4 . Burn Mark

"Ooww!" Sue cried as she clutched her head. She felt as of thousands of needles were pricking her. She was surprised to find herself on the living room floor. Strange.............. she thought. She could not remember coming home. She remembered going to the supermarket and then at the pawn shop but could not figure out what happened on her way back home. It was as if her memory was erased...............
Sue scratched her head thinking hard about how she'd passed out on the floor. Was she drunk the night before? Or did she bump into something and knocked herself out ? As she was thinking , something caught her eye. It was the little black bag from the pawn shop. Last night she had bought a beautiful Crucifix and then she couldn't recall anything else.
Never mind.... she thought and left for a shower leaving the bag in the living room. The water rushed out as Sue turned the shower on. Nothing is better than a warm shower , she thought. As the water ran down her body she could feel all her confusion and all the headache melt away slowly. As she stood there in the shower she heard someone call out her name, a mere whisper............... She turned the shower off to listen closely..............................................................................................no sound...............................................................maybe she was just imagining things.

                                             

Sue wrapped a bath robe around her as she left the bathroom and entered her room. She unwrapped the towel around her head letting her hair fall on her shoulders. She looked at herself in the mirror and thought about getting a haircut. A bob would suit her personality well she thought. Moreover James would be so surprised to find her in a different look. Sue blushed and giggled as she imagined her husband's amazed face , swooping her hair to one side at the same time. Her eyes widened as she noticed a strange mark on her neck. The shower should have got rid of it ................but still , what was it ? And how did she get it ? It resembled a burn mark but she could feel no pain as she ran her fingers over it. Nor did she recall getting burnt.

It was already evening, as Sue sat by the dining table with a grave expression on her face , staring at her another batch of burned cookies.It was the fifth time she had failed since morning. She was completely exhausted from running back and forth to the market  to get new ingredients every time she failed. It was an awful day..... She'd had tried her best since morning and had ended miserable. Moreover the neighbour's dog had passed away and she felt terribly sorry for him. She had some oatmeal for her dinner as she was far too tired to cook one. Sue flicked the lights off and went to bed hoping for a better tomorrow.

                                                      

Sue woke up in the middle of the night as she felt a burning sensation on her neck. The mark she had noticed before was swelling up and was getting worse.The digital clock  beside her bed displayed 3:00 AM as she got down the bed and made her way towards the kitchen to fetch some ice . The wooden steps creaked as she climbed down to the kitchen.She did not bother turning the lights on as the moonlight from the window illuminated the room just enough to see. She took some ice and applied it on the swollen part of her neck sending chills down her spine. The ice melted in an instant sending water droplets down her neck. The pain was getting worse with every second. She gathered some more ice and made a little ice pack to carry it upstairs. It was awfully quite outside. But it was to be expected as Mike was no more. Sue had seen him from the very beginning , right from when he was a little pup . The news of him passing away was quite a shock for her and the fellow colony people . The pain was getting worse and the silence was getting on her nerves. She could hear the sound of her own breath. She jumped a feet in the air as she heard some noise from outside........................It was just the sound of alley cats fighting over something. Sue let out a sigh of relief as she calmed herself . And then she heard the sound of a gun being fired. She could feel her heart leap into her throat as she sensed that the sound came from her living room. Her heart was throbbing loudly in her chest as she slowly walked towards the living room. Could it be burglars ? She picked up a flower vase in her defence as she advanced towards the living room .

The T.V was on and there was no one else in the room , she was all alone. Sue shut off the T.V wondering if she had left it on. But...............................................in that case she would have heard the sound earlier right ? Then how did the T.V turn on ? How was it even possible ? The mark on her neck was now glowing red and blood was gushing out. Sue dropped on her knees holding her neck in pain . The antique clock in the room showed that it was 3:00.It seemed that the time was frozen. But how was it even possible ? An hour should have passed since she left her room..........................................................................................................................................................
Suddenly out of no where she heard someone whispering her name and her eyes widened with horror as her own shadow disappeared before her own eyes. It wasn't her imagination ....................... someone had actually called out her name and was standing behind her.