Free Bad House by Sam West

keep it together.
    This time when he looked up, the curtains in her window were drawn and light spilled out around the edges.
    This can’t be happening .
    The more he thought about it, the more it seemed likely that he was going crazy. A wave of nausea so strong washed over him that he flopped backwards on the bed, clutching his throbbing head.
    Maybe I should go round there, see if she’s okay…
    Why wouldn’t she be okay, you sick fucking freak? You imagined the whole thing …
    He groaned up at the dark ceiling and closed his eyes. God, he felt so ill. And he really needed to go and wash his nose and change his t-shirt.
    In a minute ...
    It felt so good to just shut his eyes. Despite his every intention to the contrary, Ian gave in to the utter exhaustion that swept over him and immediately fell asleep.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER NINE
     
     
     
     
     
    He opened his eyes from the deepest of sleeps to brightness. Squinting in the glare, he struggled to sit up. His limbs felt heavy and achy, like he was on the last legs of flu. His head throbbed and his nose was bunged up.
    Blood, he remembered. Only then did the memories of last night come flooding back. Holly leaving him and taking Jacob with her. The storm and power-cut.
    Marianna .
    No, not Marianna, just some fucked up hallucination. Or perhaps a nightmare.
    But I wasn’t asleep.
    You sure about that?
    Only then did he notice that he was back on the sofa.
    How the fuck did I get here?
    His mind whirred in confusion. He racked his brains, going over the events of last night. Holly leaving. Going upstairs to see if Marianna’s house was also in darkness. Seeing her in the window…
    Pushing away the confused thoughts that went round and round in his throbbing head, he got shakily to his feet. The hangover didn’t help matters – it felt as if his brain was soaking in acid, shrinking the organ and tearing it away from the internal cavity of his skull. As he passed the light-switch, he flicked it on. The overhead light came on, making very little difference in the sun-lit room. It didn’t make any sense.
    Yeah well, it can just join the list of things that don’t make any fucking sense.
    Unless of course, the power supply had been down in the area. He thought of Marianna in the lit-up window in her house that had been lit-up like a Christmas tree. And then he didn’t know what to think anymore.
    Upstairs in the en-suite bathroom he shared with his ( ex?) wife, he stood under the hot spray of the shower until the pink water turned clear around his feet. Standing there with the hard jet of water pounding against his head did little to clarify his thoughts.
    As he dressed slowly and methodically in a fresh pair of jeans and a thin-knit, navy pullover, he pondered on what to do today.
    Check back on the recording of last night?
    Who knew how long the power-cut had lasted, and if the recording had automatically re-started afterwards. Hopefully, there would still be some footage available from last night to look through. At least then he might be able to piece together some of what had really happened.
    If it hadn’t restarted of its own accord, he would have to call Bob from the computer shop, which was not something he would relish.
    The doorbell chimed out, making him jump.
    Maybe it’s Holly and she’s forgotten her keys …
    He clung on to that ray of hope and legged it downstairs. The truth was, he would’ve been grateful to see pretty much anyone right then. Being alone in the house just felt wrong. There was no other word for it. Everything was just wrong . Last night. The house.
    Me …
    He flung open the front door, fearful that whoever had rung it,
    ( please God, let it be Holly )
    would disappear again.
    “Marianna.”
    “Hello Ian. I hope you don’t mind me popping round.”
    Ian’s heart was pumping and he struggled to catch his breath.
    “No, I don’t mind.”
    Were you masturbating in your bedroom window last night? And did you then tip a bucket