Chapter Three

The sound of his heavy footsteps filled the house, leaving behind muddy prints along the corridor. "I see.", he replied to their eerie stares. "You should have seen her Felicia, she was beautiful." Her face stiffened as a response, her synthetic beauty remained in place but her eyes roamed across his face. "Just like your mother." He added as he put life into the bulbs overheard.

Whispers soon crammed the four rotting walls. Voices from every side, longing for his attention. Each one aching for his affection. "She'll be ours soon, my darlings." The dolls sat in reticence; to him they were a picture of purity and utter perfection. Their eyes were lustrous under the fluorescent lights. Their souls clutched on to his heart, and took over his confused mind. "She will be mine." He whispered as he held his chest, frightened that his heart would burst out of existence just by the sweet thought of her. He was captivated.

The telephone started to ring, "Who could that be?" Bridget wondered. She glared at the clock. It was three in the morning. She shuffled out of her bed and slipped into her fuzzy bedroom slippers. Dragging her feet against the carpetted floor. She could hear her bed's whispers of temptation, the sweet hum of her pillows and the warmth of her sheets. She groaned in frustration. "Hello, this is Bridget." She said in a voice huskier than usual. Silence only echoed back. "Hello?"

A scream rang through her ears, causing her to wince in pain. "Stop!" a voice cried hysterically. She was numb with shock. Paralyzed at the thought but she was sure, "Sophia?" Fear flowed through her as she heard the soft sound of rattling of chains overpowered by the screams of a tortured soul, hungry for deliverance. "Sophia!" The weight of her heart grew heavier, her knees slowly giving way. It all faded away into silence once more. She gasped in terror. Her mind filled with pictures of suffering, blood & death. 

Beep beep beep. 

"Good morning, Bridget!" A voice called, but she kept walking. Unaffected by her surroundings, ignorant to the world. She was mentally feeble. A walking zombie in comparison. Her mind, fighting fear with denial. The nightmares rejecting her desperate sacrifice of peaceful slumber. 

A pair of hands grabbed her and started to shake her at the shoulders. "Bridget!" 

She snapped into reality. "OUT OF THE WAY!" Honk honk. Her eyes widened in surprise as the vehicle rushed closer.  Suddenly, her feet were off the ground, her arms were found around a stranger. "What the?" She could feel his heart racing and his breathe getting deeper. His masculine cologne seeping through, leaving her intriguied.

"Hey, put me down!" She squirmed in his arms, half heartedly wanting to escape. "Calm down, young lady." He said in a deep voice that rang bells in her head. As she was set down, Bridget stared at him with curiosity. "Do I know him?" She thought to herself. He smirked. "Mesmerized?" She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Anyway, thank you for the help. I've got to go to work" she replied while she turned around to walk away. "Bye Ritz!" She froze. 

 "Hey Ritz, do you think she'll ever like me?" the boy said with roses blooming on his cheeks. "Dylan, don't worry. I'll help you out." She said as she gave him a light nudge on his elbow.  Its been years since then, and here she is standing before him with such beauty and grace. He could feel that warm glow in his heart as he remembered how they were then. Best friends forever, a proclaimation that many use but only a few hold on to. He could never forget her but could she?

Reviews

[Andy King]

You know, I like short chapters, and sometimes I wonder whether one of mine is too short. This one is fine in that respect — it's not too, too short. But I thought it was mysterious in the sense that I really didn't understand what was going on. So I went back and read Chapters 1 and 2. They're also short, so you might want to vary the chapter length a bit.

In other reviews, I've recommended Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King, and I must recommend it again. You also might want to find an inexpensive used copy of Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain (each book can be found used on Amazon for about $7).

Good luck!