Whispers of Death

“Susy, you take foorrreevvveerrr! hurry up!” No matter how hard Susy tries, she will always walk out of the bathroom looking the same as before. Makeup doesn’t work on her, it never will, and the worst part of this dreadful situation is I. HAVE. TO. PEE.

I knock even louder this time, though I know it will never make a difference.

“Okay! okay! I’m almost done, calm down!” an obvious lie. Susy breathes lies.

At last, she struts out of the bathroom. She swears being in one beauty pageant makes her a model… until I remind her she lost.

“It’s not a runway loser.” Bumping into her, I slam the door in her face and relieve myself. One bathroom is not enough for two girls, let alone two girls, two adults, a dog, a cat, and a goldfish. I tried convincing my parents to force Susy to use the bathroom outside like Ace, but ‘people aren’t animals’, they should seriously talk with my science teacher.

Washing my hands always turns into a concert; my mom promises that hands aren’t clean until I’ve sung happy birthday times three. Maybe I shouldn’t listen to her until she consults a scientist, but regardless, I do it, and I do it well. I shove my hands under the flowing water and start my melody

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday de-..”

Buzz. Buzz.

Susy’s phone is usually glued to her hands, so when I hear it ringing on the toilet, it grabs my attention. Great, now I have to start over, but before I start the performance again, her phone almost buzzes off the toilet. It won’t stop ringing, maybe I should check it, you know incase of a life or death situation, I mean, a 12-year-old girl could help save someone’s life.

As I dry my hands and reach for Susy’s phone, of course, she starts banging on the door.

“Jane have you seen my phone? I can’t find it.” Her brilliant idea of knocking while talking made her muffled voice nearly impossible to understand, but the question was obvious.

“No, go away!” Taking a page out of Susy’s book is fun, especially against her. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister, but she deserves a taste of her own medicine at times.

My eyes dart over as a third buzz goes off.

“Hey, change in plans.”

“Meet us at Ana’s.”

“Hello??”

Typically, I am a sweet sister, always helping with shannigaans, so of course I was excited when I realized Susy was sneaking out. We call it our secret missions, and I’m the best secret agent.

Before I head out of the bathroom to give Suzy her phone and start plotting our plan, a wind whipped by my ear, and it almost sounded like a whisper.

Wait.

I go to close the window, but it’s closed and locked. Hoping not to find a ghost, I rush to the door, but it won’t unlock. I’m stuck.

The wind returns this time, sending shivers down my back and along my arms.

Wait. I promise I won’t hurt you.

Should I speak? Does it lie? What is it? Is it evil? I’m going to yell.

“HELP! MOM! DAD! I’M STUCK!” My face turns red, but I don’t stop

They can’t hear you. Listen to me, for I am here to help.

“Who are you?” I guess I’ll speak.

Keep the phone. Hide it. Until 8:30.

“Keep her phone? She’ll kill me! This is her life.” How is this voice here to help when their first mission is to get me killed by the world’s worst makeup artist?

She will owe you hers. Hide the phone.

Maybe I’ll keep the phone, maybe I won’t, maybe it’s not smart to listen to a strange voice.

“Who. Are. You.” Maybe this time it will answer.

A guide, a seer, a guardian

“Am I going crazy?” sure Jane, ask the strange voice if I need help.

No, I need your help, and you need mine

“I do not need you.”

Do not be rash child, for I promise you will be grateful you listened

My shivers disappeared, and the tension was silenced, but alarm bells continued to ring in my mind, yet I felt no urgency to leave. Only to listen, I hope I’m not wrong.

“Okay, how can I help?”

Go to your father; he is in the garage, but do not make yourself known.

This is dumb. He will hear me coming from a mile away. It’s a suicide mission, but I can’t escape the thoughts of what I could possibly help with, especially in the garage, a forbidden place, and the journey is harsh.

Sneaking around the house has become nearly impossible once we adopted Ace. Ace was once the sweetest puppy, a golden retriever brighter than the sun and fluffier than snow, but he was trained by a vindictive feline. My sister’s dangerously secretive cat, Diamond, is able to appear anywhere at any time. Ace turned into Diamond’s henchman. He prowls along the quiet corners of the house, waiting to spoil any antics and giving away any hiding spots.

Thankfully, it is 8:15, and my mom is clipping Ace’s leash on, one thing ace can’t sneak is his excitement to go outside, so when I hear ace run outside and my mom slam the door behind them, I take that as my cue to hurry down the stairs in my socks, being careful not to slip. On the right, Susy is sprawled out on the couch watching a movie, so I go left straight into the kitchen. Thankfully, it leads right into the garage.

Put the phone in a drawer

Why now!

“Later, I need to hurry into the garage before I am caught.”

Put. It. In. A. Drawer

“Fine!” I run to the breakfast nook and gently lay the phone in the utensil drawer and close it.

Ruff. Ruff.

I scan over to the front yard out of the kitchen sink window. I catch a glimpse of Ace as he looks over at me… he begins to pull my mom back inside. I bolt for the garage door and softly open it before my mom makes it to the front door. I squeeze in a little opening and softly close the door, making sure to crouch by my mom’s van to avoid my dad seeing or hearing me.

“Now, what?” I speak barely in a breath, my parents will ground me until senior prom if they catch me in here, and my dad is right outside the open garage door working on his car.

