Chapter 3 Chapter 3

For the length of her marriage her then husband, Sheldon Milton, had convinced her that a woman that wore a size ten shouldn’t show her arms. That women of that size had too much arm fat and shouldn’t wear sleeves shorter than the elbow. Every time he caught her looking at sleeveless tops, he told her to diet and get rid of her bat wings otherwise the shirt would just sit in the closet and that was a waste of money. He was even more vicious about her bosom. She had a generous DD set and according to her darling husband they made her look like a whore, and she needed to keep them covered. He didn’t want her flaunting them for all the other men to see. When she finally left him, she had cardigans in every color and style. During her marriage she had never fully lost her maternity weight. However, divorce agreed with her, she dropped two dress sizes and was now free to build her wardrobe any way she desired.

While she twirled and danced in front of the mirror, she had the oddest sensation that she was being watched. The bedroom windows were still open with the wooden blinds pulled up. She hadn’t felt the need to close them since they faced the back of the property. The wood line was a few yards from the house. It was possible someone was watching from the trees. Aluminum baseball bat in one hand, phone in the other, she opened the French door that led outside. With a determined stride she walked off the private patio, straight to the tree line. Glancing around there were no signs that anyone had been around. She didn’t see any debris or footprints. Quickly she circled the house. Finding nothing of interest she went back into the house.

Unnoticed he had watched her from the corner. As she twirled her joy filled the room. The happy feeling was abhorrent to him. He could not feed off such positive emotions. Gleefully he had followed her around the tree line when she sensed him. Destroying her spunk was going to bring him much joy.

Back inside she put the bat beside the inflated bed. Once she had linens covering the rubbery surface, she laid down to scroll through the food delivery app looking for dinner. Most of the offerings were basically what she could get back home. After much internal debate she went with a fried chicken place. Dinner sorted; she continued putting things away. As she passed the newly uncovered closet mirror, she noticed a black shape in the corner of the room in the reflection. Whipping her head towards the corner, she saw nothing there. Looking back at the mirror, the shape was gone.

“It’s been a long ass day.” Olivia muttered to herself. With a quick headshake she went to the bathroom to wash her face with cool water. She changed out of her new clothes into her PJs. Passing through the bedroom, keeping a wary eye on the corner the shape had been in, she hung up her sunflower outfit then headed to the kitchen. Once there she replaced her contacts with her glasses. Obviously, her eyes were just tired. Feeling creeped out, she dragged the blow-up mattress into the living room. One by one all the windows were closed and locked. She pulled down the wooded blinds on all the windows. Sleep would be impossible if she felt someone was watching her sleep.

Due to sleep issues Olivia slept on a wedged inclined pillow that made it comfortable for her to sit on the bed while browsing furniture stores on her tablet. Before she left Chicago, she had sold everything except a few mementos and the few clothes that she liked. The entire house was going to need to be furnished. Plus, a washer and dryer needed to be procured ASAP. Laundromats were too expensive to use long term.

The sound of the doorbell didn’t startle her this time. She had heard the delivery person pull in. The dodge Ram in the drive seemed an odd choice for delivering food. Maybe this was how he paid for the gas. With a thank you, she took her food from the kid.

After finishing her dinner, she fell asleep on the inflated bed watching YouTube videos.

Once she was asleep, he stood beside her. Humans were so weak, so vulnerable in their sleep. Lightly he laid a hand on her forehead to flip through her memories. Stopping when he came across the memory of her dog disappearing as a child, he flicked his tongue to just behind her ear. The suckers on his tongue latched to her skin to pull the life force from her. He only took a small sip, just enough to quiet his thirst. One with such pain as her was to be savored. After watching her sleep for a few brief moments, he silently dissolved back into the night.

A crack of thunder startled her out of a dream about her childhood dog. Groggily she looked up at the glass part of the ceiling. Rain was beating down in giant plops on the clear surface. She watched for a moment before her eyes started to close. Suddenly the room was lit up with the white light of lightning. For a second, a black human shaped form was visible through the glass roof appeared to be floating in the clouds. Olivia jumped hard enough to drop her phone when simultaneously the crack of thunder boomed, and the house went dark. Quickly she ran through the house checking all the doors and windows. Just to be safe she beeped the car alarm twice. Once she was satisfied the house was secure, she went to bed wondering if Texas BBQ always led to hallucinations.