Oh, No!

I drove towards home with my heart hammering in my ears and my thoughts a jumbled mess. I needed to be surrounded by the familiar sweet scent of vanilla and cinnamon.

Needed to lay in the plushy goodness of my futon sofa, and binge on lots of ice cream and cake until today's events were lost in a haze of sugar. After I came down from my sugar rush, I would open a bottle of wine and slowly process just what had happened.

I was a street away from home when my phone began to ring. "Let It Flow" by Toni Braxton sounded and without looking I knew it was Tianna.

Tianna Moran was my only friend who knew a little about my crazy past. She was grace personified and always looked like she had stepped out of a beauty magazine. Silky black hair, skin more caramel than coco and big amber eyes that danced with happiness always.

Being around her always filled me with confidence and power. She was, in a word, intoxicating. How she juggled a husband and a six-month-old baby while holding down a job as an executive at a large firm, baffled me.

Her life was perfect unlike mine that was filled with unexplained issues; mostly medical ones that got worse with each passing year. I felt a faint prick of jealousy and rolled my eyes at myself. She was exactly who I needed to talk to right now.

I hit the answer button. "Hey T." My voice wobbled both from stress and relief. A hoarse whisper came through the line, "I need you to come over."

Her words sent the strangest sensation of dread down my spine and the pity party I was having came to an abrupt end.

"Come over? Are you sure?" For as long as I had known Tianna, I had never been to her house. Not for a party, a sleepover, or even to pick her up.

"Yes and please hurry."

The tremor and urgency in her voice had me swallowing my questions and stepping on the gas pedal.

"Okay. What is your address? I'll be there before you know it." Tianna stuttered her address through her sniffles. Before I could respond, the gruff sound of a masculine voice sounded and the line went dead.

The test results from my doctor's appointment and running into Detective Walker became distant memories as I sped down I-95. My heart was in my throat and the dread I felt earlier settled in the pit of my stomach.

The GPS said forty-five minutes, but barely twenty-five minutes later I was pulling into the Moran's driveway. As I walked up the steps to the door, I noticed how isolated their house was and that it was eerily quiet.

It was one of those huge, old, colonial homes with a massive back yard. There was the main house and another much smaller one for the help.

In my mind, I could practically see my ancestors picking cotton in the field.

I shrugged my shoulder dismissively, rang the bell, and waited for Tianna. A minute passed with no answer. In fact, there was no movement at all on the other side of the door. Frowning in concern, I rang the bell again then double checked to make sure that one of the cars in the driveway was hers.

Still, there was no answer and the awful feeling I had on the drive over was now in full bloom. Grabbing my cell, I dialed her number but it rang without an answer. I couldn't even hear it through the thickness of the door. This was unlike her.

Hitting her number again I listened to it ring once and then connect to voicemail. Why wasn't she answering her phone? For as long as I had known her, she always had it on and fully charged but no matter how much I hit redial it kept going to voicemail.

Nervousness skittered across my skin slowly turning to dread as time flittered by. Five minutes had passed and still I couldn't get through. My worry ramped up into something akin to panic. Just before it overwhelmed me, something inside awakened and the most peculiar sensation of pins and needles spread through my body.