CREEP

4 ~ Haunting

Leo West had just gotten home from the spectacular date.

He tossed himself on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, smiling broadly. The date had turned out perfectly.

Except for the part where he had mentioned Vanessa…

"You really can't stop thinking about me?" a voice whispered. "Can you?"

The voice was too familiar.

Vanessa.

Her soothing yet eerie voice. A voice he heard most of the time when he was alone and lost in his own thoughts.

She kept haunting him and could not leave him alone.

" You are trying to ignore me…"

He didn't respond.

He kept ignoring her presence. Just like he always tried to do when she appeared on him.

" It's because of that new girl, isn't it? You think you are so madly inlove with her that you will be able to forget and get rid of me, don't you?"

He shut his eyes and blocked his ears but he could still hear her voice inside his head.

"Well, guess what baby…" she continued. "She will just disappear like the others in no time and you will be left all alone. With me! Only me!"

A loud knock on the door rescued him from Vanessa's haunting voice.

He stood up to get the door and was a little startled to see Julia standing at the door.

What was even more surprising was the hot slap she blessed him with.

" You sick devil!" she snapped. "HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!"

"What! What the f**k was that for! And what the f**k are you talking about!"

She showed him the black purse. "You are the one that hid my f*****g purse!"

"What! No!"

"What kind of a sick game is this, Leo! Hiding my purse in your coat after how stressed up I was in the morning desperately looking for it? What kind of a sick person are you!"

She threw the brand new iPhone at him and snarled,

"Stay the f**k away from me! We are done!"

She turned to walk away but he grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Don't leave!" he begged. "Please! I don't know how the f**k that purse ended up in my coat but I swear on my life I didn't hide it there!"

"Oh please!" She scoffed and pushed him away. "So there are ghosts in your house now!"

He knew there were ghosts. His wife's ghost but Julia wouldn't believe him..

"I don't know how that purse ended up there. Believe me!"

"You know what I believe?" she sneered. "That you are a f*****g sick guy who is f*****g sick in the head! I think you hid my phone so you could act like the hero and buy me a new one! Well, joke's on you! You got caught in your own game!"

She took off the coat and threw it at him.

"f**k off! I never want to see your face again!"

She stormed away but he still ran after her. She turned to glare at him and pushed him away.

"I told you to f**k off!" she screamed at him. "Whatever stupid thing we had... It's done!"

*******

Most Sundays, Det. Cindy didn't bother to get out of bed.

But not that Sunday.

She had somewhere to be.

Someone to look for.

Someone to talk to.

Questions to ask.

A case to work on.

Vanessa West.

She was really excited to be doing this. She hoped that the department would permit her to go ahead with the case.

She started her morning with a cold shower. In her head, cold showers worked magic. They refreshed both the mind and body.

After that cool shower, she buttoned her white shirt and tucked it inside her ironed, black pants. It was sunny outside so she didn't need a coat or sweater.

She didn't waste time drinking her coffee or making pancakes like she did most Sundays.

After that brief breakfast, she grabbed her notebook and pen and slid them in her gray handbag.

She dashed to the parking lot and slid in her old, blue jeep.

If this case went well, she hoped, she would finally get herself a new car…

And she had a feeling this was it!

She started the engine, ready to make a move that would change her life…

*******

The Wests were a Christian family.

And not only were they religious and spiritual, but also very wealthy people in the society.

Boris West, had been the son of the late Donald West, who was a very successful and prominent businessman and politician. His business companies still flourished and thrived even after so many decades.

Unlike so many rich families, they were heavily rooted in religion.

They went to church every Sunday. They always gave up huge amounts for tithes and offerings. They were known for giving out donations to hospitals to help the sick and they even put up campaigns for their fellow rich friends to donate and help the poor and homeless in the community.

They were a very generous family in the society.

Good people.

Perfect people, some would say.

Sundays were for family time and Thanksgiving. They would sit at lunch and say all the reasons they were grateful to God.

After they gave thanks and said the grace over lunch that Sunday, Mary West finally got the chance to ask her son, Leo, something she had been aching to ask her since the morning first service.

"I thought you were supposed to come with your new girlfriend for lunch today, Son. Where is she?"

Leo frowned. "We are having issues at the time but-"

"You are having issues already?"

"Yes, mom."

"What kind of issues? Anything we can fix…"

"I'll fix it, mom," he huffed. "It's my relationship and I'm sure I can handle it just fine…"

"Just fine? Well it doesn't look like it…"

"Just don't get involved mom!" he demanded. "The last time you got involved, someone disappeared…"

She gasped. "Are you seriously blaming me for that prostitute's disappearance-"

"Silence you two!" Boris demanded. "We are trying to have a peaceful lunch here so can you just use your mouths to eat?"

Lilith, who had been quiet all this time, cleared her throat.

"I totally agree with you dad," she chewed mannerlessly. "Mariah and Leo can be such annoying, loud fuckers!"

"Language, Lilly!"

"Forgive me, holy father!"

"I told you to stop calling me Maria!" Mary sneered at her daughter. "Disobedience is a punishable sin infront of God, you know..."

"Aren't you being disobedient now?" she scoffed. "Didn't your husband just ask you to shut your big mouth, Mariah!"

Mary was tempted to raise her voice at her daughter but then her husband managed to calm her down,

"The Lord expects us to be instruments of love. Don't let anger rule over you," he told her gently.

