Imaginary Friend

It had been a while since my family and I had gotten together for any sort of event. We didn’t get together for my graduation, my mom’s 50th birthday or even when my dad had his last chemotherapy treatment. Yet my sister’s baby shower was an exception.

My mom had sent out invitations for a surprise baby shower that she had planned for my sister. Mariana had originally invited my parents, our youngest sister, Rosie, and myself. Shortly after, my mom took it into her own hands to distribute invitations to everyone on her contact list. I suppose part of me couldn’t completely blame her. Her eldest daughter was pregnant and she wanted to use that for bragging rights and – apparently – there was no way a couple of photos on Facebook would have been enough. Plus, I suppose it would give me a chance to do a little bragging of my own.

‘Do you really think anyone is going to actually care about your new job?’

The gravelly voice echoed around the room despite the fact that I was alone. I rolled my eyes and continued to hastily pack the folded clothes into my bag.

“It’s a job at one of the biggest law firms in the country. Of course they’ll care.”

‘You shouldn’t focus on work so much, Charlotte. You should socialize. Meet people while you still can. Your body is getting old. That makeup won't hide the wrinkles on your forehead for much longer.’

I scoffed, “First of all, I’m 22, I have all the time in the world. I just finished my degree and I’m trying to secure the money bag as soon as possible. There’s plenty of time for me to flourish.”

‘Your looks say otherwise.’

I placed my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow, eyeing my suitcase. I was missing something but I couldn’t tell what. “This is all coming from a disembodied voice in my head.”

‘Toiletries.’

I snapped my fingers, “Thank you,” I began making my way to the bathroom, “Plus, do you remember what happened last time I had company over?”

‘No’ the voice replied a little too quickly.

“Seventh grade, Susie Kingsley?”

Silence.

“You tried to convince me to stab her with that pointy-fireplace-thingy.”

‘It's called a Poker. Also, I don’t recall…’

“Oh, yeah, I bet you don’t. You’re a little snake, you know that?”

A gasp rang through the room, ‘I am not!’

I chuckled, “Yeah, you are. You probably look like one too. I bet you have a forked tongue and scaly skin.”

I zipped up my bag after I had filled it with shampoo, conditioner, body-wash, and other essentials. My make up just managed to fit inside. A growl made the walls of my apartment shake.

‘I look like nothing of the sorts.’

“You’re right. A snake is too ferocious. You’re probably a small lizard.”

Another growl.

“Angry, are we?”

‘I’d be more than happy to show you what I look like, if you’re curious.’

I sat on the edge of the bed and focused on double knotting my shoe laces.

“Sure.” I sighed.

Suddenly the lights started flickering. It seemed like the whole room was vibrating. The bed started to shake and I could hear the contents of the bag beside me making noise as they bumped against each other. High pitched noises which sounded like the screams of small children began to echo around in my head. I shivered as a breeze made its way around my neck.

'You won’t make it out aliv-’

My phone chimed and everything stopped.

I glanced at the nightstand where it had been charging. I stood up quickly.

“The taxi’s here.”

‘Oh. Well, I-’

“You’ll show me another time. We better get going otherwise we’re going to be late. Then we really won’t make it out alive.”

Silence, once again.

I hurried towards the front door, making sure that all the taps, lights and electrical equipment were turned off.

As I locked the door, the voice spoke up once again.

‘Have you ever thought about running into oncoming traffic?’

“All the time during varsity.”

‘Have you ever tried it?’

“Nope.” I began hurrying down the corridor.

The voice was quiet for a moment before saying, ‘Would you like to?’

“Maybe later. Now, let’s go.”

__________________________________________ _________________________________

Ana’s house was a two hour plane ride away. A plane ride I wouldn’t have been able to afford if it hadn’t been for Ana’s generosity.

The entire trip I had been trying my best to ignore the voice’s sadistic suggestions.

‘Trip the flight attendant!’

‘Spit in their water!’

‘Pretend to go to the bathroom and pull the emergency exit!’

When the pilot announced our descent, my smile must have been blinding. I was used to the voice by now.

I carried it with me for 22 years. It was always there. My parents understood that having imaginary friends was normal in childhood, but their understanding grew into concern when I was still talking to it at the age of sixteen. At that point I had been taken to multiple therapists, doctors, guidance counselors – you name it. I wasn’t diagnosed with anything and many professionals just concluded that I was secure in my imaginary friend and that I felt safe. Although safe is the last thing I felt whenever it was around up until two years ago when I understood that there was nothing it could do to hurt me. It was imaginary after all. So, instead of panicking, I chose to humor it until it would eventually go away. Of late, it hasn’t. However, patience is virtue, and my whole life I’ve strived to be a virtuous woman.

