“Because you miss me.”
“I do,” he says and my heart warms again. “I miss feeling your body against mine. If I don’t make it home before morning, I’m going to be disappointed.”
“You and me both. But really, Ethan, stay if it’s super late. I don’t want to worry about you falling asleep at the wheel. I’ll be lonely, but fine, here on my own.” I hear Ethan open the door to his Jeep and Hunter’s tags on his collar jingle. “Be safe.”
“I will. Love you, Anora.”
“I love you too.”
I end the call and drop my phone onto the couch next to me. Head still spinning thinking about what happened—or didn’t happen—I pick up my soup and finally take a big spoonful. But it’s cool, as if the span of time where I was walking around the house looking for something actually happened. Though, if I fell asleep, time would pass as well.
“This is going to give me a headache,” I mutter and get up to microwave my soup again. Nerves prickling, I wait for the timer to beep and go back into the family room, turning the TV volume down so I can listen for…I don’t even know. Ghosts?
“There aren’t any,” I reaffirm to myself and try to focus on the movie I put on. Nothing out of the ordinary happens, and I triple-check that the house is locked for the night and that the Devil’s Shoestring roots are still tucked above every door before I go upstairs for bed.
“Hey, little guy,” I tell Romeo, opening the door to one of the guest bedrooms. It’s where his cage is now so he can be out during the day since this room is pretty much empty save for the bed and dresser. “Want to sleep with me tonight?” My ferret scampers over, making cute little dook noises as he hops across the room. I gather up what I need for him for the night and take him into my bedroom.
I turn the TV on as soon as I shut the door, needing something to fill the silence as I get ready for bed. Romeo is still running around the room, bumping into things and trying to figure out how to climb up the dresser. Settling into bed, I miss Ethan and Hunter even more.
“It’s fine,” I tell myself, reaching down to scoop up Romeo. I put him on the pillow next to me, hoping he’ll settle down and let me snuggle him, but he hops up and ungracefully flops off the bed and onto the floor, which gets him excited all over again.
Yawning, I pull the covers up to my shoulders and watch an episode of Charmed before I start to feel sleepy. Not being one who can easily fall asleep with the TV on, I turn it off and instead turn on a sleep sounds app to continue to fill the silence. After another hour, my eyes finally close and I feel myself drifting off to sleep only to be awoken by a thump maybe an hour later.
The echoing bang resounds through the house, startling me awake. My eyes fly open and I try to sit up but can’t move. What the hell? I try again, but it’s like some invisible weight is pressing down, suffocating me. I can barely breathe.
I try to part my lips so I can whisper an incantation, but I can’t even do that. I’m still sleeping. That has to be it.
Right?
Struggling to inhale, I try once more to sit up…and fail again. I’m staring at the ceiling, watching the fan spin. I can hear the gentle sound of rain and thunder coming from my sleep app, and I can feel Romeo, who finally settled down next to me. He’s a little warm ball of fur tucked between my left arm and my body. I try with all my might to wiggle my fingers and wake him up, though I don’t know what exactly I expect him to do.
Sit up, I tell myself, eyes widening.
Sit up! I try again but can’t move. My heart starts racing and fear prickles through me.
Move! Shutting my eyes again, I’m finally able to lightly press my fingers into the mattress, feeling like I’m stuck deep, deep underwater and the pressure is going to crush me at any moment. I’m experiencing sleep paralysis, and I remember from a psych class I took in college that this isn’t exactly normal, but isn’t totally abnormal either. It happens when your mind wakes up before your body and will pass eventually. I just have to wait it—
My bedroom door slowly creaks open. My heart skips a beat in fear and my eyes fly open, straining to look to the side. Still unable to move, I try again to wiggle my fingers, to sit up, to scream—anything.