The Visitors

No, no, no! Not again. Not now. Why now? It has been nearly four years since my last… episode. Since before I met Will.

“Hello, who is there?” I ask, but my voice betrays what I promised to do, remain calm.

“Hello?” I am yelling now.

“Daisy.” A sweet and tiny voice whispers from a few feet away. She sounds super young. I sit up and spot the small silhouette figure at the edge of my bed. I reach out blindly and quickly to flip on the bedside lamp. 

A young girl in a school uniform, with ocean blue eyes and beach blonde hair is staring at me.

Crap. I was hoping it was just nightmare.

“Hi Daisy, my name is April. It is is nice to meet you!” I say in a softer voice so that I don’t scare her. She didn’t ask to be here, I am sure. I stand up from the bed and give her a smile. She smiles and returns a shy wave.

“Who is that?” Daisy points to Will sleeping.

“He is my friend, but don’t worry about him. I promise he wont hurt us.” I say assuring her.

Daisy nods her head slowly but is still apprehensive.

“Do you know how you got here, Daisy?” I ask.

She shook her head. “I am not sure, but I think I lost my mom, can you help me find her?”

“Of course, I can.” I get up from the bed and slipped into my slippers. 

“How old are you Daisy?” I ask.

“Six.” She says as she takes a step back away from me.

“Six!? You’re practically seven” I teased, mimicking the dramatic “six-turning-seven” hand gestures the kids do to me at school all the time.

She giggles tensions melting from her small shoulders.

“I am Twenty-nine.”I tell her.

Daisy eyes widen in shock like I just admitted to her that she was a walking fossil.

“I am not that old!” I say as I throw my hands in the air and wave them around, doing a silly dance in the hopes to make her laugh more because I can tell she’s nervous.

Daisy giggles.

“What is your favorite color?” I ask her

“Blue.” Daisy responds.

“Blue is my favorite color too!” I gasp with theatrical excitement.

Daisy jumps up and down with joy holding her hands together close to her heart like I just told her we are going to Disneyland. Watching her familiar joy, there is an ache in my chest. I wonder how long she has been here wondering around in the abyss.

“Where was your mommy when you last saw her?” I ask gently in attempt to gather more information.

“She picked me up from school and was taking me to get some ice cream.” Daisy says as I switch from slippers to tennis shoes.

“Did you make it to the ice cream shop?” I ask out of curiosity.

Daisy shakes her head no.

A lump in my throat appears and I swallow it down. Car crash, maybe? I didn’t want to trigger any bad memories that might make her remember in the case that it was tragic, so I change the subject.

I take a peek at Will to make sure he is still asleep, but he hasn’t moved in inch since falling asleep. I am lucky that he is a deep sleeper. I am not really sure where my body goes when I wake up in these episodes, but I do not want to risk it nor do I want to find out. I also haven’t lived with anyone besides my parents because of this. I figured since it had been a while since my last episode, that maybe they were gone for good.

We had moved to the area a year ago. Since Will and I didn’t have kids yet we didn’t care about family friendly neighborhoods, but I knew the local layout well enough, so I knew exactly where I could take her.

“Let’s grab you some ice cream and wait for mommy at the park, would that be okay?” I reach out for Daisy’s hand and she takes it.

Daisy smiles very big. She was so sweet, the farther along our walk we were the more comfortable she felt with me squeezing my hand harder, then eventually grabbing my arm tightly. She talked a lot. Told me about her brother and all of her friends in school. In the past, I would just let the children play and I would leave them be, but it has been a while since a child has visited me. If she never has an interaction with another person again, I want her to remember me as a nice person, if she remembers me at all of course. Because that was the truth, I didn’t know where they came from, how they reach me, and where they go after. So I want to be a best last stop if that is the case.

Daisy and I are on the swings again. “Hey, Daisy, you can always visit me whenever you want, ok? You are always safe here”

“What about your friend?.” Daisy asks.

“His name is Will and he won’t bother us, I promise.” I say assuring her safety. 

Daisy smiles and nods her head but doesn’t say anything else.

