count them. Dani’s heart slammed in her chest. The room was dark but the cloaked figures were unmistakable. Danielle had only a split second to witness this before her body prepared for flight, but as she tried to leap out of her bed and to run through her apartment screaming—nothing happened.
Danielle strained to move her limbs but it was as if something held her in place; no definable hands but unmistakably, something held her down. Her breath came out in loud pants as she tried to call for her Mother, but even her mouth would not work, her voice was frozen in her throat, not even a whimper could escape.
Dani was in full panic. It had only been mere seconds since the images appeared. She squeezed her eyes closed against the sight of them but their images were seared into her brain. They stood, ten, twelve, maybe more, surrounding her bed, so dark it was hard to see them clearly, and there were sounds filling the room, sounds coming from them. They were speaking, all of them at once, softly … or maybe not. What she heard was low and yet it filled the entire room. It had only been seconds but she had no thoughts but for them to leave.
Almost tearfully, her heart beating wildly, Dani began to silently beg them to leave her alone. They didn’t move, didn’t reach for her or attempt to touch her but they didn’t leave and the sound of their combined voices filled her head until she thought she’d literally lose her mind.
God, please make them go! Please Lord make them go away! Dani began to pray furiously, begging God to protect her, and immediately the presence disappeared. She wasn’t sure how, only that they were no longer in her room and she was suddenly able to move--but too afraid to. She lay there with her heart beating loudly enough for her to hear it audibly, ears straining, mouth agape preparing to scream at the first movement. But there was no sense of presence. Dani knew that she was alone.
Her breath came out of her body in hysterical puffs. Nothing held her down but she couldn’t move. They’d come! They were real and she had called them and God-help her, they had come!
That next day at school Dani was quiet and did not speak one word of the events of the night before until she and Patricia were alone near the end of the day. Patricia gave her an expectant look, but Dani’s expression told her everything.
“I’m so sorry.” Patricia said.
That night Dani barely slept at all, but the visitors did not return and strangely, she and Patricia did not speak of them. Despite this, their friendship deepened and became more solid and as other friends drifted away and new friends were made, Dani and Patricia’s bond became so strong that it was unbreakable. It was their shared experience that drew them together as much as it was there fear of it, which kept them from speaking of it.
As time went on, Dani discovered the answer to the question that she had asked her friend; how do you see demons and go on with life as if everything is normal? The answer to that question is that you have no other choice. You sleep because you are tired, and wake up and go to school and in that way life continues to move forward. And when they did not make a reappearance it was easy to pretend that none of it had ever happened--at least for the next two years.
And then they returned and with their reappearance began the downward spiral of Dani’s life.
Chapter Two
Dani straightened in her armchair and slowly stretched. Her body felt stiff and she imagined that she could hear her bones creak. She checked the time, only nine pm. She had to get through the next ten hours and then she would allow herself to sleep; when the first streak of light hit the morning sky. It wouldn’t keep them from coming, but at least it wouldn’t be dark if they did show up.
The next day Danielle pushed open the door to STARBUCKS. She had managed about four hours of solid sleep and now it was late afternoon; time to continue the vicious cycle of fighting back sleep. She had taken a leave of absence from school after Patricia’s funeral and had just never gone back, surviving off her college loans. She didn’t know how much longer she could go on like this. The money wouldn’t last forever and as the way things were going; neither would she.
She pulled the earbuds of her IPOD from her ears as she reached the counter. A young woman gave her a friendly smile.
“You’re having your Caramel Macchiato?”
“Yes.”
The handsome Barista looked up and met her eyes. He was expertly juggling many tasks without seeming rushed or concerned about keeping the small details of each order in his head. She saw his eyes sweep her form and she quickly wondered just how horrible she looked. She had jumped out of the shower and dressed in jeans and a hoodie. She had pulled back her freshly washed hair into a quick ponytail and hadn’t thought about makeup, jewelry or her general appearance at all. All she thought about was just keeping her mind blank and numb and as the hours moved closer to the evening, her coffee at Starbucks.
“Hi.” He said, surprising her from her thoughts as she waited for him to complete her order.
“Hi.” She responded.
His attention moved back to his task as he placed an iced soy chai frappucino on the counter for one of the customers standing next to her. She looked at his forearms and wished that they were covered in tattoos.
For a few special moments, Dani forgot that the demons were coming for her next…
When Tyler placed her drink on the counter, her expression had already reverted back to that lost expression that he found so intriguing. She quickly whisked it away and headed to an empty seat somewhere in the corner. She took a careful sip of the hot drink and stared out the window for a few moments, lost in her own thoughts.
