Silence enveloped the house.  The children slept in their beds and Brenda’s husband was already upstairs reading.  With the cleaning and laundry finished, Brenda sat at her computer to check emails before going to bed.  She didn’t bother to turn on the lights.  The glow of the computer screen cast gentle shadows on the desk and Brenda’s face.  Just one email from work appeared in her inbox. 

She read it, typed her reply and pressed “send.”  She opened a new window for Facebook and saw a friend request.  Clicking on it, her breath caught as she stared at the name.  “Veronica Weber.”  She had been thinking about Veronica all day since she had received the news that morning – via Facebook – that Veronica had been killed in a car accident.Best friends as children, Brenda and Veronica lived on the same street.  Then as the girls went into middle school, their interests diverged and each made new friends.  The shiny, new friendships rendered the old one uninteresting.  Once the girls entered high school, they barely saw each other.

Except for the time Brenda inadvertently went out with Veronica’s boyfriend.  Brenda had asked Mark – Veronica’s “ex-” – out, only to discover after their date that he was not her “ex-” but current boyfriend.  Veronica caught wind of their date and confronted Brenda.  Words were exchanged, voices were raised and eventually apologies were offered and accepted.Brenda had never sent Veronica a friend request on Facebook, although they had many friends in common.  She remained unsure whether Veronica had really forgiven her and she didn’t care to reopen old wounds.  Seeing the name on her screen, however, made her realize that Veronica must have sent her a friend request just before she was killed. 

Brenda shut down her computer and slipped into bed, next to her already-sleeping husband.The next morning, Brenda woke with a haunted feeling.  Her dreams had been filled with images of Veronica.  Veronica – as an adult – trying to do the things they used to do as children.  But doing them alone.  Veronica swimming in a pool, flailing her arms and nobody to help her.  Veronica crashing on her sled and nobody to dig her out of the snow.  Brenda went straight to her computer and accepted the friend request.  She knew it was irrational, but it seemed necessary.Brenda got breakfast for her kids and husband, dropped her kids at school, and she and her husband parted at the station to take different trains to their respective offices.  As Brenda walked towards a seat on the train, it lurched forward, throwing Brenda off balance.  She fell and narrowly missed hitting her head on the hard, plastic seat.  A man helped her to her feet and made sure she was not injured before sitting back down. 

Brenda sank into her seat.  Her face flushed with embarrassment and with the thought that she could have been seriously hurt.After collecting herself for a few moments, she pulled her cell phone out of its case, pressed the button and unlocked it before looking at the screen.  Checking first to be sure there were no emails from work, she opened the Facebook app and saw several notifications.  There was a lot of nonsense about “Farmville” and then this:  “Veronica Weber has answered a question about you.  Click to see her answer.” 

Thoughts of a hoax entered Brenda’s mind.  She furrowed her brows and considered who would do such a thing. She cautiously tapped the screen and the text read, “Veronica answered the question ‘Is Brenda likely to die on a train?’  Veronica answered ‘no.’”A chill ran through Brenda’s body as she quickly turned off her phone.The train came to Brenda’s stop and she began the short walk to her office.  Other passersby enjoyed the spring day, shedding their coats as they walked.  Brenda still felt chilled even as she finished her walk to the office and sank into her chair.  The ring of the phone brought Brenda out of her thoughts and her hectic day began.Mid-morning, Brenda got on the elevator to go to a meeting.  Before the elevator reached her floor, it suddenly stopped and made an alarming dip.  Brenda grabbed the hand rail and pressed the emergency button. 

The operator came on the intercom and assured Brenda that everything was fine, but it would be a few minutes until the elevator could move.  She paced back and forth in the elevator for ten minutes until the elevator resumed its slow descent.  She breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the elevator.  As she walked through the corridor, she turned on her phone and checked Facebook. 

She gasped as she saw the message again:  “Veronica Weber has answered a question about you.  Click to see her answer.”  Her breath became shallow as she clicked.  “Veronica answered the question ‘Is Brenda likely to die in an elevator?’  Veronica answered ‘no.’”Brenda quickly turned off the phone and slipped it back into its case.  During the meeting, Brenda’s eyes darted back and forth.  Twice during the meeting, Brenda’s boss asked if she was okay.  Brenda mumbled that she was and took a few deep breaths.After the meeting, her boss touched her arm and said softly, “Maybe you should take an early lunch, Brenda.  Take it easy and I’ll see you back in the office later.”Brenda nodded.  She took the stairs to the lobby and walked out into the sunshine.  Not many people were passing by since it wasn’t yet lunchtime.  Brenda definitely did not feel hungry.  In fact, she started to feel somewhat nauseated.Brenda turned and began walking in the opposite direction from the office.  If somebody was trying to pull a hoax by posing as Veronica on her Facebook account, it was in unbelievably bad taste.  And what about the strange coincidences about the train and the elevator? 

Brenda began to wonder if any of her other friends had been getting messages also.  Walking down the sidewalk, Brenda pulled out her phone and touched on the Facebook icon.  Another notification:  “Veronica Weber has answered a question about you.”Brenda skipped over the notification and went to Veronica’s profile page.  Several of her friends had posted condolence messages on her wall but it didn’t look like there was any activity fromher account.  Brenda typed a quick message to one of her friends from school, asking if she had received any messages from Veronica since her death.  Brenda stared at the letters on the screen, realized how absurd it seemed, and quickly deleted the message.  Her heart raced. 

