Intimate Stranger (Editing)

Chapter 17: Steve

Frowning, I reached the back of the van and stood stupidly as I waited for Howard to open the doors for me. "No, it's my dry cleaning," I remarked, sarcastically.

"What are you gonna do?" He asked, standing beside me and shaking like a leaf after opening them. What a pussy. Howard was a shrimp of a man. You couldn't even call him a man, with his chickenshit attitude. I just needed him to deliver the DVD's, so I didn't think it would matter.

With a grunt, I plunked the body onto the floor of the van, then shoved her dangling legs inside. I could see her dark hair sticking out from the blanket, and I stared at it for a moment. I blinked twice then looked away, back at Howard. Focus. "I haven't figured it out yet," I answered after a long tense silence. I then swiped the DVD from my jean pocket and smacked it against Howard's gaunt chest and barked, "Shut your mouth and get this delivered."

He was short and sank below me, staring up at me in fear, "W-w-whats the address?" He stuttered.

"There's a paper in the glove compartment with all the addresses. You know what to do," I told him as I swiftly turned away and headed back down the driveway. With my back still facing him, I shouted, "Now get out of here!"

I stepped back into the house with the sound of the van engine echoing in my ears and intent on finishing what I came there to do.

-

The bedroom

Sitting on the floor, with my head tipped back against the wall, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine I was somewhere else. Somewhere like...Italy - Riding in a gondola with a ridiculous large hat on, the sun shining overhead, staring at the ripples in the murky water. Yeah, that would be better than this. In my fantasy Trace was alive and I was with him.

But then I heard Sam's voice and I was back in reality. "Why is he taking so fucking long?" She asked, staring straight ahead at the door, giving the impression that she was asking the question to herself rather than the rest of us.

I looked past Sam at Mary, who looked like she was dozing off. It was silent for a moment before I quietly asked, "What time is it?"

"I don't know..." Sam answered, "but it feels like a really long time."

"If Sabrina was still sitting on the bed she could look at the clock for us," I noted.

Julia, who was silent up until this point, suddenly spoke up, saying, "It's 3am."

"Oh," Sam said, "Yeah...it's been like...2 hours."

Then Julia replied, "Why would it possibly be taking that long?" Quickly before waiting for a response, she said, "Never mind...I don't want to know."

"I hope she's okay," I quietly mumbled to myself.

Then I was startled by Mary's voice, who was apparently awake, if she was ever asleep in the first place. Mary had a chilling angry look on her face as she said, "I hope he kills her."

My eyes widened at this, "Mary!" I exclaimed, "You don't mean that..."

She tipped her head to the side, away from my gaze and whispered, "The hell I don't." It was evident that something in Mary was changing because of this trauma. I only hoped she could pull through before she lost it.

In the silence, I jumped suddenly and gasped, startled as a loud bang resounded throughout the room. It took me a moment to figure out what it was. Someone was pounding on my bedroom door. Was that really necessary? I asked myself, figuring that it was probably just Steve trying to scare us. Mission accomplished. Hasn't he scared us enough?