“Oh, wow, it is now turning into a category 2. You think we’d need to make sure that the insurance is up to date?”

Jeremiah turned to his wife and waited for a response. Her mind seemed to be elsewhere as she continued blankly staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Since the last encounter with Sally, bitterness of uncertainty and fear consumed Emilee. Sally’s words stayed on replay in her head.

“Nobody but you can see me. You’re going to believe sooner than later.”

“Em… Babe…” Jeremiah walked up and touched Emilee’s shoulder. “Did you hear me?”

“Uh? I’m sorry,” Emilee responded as she came out of her deep thinking. “What about the weather?”

Emilee’s lack of focus concerned Jeremiah. He exhaled and repeated his question.

“You think we’d need to make sure that the insurance is up to date since it’s going to be a category 2?”

“Oh yes, we should. Storm damage is the last thing I need right now,” she answered. 

She suddenly tensed up when she caught a glimpse of a black silhouette of a little girl in the bathroom window. Jeremiah raised an eyebrow.

“You seem quite distracted and stressed,” Jeremiah said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No. I’m just exhausted. I feel I’ve aged five years the past couple of days.” Emilee faked a smile.

“You really need to get some good rest, babe. Give your mind a break and take some Unisom.”

“Eh. I always struggle to wake up when I take it,” she responded. “I need to sleep, but I need to get things done.”

“Babe, everything will get done. Please take care of yourself first.” Jeremiah hardened his expression as he held her.

“Ugh. Fine,” Emilee huffed. “I’ll rest my brain.”

***

Emilee soon fell into a deep slumber and found herself in a dream where she was viewing things through Sally’s perceptive. There she was, staring back at Sally’s reflection in a window of the school bus. When the bus stopped at the end of the street, she picked up the turquoise and bright pink backpack by her feet and got off. Something in Mr. Irwin’s front window grasped her attention as she walked by. It was a vintage teapot set that had a pink Chinese luster floral print.

“I bet you like having tea parties.”

The deep voice startled her. Mr. Irwin was in the doorway. He was a tall and bulky man with a fair complexion, straight graying black hair, and small green eyes. Words came out of Sally’s mouth before Emilee could react. It seemed she only had Sally’s sight.

“Oh. I was just admiring the design of it.”

“I always have interesting things in here. I sell antiques and local food items,” Mr. Irwin said with a crooked smile. “I just set out samples of Ms. Nelly’s homemade chocolate ice cream. Lemme get you one.”

“Oh… I’m good…I have to meet up with my mom anyway,” Sally replied as she started walking away.

“Nonsense! A little pretty thing like you should always get free sweets.” Mr. Irwin chuckled and held up his finger. “Wait here a second.”

Sally could hear him talking to somebody but did not see anybody. He went in and came back out with two sample cups of the ice cream.

“Here you are.” He smiled and handed her the sample cups. “One extra because you are extraordinary.”

“Thanks. I better get going. Bye.”

“You’re welcome, Darling.”

“Nothing seemed suspicious about that encounter….“ Emilee thought.

A few minutes after Sally digested the ice cream, her vision became fuzzy, and she suddenly felt somebody dragging her down. A hand covered her mouth before she could scream. The person’s voice sounded like Mr. Irwin’s but quieter.

“If you don’t do what I say, I’ll hurt you and everybody you love.”

***

Everything went black. Another memory was starting like a scene from a film. The next location was the alley behind the strip of buildings where Mr. Irwin’s shop was.

“I think this is a good spot.”

“I think so too. Sally, you can be in the middle this time.”

Emilee could feel Sally’s body tense up as she passed the cafe’s back entrance. The blinds were opened. Two girls turned to Sally. One had short curly brown hair and hazel eyes. The other had straight golden-blond hair fixed in a long braid and green eyes.

“Mmk, but why won’t we do it at the park?”

“Everybody does theirs there. This is different,” the blonde said as she put her hand on her hip.

“Yeah. We might get more views,” the brunette added as she pointed at the Bowless Mauve.  “Plus look how cute the wallflowers are.”

“Ugh, whatever,” Sally responded.

The blonde got her iPad out and opened the TikTok app.

“Savage Love or Say So?” she asked.

“Say So,”  Sally and the brunette both answered.

“Alright. Get in position,” the blonde said as she set up the iPad and pressed the record button.

Sally seemed to be an expert on the steps to the song, but anxious fear affected her joyous rhythm. She kept glancing over at the back door to Mr. Irwin’s shop.

“Are you alright? Do you not want to be in the middle?” said the brunette.

“I’m just tired…it’s getting late. We should go,” Sally answered.

“Yeah, I can’t be late for curfew,” the blonde added as she started packing up her iPad.

Sally exhaled in relief and hurried the girls along.

“I’m sure I will be better tomorrow once I am rested,” she said.

“Okay.”

“See ya tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

As soon as she departed from the girls, she picked up her pace but he caught her. The same evil man caught her again. Tears rolled her eyes as he dragged her back to the shop and handed her a milkshake.

“Why me?”

“Because you were alone. Drink up, pretty one.”

Sally picked up the shake and started to drink.

There was a knock on the front door.

“Shit. Stay right here. I’ll put a bullet in your head if you make a sound or move.”

Sally nodded and kept drinking. When the man disappeared, Sally spilled out the shake and looked for a weapon. She spotted a knife and quietly grabbed it. She could hear him walking back so she hid it. When he came closer, she stabbed him in the side.

“You little shit!! You’re going to die.”

She thought she stabbed him well enough to escape, but it was too late. He cocked his gun and aimed at her head.

***

“No…No…NOOO!”

“Em..Em, wake up!”

Emilee jumped up and gasped for air. Jeremiah rubbed her back to calm her.

“Are you okay? Sounds like you were having a bad dream.”

“Yeah..just crazy dreams…sorry.”

Emilee didn’t believe what she saw. When she laid down and rolled over, she saw the ghost of Sally in the window.