If You See Him Once, He Follows You (Part 4)

“Run!” Stacey whispers as if that’s now the most noise she can force out of her own lungs. I manage to regain my senses just in time to follow her advice before she flies toward me at a full sprint. The popping sounds her body makes as she tries to resist the Gooweny-Ein’s control over her are grisly. And the screams! Her awful screams are painful even to hear. I don’t dare turn to look back, but deep down I know her joints are dislocating.

I manage to get to the door milliseconds before she does – just enough time to close it behind me and trap her in my room. There is a loud thud as she slams into the other side. Then another thud. Dear God! The Gooweny-Ein is using Stacey as a battering ram! I slump against the door, making myself the brace in this siege.

The door splinters and cracks against my back. My heart has gone from skipping about nine beats to thumping like an agitated rabbit in my chest. It’s pounding so hard I worry it's going to burst right out through my ribs. The grinding and snapping of bones as the Gooweny-Ein contorts himself inside Stacey and moves her around like a rag doll is enough to make everything I’ve eaten today slide up the back of my throat - the rum included. Each time Stacey slams into the door, the force nearly sends me flying into my kitchen, but I wedge myself in place. I vow to myself that if the Gooweny-Ein wants out of my room, it’s going to have to break through the door itself, because I’m not budging. The monster seems to be trying to do just that; the cracks are growing larger.

“Stacey,” I yell. She mumbles back, but can’t seem to move her own jaw anymore. Still, it’s proof she’s conscious, and the thought that she’s still alive but unable to control her own movements makes half-digested food climb the back of my throat yet again. I try not to imagine the amount of pain she must be in – what it must be like to have a monster moving inside of you – though if she escapes my room, I may find out firsthand. I fear that fate more than death.

By stretching my one leg up onto the kitchen counter, I’m able to knock a knife block over and bring it close enough that I can grab one of the blades without leaving my post. I make sure it’s a sharp filleting knife; something I can slash and stab with. For a moment I doubt if I can really kill Stacey - I think back to the way she’d smile when she’d wake up next to me, her laugh, the glare and scoff she’d do when she was pretending to be done with my shit – but, then I think of the agony she must be experiencing and convince myself I just can’t leave her like that. I don’t know how to get the Gooweny-Ein out of her; it’s not like I can save her, and I assume he’s coming for me next. I don’t know if it plans to kill me or take me over, but I know he’s got something planned. That doesn’t exactly leave me much time to work out a different solution, does it? So, if I’m a goner anyway and have no time to save her, I’m at least going to make sure she finds peace before I go. That’s what I tell myself.

The thudding on the other side of the door has stopped. I hold my breath; it’s so quiet I can hear my own heart pounding. Then, I hear the phone ring. It’s not the sound of a call coming in, though; it’s the muffled sound of a call being made. Stacey’s cell phone must be in the room with her. I know Stacey would never voluntarily unlock her phone for the Gooweny-Ein, she’s far tougher than I am that way, but it must have fingerprint or face recognition – something she can’t conceal away in her mind.

All my hair stands on end when I hear someone answer the other end of the call. “Hello?” I recognize the voice instantly. It’s Amy, my ex-wife. I can hear Evie and Oliver arguing too, just usual sibling bickering about who gets the iPad next, normal kid stuff – at least by today’s standards. The voices are echoey; Amy must be driving them somewhere.

“Stacey? Is that you?” Amy says tentatively. My two exes swapped numbers back when Stacey and I were still together in case I was ever in an emergency, but from Amy’s tone, it’s clear Stacey never used it, nor did Amy ever expect her to.

Stacey stays silent on the other end. Clearly, she wants no part in luring my family into danger. I can’t thank her enough for that. She knows how much I love my kids – hell, she’s fond of them too – she’ll never risk their safety if she can help it.
“What is going on?” Amy says, sounding exasperated now. “Why are you calling me?”
“Hang up,” I say, though I know she can’t hear me. “Amy, please just hang up.”

But before she can, I hear an especially loud snapping sound, followed by a muffled scream. I can tell Stacey is trying her best to stay quiet, is probably begging for Amy to hang up as much as I am, but how quiet can you be when a monster is inside you, breaking your bones? There’s another snap, and this time Stacey screams louder.
I should go in there and get this over with, I say to myself. I’ve already resolved to kill her or die trying, so why am I just sitting here while she suffers? My mind knows this is cruel, but my body is just frozen. I’ve become a statue.

There’s another snap and another scream so loud it makes my own insides hurt.

“What’s going on?” Amy asks, her voice now urgent. “Stacey, are you okay?”

Another snap, another scream.

Evie and Oliver are starting to talk in trembling voices, and I hear Amy faintly say something to calm them. “Stacey, what’s going on?” she says, her voice dripping with worry now, then, after a pause, frantically adds, “I’m going to call the cops, and I’m going to come over there, and we’re going to get you help, okay? Just hold on!”

“Don’t come here! Amy, please don’t come here!” I scream, but I’m not sure if she heard. The phone disconnects, and I’m left sobbing on the floor, unsure what to do next.