What Happened to Anna?

by Jennifer Robins

  Confused and suddenly lightheaded, she went to the bathroom to shower. Had she been sleepwalking again? She didn’t know. Nothing made sense. She couldn’t distinguish between the dream and reality. Before she stepped into the shower, she looked down at her soiled feet and almost started to cry again. It didn’t make any sense.

  The day went on with her hardly realizing what she was doing. All she could think of was that dream, and her glorious fantasy lover. She roamed the house, cleaning and doing things in an unconscious state, like a robot. She’d gone without lunch, put clothes in the washer that had already been washed, dusted and vacuumed the living room twice. She never once turned on the radio or television. The silence became a delight to her. It gave her the opportunity to think about her dream lover without distraction.

  John called for the third time that day. She took a few moments to answer the phone, walking slowly to the kitchen. In a soft voice, she said, “Hello?” She sat at the table, the receiver to her ear.

  “Something came up that I have to look into before I can leave. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

  “Fine, John,” she said with a little sigh. For the first time in Andrea’s life, she didn’t care. It didn’t matter if John would be late or when they would have dinner. She liked being left alone to think about her dreams and him, his strong body next to hers, his lips and his touch… so exciting.

  By early evening, she went to the kitchen and sat at the table. Images of her dream mate still dominated her mind. As her thoughts wandered, she lost sight of everything around her.

  Suddenly, a voice rang out. “Andrea, are you upstairs or downstairs?” John yelled as he entered the house. “Oh, there you are.” He hurried into the kitchen. “I have something good to tell you. I went to look at an apartment this evening. It’s close to downtown, and it’s really nice. It’s a two-bedroom, and has all the appliances, new carpeting… it even has a balcony.” He looked excited as he sat next to her and held out his hand. “Hey, babe, this could be our chance to change things in our lives. I think you’ll like it.”

  Andrea looked away from him. She didn’t want to hear it. She focused her eyes on the floor to avoid contact with his.

  “At least give it a chance, Andrea. I know you will like the place when you see it. It has everything we need. How about getting dressed and coming with me to look at it? The rental office is open tonight until nine. I’ll even buy you dinner at that restaurant you like so much. Please come with me.”

  Andrea gave a stern look. “No, John. I don’t want to go see any apartment. In fact, I don’t want to go anywhere.”

  He stood up and gave her a nasty look. “I really want you to see this place. If you were sick or didn’t feel good, I could understand, but you’re not, so there is no reason why you can’t go and just look at it. It wouldn’t hurt you to look.”

  “That’s right, I don’t feel good. I’m sick!” Sick of him and his talk of moving out of the house. She watched him pace around the kitchen while stroking the sides of his head.

  Quietly, she left and went down the hall to the living room. He came right after her. “Andrea, I can’t believe you’re sick. You told me all day today that you were all right. Now that I want you to do something with me, you say you’re sick. I don’t understand it. Do you want to stay in this house waiting for the next weird thing to happen? You don’t seem to care how I feel about it. What is the matter with you?” With perspiration on his reddened forehead, he stood in the middle of the living room, waiting for her to say something.

  She sat on the sofa, staring into space as though John was not even there. “Would you please go with me to look at the apartment?” He circled the room. “If you don’t go with me, I’m going by myself, and I will put a deposit on it without you even seeing it.”

  She still said nothing. Not only did she remain silent, she refused to look at him. He walked in front of her and waved his hand in her face. “All right, then!” He stormed out of the room. The front door slammed, and moments later she heard the car engine start.

  John rarely got angry enough to leave the house. From the living room window, she watched him pull out of the driveway. She heard the squeal of the tires as he sped down the street. He was gone, and she stood there alone.

  Tears filled her eyes as she walked back to the sofa. She didn’t really want to be at odds with her husband. If only he could understand. Torn between fantasy and reality, Andrea thought of her love for John, but the lingering feelings of ecstasy she’d had with her dream lover plagued her even more. The deep emotional confusion slowly passed, and she became calm, tranquil. As she lay on the sofa, her eyes fixed on the ceiling above her. Her dream man was everything. Time had no meaning.

  John’s voice pierced the silence that surrounded her. “Andrea, wake up,” he said as he came into the living room and approached her on the sofa.

  Confused and foggy-headed, she sat up. “I… I didn’t hear you,” she said. “What happened? Where did you go?”

  “I wanted to go see about that apartment… but I didn’t. I couldn’t do it without you. I felt so bad, I just came back home.” He sat down next to her. “I’m sorry, babe. We’ve never fought like this before. There have been so many things happening since we moved here. It’s this house, and whatever is going on in it. We need to do something about this. I really think we should move.”

  Andrea found it impossible to discuss her feelings with him. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she didn’t understand her own feelings, let alone his. She loved John, but something very strong held her in the house. It would be easy to convince herself she wanted to stay because she loved it — the dream house she had thought about for years. All of her hopes had been realized when they’d found this magnificent century-old Colonial in a small town like Partersville. There was no way she would admit she had developed an obsession with Anna, and now with the male lover in her dreams.

