The Devil's Bride

In the eerie silence of the night, through her fogged mind where tumultuous thoughts swam and spun at leisure, snuggled into the warmness that was solely her bed, Amelia didn’t fail to hear that distinct creak of the fourth stair. At that very specific sound, she couldn’t help but notice her heart skipping a beat and her breath hitching in her throat. She had been suffering from insomnia for quite some time. Ever since she lost both her parents in a car accident some two weeks ago, it seemed as if sleep had abandoned her as well, hence her state of wakefulness at that late hour of the night. It must be my imagination, she tried to convince herself. She lived alone after all, in that old, wooden, creaky childhood home of hers. There was therefore no reason for her to think there was someone ascending the stairs –or descending them for that matter. Even as she thought that and resumed her counting-the-sheep routine, she almost unconsciously kept straining her ears, trying her best to hear everything–anything– afraid as she was that she might end up missing a sound that would prove her fears right, and tell her there was an intruder in the house. At the end, that creak had been followed by no other. Nonetheless, no matter how thirsty she got, she couldn’t muster the courage to help herself to some water since the kitchen was in the first floor. Needless to say, she couldn’t lose herself to slumber, yet again, as she desperately wanted –needed– to and ended up, as a result, the following morning, with huge, dark bags under her eyes. As she eyed the mocking evidence of her lack of sleep in the mirror, she couldn’t help but feel silly. What was there to fear seriously? Fully dressed, with very little make-up on, her big, black purse carelessly dangling off her arm, she had just closed the front door and taken few steps away when one extremely fashionable, sophisticated-looking, leggy redhead came towards her. “Why, good morning Amelia, you look awfully tired today!” Exclaimed Judith, her sometimes-unnervingly straightforward next-door neighbor.  “I haven’t had much sleep lately,” was all she got in response. Amelia might have been acting rude but, truth be told, she had never liked her neighbor’s nosy nature one bit. “Having snacks in the middle of the night again?” The redhead all but snickered, her eyes disapproving and mocking at the same time.  “I beg your pardon?” Amelia’s brows knitted in confusion as she couldn’t figure out the meaning behind the redhead’s words. Was that her way of telling her she had put on weight? She couldn’t quite understand since she actually felt as if she had lost some pounds in the last couple of weeks –what, with her insomnia and all. “Don’t feign innocence,” she flashed a know-it-all grin at her, “I happened to see your kitchen light on at around three in the morning.” Judith might have wiggled her eyebrows at her in a taunting manner, trying to get a reaction out of her, be it of denial or embarrassment; Amelia was, however, left speechless, too petrified to even notice. She had most definitely not been in the kitchen at that time of the night.