Grandmas House

I shuffle around the nurse's station, scrambling loose paper and coffee cups for lost keys, when I hear the soft jingle of metal on metal behind me. I turn to see my dad sneering, holding the house keys like a fresh catch.

"If you had them, then why was I scouring like a mad lady for thirty minutes?" I jokingly scolded him while folding my arms.

"You didn't ask?" He replied, shrugging as he gingerly turned on his heels to make his way around the desk.

I roll my eyes while following closely and nudging him in the back to pick up speed.

"Can you stop messing around? If Leo sees we're still here, she'll ask us to take another night shift tomorrow."

"Oh? Do you have plans for tomorrow night?" He asked, looking over his shoulder with a single raised brow.

"Yes, no... Maybe? Look, Lilith and the other nurses might want to go out tomorrow night with the recruit, so yeah, maybe." The reply came unsurely, and the day had been so busy I hadn't checked my phone in hours and wasn't sure if I did have a plan for tomorrow night and was just sure that if Leo asked us, it would kill any chances if I did.

"We all aren't old men, ya know? Some of us want to try and enjoy our Saturday nights." As soon as the joke left my lips, a weight grew in my father's back as his movement slowed to a snail's pace.

"What? What happened?" I asked, looking over his shoulder, expecting to see Leo's short and slender frame in front of him, arms and face sharing crossed expressions, but instead, empty, clean white tiles slowed him.

"Oh, sorry Rose, you know us old men we can't move as we used to." He said grimly while adding a hunch to his back and continuing his slow pace.

"For goodness sake, are you pouting?!" I declared while prodding him in his love handles, forcing him to lurch forward involuntarily. From a nearby corridor, the sound of high heels clattering on tile floors set off alarms in me.

"She approaches." Dad whispers over his shoulder at me; he was now at a dead stop a few more steps from the front door.

"Every man for themselves." That was the only thought I could convey as I quickly stepped around him and hurriedly made my way to the entrance. Noticing the sound of my frantic footsteps being joined by another, I glanced over to see my father keeping pace with me to the sliding doors.

"Mr. Reinhart? Miss Rose!" A tiny yet demanding voice called out to us as the doors slid open and we passed the threshold. Everything in me wanted to act as if we had heard nothing and keep our pace, but we both stopped and turned to look back. A woman half the height of the door frame stood in the middle of the threshold, keeping the sliding door from closing.

"You both seem to be in a hurry, and I was worried that I wouldn't get to thank you for all the hard work tonight." I was expecting her to ask us right then and there but was relieved she didn't and let a genuine smile show for it.

"Of course Leo, what're friends for." My dad replied warmly, giving her a similar and familiar genuine smile. Leo eyed the doorway and then wearily looked over where we were standing for a moment before switching to a hollow but warm smile.

"Well, then you both be safe. If you don't hurry, you'll be late for your bus." She looked down at the cute pink wristwatch hidden by the ill-fitting white coat sleeve.

"Alright, we'll see you Monday night." Quickly fell from my lips while I turned on my heels to walk away. My father nods in silent agreement at Leo, then joins me in my pace. We make it a few feet from the hospital before I look back to catch a glimpse of Leo still standing in the doorway before the sliding doors meet again.

"Geez, not to be rude, but Leo can be a little unsettling sometimes. She was watching us walk for so long." as I finished the thought, my head instinctively turned back to make sure she wasn't right on our heels, as she sometimes likes to do while we worked, finding the sliding doors had remained shut while empty sidewalk filled the space.

" She means well, and she just wants to be sure we get home safe, is all." The words stung a little at the realization, but Leo's youthful look often made me forget she was the same age as my dad.

"Right because we leave our shift at the least safe time of day through the least safe part of town, we're bound to run into all the ghosts and ghoulies." I give a stereotypical monster pose as we walk, which gets a chuckle from dad. The city is surprisingly quiet for a Friday night; a full and bright moon aided the street lamps at keeping the sidewalk and street well-lit but kept the alleyways ideally in shadow as we walked past our stop.

A couple of soft turns and crossings, and we could see the stop now a block away. At the bus stop was an older gentleman well-dressed and alone. As if aware, he was now in the presence of others. He raises his head from his phone to look in our direction as if his focus came with pressure, and a ringing seemed to pierce my ears.

"Can you hear that?" I asked, unaware that my voice hadn't even escaped my lips. I looked at my dad, who stood staring blankly at the man at the bus stop. Dad's mouth moved, but I could not hear his voice over the ringing. My focus returned to the well-dressed gentleman who was now making his way towards us, the sound seemingly emanating from him and growing as he approached.

"We have to go!" I screeched, and yet it was silent compared to the ringing. My father's lips moved with purpose, but none of his words could reach me. Closer the man grew, and now the ringing bore weight on my body, forcing me to crouch and keep my ears shielded. The man was now standing in front of my father, a devious grin etched on his face, his eyes burning with an ornate purple.

"Please!" I begged for the noise to stop, for the weight to leave, for anyone to help. The sound was crushing, and the man's attention once on my father turned to me. Before he could come closer, dark hands writhed from the nearest alley latching themselves to my body. They tugged and drugged me across the sidewalk away from the man and my father. All I could do was watch as the well-dressed man lost interest before the inky alleyway engulfed my vision.

I wake drenched head to toe in sweat, sheets, and pillows thrown to the floor as I kick through the night. The sound of soft music fills the room as my clock switches to its FM-set alarm. The feeling of the dark hands tightly gripping my body gradually faded with the drowsiness of sleep. Quickly I Swing my feet over the edge to sit up. On the nightstand holding the clock, a sticky note stuck to the edge fluttering in the A/C that read "Another bad dream?".