With Eyes Wide Open And Mouths Sewn Shut

EIGHT

The coffee shop is bustling when I arrive a quarter til three. People sit in the shade outside under umbrellas, typing away on their laptops.

Free wifi is a beautiful thing.

I step inside and the smell of coffee instantly hits me. It's sends a rush of pleasure through my veins. The shop's name holds true. I don't even need to take a sip of coffee to feel caffeinated.

A blackboard sits above the front counter. Bubbly text showcasing today's special is written on the board, along with cute drawings of coffee. Stained, grey brick lay underneath the blackboards. String lights cover the wall.

It's a cute place. I'll have to come back at some point.

Someone taps my shoulder and I spin around. It's a young woman. She has umber skin and curly black hair. Her full lips are painted a light pink, pulled back into a pearly white smile. Winged, gold eyeliner adorns her eyes, making her hazel irises pop.

"Are you Mary?" she asks.

"I am. Victoria I presume?" I reply, offering her a hand.

She takes it and shakes it. "Yes. Want to grab something to sip on while we talk? I know I need the caffeine."

"Oh absolutely. The two cups I had already are not cutting it."

We go through the line and place our orders. They have so many different options so I decide to venture out and try a new blend. It tastes amazing. A blend of chocolate and hazelnut. It's heaven on the tastebuds.

We sit at one of the outside tables. It's a beautiful day out compared to the stormy one yesterday turned out to be.

"Do you care if I record this?" I ask after we've settled in and each took a few sips of our drinks. "If not I can take notes if you feel more comfortable. I promise I won't be sharing the audio recording, it will just be for reference later on," I say.

She nods her head. "Yeah. I don't mind."

I pull out my phone and place it on the table between us. Pulling up the voice memos app, I hit the red circle in the middle to begin recording.

"So, how long were you and Carly friends?"

"We met our freshman year of college. Dorm mates."

"Did you guys keep in touch after college ended?"

"We did. Every weekend we met up and would hang out. Sometimes we'd go shopping. Other times we went to the bars or clubs." Victoria smiled. "She never turned down a fun time."

"I miss those days," I say, retuning her smile. "So, when was the last time you saw Carly?"

"It was Saturday. Five days ago."

"Did anything seem off about her? Did she think anyone was watching her?"

Victoria takes a second and thinks. Her fingers drum absentmindedly on the side of the coffee cup. Her nails are painted the same golden color as her eyeliner.

After a minute, Victoria spoke. "She seemed normal during the party. It was after that she acted a bit off. I just thought it was the alcohol though."

"What was she doing?"

"Well, it was a Halloween party. It was at some guy's house that we knew from college. Everyone came dressed in costume. Carly was a broken doll. She did her make up to make it look like pieces of her face were cracked.

"The party started off great. It felt just like our college days. We bobbed for apples. Played all sorts of cheesy Halloween games. But then someone suggested we play Bloody Mary."

I shudder. Bloody Mary was one of those scary stories that I always stayed away from. Anytime I heard someone even talking about it I couldn't look in the mirror for days.

Victoria must've noticed my shudder because she says, "Yeah. My exact thoughts. Carly was fearless though. She went into the bathroom with her candle and recited the words. A minute later she emerged laughing, her candle still smoking from where she'd blown it out."

"Did anyone else play?" I ask.

"A few others did. Josh Crabtree. Kelsey Kutler. And there was one other that I can't remember."

"So did Carly start acting weird after the game?"

Victoria takes a sip of her drink before answering. "Yeah. It was maybe an hour afterward. By then she'd drank a fair amount. She thought she'd seen a woman standing out by the pool. She had me look out with her but I didn't see anyone."

"Did she describe this woman to you?"

"She did. Carly said she looked injured. That she was wearing a white dress that was covered in blood. I think she mentioned something weird about her eyes and mouth too."

A chill races down my spine. Carly and I had seen the same woman.

"In the days following the party did Carly say anything about seeing this woman again?"

Victoria shakes her head. "Not that I remember. I tried checking in on her once or twice but she gave me pretty generic texts back. Work kept me from going to check on her in person." Her eyes shift downward. "I wish I'd checked on her now."

"I'm sorry. There's always something we wish we could take back. Everything's easier in hindsight."

"Ain't that the truth."

"I just have one more question to ask and then I promise to leave you be. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me."

"Of course. I just want to help put whoever did this away."

"You and me both," I agree. "I'm sure the police already asked you this, but what was Carly's boyfriend like? Is it possible that there was trouble between them?"

"Xavier wouldn't do this. He's a good guy. A really good guy. Not many of Carly's boyfriends have passed the friend test. He passed with flying colors."

"Okay." I stop the recording and place the phone back in my bag. "Thank you again, Victoria. You've really helped me picture Carly today."

We said our goodbyes shortly after that. I learned a few things from our talk. First, I needed to see if I could get in contact with Carly's boyfriend. She may have told him more about what was haunting her after that party. Second, I also needed to find out if the other people who played this game at the party were experiencing anything strange. Third, I needed to find out who this mysterious woman was. Why was she stalking me now? And why was she appearing in my dreams?

Even thought I learned so much with my talk with Victoria, I feel like I gathered more questions than answers.