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Chapter 8 - A Knock at the Door

  With the mysterious stone in her grasp, Amelia toppled backwards. She landed hard on the yellow grass. The stone had come free in her hands, but unfortunately, she had hit her head again on the injured spot. She put the stone down and rubbed her aching head. She really needed to be more careful. She didn’t have the health insurance for these kinds of accidents. She didn’t have any health insurance.

  After checking her head for blood and finding none, Amelia picked the stone back up and examined it. It was perfectly smooth on one side but jagged and rough on the other three sides, as if it had been chiseled away from something bigger.

  Her hands swept the surface, trying to wipe away some of the grime. She had little success. She took it to the outdoor faucet and rinsed the stone. As her fingers scrubbed at the rock, the water slid off and turned a murky brown. Where the grime had been, there was now the faint impression of letters on the flat, smooth side. Amelia squinted and tried to read it, but weather and decay had worn too much away. The most she could make out was something that looked like a?u?and maybe the number two.

  She grumbled to herself and turned the wet rock over in her hands, as if doing so would reveal more clues. As she felt the heft of the rock, her mind was drawn to the only other giant stone things on the property that could have shed something like this: The lions. She went through the little gate that separated the backyard from the front and headed for the lion with the scarf. She scanned the lion, and on the side facing the road, she saw a large dent where it looked like something had been chiseled out. She took the stone in both hands and turned it around until it hovered over the empty space. Despite the years of erosion, it was clear that the stone was a near-perfect fit.

  But one thing made Amelia freeze in place. The stone seemed to hum and vibrate the closer it got to the lion. A whining noise like a buzzing mosquito filled the surrounding air.

  Finally, her curiosity got the best of her. Amelia ignored the strange feelings and forced the stone home into its slot.

  She held it there for only a moment. Then, her hands trembled and she dropped the stone, narrowly avoiding crushing her own foot. Her stomach churned and the world spun. She leaned against the lion’s back for support. The rock tumbled into the driveway, and she backed away toward the house.

  She'd been wrong to think that the outside would be more pleasant than the inside of the house. Within and without, there were wounds and whispers.

  Later that evening, Amelia began to feel that things had been surprisingly calm inside the house since finding the stone outside. No slime or homicidal dream ladies tormented her. No repeated head injuries plagued her. It should have been a relief, but the pause gave her little reason to feel calm. The silence had a quality of something being staunched, as if the house were holding its breath. It was almost worse to feel this unease than to feel outright fear. At least with fear, you usually had something specific to be afraid of. Your brain became sharp, looking for an exit. This feeling was something else, something with no purpose other than to torture her. It was heavy and suffocating, like a soaking wet blanket. It was a seething dread that pressed upon her and grew heavier with each passing hour, as if something was biding its time.

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  Her mom called, but she didn’t answer. Every time she thought of her mother, her mind returned to their last conversation.

  Amelia had been packing up her belongings from her dorm room while her mother

  “How could you be so reckless, Amelia? You’ve been dealt the best hand possible. You’re almost done with school. How could you just leave it all behind?”

  “It’s my life. I’ve already decided. Would you just drop it already?”

  “No! I’m not going to drop it. How could I? I’m not going to let a smart girl like you do something so, so, so...stupid! I didn’t work myself to the bone my whole life to let you throw it all away.”

  Amelia had dropped the cardboard box full of books on the tiles with a deafening slam.

  “I love Erick. We want to start our life together. If you can’t understand that, you’re the stupid one.”

  “What does Erick have to offer you, huh? He has no job. He’s freeloading off of you.”

  “Get out. I can do this by myself.”

  And that had been the last time she had spoken to either of her parents. Now that Erick had broken up with her and left her in desperate straits, she needed their support more than ever. But she couldn’t stand the idea of telling her mother that she had been right about everything. She didn’t think her self-esteem would ever recover from the I-told-you-so that would surely come from her mother’s smug mouth. So, she never picked up the phone. And she was resolved not to, until she felt ready. She wanted to prove that she could do this on her own.

  To distract herself, she made dinner, even though she had no appetite. As she waited for her ramen noodles to soak up the broth, her stomach gurgled. She groaned as she felt her stomach clench. A wave of nausea overtook her. Instead of seeming appetizing, the smell of the seasonings made her nostrils flare in disgust. She dumped the broth and the noodles in the sink and washed it down with tap water, but it was already too late. She sprinted to the trash can and threw up.

  As she was wiping her face with a paper towel, she jumped at the sound of harsh knocking at the door. She had been squatting on the floor and trying to get the stamina to stand up again when she heard it. She didn't know hardly anybody in this town yet. How could people be bothering her at home already?

  "Just wait a goddamn minute!" She yelled out. She felt too sick and tired for good manners.

  She pulled herself up using the kitchen counter as leverage and shuffled toward the door, aware that her hair was in a wild-looking bun at the very top of her head. She thought about yanking it out and tucking her hair behind her ears but was unable to muster enough energy to.

  She swept the door open, ready to reject whatever they were selling. Rain, achingly gorgeous as ever, stood before her.

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