I have never had the same visitor twice but I want to assure her she is safe with me if she can visit me again. Then alarm goes off. Poor Daisy, I wish I would have gone to bed sooner to spend more time with her, but I didn’t know they would be back now.

As soon as I am fully awake, I grab my phone. A quick google search ‘Daisy Brooks six year old girl?’ later and there she was. Daisy’s sweet face is the first picture that comes up. Attached the article read “Mother and Her Two Children…” I print the article out with Daisy’s picture, say a prayer that Daisy finds her mom in what ever after life there was and that she is not suffering and store the article in my binder with all the others.

I get up only to be faced with a busy scheduled day of wedding prep and organizing. Will only took the day of our wedding off, so he wasn’t going to be of much help this week. Not that there was much more to do.

That night I don’t even take my sleeping pill not knowing what is on the other side waiting for me. If another episode happens, I do not want be stuck there longer than I have to.

“Where you alright last night?” Will asked concerned. 

“Yeah, why?” I responded.

“I figured you had trouble sleeping, because you were moving around a lot and kind of mumbling in your sleep for a little bit” He says.

Oh, crap. He noticed something. My sleep and life schedule had been so regimented I thought I was past this. I seriously hope there are no more visitors today, I am getting married in few days.

“Yeah, I think I just forgot to take my sleeping pill. Sorry if I kept you up.” I say

“You didn’t, I just want to make sure that you are OK.” He kisses my cheek and heads to his side of the bed. 

“Actually, I think I feel a little cold coming on, I think I might go sleep in the guest room so that I don’t keep you up.

“You really don’t have to do that especially on the week of our wedding. We can be sick together!” Will says in protest trying to cheer me up.

I laugh, “I know, but just to be on the safe side. And besides, one of us will have to rally on our wedding day.” I say.

I grab my favorite pillow and walk across the hall to the guest bed. I get comfortable and prepare for the night. I actually liked this room. While it was super small, it was very cozy and homey feeling, and also the coldest room in the house, hopefully it kept the them away. But it doesn’t and I am met with yet another visitor.

A persistent tapping comes from the corner of the room. 

“Hello there, my name is April! What is yours?” I sit up noticing a figure of a man in the corner of the room.

But he doesn’t respond. He stands there in his black pants, black jacket, and hoodie over his head. I can’t really make out his face, but I can tell he is tall with a strong build. I don’t turn on the light because I don’t want to scare him.

“I am not sure why either one of us is here, but I have been experiencing these type of interactions since I was a little girl. I have met all kinds of people that have crossed over including one celebrity. I haven’t had an episode in a while, but I am happy to answer any questions you might have. We can talk, you can tell me about yourself or we can just sit here for the next few hours until I wake up.”

He doesn’t respond. While I try to respect their space as much as possible, it is also an uneasy feeling being alone with a random stranger who doesn’t say anything. Most of them talk to me to tell me about their life, but I have never had one quite like him.

“Do you know why your here?” I attempted to start another conversation.

He nods his head yes.

“Do you mind sharing with me?” I continue.

He shakes his head no.

“Can I get your name?”

No, again.

I reach to turn on my light but the black figure starts walking towards me fast.

“Ok, I understand no light.” I say calmly.

His head nods yes.

The man doesn’t say anything or move anymore and instead continues to stand there looking in my direction. I grab the pillow as a useless shield and hold it against me, I reach for my glasses and continue staring at the mystery man as he stares right back at me. Great.

“You should leave.” The mystery man says in a deep voice. 

“I would love to, but I didn’t ask for this.” I responded.

My alarm goes off. Thank God and a sigh in relief the second I wake up and see sunlight peaking through the blinds. I sit up on my bed. We are getting married tomorrow. And that was not a fun one for me, not that they ever are, but I wish they could all be like Daisy.

I pick up my phone and call my moms number

“Hello, honey! I am on my way…” My mother says when she answers the phone.

“Mom…” I cut her off but don’t continue.

“Are they back?” She asked without letting me finish. 