Standing in front of the white double doors of my sister’s house, Ana and I embraced.

“How are you? Oh my goodness, you’re glowing!” I said.

She chuckled and her grip tightened, “You’re lying!”

“Am not!” I pulled away from her abruptly and grabbed her left hand. I gazed at her shiny, diamond engagement ring that glittered in the light of the setting sun.

“Wow!” I let go of her hand and put my hands on my hips, “Look at you, Mrs. Crawford.”

She laughed and her eyes crinkled, “Not yet, Charlie. I’m glad you remembered, though. My engagement has been completely dismal to mom.”

I placed my hands on her protruding belly, “I wonder why.”

Ana called her fiance, Tommy, to help take my luggage inside. He walked out and greeted me by giving me polite kisses on the cheeks.

“You don’t have to,” I said to him as I watched him pick my bags, “I don’t mind taking them inside.”

“He’s not going to listen to you. He has an audience to impress.”

Tommy shook his head with a small smile on his face and walked back inside the house.

I furrowed my eyebrows, “Audience?” “Mom and dad are here.” My eyes widened and my lips formed an incredulous smile. A shocked chuckle escaped me. “What?” I mumbled, “I thought they were coming tomorrow?”

Ana shrugged, “That’s what I thought too but they just showed up out of nowhere.” “I think it’s cute that they wanted to surprise you.”

She scoffed, “Yeah, it’s cute up until they settle in. My living room has already been completely rearranged because mom insisted that if the lamp is on the right side of the room it attracts negative energy.”

A low chuckle made its way around the back of my mind, ‘Oh, you have no idea’.

Shivers ran down my spine causing me to jolt and shake my head swiftly. Goosebumps raised on my skin and my legs trembled. I had been wondering when I would hear his input again.

Ana stared at me, concern was written all over her face. She gave me a curious look. She asked me if something was wrong but I brushed it off as the after-effects of a plane trip.

In my youth, Ana was always stuck in the middle. She was exposed to my parents’s frustrations and to my anguish. She had continuously heard me complain about the voice and express my disdain for it - and the same could be said with regards to my parents. Ana comforted me when I was afraid of the voice and she would often try to distract me; in fact, she left her high school’s Winter Formal early after she found out I was in a state of distress. That night she rushed home and barely had time to get out of her fancy dress before she hurried by my side to put a movie on. Ana had always dropped everything in order to be there for me and the majority of her adolescence had revolved around me. Somehow, all of her special events had been ruined because of me - but not this time. I refused to let anyone make this weekend about me.

Ana pulled me inside the house and I braced myself to see my parents.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Tommy, Ana, Rosie, my mother, my father and I sat around a large circular, glass table with a white rim. Ana sat to my right and Tommy sat to her right. Rose sat opposite Ana and my parents sat across from me. Different beverages were on the table along with a glass assigned to each one of us. We were in the midst of conversation when my mom turned her attention towards me. “So, any big news on your end, darling?” She gave me a sweet smile. With a sigh of relief, I pressed my lips into a thin line and held back a grin. “Actually, I do.” They all looked at me with expectant eyes. There was a brief moment of silence. I waited for a comment from the voice - but there was nothing. Rosie let out a snarky chuckle. I brushed it off and started talking.

“Last week I got a job interview with Craig & Solomon’s, and they got back to me yesterday.” “And?” Anticipation coated Ana’s voice.

I flashed a sheepish smile, “I’m in.”

“Charlie, that’s amazing!” Ana beamed. I received congratulations from everyone seated at the table. “What about a boyfriend?” My mother chimed in after taking a sip from her glass of wine.

The noise at the table died down and Ana bowed her head. Without even seeing it, I knew that she had rolled her eyes. This was an expected question from my mother. Ana and I knew that better than anybody. Rosie never had trouble with boyfriends so my mother didn’t think it was something that she needed to constantly remind her of. To be honest, I believed that exactly because Rosie had had her fair share of boyfriends by the age of sixteen my mother took it easy on me. She had her hands full. However, this didn’t mean that the question wouldn’t show up every now and then.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” I replied.

“Yet.” My mother said, sending a wink my way.

I nodded once in defeat and repeated, “Yet.”

“Why not?” “It’s just not very important to me right now, mom. I’m mostly focused on my career.”

My dad chimed in, “And I think that’s great, honey. Not many people get jobs immediately after finishing their degree.”

“I know. I’m super grateful.” I added.

“I agree with dad,” said Ana, “I’m so proud of you. Now, even if you have a boyfriend, you won’t need to depend on anyone.”

Shortly after Ana finished talking, I noticed that she seemed a little paler than when I first saw her.