 She knew she should sit and calm down.  Across the street was a small cafe where she could buy a newspaper and a cup of tea.Brenda stepped into the crosswalk.  She clicked on the notification.  “Veronica answered the question ‘Is Brenda likely to die in a car accident?’  Veronica answered ‘yes.’” She looked up from her phone. 

Two tons of steel fulfilled the premonition.

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©2011 P.J Kaiser

P.J. Kaiser stays at home in Hoboken, New Jersey with her two children and writes between loads of laundry. She writes short fiction and has a dusty novel draft she’d like to work on soon. She has been published in various anthologies including “Best of Friday Flash Vol. 1,” “50 Stories for Pakistan,” “100 Stories for Queensland,” and the latest anthology from eMergent Publishing, “Nothing But Flowers.”  She can be found at her blog “Inspired by Real Life.”

Nora was summoned to the infirmary. She had expected the call, and when she left her quarters she made sure that she didn’t tell anyone where she was going. Paul was already up and working in his office, and she assumed that her daughter and son-in-law were asleep in their suite; it was just past five in the morning.

The doctor greeted her. Though his voice was warm, she saw the serious expression on his face.

“Keiko is very close to giving birth,” he told her. “We’re ready to go ahead and take the baby.”

The drugs that she was given to advance the pregnancy won’t do anything to harm the child, will it?”

Nora had asked the question before, but she couldn’t help but ask it again.

“There is always risk, but it is minimal,” the doctor replied carefully. “As of now everything that we see is normal. Once we take the infant, we’ll execute Keiko. Is there anyone that we can call for you? A family member that would sit with you?”

“No, I don’t want anyone else bothered,” Nora said.

“Do you wish to speak with Keiko?”

“Yes, briefly.”

****

Keiko lay on a hospital bed, bound at the knees and ankles. She tried to lean towards the side, already feeling the first waves of labor.

“Why are you here?” she growled.

Nora stood just inside the doorway, watching.

“When the baby comes, it will be over for you,” she said softly. “Just as we discussed before. There is nothing for you to worry about.”

Tears gathered in Keiko’s eyes.

“Scott will never forgive you for letting them kill me.”

Nora shrugged. “I am not God, and I am not in the business of forgiving. So if Scott is angry, so be it. I promise you that the child will have a good home. And as far as you?  You tried to kill my daughter. There’s no getting around that. How do you think Scott would feel if he knew?”

“You must feel good about yourself right now,” Keiko hissed. “I don’t care. I’m ready to die!” she spat.

But she shivered as she said it.

“It’s coming, whether you’re prepared or not,” Nora said. “You have to face your punishment.”

She turned to leave, and heard Keiko screaming obscenities as the door closed behind her.

****

An hour later, the doctor came into the room where Nora waited.

He placed the infant in her arms.

Despite the fact that she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t, she cried as she held her granddaughter for the first time.

****

Marradith was up at seven that morning.

Will had sent her a file a few weeks earlier. It was the file for Prisoner 157342.

Marradith had her suspicions about it for a while, but as she read through the text, it was clear to her who both the prisoner and the interrogator were. Scott was the one who gave her the prisoner number and told her she should look up the information months before. But she’d been afraid of what she’d find.

Pieces of information about her Father had fallen into place over time. Justin was the one that first told her that Paul Ryder was a Sojourner years before she was born, and had actually been Justin’s boss at one time.

It was the information about her Mother’s past that was shocking.

Nora Ryder—known back then as Leny Rubidoux— had been in the Circle.

It explained Scott’s feelings about the Sojourners. Their mother had been detained and tortured for a short time. But Nora gave up that life when she met their Father. Perhaps it wasn’t entirely by choice, but she’d never went back to her old ways.

Marradith shook her head. She read over the file twice more, wishing that it weren’t true.

She closed her laptop and put on a pot of coffee. A few minutes later, Justin got up.

“Were you ever planning on telling me?” she said as he stumbled into the kitchen.

Justin was still sleepy. He frowned, scratching his head. “About what, babe?”

“That my mother used to be a hired killer.”

****

Fiona got a text message from Nora.

When Fiona reached the waiting room, Nora was sitting in a recliner with her feet up, the baby nestled in her arms.

“She’s beautiful,” Fiona sighed.

Nora simply nodded.

“Keiko’s gone then?”

“Yes.”

“How’d they do it?”

“Incineration,” Nora replied.

Fiona shivered.

“How is Rafael?” Nora asked.

“The same,” Fiona replied.

“Maybe he’ll recover.”

“I have little hope of that,” Fiona admitted, her eyes filling with tears.

“Perhaps,” Nora said. She cleared her throat. “If Rafael doesn’t make it through this, you’ll be alone. And your son is a man now. You can’t get that time with him back.”

“What’s your point?” Fiona asked.

“Fiona. I still have a ten year old son to raise, who doesn’t get enough of my time as it is. Marradith may be married, but she doesn’t need me any less now than she did a year ago.  I am not ready to go back to diapers and formula. But I remember you were trying to get pregnant, before things fell apart with Rafael. How would you feel about the chance to be a mother again?”

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 ©2011 Lori Titus

 

Keep up with the author’s latest on her blog : http://loribeth215.wordpress.com/ or follow her on Twitter as Loribeth215.