Eleana tried to start on the right side of the bed this Friday morning, even if she felt upside down. Her slippers were on the wrong feet. She burnt the eggs. Even Gaby had a hard time containing her humor at her mother's antics.
If only they were just antics and not shadows corroding her mind like clouds. That childish fake wailed in her ears, as if the dawn already faded into dusk.
"Mom..."
She wasn't that voice's mother. Not anymore. It was a ghost, anyway, and she would be damned if she tried to plead to the ceiling like she was in a cathedral.
For now, she cleaned up the broken glass on the floor, snapping at an annoyed Gaby to move to the living room.
It wasn't her fault that she was clumsier than Rascal's stubby legs as he played with her daughter. Whatever that ghost was, hopefully it wouldn't come back tonight.
She mulled it over a glass of wine that night, ignoring Adam's greeting to her. Dodging the kiss that tried to mark her mouth.
One night wouldn't regain their spark, especially when this voice in the night threatened to snuff it.
After Adam questioned her, Eleana reluctantly came clean.
"There's something...inside the house," Eleana shivered, like the breaths returned over her neck, whispering that dreaded word inside her ear.
"What do you mean?" Adam's voice wasn't as doubtful as he made it seem. He must've felt the chill biting in her spine that night, or many nights before.
She shook her head, scoffing. "If you know about this, then what else are you lying about?"
He narrowed his eyes, but to Eleana's relief, he also spilled the beans. "I quit. I quit my job, Eleana."
She searched for that familiar heat that chased him away, back to the loner he always was, but nothing came. Just a decaying, parasitic sympathy, eating away at her like maggots.
She took his hand. "I knew it was strange when you came home early."
Adam nodded, his eyes fixed to the sheets. "Yeah."
A brief silence came, but it wouldn't stick for long. Not if Eleana could help it.
"Do you believe me?" She took a quick glance around the room. "That something-- someone is ruining our sleep?"
Adam's eyes were wider than golfballs scanning the empty space in the bedroom. "Whether it's true or not, we have greater things to worry about--"
"Other than sleep?" She sneered, crossing her arms. "I mean, sure! Without it, we'd die!"
"I'm serious."
Adam's relief surpassed his guilt when Eleana finally shut up. "How are we gonna keep a roof over our heads? Without a job and a week before rent's due...I don't have much to offer."
Eleana considered this, a line setting in the middle of her brows. "...I guess. Maybe I could try keeping track of spreadsheets again."
Adam huffed. "Spreadsheets?"
She glared at him, like a dart against a board. "It pays more than you think."
Her husband only hummed, dismissing him like he did Gaby for years. The fire burned in her throat, but she'd save it for another day. Whatever crept against her skin that night wouldn't dare try again.
That is, if she managed not to make a fuss whenever Adam came back from in the kitchen.
He returned, carrying the same wine she numbed herself with earlier. However, the elaborate, wide glass he drank with was gone, replaced by a simple wine glass.
"Couldn't find mine," he sighed, handing her a glass and pouring her share.
Eleana's tongue was already loose before the wine reached it. "It broke."
"Let me guess, was it Rascal jumping around the counters?" Adam, despite his fist closing around the glass, laughed. He couldn't forget how he leaped on top of the stove for his first (and last) taste of skillet seared salmon.
She shook her head.
He paled, nearly ejecting the wine he sipped all over the bed. "Was it...Gaby?!"
"You'll wake her with that racket," Eleana scoffed, taking another small sip. "It was my fault. I was cleaning the dishes, as usual, when it fell down onto the floor."
That aggravated, spiteful look in her eyes told him enough. Sighing, he downed the rest of his wine, already pouring another, heavier glass.
"I'm not that heartless!" Eleana protested weakly. "I wouldn't break your stuff on purpose."
"Define your behavior so far, sweetheart, because it's not helping."
Eleana snatched the wine bottle from his hands, putting it back in the fridge where it belonged. Back in the bedroom, Adam was already half-asleep from the alcohol, slouching in bed.
That wouldn't be good for his stomach, but would he listen to her anyway?
Eleana crept back into her side of the bed, pulling the comforters tight around her head.
She wasn't cold, but she would need it for the haunting that came. For that devastating voice, whispering in her ears.
Thankfully, the voice had other plans. It stayed mute, keeping its air to a minimum to prevent Adam waking up. It was better that the damned dog Rascal didn't wake up, too.
Instead, a quieter corner full of plushies and blankets helped the voice regain its power. The girl bundled within the harem of sheets and stuffed animals didn't wake immediately, but her eyes flared open at the ghost's breaths.
"Mom?" She called out.
"Sister," the voice weakly called out.
ns216.73.217.14da2
and then Add to home screen.