Cold Feet

            She opened her bedroom door to check if the hallway was empty. When she was sure that it was, she shouldered her purse and closed the door behind her quietly, then took the stairs down to the kitchen two at a time. It was 6 a.m. and at 10 a.m. she was supposed to go with her parents at a psychiatric hospital. They said that they chose for her “a nice and peaceful place to recover”.

            The kitchen counter was covered with her mother`s plentiful to do list, bags packed with groceries and a box filled with Jane`s orange prescription bottles. She tried to ignore them and headed across the kitchen, aiming for the back door.  She had a feeling that her leaving would be just like riding a bicycle, something she hadn’t done in years.

            “Jane?” she froze and turned around to see Thomas, her eight years old brother, standing at the other end of the kitchen.

            “What?” she asked, taking a step away from the door, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

            “What are you doing?”

            “Nothing” Jane said. She leaned against the wall in what she hoped to seem a casual manner.”What do you want?”

            “I can`t find my super teddy bear, so I can`t sleep anymore. Did you take it?”

            “No,” she said shortly. “Go ask mom.”

            “Okay”, he said slowly, still looking at Jane suspiciously. Then, he rushed out of the kitchen, yelling as he went “Mommy!”

            She reached for the back door and started to run. While she was running, she repeated “I am not a lunatic”.  “I am not a lunatic.” She was running faster and faster. “I am not...” She stopped to catch her breath just after she escaped from her neighborhood. What was weird was that she kept feeling her feet cold, as if she was bare foot on tiles. Anyway, she tried to ignore that, her plan was to prove that Mrs. Jackline Hale did not kill herself.

           

           

            Jackline Hale was an old, charming lady, who lived across Jane`s house. Jane`s bedroom window faced Jackline`s house and she could see inside if the lights were on. Jane and Jackline were friends; Jane used to visit her often because she could talk anything to her.

            In the morning, the first one who saw the other one at the widow would yell “Have a day full of magic!” But, about a year ago, it was the last time when Jane woke up and heard this.

            One morning when she opened her widow she wished she didn`t. On Mrs. Jackline`s widow she saw some cherry-colored stains. She ran out and knocked at Jackline`s front door, but no one answered. She took the spare key under the hotchpotch and entered. She started to call Mrs. Jackline, but again no answer.

            Jane was thinking at the worst scenarios as she was climbing the stairs to Mrs. Jackline`s bedroom. She entered cautiously in the room and again she wished she didn`t. Mrs. Jackline was lying on the floor in a pool of blood mixed with different kinds of pills that were scattered everywhere. Her gray eyes were open, her teeth clenched and she had a small knife in her right hand. 

            Jane didn`t scream. She analyzed as still as possible the scene in front of her. After a few minutes she began to take some photos and right in that moment her mother entered the room. Jane`s brother had seen her crossing the street and when their mother asked about her, he told her where Jane was.

            If Jane didn`t scream, her mother done it for her too.  Since that day their parents sent her to a psychologist and they kept asking her why she didn`t call the police or why she didn`t come to them. Her response was always “that wasn`t a suicide”.  

            After the police investigation, their conclusion was that Mrs. Jackline took an overdose of her meds and then she stabbed herself in the stomach two times. That was a shocking event for the whole neighborhood because everybody loved Mrs. Jackline, who always seemed happy with her life.

           

           

            Jane was going to take the first train that would go in X city, where the relatives of Mrs. Jackline lived. She didn`t know where she was going to stay, but she had her mom`s card and some cash, so once she was on the train she started to look for accommodation on her laptop. Luckily, she was smart enough to send the photos she took that day on her email, before her parents deleted them.

            Jane had a hypothesis. She knew a lot about Mrs. Jackline’s family, it wasn`t a numerous one. Mrs. Jackline wasn`t married and she didn`t had children, but she had two cousins. Both of them lived in X and they were always envious of Mrs. Jackline even if they were much younger than her and lived in a bigger city. Mrs. Jackline told Jane that Cara and Eve were the closest relatives she had alive and that is why she always helped them even if they didn`t deserve. Jackline Hale was a successful, well-known fashion journalist and she also had some business that made her quite rich. And then were Cara and Eve who were always trying to find some rich husbands. Jane was pretty sure that Cara and Eve hired someone to kill Mrs. Jackline, in order to inherit her fortune.

            How Jane was going to prove that? She had no idea.

            For the beginning, she booked a room at a cheap motel and after she left some of her things she went to explore the city. It was an agitated city that made Jane dizzy, but also excited about all the possibilities that the city offered.

            Now, she had to concentrate on her job. She went back to the motel and started to analyze the photos. They seemed fake photos or scenes from a horror movie. Jane`s mind didn`t want to cooperate, all she could do was to stare at the blood on the floor and to imagine different shapes.

            She decided that she was tired, so she needed sleep, in order to be more productive the next day, when she wanted to find out where Cara and Eve lived.

           

 

 

            Jane woke up in a white, luminous room. She blinked a few times, and then she saw Mrs. Jackline smiling at her. She blinked again. Then, Mrs. Jackline was on the floor in a pool of blood, exactly as she found her that day. She started to panic, to repeat “I am not a lunatic” a few times, then she passed out.

            After thirty minutes, Jane opened her black, watery eyes and saw a friendly man in a white coat. She felt something fluffy next to her head; it was the super teddy bear. Then, she realized that her mom was holding her white hand. Her feet were still cold and she couldn’t understand why.

            “It was not a suicide” was all Jane said.

            “No, it wasn`t” was the shocking response her mom gave her.

            Jane looked at her mom for more. Her mom was looking at the friendly man who was nodding to her.

            “Jane, Mrs. Jackline did not kill herself. You must try to remember what happened. Remember that you didn`t take your meds that day.”

            In that moment Jane felt like she was struck by lightning. She killed Mrs. Jackline. She stabbed her. She threw the pills on the floor, she even swallowed some of them while Mrs. Jackline was dying. After this shock, her mind begun to darken.

           

            Jane was never an ordinary kid. She was born with a mental disease that made her see a dysfunctional reality. In an instant, Mrs. Jackline or anyone else could be her worst fear. As long as she took her meds, her disease was under control, but she always forgot that she was ill.

            She never took the train or stayed at a motel, she was actually running barefoot trough the hospital. Jane couldn`t accept what she had done and since that day she was hospitalized, but she wasn`t aware because she kept seeing what she wanted to see.

            After the murder, Jane started to repeat, every day, the same day in her mind. And every day her family visited her, trying to remind her, what happened. Trying to make her accept her condition was the only way she could, at least, recover a little bit, in order to live more than a few minutes in the real world.

Reviews

[Inject Positivity]

It's a very intense and gripping story... You have kept the reader interested throughout this write and with vivid descriptions about the situations along with the character of Jane you made the story very catchy... It was a perfect size for a short story, and had the perfect elements to satisfy the reader... You showed us the story but didn't tell, which is the most important part of story writing... The ending was brilliantly thought out... Superbly done frnd...

Sincerely
Dhiman

[Calina]

Thank you very much!