Chapter Fourteen
Annabel arrived home, the house was empty; her family had gone to pick out a casket for Randy. Annabel was slightly unnerved by the silence but decided that she needed to be alone, needed to think.
Annabel walked up to her room and frowned at the state it was in; over the past two weeks, she had allowed her room to become a mess. However, Annabel was not in the mood to clean her room; she didn't know what she was in the mood to do. She finally decided that she should get a shower, it would calm her down and then maybe she could think straight.
Annabel stood in the bathroom, a towel was wrapped around her body; droplets of water clung to her bare skin and her wet hair was matted to her head. Annabel sighed as she opened the cabinet next to the mirror. She reached her hand inside and fumbled around for the hair dryer. Her hand closed around the metal base and she withdrew the object, shutting the cabinet doors.
Annabel plugged the hair dryer into the outlet and flicked the switch on; the dryer lay in her hands, not working as though it "refused" to come on. Annabel flicked the on and off switch back and forth before reached her toward the outlet to giggle the plug around.
As soon as her hand touched the plug there was a large spark. Annabel gasped and quickly withdrew her hand; the dryer came alive in her hand, blowing warm air onto the foggy mirror.
The warm air blowing against the mirror began to clear away some of the fog, letting Annabel see part of her reflection. As the air continued to blow against the mirror, Annabel became aware that words were forming on the semi-foggy mirror.
Annabel watched wide-eyed as the words formed on the mirror. Annabel felt her jaw drop when the words finished forming. "Sara" the words spelled out.
Annabel dropped the running blow dryer into the semi-wet sink. There was a loud snap and a large spark emerged from the sink. Annabel yelped in surprise and the spark struck the mirror in front of her. Annabel quickly stepped back to avoid being shocked.
She was horror stricken to realize that the spark had shattered the mirror in the exact spot where the word "Sara" had been. Annabel gasped as she realized that something was going to happen to her best friend.
Sara sat alone on the couch in her quiet house; it was barely two hours after Annabel's departure so it was past lunch but Sara still hadn't eaten. Her father was still at work so the house was silent; it was an eerie silence that made Sara slightly uneasy. Sara wasn't used to being alone during the day, her mother never worked so she was always home when Sara was, but now she wasn't and would never be. It was her father's first day back at work sinceā¦since her mother had died, so it was Sara's first day alone. Even Annabel had left her, left her alone.
Sara pushed all the thoughts of aloneness from her mind and stood up, heading toward the kitchen to fix lunch, even though she wasn't hungry. Sara flicked the kitchen light on when she entered the room; the light chased away the darkness that was caused by the rain and the clouds outside. Sara walked over to the sink and stood, debating what she wanted to fix for lunch.
Since she wasn't hungry, Sara decided on just an apple for the time being. She reached over to the bowl with an assortment of fruit and chose an apple; she turned on the faucet.
Clear water rain from the faucet and down into the silver sink, down the drain. Sara held the apple under the water, getting the apple as well as her hands wet. She turned the water off and placed her apple on the counter. As Sara reached for a towel to dry both her hands and the apple off, the kitchen lights flickered and went off.
Sara frowned and turned around and walked over to the light switch, she flicked it on and off but no light came on. All the lights in the house were off.
"It must be the storm." Sara muttered to herself, knowing that she would have to go downstairs to check the circuit box. Without bothering to dry her hands, she headed down the stairs and into the basement.
Her father had showed her how to get the circuits when she was younger, just in case the power ever went out; Sara hoped she still remembered.
In the basement the lights were out as well, Sara wished she had brought a flashlight. She gingerly walked across the floor of her basement, headed toward the green circuit box. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could vaguely make out shapes in the darkness. The hot-water heated that was almost directly next to the circuit box, the boxes of junk that her mother had put in the basement promising to get rid of one day. Sara shook the memory of her mother from her mind and continued toward the box.
Sara reached the circuit box and fumbled for the lock that required no key. She hooked her finger under the lock and opened the door. Sara ran her fingers along the circuit breakers, attempting to find the right one by counting the number of switches.
Sara was so concentrated on finding the right switch that she didn't hear the "drip, drip" of water that had begun to leak from the hot-water heater. The water dripped onto the concrete and begun to form a tiny stream of water that begun to flow across the hard floor toward Sara. The stream began to get a little wider and was still slowly inching its way toward Sara, who still hadn't noticed the water.
The water began to form a puddle directly behind Sara's feet; the dripping ceased but the water continued to trickle out of the hot-water heater.
Sara flicked a few of the switches and smiled, though the expression was hidden in the darkness.
"There, that should be right." Sara said, happy with herself for figuring it out by herself.
Sara stepped backward to leave and slipped on the puddle of water. She barely had time to utter and surprised cry before she fell forward into the circuit box. Sara put her wet hands out in front of her to brace herself; her hands hit the circuit breakers. There was a loud pop and Sara was electrocuted by the electric switches. Sara's limp and lifeless body slid to the floor, her hands charred beyond recognition and the rest of her body was slightly charred.
The puddle of water receded; the lights flickered on in the basement, as well as through the whole house. The lights bathed Sara's corpse in light, the pale yellow light cast eerie shadows over her body.
Annabel hurried down the familiar route to Sara's house; she had to get to her friend's house and tell her about her "vision". Annabel ran up the driveway to Sara's house and onto her porch. She began to pound on the front door. "Sara!" Annabel called, still pounding on the door, praying that her friend answered.
There was a shallow click and the door swung open; Annabel nearly fell forward once the opened. Annabel was surprised to see that Sara had not opened the door; she was surprised to find that no one had opened the door.
"Sara!" Annabel yelled into the silent house, stepping inside not bothering to shut the door behind her.
Nothing but silence answered Annabel's disparate cries; Annabel slowly walked through the living room and into the kitchen. On the counter she saw an apple that was still slightly wet, which meant someone had just washed it.
Annabel left the kitchen and walked into the hall. She paused when she saw the door that led to the basement was slightly ajar. Annabel opened the door all the way. "Sara?" Annabel called into the basement.
There was no answer; Annabel swallowed and began to walk down the steps to the basement. She was glad that the lights were on, despite that fact that it was strange that they were on.
Annabel didn't get very far before she saw the charred body of her best friend lying under the circuit box. Annabel let out a gag like gasp and stumbled backward. Surprising the eager to gag, Annabel stumbled her way back up the basements steps and into the main part of the house. She ran into the kitchen and grabbed the phone off the hook.
She slowly dialed the police and managed to choke out the story to them before she began to sob, dropping the phone and leaning against the wall. Annabel slid down to the floor, leaning her head against the wall.