Then he turned to give his daughter a stern, cold look.

"And you... Watch your tongue or it will lead you to the eternal fires of hell!"

Silence stretched at the table, the air getting heavier and the tension getting worse.

Lilly rose from the table and stormed off.

Mary mumbled as she watched her daughter disappear into the main house.

"She is getting worse..."

Boris put his hand over hers and squeezed it.

"Let's keep praying for her..."

"But the prayers don't seem to work..."

"Patience, My wife."

*********

It was Vanessa's birthday today.

It was supposed to be a celebration but not for Abigail Smith. She was still disturbed and depressed about her older sister's disappearance.

Exactly a time and date like this the previous year, Vanessa had gone missing, never to be found.

As if that was not painful enough, no one but her seemed to give a f**k about her missing case.

Not her stupid husband, Leo. Not her stupid, fake friends. Not even the police. They had even closed the case.

The police assumed that Vanessa was just out there, living her life. That maybe she had just ran away to start life afresh. But that didn't sound like her sister…

If Vanessa really ran away, she would have told her before she went.

There was no way she had run away and hadn't even once tried to reach out after all this time.

It was not like her to vanish just like that. Without a word? Without a call? Without even a single text? After all these months?

She knew something horrible had happened to Vanessa... She felt it in her gut...

She just didn't want to admit her worst fears. Admitting it meant giving up. Admitting ot meant accepting that she would never see her sister ever again...

That's why she couldn't admit it. She just couldn't give up.

She had to keep going until she found Vanessa…

Her youtube channel kept her going. She had opened it a few months ago and it acted as a platform to keep reminding people about Vanessa. To celebrate and share what a wonderful sister she was. But mostly, it was to attract the media and authorities to help her in finding her. She had even shared her contact and address for anyone who had answers about where Vanessa could be or what had really happened to her. For anyone who had seen or been in contact with her sister. It was a risky move just putting her personal details for the world to see but she was desperate for answers…

She set up her phone on the tripod and sat on the bed, ready to shoot for her youtube channel. Remind people that it was Vanessa's birthday...

A knock on the door stopped her.

A striking, slender woman stood at the door.

Brown hair. Brown eyes. It creeped her out just how much she looked like Vanessa, just a little under dressed with minimal makeup.

She showed her a badge.

"Det. Cindy."

She stretched her hand to her.

"You wanna' chat?"

********

That evening, Julia invited her bestfriend, Diana over for a sleep-over at her house.

She hated being alone on weekend nights. It kind of terrified her. Even after all this time, she was still recovering from her traumatic past. Spending time alone meant spending time with her mind. A mind that served her nothing but bad and harsh memories that she had dug in the dark past.

She felt trapped inside her brain when she was alone. Sometimes she got really frightened of the bad things that could happen to her…

She got frightened of him…

What if he broke into her house? What if he found out where she lived? What if he was stalking her? Keeping track of every step she made?

And last night at Leo's house? Was he the one that was sitting on the couch in the darkness? Had he come to frighten her? To just creep her out? To play games with her?

No! No!.

She pushed the creepy thoughts away and put on a smile.

"Thanks for coming, Dee!"

She had also called Diana because she was going through a some-what painful heartbreak. She had been with Leo for just a few months but that didn't make the breakup hurt less. It hurt even more because she had thought that maybe…

He was the one…

But he was even sicker than his psycho ex.

"So you are completely done with this Leo guy?"

Diana asked her as she poured herself some more red wine.

"I am done done!" she exclaimed. "I mean, who the f**k hides your phone and buys you a new phone to make himself look good. Or romantic! Sick as f**k!"

"He really seemed like a great guy…"

"Yeah… Men seem great till they gotta be great…"

Diana burst out a laugh. "So now you are preaching Lizzo's lyrics?"

"I am worshipping Lizzo's entire existence… Can't tell you how her songs speak to my soul now that I just got my heart broken. AGAIN!"

"Taylor Swift does it for me!"

"I love Swift but she reminds me of Chase. So nope!"

Chase was Julia's toxic ex-boyfriend.

They had been on again and off again for several years. It was such a relief when she started a new life again in a new town without him. She got a chance to completely move on and start her life afresh.

" Talking of Chase," said Diana. "I didn't want to tell you this because I didn't want to raise any false alarm but…"

That instantly made Julia uncomfortable.

"But what, Dee?"

"I think I saw Chase at the mall today…"

A cold chill slithered up her spine and her heart stopped.

She froze on the spot.

She could not move. She could not speak.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you! f**k! Why did I have to open my big mouth!"

"What the f**k is he doing in this town!" she hissed.

"Hey… I am really not sure if it was him I saw… Maybe I just mistook someone for him…"

"What if it's really him?" she asked in fright. "f**k! That psycho is now stalking me!"

"Hey… Hey… Breathe. I didn't exactly see the face clearly but I saw the person's back and I kinda thought it looked like Chase."

But Julia was already terrified.

Nothing Diana said could shake off the fear and tension she felt.

The last time she was with Chase, he tried to kill her…

Maybe this time, he had come to accomplish his mission.

To kill her once and for all.

" Diana," said Julia. "Some guy broke into Leo's house Friday night and…"

She paused.

"I think it was Chase…"

********