Possessed

Chapter 24: The Final Word

On the way home from the funeral, my parents dropped me off. They said they had an invitation from some old friend that they couldn’t avoid.

“It’s in the next town, so we’ll be back by midnight. You can make yourself some lasagna. No need to stay up late for us, okay?”

I mumbled my consent and waved at them as they drove off. I entered the house and closed the door behind me. I didn’t feel like changing my dress; it wasn’t that uncomfortable anyway. I plopped onto the couch and surfed through some channels before settling on a good movie.

The sound of a door closing in the distance reached my ears and I stirred awake. I guess I fell asleep during the movie. Attributing the sound to my imagination, I stood up from the couch and stretched. My limbs felt numb. I switched off the TV and started to head for the stairs, attempting to smooth out the wrinkles in my dress.

A loud clank, as if a metal pan had fallen off its hook, resounded throughout the house and I froze in my tracks. There was someone in the house. The intruder was in the kitchen, I was sure of it. That was where the sound had come from.

Impulsively, I ran into the kitchen, merely to find Ed picking up a metal pot from the tiled floor. On seeing me come in, he smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, your back door was open, so I let myself in.”

Over the past few days, we’ve hung around each other a lot, so I kind of got comfortable with him. All I felt was relief on seeing that it was him and not some robber or burglar.

I shrugged, “It’s okay. What, do you need something?”

He set down the metal pot on the marble countertop cautiously and took two steps toward me, his face inches from mine. I noticed a knife stand just near my right elbow.

“Yes, you,” he answered my question. Ed reached out and stroked my cheek, eliciting tingles on my skin. I closed my eyes as I felt him edging closer.

“I’m not all that easy to get rid of, son,” I heard myself say as I grabbed a knife from the stand and thrust it into his heart. Ha, bull’s eye target. Funny how knives always seem to be my thing. I eyed Ed as he doubled over in pain and collapsed to the floor.

“Dad?” he choked out before falling silent, death having stolen his voice.

“Your mother next, boy. One down, one more to go,” I said as I dodged his body, opened the kitchen back door and stepped into the night.