Disclaimer: I do not own anything that I may use in this fanfic, so please, no lawsuits.
Secret Window
Steam was coming up from the lake as Miley walked down the trail by her house. She just had to get out of there and get some fresh air, so as soon as the rain stopped she went out the door, only taking her glasses and her walking stick with her. The rain brought much needed water but to Miley's dismay it brought out little insects like mosquitoes which she had to swat off her neck from time to time. Miley had been lost in her thoughts about anything and everything when she crossed the small land bridge and continued down the path, but when she looked up she saw something she really didn't want to see, Mikayla's car, but what was even worse was that Mikayla was leaning up against it, as if she was waiting for Miley to show up.
"You read it?" Mikayla said in her southern drawl as she just looked at Miley.
"I did." Miley said even though she was still trying to figure out what Mikayla was doing there.
"I imagine it rang bell, didn't it?" Mikayla continued as a small smile formed on her face.
"Oh it certainly did." Miley replied as she was now getting annoyed with the other girl, she started walking towards her, "When did you write it?"
"I figured you'd ask that." Mikayla answered quickly.
"Well that's the whole point isn't it? When two writers show up with the same story it's all about who wrote the words first, wouldn't you say that's true?" Miley said as she finally got up to Mikayla's car.
"I suppose I would." Mikayla replied as Miley stopped in front of her, "I suppose that's why I came all the way up here from Mississippi."
Miley was about to speak again but was interrupted when she and Mikayla heard a car approaching. They both looked over and saw someone in a green beat up jeep drive by and honk as he waved at them. Miley was waiting for the jeep to disappear before speaking again but Mikayla spoke first.
"I wrote it seven years ago in 1997." Mikayla said before she pushed herself off her car and stepped towards Miley, "How'd you get it? That's what I really wanna know. How in the hell did a big money scribbling bitch like you get down to a shit-splat town in Mississippi and steal my damn story?"
Miley just smirked at her before replying, "Drop it." then she turned and started to walk off.
Mikayla got pissed and turned around and yelled, "Drop it? What in the hell do you mean drop it?"
Miley was now pissed, but she turned and walked back up to Mikayla but with purpose and said, "You said you wrote your story in 1997, I wrote mine in late '94. It was published for the first time in June of 1995. Nice try Ms. Shooter but I beat you by two years, so if anybody's gonna bitch about plagiarism it's me." Miley then turned to walk off again but Mikayla grabbed her by the arm and slammed her up against her car.
"You Lie!!!!" Mikayla yelled as she glared at Miley with rage.
"No I don't!!" Miley replied as she shoved Mikayla off of her.
Mikayla was startled by the showing of strength from Miley but she kept her ground, "Prove it then."
"I don't have to prove a thing to you. Go look for it yourself, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine June 1995." Miley said with a smug look on her face.
"And how am I supposed to find that?"
"That's not my problem." Miley replied and began to walk off again but stopped when Mikayla began to speak again.
"Am I supposed to drive down to your house in Riverdale and ask your wife Lilly for it?" Mikayla asked then began to get a small smile on her face again as she saw Miley's face turn from aggravated to somewhat concerned, "I read it on your book jacket."
Miley just shook her head then said, "That's not my house, that's hers."
"What in the hell does that mean?"
Miley was now back to aggravated, "What do you think it means you ignorant hick? I'm in the middle of a divorce." Miley said and just to anger Mikayla more she made it sound like she though Mikayla was stupid by adding, "D-I-V-O-R-C-E, divorce!!"
Mikayla's smile disappeared and she just glared at Miley before saying, "You strike me as the type of person that's looking for a head she can knock off with a shovel. But what you don't understand is that if we do start to fight," Mikayla then started circling Miley, "it's not going to end until one of the other of us is dead."
Mikayla stared at Miley for a few more seconds before turning around and went to grab something in her car, which caused Miley to go into a defensive position.
"Hold your water, I'm just getting my smokes." Mikayla said as she held up the pack and was about to take one out with her mouth but stopped then held the pack out to Miley.
"I don't smoke." Miley replied as she took a step back.
"I'm giving you three days. You call your ex, and get her to send the magazine with your story in it, if there is such a magazine, and I'll be back." Mikayla said then put the cigarette in her mouth and lit it.
"If I show it to you, will you go back to where ever it is you came from, and leave me alone?"
Mikayla took the cigarette out of her mouth and forcefully blew the smoke out before nodding her head then she began circling her car until she got to the driver's side door, "Three days." she said quickly before she opened the door and got into her car.
"Always a pleasure to meet a reader." Miley said with the smile back on her face, knowing she just pissed Mikayla off even more with that statement, then she began walking back home as Mikayla drove off.
