Love and Murder by W.S. Long

Author:W.S. Long [Long, W.S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2014-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The wind made the tree limbs creak. Leaves came off and scratched the window. I lay in bed and couldn’t go back to sleep. I heard music, Beethoven’s “Fur Elise,” my grandmother’s favorite but I knew she wasn’t alive to play it. Then my grandma’s cuckoo clock chimed in the background.

I thought that was broken?

I walked out into the hallway. Apple pie smell wafted around the house but no one was in the kitchen. My bare feet felt the cool tile. I took some milk from the refrigerator and poured. It smelled rancid.

I heard a tap at the window near the door. It must be after midnight. I walked up to the window. No one there.

Hmmm. Must be rain.

Then I heard a soft tap on the door. I froze. Chel was with Elena tonight. I was alone.

No, I must be imagining someone because it was quiet now.

Just to be sure I peered through the peephole to double-check.

Nothing.

I need to calm down.

I went back to the kitchen.

Screw the milk.

I looked for the bottle of Jameson I bought last night. First time I’ve had alcohol here in a long time. Soft tapping again. Not any limb hitting the window, but an insistent, human tapping. I went to the hall closet to get a bat but remembered that the bat was stolen during the break-in. But I saw my dad’s golf club.

Why is his golf club here? I thought I sold it a long time ago.

I went back to the door. This time I saw a shadow through the peephole. It was gray, fuzzy.

“Who is it?” I said, standing behind the door. I waited for a response. I couldn’t make out who it was. No answer. “What do you want?”

I heard the soft knocking again and I unlatched the deadbolt slowly. My heart pounded. Frost appeared from my breath. I turned the doorknob while I grasped the end of the golf club. When I swung the door open, I stepped forward.

Nothing again. Wind blew through trees. Rain splattered.

I turned to go back in but on my right I saw a crow on the apartment ledge. It stared at me. I walked closer and then it flew away. I gripped the club, and walked back in. I kicked the door, and deadbolted it.

The dark shape appeared.

Anton.

He moved towards me. He wore the hound’s-tooth gray suit he loved so much. His face was powder white, almost shimmering. It contrasted with the red carnation on his lapel. He mouthed words to me.

“What are you saying?” I shouted. “You’re dead. Leave me alone.”

His hand lifted, pointed behind me. Again, I saw his lips move but couldn’t hear.

Then I heard it again.

Shots.

His red carnation grew, changed. Blood flowed everywhere. On my hands now.

“My fault,” I shouted over and over. Anton raised his hand and pointed behind me.

* * * *

I gasped.

“Wake up, Jake.” A light came on. I squinted at the lamplight. “You had a nightmare.”

Ivan sat up, bare-chested, and stared at me.

I groaned. I was drenched in sweat.

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