  Finally, she formed a response and in a shaky, soft voice. “I love you, John. I just need some time to think things through. I know what you want, but you need to consider what I want as well.” She wanted desperately for John to feel what she was feeling, but he couldn’t even think of what had been happening as something supernatural. Tears streamed down her face.

  “All right, Andrea, we can talk about this another time,” John told her. “It looks like this has been too much for you right now Maybe you could consider making something for dinner. I’m going to take a shower.”

  Relieved to have John off her back, she went to fix their dinner, even though it meant sandwiches again. She hadn’t cooked a full meal in a long time—had no desire to. The evening dwindled on in a quiet way. John said nothing more to her about moving or about any of their problems. After they ate, John sat and read the newspaper.

  She went upstairs to the bedroom, where she took the photograph from the wooden box and sat in the chair by the window, looking at it. As she stared at Anna’s image, she wondered why her ghost still lingered in the house after all these years. Why wouldn’t she go on? What was it holding her to this world? And why did Anna torment her by crying and calling out to her? Could it be because she looked so much like Anna? Andrea wanted answers, but part of her also wished she had never found the old wooden box.

  As she thought about all of it, her eyes filled with tears. What’s happening to me? I can’t get away from this. She sighed and rose from the chair. Light from the early evening sunset spilled across the floor, enough for her to see her way to the bedroom door and through it. She moved slowly down the hallway to the attic door, then opened it and began to climb the narrow staircase. With the photograph still in hand, she stood in the middle of the attic, not really knowing why. Something compelled her to sit on the attic floor with her legs folded in front of her.

  In the dead silence of that third floor, she sat for a long time. An hour had gone by when she heard John calling her name. “Andrea? Where are you?”

  Without hesitation, sh
e stood up and hurried down the attic stairs to the bedroom. He stood near the bed as she entered the room. “I’m right here.”

  “Andrea!” he shouted. “I looked all over for you. Where were you?”

  At the suspicious look in his eyes, she turned away and went to the window. Very calmly she replied, “I was up in the attic.” She sat down in the chair.

  “What were you doing in the attic?” He circled the room.

  “I was looking for something.” She walked past him to the closet. John watched her undress. “I’m going to take a shower now.”

  “What are you doing, Andrea?” he insisted, vigorously smoothing the side of his head with an open hand.

  She turned to him. “I told you, I’m going to take a shower.”

  “That’s not what I meant. We need to talk. You’re acting very strange, and I don’t like it.”

  She took her robe and started out of the room. “I’m too tired to get into a long discussion with you.”

  “Too tired? You slept half of the day away. How could you be tired? I wanted to talk about the apartment and to tell you that we could put a deposit on it to hold it for ten days while we make up our minds.” He went to the open door and yelled after her as she walked away. “Why can’t you just agree to go look at the apartment? What could that hurt?”

  She stood in the bathroom doorway and looked back at him just long enough to say, “I don’t want to talk about it now, John. I just want to get in the shower and go to bed. We can talk tomorrow.”

  By the time she emerged from the bathroom, John had gone downstairs to close the windows and lock the doors. Andrea sat in the chair by the window. John returned and climbed into bed without saying another word. It had been a very trying day for him. Before long, he was asleep.

  Andrea stayed by the window, looking out at the sky. It was almost midnight before she got into bed, only to lie there wide awake for another two hours. Her thoughts were scrambled, jumping from one thing to another, starting with her dreams, then Anna, the visions, John, and her secret dream lover. Finally, near daybreak, she dozed off.

  Chapter Seventeen

  As soon as Andrea fell asleep, she was in the dream again. The handsome man stood by the bed, wearing a red satin robe hanging partially open. “Where did you go?” she asked. “You just vanished. I looked all over for you.”

  Without a word, he let the robe slip slowly from his shoulders to the floor. He reached over and turned down the oil lamp on the bedside table. The scene darkened. Only the mellow light from the lamp’s low flame filtered across the room. He motioned for her to come with him. The taut muscles in his arms tightened as he held her hand and pulled her from the bed.

  She followed him out to the hallway. Once again, the entire décor of the second floor had changed into the glorious style of a century ago. She stayed on his heels as they descended the stairs to the foyer. He moved into the living room with her right behind him. Despite the darkness, she could see him clearly in the light of the candles on the mantel.

  The two of them sat on a Victorian-style sofa with a soft rose pattern on its satin upholstery. He whispered to her, “My dear Andrea. I have so much to tell you. There are places, beautiful beyond your imagination, where you can feel glorious and wonderful all the time.” He gazed into her eyes.

  Strong arms wrapped around her, and his mouth found her waiting lips. Excited beyond her wildest dreams, she moved closer to him until her body pressed against his. With a gentle touch, he pushed her back and stood up. He took her by the hand and led her back up the stairs.

  When they reached the top, Andrea thought she heard someone. “Wait.” She pulled back away from him.

  He tugged at her arm. “Come with me. You are so beautiful. I want to make love to you, my darling.”

  “There is someone crying,” she told him. “Can’t you hear her? I can’t go with you. Something is wrong.”