They come and then within weeks someone she loved dies. The first time … no had died but perhaps that was a fluke. Maybe it had just been their introductory visit, ‘Hi we’re the demons that will be haunting you for the rest of your life…’
They had stayed away for so long that she had allowed her mind to forget about them. How that was possible she would not completely understand. Her mind had closed around the idea of them until the memory of them existed in its own little airpocket of time.
She had turned eighteen, had graduated from High School and she and Patricia were preparing for their journey to college. They were going to major in the same subjects and so had most of the
ir classes together. They were even going to room together off campus.
She’d had a feeling of dread for the last week. She thought it was angst--leaving her Mother and her city and starting a new school and a new phase of her life. Of course she would feel strange. But the dread had put a huge damper on her excitement. Even her mother had to remind her that she would always be there for her if she needed and for her to enjoy this next phase of her life. Dani tried to smile. Maybe it would help to pretend that she didn’t have this feeling; a deep sense of loss that she couldn’t understand. But this feeling of dread did not seem to be based on the fear of the unknown—but based on a loss so deep that it broke her heart. It was like being in mourning.
When she climbed into bed on one of the last few nights in the house that she’d grown up in, Dani snuggled down into her familiar bed and considered that in a few short weeks she would never sleep in this room again. She drifted off to sleep, comfortable and safe in her and her mother’s home.
But then something caused her eyes to open quickly. Someone had walked into her room. She held her breath and tried to focus on the darkness. Everything was so very still. Her ears perked as she strained to listen to every sound in the small apartment. Her eyes blinked as she tried to peer into the total darkness of her bedroom.
Just as she was about to relax and perhaps drift back to sleep, the sense that there was someone coming became overwhelming. Her heart jumped as she recognized the feeling and just like that, Dani’s room began to fill with the bodies of the cloaked visitors.
NO! She thought as she tried to leap from the bed. The sound of jumbled voices seemed to press down on her and she stayed focused enough to glance down at her hands just to be sure that there was not anything manually holding her down. There was not anything touching her. Danielle chest began to hitch in barely contained hysterics as the jumbled sounds of their voices tried to invade her mind. This time, just like the last time, Danielle squeezed her eyes closed. She began to recite The Lord’s Prayer, focusing on her own unspoken words and ignoring the sounds of the creatures. It wasn’t long before she realized that she could no longer hear them. When she could open her eyes she saw that her room was empty.
Quickly, she pulled up her blanket and used it as a shield against the darkness. She was too afraid to even reach from beneath the shield in order to turn on her light, and that is how she stayed for the remainder of the night.
The next morning she drove over to Patricia’s house even before breakfast, not bothering to call first or to brush her teeth or comb her hair. As soon as the sun rose, she jumped out of bed, pulled on her clothes and dashed to her car.
Patricia’s mother gave her a barely concealed look of disapproval before sending her up to Patricia’s bedroom. Her mother thought that Patricia could have made a better choice in best friends and certainly a better choice in selecting a college roommate. Dani politely ignored the look and hurried up the stairs. She opened the bedroom door and stared at her sleeping friend for a few moments.
Patricia seemed so at peace that Dani almost turned and walked away. But then Patricia stirred, her eyes popping open before resting on her best friend. She sat up slowly rubbing her eyes.
“Hey.” She said while holding back a yawn. “What are you doing here?”
“They came back.”
Patricia froze. She didn’t even look at Dani as she slipped out of her bed dressed in a cute nightie, her bedroom a reflection of her financially privileged status.
“I’ll … be back.” She headed for the adjoining bathroom and took a long time before returning. By then Dani had sank into her ruffled pink lounge chair and was fighting off sleep. She was exhausted and still afraid.
When Patricia returned she had already freshened up, and had pulled her long hair back into two neat ponytails that bounced when she moved. Dani just followed her with her eyes, not otherwise moving. Patricia sat down slowly on her bed and sighed.
“Did you … call them?”
“No!” Dani said sharply. “Why would I do that? They just came.” She sat up and stared at the petite young woman. “When was the last time that you saw them?”
“Not for a long time; years. Not since you … ” Patricia didn’t finish the statement. Dani’s eyes flitted away. There was quiet for as long as a full minute.
“Did you see them; actually look at them?” Patricia asked.
