* * *
Alma Harper touched the walls of her new music room. She was still beaming from the memory of the reveal, when she’d been surprised by her students and fellow teachers at her school. She didn’t feel worthy of the work that went into this new room, but she had to remind herself that it was okay to let good things happen. Alma had become accustomed to expecting the worst out of life, and she was trying to be have a more positive outlook.
The walls of the new music room glimmered in the dim light. At first, she’d thought it was textured wallpaper that gave the room such a distinct appearance, but instead she discovered that it was tightly compacted wire. All four walls were composed of thin, black wire that had been pulled taut between the floor and ceiling. She pushed the tip of her finger between two of the wires and found more behind.
“What in the world?” She was smiling as she inspected the bizarre and unique building material. She’d never seen anything like it, and was curious how deep it went. Alma pushed her hand further through the strands until her fingers disappeared within. The metal wires were cold on the outside, but warmer inside, as if she were reaching through someone’s clothes in search of flesh.
The tip of her finger touched something hard, and then she felt a hot wetness that caused her to panic. She withdrew her hand, but something came out with her. The liquid that she’d touched within was hot and stung her flesh, and something white was stuck to her as she shook the acidic fluid away. A tooth hit the floor.
“Ben?” asked Alma. She was terrified that her brother was trapped behind the wire wall, although she couldn’t explain what caused that fear. She wiped her hands off on her jeans, and then tried to pull apart the wire to look for her brother.
Then another tooth fell from the wall. It made a distinctive ticking sound as it bounced on the wood floor. She stared down at it, and another tooth came loose. Alma released her hold on the wires and stepped back. As she stared at the black wall, more teeth began to push forth from between the wires. They bounced on the floor in rapid succession as more and more sprang forth. There were so many teeth falling free and ticking on the wood that the noise became cacophonous. Then, as the volume muddied the distinction of the individual teeth, the noise changed. It no longer sounded like a mass of bones tapping on wood, but rather a single person’s teeth chattering in his mouth right beside Alma’s ear.
“Pour it in,” said a man’s voice that Alma recognized as belonging to her father.
Scalding water spewed forth from the wall. It stank of chemicals, and the flood moved too fast for Alma to avoid it. When the first wave struck her, she woke up.
Alma was laying in Paul’s arms, on Rachel and Stephen’s couch. He was asleep, oblivious to her nightmare. Jacker was in the loveseat caddy corner to the couch where Paul and Alma slept. The big man’s limbs were haphazardly hung from various places on the small seat, but he was asleep and snoring despite his uncomfortable position.
Alma glanced at her phone, which was on the coffee table a couple feet away. She debated looking at it to see what time it was, but she didn’t need to look to know. There was no doubt in her mind what she would’ve discovered had she picked up that phone.
It was 3:14.