"No! I already told you Susan! I'm not crazy..." Mary exclaimed, shaken up.
Susan sighed, pursuing her lips to the side looking at her frazzled best-friend. "I'm trying my best to wrap my head around what the hell you just told me. I just want you to understand how this sounds out loud okay? I didn't call you crazy Mary."
"Ugh!" Tears of frustration rolled down Mary's face. She cradled her head, pulling at her hair. She sniffled, keeping her focus down on the wooden table. "I flushed the paper down the toilet Susie," she continued, "I saw it, with my own eyes. I saw it get flushed."
Confused, Susan reached over and nudged Mary's shoulder back, making her sit up straight. Mary sniffled again, wiping her face with the back of her hand. Susan furrowed her eyebrows, concerned with the way her best-friend was acting. "Why are you crying then? You flushed it, it's gone. What's there to cry about?"
The look in Mary's eyes scared Susan. Her stomach dipped as she took in Mary's frightened state, she still couldn't wrap her head around the entire situation. "What-," before Susan could finish, Mary slid over a folded up piece of paper in the middle of the table. She gulped, pointing towards the paper sat in between them.
"Open it." Mary said.
"Mary you're scaring me...," Susan grabbed the piece of paper, nervous to open it. Mary wasn't acting normal, what the hell is so damn scary about a piece of paper? Susan unfolded the paper gently, eyeing her best friend before she completely opened it up. She breathed in deeply then exhaled before turning the paper around to see what was on it.
"Oh." Susan didn't say much as she looked over the shadowy figure drawn on the piece of paper. She took her time studying it, tracing the outline of the figure with her right pointer finger. "Wait a minute.... wasn't this the-"
"Yes." Mary cut her off.
"But I don't remember the drawing in color though, wasn't it black and white right? Or.." Susan questioned. She shook her head lightly, "No, no.. I remember it being black and white. Is this a different one?" She glanced up at Mary, confusion written all over her face.
"No, it's the same one. I already told you Sue!" Mary reached over the table and snatched the piece of paper out of Susan's hands. The slight action startled Susan, she flinched back into her chair and just stared at her best-friend waiting for an explanation.
"I.. I don't know how.. okay? Jus-just h-hear me out alright...?" She waited for confirmation from Susan before continuing. Susan nodded, making a swift movement with her hand urging Mary to go on. "It was black and white.. and then, I don't know! It just changed okay! All of a sudden it's just different, I don't know any other way to explain it! I-I can't, ugh I don't know Sue," Mary finished off, sighing and bowing her head in defeat. "I'm just as confused as you are, believe me."
"I do Mary, but honestly you aren't making any sense. Didn't you say you flushed it down the toilet?" Susan asked quirking up her left brow.
Mary only nodded.
"Okay then, why are you so worked up?"
"I watched it flush down Sue-"
Susan cut her off, growing irritated with the half-assed responses her best-friend is giving her. "Yeah you already told me that."
"That's the thing though. I remember flushing it down, hell I even peed after a-and..," She puffed her lips, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to say. She knew she was going to sound crazy, insane even. "And the next morning I found it floating in the toilet! And it was dry. It was totally dry Susan. And it was in the water floating. It scared me so much that I flushed it again and I sat there, on the ground and just waited for I don't even know what but it came back. The picture literally came back after I fucking flushed it again! A-and then I-I grabbed it out of the toilet and I just put it in the sink and ran water over it and it wasn't getting wet. The water ran over it Susan and it was still wet. Please please believe me, I s-swear that's what happened."
The look in Mary's eyes was all the confirmation Susan needed. She hadn't seen that look in years. Mary looked absolutely terrified. Her hair was a frizzed up mess, her eyes looked tired. Her lips were a little chapped and if there is anything to know about Mary, it's that she never, never leaves her house looking like a damn mess. Let alone, leave the house with her bottom lip looking busted. She was always put together.
The fact that she was sat across from Susan in her pajamas still, was enough to let Susan know that whatever the hell happened this morning seriously shook up her best-friend.
The silence between the two of them wasn't natural. It felt abnormal. Lost in her thoughts, Mary kept replying what happened in her head. Goosebumps began sprouting all over Mary's arms and legs. She wrapped her arms around herself, lightly shivering. She finally broke the silence and asked Susan what she thought of with the information Mary just shared.