My mom cleared her throat and changed the topic, “Well, how was your flight?”

The table made sounds of agreements and latched onto this topic. I was relieved that I didn’t have to talk about this anymore.

“The flight went well. We were a little cramped but-” “We?” Rosie interjected. A look of confusion came over her. Once again, the table fell silent. This silence, however, was different. There was an air of deceit wafting of my parents after they had registered what I had said. Ana seemed somber, her eyes were downcast and Tommy rubbed her back. My dad placed his hand on my mom’s. No one made eye contact with me. Once Rosie had processed what I said, her confusion changed to disgust as she took her phone out of her pocket and started entertaining herself with whatever was on the screen. She mumbled the word “Freak”. For the first time in two hours we could hear the birds chirping in the trees and the water trickling from the fountain in the garden. I lowered my eyes down to my hands.

“Uh, yeah, the plane was pretty full... So everybody was, er...cramped…” I trailed off, unsure of what I could say to make this seem better than it actually was. Despite the fact that we were on the patio, the air felt heavy. I could feel my face heating up. My hands were getting clammy. My mother nodded and let out a heavy breath.

I grabbed my glass from the table and stood up abruptly, “I’m going to get a refill. Anyone want anything?”

More silence.

I pressed my lips into a line and nodded once in understanding. Sighing, I walked away from the table and to the kitchen. Standing by one of the kitchen counters, I could see my family through the glass sliding door. I grabbed a bottle of wine out from the fridge and poured myself some. While pouring, I noticed that Ana was the only person that was looking back at me. I offered her an apologetic smile but she didn’t return it. She was sitting up straight. Her eyes seemed empty. As if there was no consciousness behind them. I playfully stuck my tongue out at her in hopes of getting a reaction. Nothing. She continued to stare blankly at me. I furrowed my eyebrows and put the bottle back before making my way outside again.

The rest of the afternoon was spent listening to small talk about Rosie’s high school experience. Most of her stories were humorous and relatable, but it was difficult for me to ignore the comments she made every once in a while.

“Well, based off of your description, Tyler sounds like a lovely guy, Rosie.” I reached over and put my hand on hers giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Something in her eyes flickered and a smirk formed on her lips before she spoke again.

“He’s great - but he’s no lifelong imaginary friend, you know what I mean?”

“Rosie.” My dad scolded.

I frowned. My eyes fell down to where our hands were touching. I pulled mine away. I sat back in my chair.

Rosie didn’t grow up with the same mindset as Ana. She often felt afraid of the fact that I would talk to someone nobody else could see, and as time went on that fear changed into hostility. She couldn’t understand what was happening and therefore, she couldn’t accept it. Rosie was never quiet about her disdain and - more often than not - she thought of me as crazy. A ‘freak’. When Ana was in high school many people made fun of her for defending me. To others, she had a sister that still had an imaginary friend. She never gave into it. She dealt with it and chalked it up to people not comprehending the full situation. How could they? Not even we knew what was going on.

Rosie was different, though. To prevent the bullying she knew would be inevitable, she chose to make fun of Ana and I as well. She completely detached herself from us. It was easy for her seeing as Ana and I were done with high school. We weren’t on the premises to defend ourselves. I couldn’t blame her, though. She didn’t understand - or rather, she didn’t want to and I definitely couldn’t force her to.

At some point, Ana felt unwell. She seemed unwell, too. Despite the multiple conversations we had, Ana hadn’t said a word. All she did was sit still. I had caught her staring at me a couple of times with that same blank expression. I had knots in my stomach. I had never seen her look like that before. She was void of emotion; feeling. I had brushed it off but I couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right with her.

To make matters worse, the voice hadn’t made any comments about what was said at lunch. In fact, he hadn’t made any comments at all. I was sure that he would have said something about my mother’s dismissal of my employment - he predicted it, after all - but there was nothing. Not a sound. Not even a groan or a sarcastic ‘ahem’. I hated admitting it to myself, but I felt alone without his passive-aggressive comments. Just like with Ana, though, I decided to brush it off.

__________________________________________________________________________________

That night, after everyone went to bed, I started unpacking my suitcases. Music was blasting through my headphones. It was so loud I had barely heard the door open. I turned my head towards the doorway. It was Ana.

I smiled and took my headphones off, letting them hang around my neck.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” I asked.

She shrugged, “I’m feeling better. I couldn’t sleep, though.” “Why? What’s up?” I questioned, putting my hands on my hips. The music from my headphones was slightly audible.

“I guess I’m just nervous for tomorrow. You know how I feel about big crowds.”

Laughing I said, “Oh, so you found out about mom’s big surprise, huh?”

“Yeah, I did.”

