Chapter 2

"I can't believe you! I really can't believe you!"

"I'm really done with being somebody I'm not, James," Angie said calmly as she looked through yesterday's mail. "I'm done pretending to be your wife for your business who could really care less about me."

"I had to pay for that stupid mirror you broke!"

"What? You don't have thirty dollars to spare?" Angie growled into a bill that she had received late.

"Mr. CFO getting cheap all of a sudden?"

"That's not the point! You said we would be civil and yet, you climb out a bathroom window!"

As he continued to ramble on about last night, Angie fingered through the rest of the mail, ignoring her ranting ex. As she did so, she stumbled upon a business card. She put the mail down and examined the pure white card with a black pentagon on the front, just like the symbol on the church last night. Angie furrowed her brows in confusion. Why was this in her mail? She flipped the card over and it read:

"Mother beckons for you…."

"Mother beckons you?" She repeated in question.

"Angie! Are you listening to me?!" James spat, snatching the card from her hand and looking at it himself. "You're staring at a blank piece of paper Angie. What? Did it speak to you as an artist or something?"

"No, it does say something. Look on the back!" Angie grabbed it from him and showed the writing. "See?!"

"I don't see anything Ang!" James sighed and shook his head. "Honestly, sometimes I'm tempted to put you in a mental hospital."

"That's nice," Angie grumbled, watching him walk away mumbling to himself. She looked at the card

once more. "Mother beckons for you," She repeated then shoved it in her pocket. She scurried to the front door, flinging her jacket on and ran out the door, not answering James' question of 'where are you going?'

She was not playing around. Not when it came to strange mail coming to her house with a strange message that apparently, she could only see unless James was trying to make an excuse to put her in the hospital. Now, James was an asshole, but he wasn't that much of an asshole. Well, maybe he would be if he was able to get money out of her being crazy, but her money was hers and his was his. They weren't messing around with this divorce. They wanted it to be fast and simple. That's how much they hated each other.

Angie booked it downtown towards the abandoned church. Whoever was fucking with her was going to stop. She was already stressed out from dealing with James and not having a muse to paint. She hadn't painted in months since they had decided to actually go through with the divorce. She didn't need this too; to be seen as an insane person who was the only one who could see this shit.

She slowed and finally halted in front of the church door and started banging. "Hello!"

No answer.

"Hello!" She banged again with her fist in a tight ball. "I know you can hear me! I don't appreciate you mailing me bizarre things! Whoever you are, you need to stop!"

Sirens buzzed behind her then stopped abruptly. "Ma'am?"

Angie spun around, red in the face and panting as if that yelling took everything out of her. "Officer?"

"Why are you banging on that church's door?"

"Uh… well…."

"I can assure you that no one is in there," The officer said. "Please stop. People are going to start complaining."

Angie nodded. "Sure thing. Sorry, officer."

"Thanks," the officer nodded. "Have a good day."

Angie watched the police car speed off down the street, then turned back to the church and got close. She squinted and pointed at the door as if it was a person.

"I know you are in there," she whispered. "And you are going to stop this shit before it goes any farther." She wiggled the business card in her fingers and slid it under the door. "Here's your stupid card. Have a good day."

She walked away quickly, not wanting to attract anymore attention to herself, and trudged down to the closest playground to relax before going back home… where she would be stressed again.

It was a wet day from the previous night's rain and because of that, none of the town's children had come out to play today. The sun was out, but there was a chill that sent shivers up Angie's spine. She wished she had grabbed a heavier jacket. No matter. She wasn't going to stay that long and the chill would relax here faster than the warmth would. Angie wiped away the water on the lowest swing there and sat, rocking herself back and forth just admiring her surroundings.

A heavy gust of wind blew around her not even moments later. She could hear the cries of the crows before they swooped down to the ground only a few feet in front of her, hovering there for a second or two before circling around the swing set. Angie swung her arms in the air at the birds and cursing at them to leave her alone. They nipped at her hair and waving arms. Not as an aggressive act it seemed. More as a warning to stop and show them respect.

"Enough!" Angie growled in a menacing tone and the crows flew off just like that.

Instead of the crows, there now was a person dressed all in black in front of the only tree there was near the playground. Angie couldn't see their face or anything else for that matter that could lead to some type of hint as to who they happened to be. Angie's eyes grew twice their size out of fright and she hung on to the chains of the swing as if her life depended on it. The person's arm slowly raised towards the scared women. A pale white hand snaked out of its coverage in the robe and begged for Angie to come near.

Angie rapidly shook her head. "No thanks."

The hooded figure nodded, beckoning her again.

"Mother beckons for you…."

Angie stood straight up. "Alright, I'm out!" And ran for her life from the playground towards home; making sure to not pass the abandoned church on the way back.

"Never going back out! Never going back out!" She panted to herself as people she passed looked at her as though she were crazy. "I'll be like Emily Dickinson! The new age Emily Dickinson! That should work great with my art! My new collection will be the dark figure in the trees!"

She rounded the corner to her driveway and bounded through the doorway completely out of breath. She slammed the door behind her and locked it. Angie leaned against the wall and thumped on to the floor of her entrance way. Maybe she needed to see a psychiatrist. Maybe this was a late schizophrenia break. Did she have schizophrenia in her family? Not that she was aware of but who knows! She could be the first one.

"Angie?"

Her eyes gazed up towards James and the confused look on his face. She grinned and waved weakly, still trying to get her bearings together. "Oh, hey James."

"Uh… are you okay? It looks like you've seen a ghost."

"Oh… y-yeah! Totally! Just went out for my daily run! Yep! That's all!"

"You don't go on daily runs."

"Well, this was my first one out of many," Angie explained, stumbling on her wobbling legs to get up off the floor. "Yep. I'm starting a daily run! It was refreshing! Now, if you'll excuse me as I lock myself in my room and never come out again. Thank you."

"Huh?" James quirked an eyebrow then shook his head, heading back into the living room. "I swear, you get weirder and weirder by the second."

"Mhmm, yes indeed," Angie agreed, not really hearing what James had said, and booked it to her room, making sure to lock the door behind her.

Maybe this was all a dream. A weird dream, but a dream nonetheless. She's had many dreams before that felt so real like this one so it was possible. Angie nodded to her own thoughts. All she had to do was pinch herself and she would wake up, but as she brought her fingers to her flesh to pinch herself, she froze and was suddenly terrified. This wasn't a dream. She was just making up excuses to make herself feel better. This was reality and it was her reality and it was horrifying.

"I need a nap," Angie sighed, ambling her way over to the window to close the curtains.

She grabbed on to them and took one more look out the window. Under the trees in her yard was

that black dressed figure still beckoning for her to come. Angie yelped, quickly pulled the curtains closed and jumped right into bed.

She was definitely not going back outside any time soon.