Susan didn't reply. Instead, she just kept staring at Mary lost in her own thoughts. She stood up suddenly, the scraping sound of the chair against the floor evident in the small coffee shop. She grabbed the paper from Mary, with a look of determination.
"Here's what we're going to do. We're going to go back to your place," Susan lifted her hand in the air, gesturing for Mary to let her finish what she was going to say. Her best-friend closed her mouth and sunk back in her chair. She continued, "As I was saying.. we're going to take this possessed ass paper, go back to your place and test out what you just told me okay? I'm not saying I don't believe you, so don't get me wrong. But I'd like to see it for myself. If I have to dunk this bitch in a bucket of water, then I most definitely will. Now, get your things, gather yourself up and let's get the fuck out of here. Okay?"
When Mary didn't respond right away, Susan grabbed her arm and yanked her out of her chair. With her arm still in her grip, Susan dragged Mary out of the coffee shop and down the street to the stop light. She turned her around, gripping her shoulders. "Mary you're going to stop being a pussy, and we're going to figure this out. If we have to burn this paper for it to disappear then that's what we'll do. But, I have to see it for myself. So put your big girl panties on and let's go figure this shit out."
Looking up at her best-friend, seeing the look of absolute determination in her eyes put Mary at slight ease. Her rapidly beating heart slowed down. She nodded.
"Now take a deep breath in with me," Susan said, waiting for Mary to comply, taking a deep breath in herself and then exhaling. "And now exhale." Mary did just that, and then nodded again.
"Okay." She said. "Let's go."
—
Susan's eyes widened at the image before her. She gasped, hurriedly backing away from the kitchen sink. "What the fuck!"
The faucet was still on, running over the piece of paper sat in the middle of the kitchen sink. Completely dry. "This isn't possible..." Susan whispered to herself in utter disbelief.
Mary stayed silent, standing behind the kitchen counter and away from the sink itself. She was hugging herself, still feeling cold.
Susan contemplated on what to do. Mary's utter silence wasn't helping Susan's frightened state. She shut the water off, reaching down in the sink and grabbing the dry piece of parchment. Her hands won't stop shaking, she felt chills roll up and down her entire body as she scanned over the drawn shadowy figure.
She decided to stick by what she said in the coffee shop. She turned around, opening all of the drawers and cabinets, searching for a lighter all whilst looking like a mad-woman. "Ugh! Fuck it!" She shut the drawer she currently was rummaging in and walked towards the stove. Flicking on the switch for the upper right stove, she waited till the flame finally lit. She bit the corner of her lip, and threw the paper on the flaming stove. Susan was so drawn in on the piece of paper, she completely forgot Mary was there. Her trance was finally broken away from the burning parchment when she heard her best-friends blood curling scream behind her.
Gasping, Susan turned around quickly to see Mary on the ground flaying around like a fish out of water, screaming her lungs out. She quickly ran to her aid, dropping on her knees reaching out for Mary's head.
"Mary! Mary! For fucks sake! Mary stop!" Her heart was beating out of her chest, she felt goosebumps rising on her skin. The atmosphere in the apartment changed, and Mary wouldn't stop shaking.
Susan didn't know what to do. She began panicking, slapping her best-friends face, kept shouting Mary's name. She completely forgot the stove was still on, the drawing was still burning. The smoke from the stove travelled around the apartment from the kitchen. It began looking gloomy inside.
The sound of the fire alarm pierced Susan's ears, as she hurriedly got up trying her best not to hurt Mary in the process. She ran back to the kitchen turning the stove off and flung the paper from the stove onto the ground. "Ow" She whimpered down at her red finger tips, burned after having flung the paper off the steaming stove.
The fire alarm stopped, and she ran back to Mary. Who was now laying on the floor breathing heavily, staring up at the ceiling.
"What the fuck," Susan shouted, her rapid heartbeat loud in her ears.
Mary felt tired, her body was weak. Her throat was dry and her eyes were heavy. She felt her entire body burning on the inside. Her blood felt like it was literally boiling. The piece of paper was laying closely by where she was still laying on the floor herself. Half of the drawing was burned, the shadowy figure still looked the same.
But Mary could've sworn she saw a stray tear fall from the figures face and down to the burnt pieces of the paper.