Am I alone?

I excitedly put the key into my new house that I am renting. My new roommate Sue is right behind me practically squealing with excitement and her blonde hair flouncing. She and I don't know each other well but we met a couple of times and it seemed like it would be a great fit. Plus she did hair occasionally and was willing to help me keep my red hair color up. Two single girls living the single life! It was both of our first living arrangements on our own. The door opens and we both quickly burst through the door, excited to make the house our own.

She's exclaiming over the kitchen and I'm checking out the living room, ready to make it company ready. The rest of the day was a rush of moving, getting our things in the house and unpacking. The next couple days are a blur of the same. Finally on Friday, we're done unpacking and getting the house ready for the weekend. We sit down and have a glass to drink together, making plans on which of our friends we would each invite and how many people we wanted. The weekend went off without a hitch. I hit it off with several of her friends and she with mine. I did notice her staring at me several times through the first night when I was talking with her friends but didn't think anything of it.

Things went smoothly for the next couple weeks. We both went to class, hung out, had friends over and just lived life. Every once in a while I would come across her standing staring at seemingly nothing in the kitchen or living room but we laughed it off as her being absent minded or forgetting what she even came into the room for.

Right before October started there was an uptake in her behaving in an odd manner. Instead of the main living areas I would find her staring at my bedroom or bathroom door. (I had the public restroom, she claimed she was a neat freak about her bathroom so she got the bedroom with it attached which was fine by me.) Sometimes when I called out to her asking what she forgot she would slowly turn around and look at me like I was a stranger. She'd shake her head and laugh saying she'd been a million miles away. Not entirely weird, we've all been there right?

In October there was a huge storm that was forecast to hit. It was hurricane season and the weather had been pretty tame till that point. Sue and I planned to have a hurricane party. She'd been sick lately and her petite frame was getting smaller. I thought it would be great to help her feel better and maybe shake off what she had.

The weather got increasingly bad throughout the night. All of the sudden all of our phones went off with Tornado Warnings. We were right in the path of a level 2 tornado. We got our guests, the ones who didn't bolt anyway, into the public bathroom. I was in the laundry room grabbing blankets when the door shut behind me. I went to go open the door and it didn't budge. I tried to turn the knob but it was locked. I kept trying to open the door but there was no luck. So I packed the blankets around me, shoved the washer and dryer to the side as best I could and hunkered down in between them with blankets above me and wedge around me. I started hearing a train approaching and the tornado ripped apart our house. I saw the funnel as it took a corner of the laundry room. It was terrifying.

Magically I survived. And I could have sworn that I saw disappointment on Sue's face when she saw me climbing out of the wreckage of what was left of the laundry room. I told everyone what had happened and they were very supportive and helpful initially. I ended up briefly being friends with benefits with one of Sue's friends. Nothing serious to either of us, just some bit of fun for comfort, but Sue certainly changed afterwards.

After the house was fixed by the insurance company we moved back in. And things just kept getting creepy. Doors would close, shadows seemed to move, locks would randomly lock with me in the room, knives would fall off the counter in the kitchen next to me and shortly after each occurrence Sue would walk by staring at me with increasingly hollow eyes. Sue's friend that I was seeing got so creeped out he refused to see me any further. My emails weren't reaching my teacher and so I failed the semester. My parents died in a car crash on their way to visit me. I was left with no family. My friends saw me on my downward spiral and didn't want to be around me anymore. I also lost my job due to consistently being late because of the doors locking behind me almost constantly now. Life was getting increasingly weird and depressing.

I started drinking to take my mind off of it all. I felt like Sue was the source of all this but how crazy does that sound? So I drank and drank till I was severely inebriated constantly. I stopped trying to get out of the rooms as the locked behind me. I started thinking about suicide. Till one day, the door in the bathroom locked behind me. And I thought that I didn't want to carry on any further. I looked at the razors I had in the bathroom and thought, "This is it. I'm done.". I drew up a bath and had my razor sitting next to me.

After I made my first cut and half way into the next, Sue opened the door silently and glided in and sat in the tub next to me. The booze and blood loss had made me woozy and I just looked at her, bewildered as to why she was here. Especially right now as I was ending it all. Couldn't I have this last thing to myself? "Good" she cooed, "I needed you to die but I couldn't do it myself. You had to make the choice. So I had to encourage you along the way. So the tornado, the grades and even your parents, those were due to me.". "But why? Why me? What have I done to you? I don't understand.". Too weak to even sit up and as my vision began to blur I just hear Sue's voice echo, "It just needed to be someone. You'll understand soon enough.".

And I jolt awake. I look around confused at my one bedroom apartment. I was shaking. I feel my thighs for any hint of cuts. The nightmare had felt so very real. I stumbled into the bathroom to splash some water on my face. I felt so weird.

Bending over the sink I see something that makes my heart stop. My hair looked blonde for a second. Shaking I look in the mirror and see Sue's visage almost over mine for a second. My eyes must be playing a trick on me. I close my eyes and shake my head vigorously and splash some more water on my face. I look into the mirror again. And I hear Sue's voice, "You're mine now, don't you worry.".

As I write this, knowing no one will ever read this nor believe it if they did, I can feel her growing stronger and me fading away much like my dream. She keeps whispering me sweet nothings of what we'll do and be together. I know I will never be alone again. But I will also never be.