Page 62 of A Very No Strings Halloween
“You want company?” he asks.
“No. I will take an Advil, though.”
I close the door to the bathroom and turn on the tap in the bathtub, adjusting the temperature of the water before pulling the lever for the shower. The water pressure is impressive for an old house. I brush my teeth and check my reflection in the mirror above the sink. I look exactly as good as I feel, which is not very good. No wonder Billy doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life with me.
Yeesh.
These are hangover thoughts.
I just need to wake up.
I let my clothes fall to the floor and step into the tub. The water is clear and hotand even though it feels like a hundred pinpricks against my skin, this is exactly what I need to get my brain and body out of this funk. The shower curtain billows, like air has been let into the room.
“Billy?”
No answer.
I peer around the curtain, but I see no one in here. The bathroom is slowly filling up with steam because there’s no ventilation. Billy’s right about bringing in a home inspector. If I end up selling this place I’ll have to anyway.
There’s no shampoo or soap either, so I just rinse off, giving myself a blast of cold water before turning off the faucets. I slide open the shower curtain, feeling a rush of icy cold air as I reach for a towel on the towel rack. The lights flicker off and on again, and I’m sure I didn’t imagine that.
Or maybe I’m not so sure of anything anymore.
Drying off my face and body, I grab another towel for my hair. Wrap my hair up in it. That was probably a bad idea, getting my hair wet, I am realizing, because I didn’t bring a hair dryer. I have no recollection of how we got here, but I’m guessing we Ubered. Orcabubered? Why is that word in my head? I’m not ready to spend the night, so we’ll have to leave soon. Although I can’t assume that Billy’s going back to the apartment too, because apparently I can’t assume anything with him.
I go over to the counter, where I left a comb. The air is still steamy. I pull the hand towel from the wall hook, and just as I’m about to wipe the mirror, I watch in horror as an invisible finger writes the wordsTELL HIMin the steam on the surface of the mirror.
I freeze.
I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out.
“Billy…”
The bathroom door flings open, and a chill runs down my spine, but Billy doesn’t walk into the room.
“Billy?!”
Still not there.
I look back at the mirror, and I see the reflection of a red-haired woman behind me—not me—it’s Lara. I spin around, but she isn’t there. I scream. “What do you want from me?!” I cry out. “We read you the letters! What else do you want?!”
“Donna?!” Billy comes running in.
I keep screaming.
“What?! What happened?”
“She’s here! She’s here!”
“Who is?”
I bury my face in his chest. “Lara! She was right behind me!”
“Donna, there’s no one else here.”
“Look whatshe wrote on the mirror!”
“Where?”
