Page 234 of The Harbinger

My fingers scrambled over my screen as my mother sat next to me on the bed and stroked my hair. I recoiled at her touch, but I quickly offered a remorseful apology as I caught the pain in her eyes.

“No. I know. You don’t like being touched. I understand.” My mother’s voice was soft and understanding as if she knew the turmoil inside me.

I forced a small smile and turned back to my phone, scrolling through the news articles on Dr. Jones’ murder. The details made my stomach churn, but I couldn’t look away.

The local news headline screamed in bold: “Renowned Psychologist Dr. Jennifer Jones Found Murdered.” My heart sank as I read the horrific details below. Construction workers had discovered her body at the library construction site, hanging upside down with her skin gruesomely peeled off…

I gasped as I flung my phone onto the bed.

“I know, sweetie. It’s just terrible,” my mother’s voice was soft and sympathetic.

How could he have done something so horrific? I understood his motive for wanting to kill her, but how he did it left me reeling. Was this a warning to others not to cross him, or was he even more twisted and sinister than his own father?

“May I have a moment alone?” I asked, and my mother’s expression fell as her shoulders slumped.

She gave a brief nod before leaving the room. I picked up my phone with trembling hands and swiftly brushed away the gruesome details before composing a message.

Me: Why would you do that?

Two months had passed since the incident, so why now? Why take the life of Dr. Jones in such a gruesome way? Had Sacha been keeping tabs on me, watching and waiting for Jenny’s return before giving the signal to strike? My gut turned queasy as I flung the workbook onto the bed and collapsed onto my pillow, my phone chiming in the background.

As I reached for my phone, a wave of anxiety crashed over me, tightening the knot in my belly and making my throat feel constricted. It was as if someone had placed their palm across my neck and was squeezing the life out of me. I took a deep breath and picked up the phone, swiping to read the message.

Sacha: You’ll need to be more specific.

My heart blasted out of my ribcage, my blood pounding like the thundering hooves of a herd of wild horses as I jolted upright.

What the hell do I say?

My fingers trembled like a leaf in a hurricane as they hovered over the digital keyboard, the weight of the decision heavy on my mind. I gnawed on my bottom lip, sucking it into my mouth and biting down until I tasted the sharp tang of blood.

Me: Jenny

I clicked the ‘send’ button before I could second-guess myself. But before I could catch my breath, the phone buzzed in my hand, and his name popped up on the screen like a ghost beckoning me from the beyond. I slid my finger to the right and held the phone to my ear as though I were listening to a transmission from another dimension.

“I know you’re there,” he growled like the purr of a predator lurking in the shadows.

“Hey,” I whispered, my breath escaping in a gentle whoosh.

“You seem to have something on your mind. Care to share?”

My tongue sat heavy in my mouth, sticking to the roof like tar on shingles. “Mm-hmm.”

A sharp sound filled the air as my palm made contact with my forehead, the smack reverberating around me. We lapsed into a heavy silence, stretching for what felt like an eternity. Suddenly, the front door burst open downstairs, and Lex’s voice rang out, brimming with excitement as she chattered away to our mother about her day at school.

“Is that the voice you heard in your head?”

The question hit me like a ton of bricks, but I managed to nod in response, my eyes rolling involuntarily. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

With a sense of urgency, I sprang up from my bed, hurrying to close the door without letting it click shut, and retreated into the sanctuary of my closet. The enveloping darkness swallowed me whole, except for the thin slivers of light that penetrated the evenly spaced slats. I curled up in the corner, pulling my knees close to my chest.

“Is it strange?”

“To hear her voice?”

“That all this time, she wasn’t just a product of your imagination, and now, everyone else can hear her too.”

“Yes,” I whispered.

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