*********
Later that day Miley was back at her house. She still couldn't write so she decided to get something to eat. She sat and stared at her half eaten sandwich, contemplating on what she needed to do, but she just couldn't pull herself to do it. She looked over at Chico who just whined at her, then she picked up her sandwich and was about to take another bite but she just couldn't.
"I don't wanna call her." Miley said as she got out of her chair and layed down next to Chico on the floor, "I wanna sleep, I wanna take a nap."
Chico started sniffing the sandwich, so Miley let him eat part of it. She sat and watched him eat it as she thought.
"Ok, no nap. I call her about the magazine, then go write some crap for a couple of hours, and then I get to take a nap." Miley looked at Chico who was looking out the window at something, "Right? Chico?"
Chico just got up and went over to whatever it was he was looking at.
"Chicoooo." Miley said as she put the side of her hand to her throat and moved it up and down to distort her voice, "Don't be discouraged!!" Miley watched as Chico went out his doggy door then removed her hand from her throat, "Ok fine be discouraged, you blind bastard. See if I care."
Miley then proceeded to get up from the floor. She looked around for a second or two before she threw away the rest of her sandwich and walked out to her living room. She went over to the wall and unplugged the phone from the jack before walking over to the couch.
"I've returned to the couch, I'm ashamed. My dignity…" Miley continued to babble as she removed her watch and set it on the coffee table in front of her, "I'm a sloth." she said as she slipped off her house shoes then laid back onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling and slowly, slowly drifted off into unconsciousness.
***********
Later that night, Miley was still sleeping. She was facing the couch but then adjusted her position so she was facing out, then she opened her eyes. She looked down and saw the edge of a huge cliff, she started to freak out as she desperately tried to roll back onto the couch but she lost balance and fell off, only to be met with the hard surface of the wood floor. Miley jolted up into a sitting position as she looked around and realized she was in her house and the cliff had all been a dream. Once Miley regained a normal heart beat she looked over and grabbed her watch and saw it was a little after nine. Miley took a deep breath before picking herself up from the floor and she made her way into the kitchen to get some water. Miley had just filled up her glass and was about to take a drink when she turned and looked outside. She stopped in her tracks as she saw something hanging from the side of the window. As she stepped closer she realized it was a piece of paper that had been pinned to the wall. Miley set her glass on the edge of the counter then walked to the front door. Once she opened the door she looked out. She couldn't see anything because due to the darkness so she flipped the switch for the outside light but nothing happened. She tried the switch a few more times before she looked up at the light. Figuring it had burnt out, she went back inside and retrieved a flashlight. Once she returned she clicked the flashlight on and pointed it at the outside light only to realize that it wasn't there. This baffled her until she looked down and saw pieces of shattered light bulb scattered around near the area underneath it. Miley then looked around, pointing the flashlight where ever she looked. She took a few steps out from the door and walked over to her screen door. But as she came closer and closer to the door, the feeling of being watched started to grow inside her. She cautiously opened it but once she did she quickly peeked through it while she vigorously shined the light on everything she could. When she didn't see anything unusual she stepped out even further and began to round the corner of her house. As she shined the light onto the side of the house she saw the paper, still moving with the wind, but she noticed that something was written on it.
You Have 3 dAys
i am Not Joking
NOPOLICE
Miley read the words and was about to take the paper down but then she noticed something on the wooden box she kept firewood in. There was a tarp on top of it and a very odd shaped object underneath it, completely covered. She looked around, still feeling like she was being watched, but still she saw nothing unusual. She slowly reached down to grab the tarp, she was still trying to decide whether or not she wanted to know what was under it or not. Once she took a hold of it she noticed it was damp, no saturated with something, some warm liquid. She shook her head and made the decision to look, but she regretted it as soon as she lifted the tarp. Once she did she screamed and almost ran but she stopped herself as she looked back at the sight of Chico, laying on the wooden box, dead with a screwdriver driven through his neck. Miley could feel tears building in her eyes as she looked into the now lifeless eyes of her only companion out in the woods. Miley felt rage building in her as well as she looked around again, hoping desperately that she'd find Mikayla standing there but again she saw nothing.
"MIKAYLA!!!!!!" Miley yelled as loud as she could, "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!! YOU HEAR ME!! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!!!!" Mile then fell to her knees and let out the tears that had been building as they finally became too much to hold in.
Miley sits on the ground for a few moments, just letting tears flow, then she gets up and one last time looks over at Chico. After a moment Miley takes a deep breath then feels something inside her, it had been building but she keeps it from overflowing out of her. She clinches her fists as she walks over and grabs the tarp and puts it back over Chico's lifeless body before entering back into her home. Once Miley steps into the house she goes into survival mode, she goes back and forth to every door and window that leads outside and locks then relocks them. Once she was sure nothing or no one would get she headed up stairs to her bedroom to get some sleep. She would bury Chico in the morning.
**********
Well until next time
