Classic Horrors Club

That girl in the bar… that girl… every time I think of her… tomorrow night the moon will be full. I can’t let it happen again. I can’t.

Joe interrupted my thoughts by knocking on my door. I let him in and we exchanged pleasantries. He asked how I was and, when I said, “I’m fine,” he said, “Really? It’s hard to believe the way you keep yourself cooped up in this place.

I like to be alone; he knows that. He told me the place was dismal, and with the bars on the windows, like a prison. “You’ve got strange taste.” I asked if he came by to criticize my taste because I thought he might have a more substantial reason for coming.

He said he wanted to tell me that he may be leaving town soon, probably for good. He said it was because of Maggie, mostly. (I know how he feels about her.) He said it’s such a small town and he keeps running into her. He just thought it might be better for both of them if he went someplace else… Boston, maybe, where he’d applied for a couple jobs.

I asked if he was sure he want to leave. He responded that he thought so; too much has happened here in the last two months, and he wants to leave it all behind. (I was sorry to hear this. I was hoping maybe he and Maggie could get back together.

He said he didn’t think it was possible, not the way she feels about him after all the things he did to her. I wasn’t sure what he was talking about and told him I didn’t know what to say. He said there was nothing for me to say and changed the subject…

He told me he saw Amy this afternoon and she missed me. (I try to get over there as much as I can to see her.) Then he scolded me, “You really ought to try to get up there more often.” Thankfully, he changed the subject again, but after I heard what he had to say, I wished he hadn’t.

He said when he was up there, something sort of weird happened. He said there was a woman at Collinwood, a kook that thinks of herself as a medium. “She told me I was going to die soon.”

I asked him why she would want to say a thing like that. He said it was because of something Amy saw or imagined she saw. (Amy?) Have you ever heard of the sign of the pentagram? (Oh, no… pentagram?) He told me, “It’s a star that supposed to be the sign of a sudden death, and Amy said she saw it in my face.”

I told him It wasn’t possible and he agreed, saying he didn’t believe that kind of thing. He suspected Amy probably heard the old woman talking and repeated some of her mumbo jumbo. When he said he wasn’t going to waste any time worrying about it, I told him I wouldn’t if I were him.

Trying not to let the alarm show on my face, I told him I didn’t want to be rude, but I had a lot of work to do and was going to have to kick him out. Joe left me the way he found me, with my thoughts…

Tomorrow night… I can’t let it happen… to him. I’ve got to do something… I’ve got to do something…

I decided to go to Collinwood to see Dr. Hoffman. I told her I needed some medical help, that I was having some trouble sleeping and was hoping she’d give me some pills.

She told me I could get sleeping pills without a prescription, but I replied that they’re too weak; I needed something strong. “I’ve got to have something to knock me out for, well, 24 hours at least.” (More if possible.)

She asked why I needed to sleep that much. I told her I had a very bad case of insomnia that was interfering with my work. She said if I stayed awake all night, I’d be able to sleep the next night. “Tonight,” I told her forcefully. “I have to sleep. It’s vital that I sleep tonight.”

She’s a doctor; I can’t blame her for questioning me, so I tried to remain calm. I told her there was some work I couldn’t finish without sleep. She told me I looked rested. She was making this difficult. I explained that what I looked like and how I felt may be two different things and that I was desperate to get these pills.

Her last argument was that when someone is desperate for sleeping pills, she hesitates to give them. I reassured her that I wasn’t going to do something foolish. I just wanted to get some sleep.

She finally relented, but when I asked her to get them for me, we were interrupted. Mrs. Stoddard came in asking if Dr. Hoffman had seen Madame Finley. Suddenly, a woman appeared at the top of the stairs.

Mrs. Stoddard told her she’d been worried about her and asked where she had been. There was no reply. When Mrs. Stoddard asked why she wouldn’t answer her, the woman collapsed and tumbled to the bottom of the stairs.

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