I don’t say anything. But she advised that I needed to tell Will and that is the last thing I wanted to do. Will was smart, a lawyer, handsome and he was so good to me. My life with him was normal and boring. I didn’t want to ruin it with whatever baggage this fell under. I tried to stay away from him when I first met him, because I never wanted to answer for my bad sleeping habit, but he was persistent and determined to date me. And when I gave in, I fell head over heels. There was no going back. 

It is the day of our wedding. One hundred twenty people RSVP “yes.” We didn’t plan a honeymoon yet, so at least I have that to look forward to.

“Did you decide to tell him?” My mother asks as she helps me slip into my wedding dress. 

“No and I am not going to” I say in a stern voice shutting down any opinion she might have.

My mother shakes her head in protest and an hour later, I am married to the love of my life. We celebrate with our friends and family until 1 AM before I give in and Will takes me to our hotel room. We don’t even sleep together tonight since we were so exhausted from all the adrenaline today. Instead we order lots of room service and turn on Friends. I decide to take a sleeping pill hoping it will prevent any visitors or at least drown them out. I know it works because I don’t even remember falling asleep.

“Congratulations are in order I see.” An adult female voice comes from behind me.

My eyes open wide “Who is there?” I ask.

“Please tell me he rocked your world tonight.” The women’s voice asked sarcastically. 

“No, unfortunately we were both too tired.” I respond as I sit up spotting her.

“Boooo!” The brunette girl protests as she sits on the foot of the bed.

“I am April, what is your name?” I ask

“Rachel. You got any food, April? I am hungry!” The brunette, pale skinned with blue eyes asks eagerly. Her facial features are strong, but still feminine looking. She is pretty and looks to be my age.

“We got some leftover pizza in the fridge.” I believe.

“You’re lucky I like left over cold pizza!” Rachel says.

I laugh as I get up. 

“So tell me what is the news, what is the gossip. Was there any drama at your wedding?” 

“Not really I threatened my family to be on their best behavior so I think I was probably the problem.” I say

Rachel giggles. “Sounds like it.”

“Have you been married before?” I ask.

“I was, yes.” Rachel looks down at the left over cheese slice Will and I ordered and picks at it with her fingers.

“Any advice?” I ask.

“Keep a good tracker on him and don’t let him lay any hands on you.” Rachel says as she looks at Will. Will turns over in that moment revealing his face.

“Handsome.” Rachel says

“I am sorry.” I say. Will is a good man, he takes care of me. Not that I need it, but I do love him and appreciate him.

“Eh, that is okay. My life wasn’t perfect before I married, but he had a lot of money and was hot, so it was fun while it lasted. I am probably better off dead anyway.” Rachel says.

“I have met a lot of you, I can’t say any of them deserved it.” I say. 

“Maybe they want to be here though.” Rachel says as she looks at Will and then at me.

Rachel seemed fun and honest. We could be friends if she were still…alive. 

“Do you know how you got here?” I ask

“I do.” Rachel responds.

“You don’t have to share if you don’t want to.” I say assuring her my intentions are pure. 

“So what are your and Wills plans? Kids? DINKs? Open Marriage?” Rachel asked curiously.

“I don’t know yet, if I am being honest.” I say.

Rachel scoffs “You know that is something you should have figured out before you got married.”

“I know, but he’s hot look at him. I will do what ever he wants me to do.” I say smiling.

“I hear that. You did alright” Rachel gives me a wink.

Rachel and I spend the night talking, gossiping about men and women, drinking wine. I tell her about all the celebrity gossip and anything fun I can remember in that moment. She came from a broken home, no kids and met her husband when she was a waitress at a popular steakhouse a few towns over and he became her regular before he gathered enough courage to ask her out. She said their life was perfect until it wasn’t.

“Rachel?” I ask as we sat on the balcony looking at the night star-filled sky.

“Yeah?” She responds

“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?” I ask in a low voice. 

“Your husband killed me.” Rachel says with a straight face.

“What do you mean he killed you?” I say as my alarm goes off and I wake up to his face smiling at me.

“Can you believe we are married?” Will asks.