Scare your dad and make yourself known

WHAT! I knew listening to this voice was a bad idea.

“No!”

Do it.

“N. O. I will get in so much trouble, how will this make me grateful?”

You will not be in trouble for long. Make yourself known.

“No, this is ridiculous! I am going back inside.”

He will die!

“WHAT?” It’s a liar.

MAKE. YOURSELF. KNOWN. NOW

I turn to sneak back inside, but what if, what if it’s telling the truth? Before I can fully decide on what to do, I push over a toolbox, and before I can process it, my dad flings from under the car to check out the noise.

“Jane, what are you doing out here? Why are you making a mess?”

“Oh. I. Umm.” Incoherent idiot. He stomps over to me.

“You’re not supposed to be out here; it’s dangerous. Get back inside. Why can’t you girls listen to basic dema-“ before he can finish his insult, his car crash lands on the driveway. Lost for words, we stare at one another for a minute, then my mom slams open the door, snapping us out of shock.

“What’s happening? Are you okay?” My mom stops halfway in her tracks after seeing us next to the fallen toolbox

“Jane? Why are you out here? Are you guys okay?” Great, now there really is no way of escaping this punishment.

“We’re okay, dear. These damn lifts nearly killed me, and while Jane should have been inside, thankfully, her being here saved me.”

“Thank you, honey, for accidentally being your dad’s saving grace, but you’re still grounded for the night,” she says, laying a kiss on my forehead before heading inside. I helped my dad pick up the tools while my mom made us hot cocoa. As we start to head inside for the night, Susy lets out this awfully loud whine, so we run inside, nearly hitting the wall. Susy is hysterically sobbing on the phone, practically incoherent. I guess she checked the drawer. My mom hurried to snatch the phone from Susy in an attempt to calm her and find out more about what had put her 16-year-old daughter in such emotional distress.

“Hello, this is Mrs. Henderson. How can I help you?” As my mom listens, her face whitens, and her hands start to tremble. Maybe she saw who has been guiding me all night.

“Okay. Okay. I am so sorry, and Susy is on the way now with her father”. My mom frantically hangs up and gives my dad her car keys.

“There was an accident with Ana… Please take Susy to the hospital… I will wait here.” I couldn’t hear everything that was said, seeing as they were huddled in the corner, and I couldn’t possibly ask Susy anything; she can’t even speak, so I just hugged her. My dad and Susy rushed out of the house, almost forgetting to close the door. The car screeching out of the garage causes Ace to go wild, so my mom chained him to his dog house in the front yard. He rarely goes out there, but right now he’s in the way. It’s a long chain at least, so he can wander the whole yard, but he seemed so lonely out there by himself, until I saw Diamond snuggle up next to him. Once my mom comes back, I follow her to the kitchen for the hot cocoa and the hopes of figuring out more. It was silent for an eternity as we waited for the cocoa.

“Here, sweety,” my mom placed the mug on the counter in front of me and started to place marshmallows for me, leaving the bag next to my mug in case we wanted more. Sweets were always our comfort food.

“Can I ask what happened?” I stay watching the marshmallows cruise around the muddy waters of the sea of cocoa, hoping I didn’t cross a line asking this question.

“Can I ask you a question first?” My eyes jump to meet hers, which were already staring right at me as if waiting for an admission of guilt. How could I possibly explain being in the garage? Let’s hope I learned enough from Suzy’s playbook.

“Did you hide Suzy’s phone?” She looks at me as if she knows the answer, but she couldn’t possibly have proof.

“Noo.” She’s a walking lie detector; lying to her is nearly impossible. I’m sure she saw right through my answer.

“Then, why was her phone in the silverware drawer?”

I take a nice long sip from my cocoa, trying to find the perfect excuse, but the time is ticking, so I continue to lie.

“How would I know? She can be a bit forgetful at times.” There is no way she can blame me for it. The night is finally ending. I helped the guardian and my family, and the voice has apparently found peace. Although a thank you would have been nice. There is no way I’m ending this night getting caught again. Maybe she will let it go. A lot has happened.

“Okay, if you say so, but we will talk about the garage tomorrow. Are you hungry?”

Thank God!

“A little, can I have a muffin please?”

“Of course, sweetie.” As she turns for a plate, shivers return down my back and along my arms.

Leave the house with your mom.

“Here we go again.” Why can’t I be left alone?

“What?” My mom stares at me, questioning if I actually said anything. I could have sworn I whispered.

“Nothing, sorry.”She turns back to the counter, now heading for the muffin container

Leave the house now!

“How? What could I possibly say to get my mom outside?” This time whispering into my arm, ensuring my mom can’t hear a word.

Ace is loose

Feeling reluctant and defiant, I almost ignore the guardian, but I remember how it saved my dad and sister tonight, so I follow its instructions.

“MOM ACE ESCAPED!” I jump out of my seat almosting spilling my hot cocoa, and bolt for the front door, knowing all too well that Ace is still perfectly safe and chained outside. My mom rushes for the door to catch Ace, who thankfully was hiding inside his house across the lawn. As we reach the last few steps of our front porch, a loud explosion echoes, and flames appear around us. Before we knew it, the shock wave thrust us off the porch. Unable to hold onto anything or seek shelter, I fly past our fence and wait for the hard impact against the road, but I just feel cold.

I’m sorry, Jane. It was one or all.