Tall Tales
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Store
  • Find on Amazon

Born of Water, Part Nine

7/12/2019

0 Comments

 

30 october 2004

Jackie had to run to the restaurant to pick up her paycheck, and had invited me to come along. So I got ready, and went to wait near the door to the fire escape, and found myself growing bored when she was taking longer than expected to grab things downstairs. I went to lean on the wall, and the only open space I could find was the slender patch of wall between the haunted bathroom and Jacob's bedroom. Neither was occupied, so I took it. While leaning my head back against the wall, I closed my eyes.

Instead of the normal black, it looked like I was staring at a wall of water. Just beneath, or behind, the surface was a young woman. Her green eyes were locked on mine, her blond hair floating out in every direction. Between some shadows falling on the water, and the rippling surface, and the fact that I couldn't quite look away from her eyes, it was hard to make out the rest of her form. I could feel, more than hear, her calling out for help.

I snapped my eyes open and stood for a moment, looking around. The apartment looked normal, though no one was on this floor, so I turned and went into the bathroom without bothering to turn on the lights. I left the door open so Jackie could find me if she came by while I was there. I walked slowly around the little space that was available, looking for some sign of the ghost, or anything out of place. What caught my eye were some of the tiles on the wall near the ceiling. I stepped up onto the side of the tub and looked at a small patch of them, a different color and faded less than the ones around them. When I looked across I saw a matching set of tiles on the other wall. I reached up to touch the tiles next to me, and when I did I found my hand suddenly inside a shower curtain bar that hadn't existed a moment earlier.

The room was brightly lit, the tiles on the wall looked much more new, and the shower curtain was passing through my body. I turned and saw the young woman from the hall, sitting naked in the full bathtub and crying. She was leaning forward a bit, her face nearly on her knees, and I could just barely see that her stomach was interfering ever so little. She sniffled and looked up, her eyes locking onto mine. I suddenly knew what was happening, why she was crying, who put that baby in her. A shadow appeared, looming in the shower curtain, and she reached out to me. I returned the gesture, my hand passing through hers just before the curtain closed on her.

It was her father, using the curtain to muffle her as he shoved her backwards under the water. I screamed and took a swing at him, which accomplished nothing. She struggled, and as he fought her, the shower curtain bar tore out of the wall. I lunged at him, trying my hardest to be felt, to do something, and crashed headfirst onto the floor.

I rolled onto my back, holding my head and groaning. When I opened my eyes, I found I was laying in the middle of the bathroom floor, the lights off, alone. I slowly got to my feet and looked at the empty bathtub, before turning and leaving the room.

"You alright?" Jacob asked, standing in front of the couch. "I heard a crash."

"I'm fine, yeah, where's Jackie?"

"She went outside looking for you," he said, pointing to the fire escape door. I nodded and headed out as fast as I could manage. Jackie was there, smoking a cigarette and checking her watch.

"There you are!" she said, turning at the sound of the door. I walked over and grabbed her shoulders, staring her in the eye.

"I know what happened to Alethea."
Previous
Beginning
Next
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Image courtesy of Picrew by Makowwka

    Author

    The blog of John Matteson.
    Just doing my thing.

    Leave a Tip

    Boost on TopWebFiction


    Tall Tales: Volume Two now available


    Archives

    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019

    Categories

    All
    Aaboukingon
    Akshainie
    Alethea Bilson
    Alice Templeton
    Amanda Stow
    Babylon
    Barzai
    Born Of Water
    Brood Of Nachash
    Brownie
    Charles Whitman
    Chicago
    Devil's Church
    East Of Eden
    Elder Gods
    Father Benedict De Monte
    Golden Calf
    Hecate
    Henry Matteson
    Jackie Veracruz
    Jacob Tierney
    Jeremiah Matteson
    Joanna Wozniak
    Kastor
    King And Queen
    Laurel Detective Agency
    Left Behind
    Lori Berman
    Louisville
    Magum Imperatoria
    Mark Hendricks
    Mark Of The Beast
    Memories
    Michael Hudson
    Naga
    One Shot
    Power In The Blood
    Rick Fielding
    Road To Perdition
    Shadow Of Death
    Tree Of Life
    Unfinished Business
    Vampires
    Walls Of Jericho

    RSS Feed

Story Blogs

Narrator
Benediction
Matteson: P.I.
Over the Hedge
Wonderland

Resources

Read Order
Weekly Updates
Wiki
Credits
About the Author

Support Tall Tales

Patreon
Ko-fi
Subscribe
Store
© COPYRIGHT 2018. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Store
  • Find on Amazon