  “Don’t listen to her, just come with me. I want to hold you and make love to you, my sweet lovely Andrea.”

  “No, I can’t go with you now. You have to let me go. Please!” As the crying became louder, she wanted all the more to get away from him. “Please, let me go,” she begged. “I think that woman is trying to tell me something.”

  He only laughed at her. Things began to blur, then suddenly she woke up. She sat up in bed. John wasn’t there. She wanted to find him, but was too afraid. Then she heard the shower running. Looking at the clock, she realized it was morning. John was in the bathroom getting ready for work.

  In a few minutes he came into the bedroom, wiping his face with a towel. She sat there shaking all over, watching him dress. “You know something, this house does make a lot of noises in the morning.” He took a shirt out of the closet as he spoke to her. That statement got her attention.

  “I could have sworn I heard someone going down the stairs,” he said. “At first I thought it was you, but then the noise stopped. I don’t think having this old house is all that great. Besides all that has happened around here, we have to put up with more weird noises just from the old, creaky wood in this house.” Andrea stood up and started to walk toward the doorway. John stopped her. “How do you feel this morning? You don’t look too good.”

  “I feel fine. I’m going down to the kitchen to get some coffee.” She looked back at him, standing in the hallway watching her before she started down the stairs. She wished he’d stop spying on her. She hurried off to the kitchen to make coffee, mostly to get away from him.

  She sat at the table with a cup of coffee when John entered the room, dressed and ready for work. “I don’t have a lot to do today, so I might be coming home early. I would like it if you’d think about going to see that apartment with me. I’m not asking you to make a decision. I just want you to look at it. Then you can give it some thought.” He bent down and kissed her cheek. “I’ll call you later. Take it easy today. Try to rest. You look so pale.”

  ****

  John arrived at the office earlier than usual. Gale was already there and had a pot of coffee brewing. She’d placed the files he would need that day on his desk. In the short time she’d worked for him she’d come to think of him as an easygoing sort of guy, but the last few days he’d been far from that. He was nervous, uptight, and irritable. She made sure everything got done just the way he wanted.

  She wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the change in him. The other girls in the office were asking her questions about his sudden mood swing. Gale made excuses for him, saying he was just tired from all the work of starting up a new office. “He’ll be fine in a few days. Don’t worry,” she told them.

  He didn’t even say a simple “good morning” to Gale, but wasted no time in getting to the phone and dialing a number. “Hello, is this the Washington Street apartments?” he asked. “I looked at an apartment yesterday. My name is Devon, John Devon. I’d like to know if I could place a deposit on the suite to have it held for more than ten days.”

  A frown appeared on his face as he listened to the response. “Well, how about I put a larger amount down?” He scribbled on a notepad as he listened. “I need at least two weeks,” he pleaded. “Thank you. I’ll have to think about it.” He hung up the phone and rested his head on the back of his chair. A look of disappointment hung on his face.

  ****

  Andrea wandered about aimlessly, dusted here and there, watered some plants, and constantly looked out the back door as if waiting for someone or something. With the morning hours gone, she went upstairs to the bedroom to lie down. Within a few minutes, she was sleeping.

  Once again, she began to dream of her lover. This time they walked down a path in a park. The trees were full of blossoms, emitting a wonderful smell. They looked like the cherry blooms she remembered in the back yard of her parents’ home. Overhead, slow-moving white clouds brightened the scene while shading the sun. A silver lining appeared around them, giving great contrast from the backdrop of deep blue skies. The sky looked beautiful.
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br />   She walked alongside him, holding his hand. He smiled at her. “I’m deeply in love with you. We will always be together, my love.” He raised her hand and kissed it. The sensation of his touch went from her arm down to her spine.

  The walk seemed endless, going on and on through the lovely garden. The tone of his voice was soft and low, his touch gentle and full of warmth. Then, out of nowhere, she heard someone calling her name. She sat up in bed and shouted, “Who’s there?”

  No one answered. Her body shook as she lowered her feet to the floor in search of her slippers. She went out to the hallway and stood in front of the bedroom door, looking for whoever had called out to her, but she neither saw nor heard anyone.

  For some reason, she felt she needed to get down to the living room, and made her way along the hall to the staircase. Slowly, she went down the stairs. “Is someone here?” she whispered. Again, no reply. Now she became more frightened than ever. A cool rush of air hit her face. “Is it you, Anna?”

  In the dead silence even the slightest bit of noise became amplified, so when the phone rang, it sounded like a great siren going off. She let out a gasp and ran to the kitchen to answer it. Out of breath, she gulped and said, “Hello?” with the phone pressed tightly to her ear.

  “I wanted to know how you’re feeling. Are you all right, Andrea?”

  “I’m just fine, John. Stop asking me how I am, and quit calling me so much.”

  “Look, babe, I’m only concerned about you. I’m coming home in a little bit and would like to take you out to dinner. We can go to that restaurant you like so much. You know, the old converted mansion.”

  Andrea hesitated before she answered him. “I don’t know, John. I like the restaurant all right, but I don’t know if I want to go out tonight. I’m very tired.”