I faced my suitcase again, turning my back to her, “Wow. I didn’t think mom would let herself get so sloppy with her surprises. To be honest, though, I think Rosie’s fifteenth birthday party disaster caught her off guard. Sometimes, I still think about how shocked mom was when Rosie predicted the whole thing.” I chuckled.

“Charlotte?” Ana said.

My gaze fell over my shoulder to give her a side eye, “Woah. You haven’t called me that in ages. Am I in trouble?” I joked.

“Do you have any friends?”

I paused. This was a very arbitrary question for Ana to ask. I shook my head slowly, “Where is this coming from?”

“I’m just thinking, you don’t have a boyfriend. Or friends.”

“I don’t need friends, or a boyfriend. You said so yourself.” I argued.

She lifted her hands up, “Don’t get all defensive.”

I rolled my eyes and looked up to the ceiling in frustration, releasing a groan. Lowering my head, I said, “I’m not getting defensive! I’m tired of having the same conversation over and over again. I get this from everybody in this goddamn family and I really don’t need it from you.”

She remained calm despite the fact that I was getting worked up, “Please, listen to me. I’m just looking out for you.”

I was quiet for a moment. Angry breaths were leaving my body as I stared her down. Ana had always been so understanding about my situation. This wasn’t like her. I couldn’t deny, though, that there was a possibility that she could have changed her mind.

“Why is this a thing all of a sudden?”

“I was talking about it to Andrew last night - you know, pillow-talk, and-”

I crossed my arms over my chest, “Andrew? Who’s Andrew?”

Ana’s eyes widened. She seemed like a deer in headlights. I furrowed my eyebrows. Did my sister just admit to having an affair? Her eyes jumped around the room as if the answer to my question was hidden behind the curtains, or under the bed. Then she smiled and rolled her eyes.

“I’m so stupid! Ugh, pregnancy-brain!” she chuckled, “I meant, Tommy.”

I kept quiet and gave her a once-over. Something still didn’t seem right but I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly. I sucked my teeth and squinted at her.

“Look, just hear me out. I’m just looking out for you.” She insisted. I sighed and smiled at her. She smiled back.

“Go ahead.” I mumbled. I went to work on my suitcase again, taking out the folded clothes and placing them on the bed so I could put them in the cupboard afterwards. My back was to her once again. I noticed that my headphones were still playing music. I bobbed my head slowly to the beat as she began to talk:

“Don’t you think you’re a little old to have an imaginary friend?”

I sighed and shut my eyes for a second. I was exhausted with everyone assuming that this was a choice.

“I guess.” I mumbled.

“I think that, maybe, it’s time for you to make some friends. Some real friends.” as she spoke I nodded and rolled my eyes. Suddenly, the music in my headphones stopped playing.

“What the-?” I took them off from around my neck. As I inspected them, I heard soft static sounds. I patted the earmuffs - once, then twice - in hopes of getting them to work. I had just bought them so I found it difficult to believe that they could have broken already. The third time I tapped them, the static stopped. Soon after, it was replaced with the sounds of children screaming. Voices layering over each other. Different pitches. Different lengths. Different intensities. I jumped from the sound and dropped my headphones on the floor.

I huffed as I bent down to pick them up and then Ana spoke again,

“Get a real friend, Charlotte. Not an imaginary one. Especially not one with a forked tongue and scaly skin.”

I chuckled, recalling how I had said that to the voice.

Suddenly, I froze.

I had said it to the voice.

Only the voice.

Nobody else was there.

Then, I thought about how bitter Ana sounded when she said that. Angry. Furious. Fed up.

My legs started to tremble and my eyes started watering. My hands shook. My teeth were chattering. My breaths came out ragged.

Hesitating, I turned around to face Ana again. I gasped.

She was still smiling at me but it was odd. Her smile spread from under her right eye, all the way across her face, to under her left eye. It was abnormally stretched. Her eyes were opened wide; so wide that I could only see the white of her eye. Her head was tilted too far to the right as she smiled menacingly at me.

“Ana?” I whispered.

Blood started pouring from her eyes. Then her ears. Then from her mouth. It seeped through the minuscule gaps between her teeth and trickled down her chin. Her body started vibrating furiously. My ears filled up with the sound of Ana choking on the blood that was pooling in her mouth, in her throat. Blood spluttered out of her mouth but her teeth stayed put in that terrifying smile. The dreadful, bone-shaking screams of the children oozed from my headphones and occupied the room. Her facial expression never changed. Not once.

And in that moment, I knew -

I wasn’t talking to Ana anymore.

#horror #scary #ghosts #imaginaryfriend #spirit #demon #blood #family #love #girls #thriller #monsters #weird #frightening