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CHAPTER SIXTEEN OF TWENTY

❝ ...AND INTO THE FIRE ❞

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(NAME) DID THE ONLY THING SHE THOUGHT TO DO. She currently sat on the sofa in Miss Spink and Forcible's apartment, whilst Miss Forcible changed behind a changing screen and Miss Spink currently held one of their three Scottie dogs, Angus, in her arms, knitting him some angel wings.

She'd explained her story. She'd even called the police, reporting her husband missing. But they were useless. Apparently, there was a twenty-four-hour wait until someone could be legally declared missing. She'd phoned everyone. Eric's publisher, Sean. Mr Lovat. Wybie. Charlotte, even. She'd even asked Mr Bobinsky if he'd seen Eric. She'd even rang Eric's older sister, Naomi, who lived half an hour away by car if Eric was at her's. Nothing.

She sipped some tea anxiously, with the two other Scottie dogs, Jock and Hamish, by her sides. Leela rested on her lap, snoozing peacefully. "Don't you only make wings for the dead ones?" (Name) questioned.

Miss Spink looked up from her knitting. "Just looking ahead, dear," Miss Spink clarified, "Angus hasn't been feeling very well of late...".

Miss Forcible, attached to some pulleys and corset hooks, which aided her in putting on her corset, called over the top of the changing screen, platinum wig on her head. "April! Aren't you getting ready?" Miss Forcible questioned.

"We've lost our ride, Miriam!" Miss Spink called to her wife, "(Name) here says her husband, Eric, has vanished, quite completely!".

Miss Forcible, who was tightening her corset, hoisted to see the two women. "What?!" Miss Forcible shrieked, "We've waited months for those tickets!".

One of the corset hooks flew off, pulling off Miss Forcible's wig. She ignored it and walked over to address Miss Spink, who suggested: "I suppose we could walk!".  Miss Forcible looked at her wife like she'd gone utterly insane, "With your gamy legs?! It's nearly two miles to the theatre!" Mrs Forcible shrieked in horror.

(Name) cleared her throat, clearly frustrated. The two women looked at her, "Oh, oh. Yes. Your missing husband," Miss Spink mumbled, "We know just what you need, dear,".

Miss Forcible walked over to a trunk, lifting the lid off it to reveal the collection of their old, stuck-together taffy. Three dishes of the hard candy, with dates over the dishes. 1921. 1936. 1960. All three bowls of candy were older than (Name). Miss Forcible picked up the dish from 1921 and placed it on the table, opposite Miss Spink.

"How is almost a hundred-year-old taffy going to help-" the young woman asked.

She was cut off by Miss Spink raising her knitting needles like daggers, screaming. (Name) covered herself with her arms to defend herself, but Miss Spink attacks the candy, stabbing it. Pieces of hard candy flew all around the room. She mashed the candy to bits until it's a layer of dust, hiding something. She blew the candy dust away, revealing an ornate, jade-coloured, triangular-coloured stone with a hole in the middle.

She extracted the stone from the empty candy dish with her knitting needles, like chopsticks to sushi, and delicately placed the stone in (Name)'s open palm. (Name) frowned, examining the stone between her thumb and index finger. "Here you go, sweetie," Mrs Spink said, smiling. "What's it for?" (Name) asked, looking through the stone with one eye, glancing at the two older women through it.

"Well, it might help," Miss Spink suggested, "They're good for bad things sometimes,". Mrs Forcible glared at her wife.  "No, they're good for lost things," Miss Forcible corrected, "They don't look any different,".

"It's bad things, Miriam!".

"Lost things, April,".

"Bad,"

"Lost,"

"Bad,"

"Lost,"

"Bad things,"

"Lost!".

(Name) sighed. "Hey, bad or lost. Thanks for this lovely, if not slightly weird, gift," (Name) said, catching the attention of the two older women, "I'll drive you two to the theatre,".

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LATER THAT EVENING, (Name) had returned from dropping her slightly kooky, elderly neighbours at the theatre then returning hours later to pick them up from said theatre and drop them back home. Draping her blue blanket over her shoulders, she climbed into her and Eric's bed.

Leela was curled up by her feet. (Name) shut her eyes and began to cry herself to sleep, the feelings that had been bottled away now coming to the surfaces. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep. The cat had slipped in through her open window, he pounced onto her bed, awakening Leela.

The cat crawled onto (Name)'s chest, tapping her nose with a paw. She softly hit her nose in her sleep. The cat used both paws to hit her nose, waking her up. (Name) hadn't expected to find the cat, with his matted black fur, on her chest, gazing at her with his large, blue eyes. "Oh, hello," she greeted, cheeks stained by dry tears, "I see I should leave the window open more often, eh?".

The cat yawned, and his eyes flashed briefly. "D'you know where Eric is?" (Name) asked, "I haven't seen him since this morning. And I'm not really worried but I'm concerned,".

The cat blinked, hopping off the bed and exiting the bedroom. Leela was quick to follow. (Name) climbed out of bed, following her dog and technical cat out of the bedroom, and down the stairs. Shadows were cast on the walls through the windows. They reached the corridor, where a full-length mirror hung on the wall. It was the same one which Eros had tossed through into the other room in the other world.

The mirror began to glow and then an image formed in the mirror. Eric stood behind the glass, arms wrapped around himself. It was snowing and there was snow on his raven black locks and stuck to his suit. He was blue with cold as his teeth chattered. (Name)'s eyes widened in horror. "Ricky?!" she exclaimed in shock, placing her hand on the mirror.

Eric's shaky hand placed itself on her own hand through the glass. His other hand began to write a message against the mirror's glass, his fingertip squeaked against the glass as he spelt out his cry for help. H E L P  M E. The frost rose up, clouding the mirror and Eric disappeared. The image was gone.

Shaking, (Name) let out an anguished scream, overwhelmed with her feelings. Her fists pounded against the glass of the mirror, causing it to shatter around her. She fell to her knees, crying and sobbing. Leela and the cat watched in sadness. (Name) was careful to stand up and step over the shattered glass. The cat nuzzled up to her, as did Leela after she cleaned up the broken glass.

"How did this happen?".

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THE CAT AND LEELA LED (NAME) BACK UP TO HER BEDROOM. The cat crawled underneath the bed and reemerged, dragging something behind him. To (Name)'s horror it was the doll. Except, the doll had been transformed and changed to resemble Eric instead of herself. (Name) gripped the doll between her palms, glaring at the doll, knowing fully well that Eros was most likely watching her through it.

"You fucking bastard!" she screamed at Eros' little spy. She grabbed the matchbox inside Eric's bedside table drawer. She lit it up, throwing the match into the fireplace.  Enraged, (Name) threw the doll into the burning fireplace in her and Eric's room. She watched in a sense of satisfaction as the doll burnt to ash in the fireplace, "He's taken Eric as revenge. Talk about clingy. I've got to get him back,".

The cat curled up on her left side, whilst Leela laid down against her owner's right leg. "Eric's not coming back on his own," (Name) said, "I've got to go back. And I've got to save him. And I'm going to defeat Eros. And set the ghost women free. No matter what,".

(Name) got ready. Clad in her button-up blue pyjamas, she sported Eric's oversized, black jacket, and her Baker Boy cap, and grabbed a red cotton bag from her closet. She slipped on her black, lace-up boots and a pair of socks. She stuck her hand-sized garden shears into the bag, along with the jade-coloured, triangular stone with the stone in the centre.

She grabbed a candle, lighting it up with a match. She was stepping out of the frying pan...and into the fire.