Anathema by Nick Roberts

Author:Nick Roberts [Roberts, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Spooky WV LLC
Published: 2022-02-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Deep Scars

When Ellie pulled her car into their subdivision, a hollow sensation formed in her gut. Even with Barb trailing in the car directly behind hers, she felt alone and afraid. She drove the 15 MPH speed limit and watched for children playing near the road in the late afternoon sun. The sick feeling inside pulsated more intensely as she neared her house. She came to a stop in her driveway, and Barb pulled in behind her. Before she got out of her car, she cautiously surveyed the front of Maren’s house—the windows, specifically. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She turned her head to look out of the back window to give Barb the go ahead to get out, but Barb was already standing in their front yard with her hands on her hips as if daring someone to mess with her. Typical Barb. Ellie smiled as she exited her vehicle.

As soon as she opened the car door, she felt the heavy drops of cold rain plop down on her face. They were sparse, but dense. “If this is the beginning of the storm, then we’re in for a real downpour,” Barb informed as she scuttled up the concrete stairs to Ellie’s front door. Ellie followed behind her quickly fumbling for her keys. Barb held the storm door open as Ellie unlocked the deadbolt letting them both inside. Just as Barb stepped in behind Ellie, the rain began to plummet from the sky in a torrential assault. “Jesus Christ!” Barb exclaimed staring through the glass. She turned around and faced Ellie and said, “Sorry, hun.” She knew Ellie didn’t like when she “took the Lord’s name in vain.”

The two women walked into the living room, both cautiously scoping out the scene. The bullets of rain pattered the rooftop as Ellie trudged from room to room looking for anything out of place; Barb trailed behind as her mock enforcer. Everything on the main floor looked just as she’d left it. She knew they had an agenda being at the house, but she wanted to do something that should’ve been done a long time ago. She abruptly headed for the basement stairs and said, “I’ll be right back.”

Barb listened as Ellie entered the garage through the basement. She could hear her underneath moving things around as if she were searching for something. Barb heard Ellie say a muffled, “A-ha!” and then start marching back up the steps carrying a power drill and some screws.

“What in the hell are you up to?” Barb asked as Ellie briskly walked on past her and headed upstairs.

“Securing this damn closet,” she responded. Barb stood there in the living room taken aback; she rarely heard Ellie cuss. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember the last time she had. It must’ve been when Ellie was confiding in her all of the details of Bryan’s infidelity. Surely, she must’ve let a “bastard” slip in there somewhere. The whirring of the power drill in action jolted her out of her daze, and she hurriedly ascended the stairs toward the noise.

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