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as much. I made it to the kitchen door and wished I hadn t. Lying in pieces on the floor
in a large puddle of water was a big old ugly yellow pitcher that normally sat on the
windowsill. I used it to water my plants and it had been full.
I groaned. Now I had this mess to clean up. Before I could even think about it, there
was another crash, this time from the bathroom. I hobbled as fast as I could down the
hall and looked in dismay at the mess in there. The mirror that normally sat on the toilet
tank was in slivers all over the floor. The metal frame was bent and twisted as if
someone exhibiting great anger had attacked it. I stood there, waiting to see what else
would happen.
Charli? Charli, where the hell are you? Ethan s furious voice, coming from the
living room, made me turn. As I turned, he came around the corner and saw the mess
behind me.
How d it happen? He stood beside me, looking at the shards of silvered glass.
I don t know. I heard a crash and came to see what it was.
I thought I told you to scream if anything happened. He looked very angry and I
felt fear encroaching.
I m sorry, I know I& He reached out and put his hand on my arm to stop my
apology.
No, love, I m sorry. I shouldn t have yelled at you. His soft voice took the sting
out of his previous question.
There was a crash from the kitchen, too. My watering jug is in pieces in a puddle
out there.
He grabbed my hand, hurried me into the bedroom as fast as I could limp and
started opening drawers.
Get what you need for a couple of days. You re not staying here. What about a
suitcase? Have one?
I shook my head. I had never traveled anywhere. Whenever I d moved, I used
boxes.
Okay, I ll find a bag or something. Help me here, Charli. What can I use for your
things?
31
Kelsy George
In the hall closet, there s a box full of grocery bags. Get one of them.
It was easier to do as he said than argue. He was right. I couldn t stay here tonight.
Not by myself. In fact, I doubted if I could come back here again, ever. But I wasn t
going to tell him. I d have to find myself another apartment. Something in the same
price range. Maybe something in the same area.
I felt the breeze again, except this time I thought it might be slightly warmer. It
ruffled my hair where it had escaped from its tight roll. My gasp made Ethan turn and
he gaped as the hair around my face moved. He started toward me then stopped, his
own hair fluttering in the breeze. His mouth dropped open and he glanced at the closet
as if expecting something to happen or something to come flying out at us.
It wasn t the bedroom window. Wherever this breeze was coming from, it wasn t
there. My eyes darted from side to side.
Come on, let s get out of here, he said over his shoulder, taking the clothes I d
held in my hand and striding down the hall. I limped into the bathroom and took the
few things I needed toothbrush, toothpaste and the little plastic case holding my few
cosmetics. I followed Ethan down the hall then remembered I needed my hairbrush.
When I turned to go back I saw the hairbrush floating through the air toward me.
I screamed, dropped my toiletries, the brush hung suspended in air in front of me. I
backed up and Ethan caught me.
What the He never got to finish before I fell into his arms.
Let s go. Now. I gasped as the hairbrush dropped to the carpet at my feet.
Ethan reached down, touched it as if it might be hot, then gently picked it up and
examined it. We both looked at the bag sitting on the floor halfway down the hall,
shook our heads and silently agreed not me .
We can pick up more on the way, can t we?
Sure. There s gotta be an all-night drug store on the way. He swung me off my
feet before I could even begin to protest and headed for the door. Four flights of stairs
later he stopped. This time he was puffing.
Stan Medlar stood there in a plaid housecoat tied loosely at the waist but not
meeting in the front. His boxers showed through the opening. Ethan had obviously
hauled him out of bed. His dark greasy hair, streaked with gray, was tousled and his
eyes looked sleepy.
All right, Stan, I want you to go up there and clean up the mess in the kitchen and
the bathroom. Then I want the place locked up and no one, absolutely no one, is to go in
there until I come back here on Friday. You understand?
Sure thing, Mr. Harwood.
Mrs. Robertson won t be back. I ll let you know where her things are to go. You
will ship them to her when I give you the directions. And Stan?
The man looked up at Ethan and I saw fear in Stan s eyes.
32
Deja You
I don t want to hear anyone else was in her apartment. And I don t want to find
anything moved in the apartment when I come back. Understood?
Stan nodded his head, seemingly unable to speak. He was probably thanking his
lucky stars he hadn t had a verbal blast leveled at him.
At that moment the door to Stan s apartment slammed shut, but not before I felt the
cold breeze. I clung a little tighter to Ethan s neck and sucked in my breath. Stan
glanced toward his door in surprise.
I wasn t superstitious and I didn t believe in ghosts, so there had to be some
rational, this-world explanation for what was happening. For now all I wanted was to
get out of this building. I think Ethan sensed my desperation because his arms
tightened around me and he headed for the door.
Just remember everything I said, Stan. He stopped to shake hands with Stan, a bit
difficult with me in his arms, and I saw the color of money change hands. You know
where to reach me. You ll do fine.
We backed through the security door then the outside door. By the time we were at
his car I realized I was in serious trouble.
I was out of my apartment, carrying barely enough to get me through the night. I
had clothes for tomorrow, not beyond. I didn t even have one pair of shoes with me. I
started to struggle to make Ethan put me down.
Quit, you re making it hard to hang on to you. We were at the car and he had to
set me down. When he did, I backed up, turned and headed as fast as my bandaged feet
would move me toward the front door of my apartment building.
Whoa there, girl. Slow down. He grabbed my arm as he caught up to me. You re
not going back in there, so quit.
But I don t have any place to go. And you can t make me leave here.
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