Dani shook her head quickly. She explained the events of last night, brief as it was. She could tell that Patricia did not want to talk about it and there was not anything more to add so after a while later Dani just left. And each night for two weeks the demons, the hooded figures—whatever they were, attempted to come to her. Some nights Dani woke before they appeared and she began reciting prayers before their presence manifested itself. Other nights she would awake in time to see them surrounding her bed; cloaked figures silently regarding her.
Soon, it was time to move to Columbus but it was no longer a happy time for the two friends. Though they didn’t discuss it, in the back of their minds was the idea that together under the same roof might bring the demons to the both of them.
They arrived at their new home and tried to get everything situated, aware that they were pushing their day until they had to finally climb into bed and find sleep. Each of them wondered if they would both be plagued by the presence.
But nothing happened; not the second night or the next. The two friends began to see their shared living arrangements as a good luck charm. The both of them together was enough to fight the creatures off and not something that would attract them!
The feeling of doom disappeared and Dani was able to begin enjoying her time in college. As the weeks moved on she met a boy. He didn’t have tattoos and he was African American, not white, but she made love for the first time. She became adept at juggling school assignments and meeting new people. And best of all she learned to stop wearing just jeans and hoodies and to let her ponytail down.
And then one day while in class her cell phone rang and she didn’t recognize the number. She almost forgot about it until the end of her school day when she suddenly remembered the call as she was slipping into her car. There was a voice mail message waiting for her and she was starting the car when she played it.
‘Danielle? Honey, this is Mrs. Acker from next door. Honey I don’t want to be the one to tell you this but it’s your Mom … Danielle, your mother passed away yesterday from a stroke. We tried to contact you but couldn’t find a number until just now. Oh Danielle! I’m so sorry, honey … ’
Mrs. Acker could have been talking for the next hours but Dani could not hear the words that her old neighbor had been speaking; everything seemed to be broadcast from a tunnel. She could neither hear nor see anything but from a place that seemed distant and outside of herself.
It is never easy for one to lose a parent, but for Dani it was much worse. For most of her life there had only been her mother. There was no dad or brothers and sisters. Losing her mother was like being all alone in the world. She was now an orphan. Her hopes and dreams had been built on the foundation of her Mother’s desires. She felt aimless now that Mama was no longer alive. The depression sank into her deep and familiar; a feeling that she’d already experienced just a few short weeks before. It was the feeling of mourning that she’d experienced when those … things had appeared.
Patricia was wonderful, taking her school notes when she spaced out, sometimes even doing her homework. She let Dani sink into a healing silence without forcing her to relinquish her depression. And in time it slipped away without any prodding from her best friend. Dani was all the more thankful for her friendship with Patricia. She could not know that Patricia would be dead three short years later.
Dani picked up her mug and absently took a drink. It was lukewarm and she gave the contents a surprised look. She had been woolgathering that long? She opened her notebook and stared at the pages. She never re-read what she’d written. It was pointless. The healing was in
the writing; the words. It didn’t matter what she wrote as long as she kept herself preoccupied in the task.
Dani picked up her ink pen. She began to write; one year ago Patricia died, but six weeks before that they came back…
Chapter Three
Dani had struggled after her mother’s death. There had been expenses, and even though there had been a small insurance policy that had helped to pay her mother’s final expenses, there hadn’t been much else. She banked that money for a rainy day and struggled with ‘finding’ herself. She dropped out of school for a year and when she went back she changed her major two times while Patricia had already graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and found a nice job working for a small but prestigious company.
It was inevitable that Patricia would eventually move on and she did about 2 years ago. She met a nice guy, got her own place and Dani was sad to see her leave the neat apartment that had been their home for the last two years. But despite the fact that their lives had taken a different turn, they were still as close as ever, never going more than two or three days without speaking on the phone, via the net or meeting for lunch.
One night, Danielle had gone out partying with school friends. She hadn’t been feeling herself lately; or perhaps this sadness was her new ‘self’, one filled with depression and sorrow. She thought that she had put that depression about her mother’s death behind her. But lately she could not shake the feeling of foreboding. It was the same feeling that she’d had when Mama had died; a sense of loss so deep that it made her stop in her tracks and sink into herself.
To counteract that feeling, she filled her free time with too much drinking and too much partying. Patricia didn’t approve and so she didn’t hang with her when she was in the mood to get wild. Unfortunately getting drunk and partying all night didn’t cause the depression to go away.
After one such episode of too much drinking, Dani stumbled home late in the night and stripped out of her clothes, falling into bed in just panties and her bra. She didn’t even bother to cover herself as she was already mostly asleep when her head hit her pillow.
