House of Skin

NIGHT CALL

Lisa was taking a bath when the phone rang.

Its shrill cry jarred her nerves. She didn’t want answer it, but she knew she had to with everything going on. She wanted nothing better than to lay back in the hot water and work the knots from her muscles and the aches from her head, but she had no choice.

She wrapped herself in a towel and ran into the bedroom, grabbing the portable.

“Hello?”

“Good evening, Doctor.”

She felt a chill sweep through her. Her blood was ice. “Who is this?”

“You don’t recognize my voice?”

“No and I don’t have time for games.”

“Cherry Hill,” the voice giggled. “You might remember me from Coalinga, from Chowchilla. Don’t pretend you don’t remember me.”

“I remember you.” And Lisa did. The bells were ringing, each one of them a warning bell that felt like it was going to split her head open.

“I’m glad you remember,” Cherry said. “If it hadn’t have been for you, I might still be at that place. I’ll never forget you for getting me out there and I’ll never forget what you did to me there.”

Lisa’s throat was dry with panic. “What do you want?”

“I want you to stop looking for Eddy Zero.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s what I want. You always liked to please me, remember?”

“Cherry, listen to me. Why don’t I meet you and—”

“And you’ll see I get the help I need?”

Lisa felt weak inside. “It’s for your own good, Cherry.”

“Stop looking for him,” the voice said. “If you find him, you’re going to find me… and you don’t really want that, do you?”

The line went dead.

Lisa climbed back in the tub, her lips forming words that she was unaware of. Even the hot water couldn’t stop her from shaking. There are always worse-case scenarios in life and she had just encountered one of them.

Cherry Hill.

Cherry Hill.

My past is coming back to haunt me, she thought and it was the truth. Knowing it, it was all she could do not to slit her own wrists.