Free The Braid: A Short Story by Angela Yuriko Smith Page B

footsteps pounding, and doors slamming as Missy's parents turned the house inside out. Cambria was deaf to their clatter and cries as she sank into herself, lulled by the rhythmic creak of rough rope against wood that drifted soothingly across the lawn to her.
     
    Tie the knot...
     
    The whisper rushed from the house, slicing through her comfort like winter wind. Reality crashed over her in a cacophony of voices and spinning lights. She was strapped to a gurney that was being fed, headfirst, into an ambulance. To one side she could see Missy's parents—her mother, crying uncontrollably, wrapped in a navy blue blanket. Missy's father was shouting and pointing at her, a policeman pressing him gently but firmly into a sitting position.
    The house loomed over them all, flashing red and blue like a disco rave. Every light inside was on, and Cambria searched the windows, looking for Missy. Through the tall, arched window that faced the stairs, Cambria saw a figure standing in empty air. Confused, she blinked as her gurney bumped backward, the legs folding to lock into place.
    The figure slowly rotated around to face her and Cambria took in the twisted expression, eyes rolled up to show empty whites. The mouth moved, stretching into a crooked grin and it reached its hands toward her. Cambria screamed as the doors closed before her, blocking her view, and didn't stop screaming until she had been sedated twice by a technician whose hands shook worse than his grandmother's.
     
    Tie the knot...
     
    The whisper woke her from a long, dreamless, dark feeling as blank as the room she woke up in. The walls were lifeless beige, devoid of decoration. She lay on a green, plastic-covered foam rectangle with no sheets. A stainless steel toilet bowl clung to the wall across from a brown painted door with a small, square window. Overhead, a harsh, florescent square bore into her eyes, making her head ache.
    Cambria sat up and was overcome with nausea. She rolled off the low bed to the toilet and vomited into the bowl. As she crouched there, trying to make sense of things, the door opened behind her. She turned, and a sudden draft across her bare skin made her shiver. She looked down to see herself in nothing but a threadbare hospital gown, open at the back.
    “I'm sure you'll want this,” said the pleasant-looking man who had entered the room. The door closed behind him with a loud click and then a beep . He held out a thin, yellow blanket. Cambria struggled to her feet, clutching the gown around her and took the blanket before sitting down on the bare mattress.
    “Tell me about Missy,” he finally said. “Apparently, you were pretty upset when her parents came home.” Cambria's mind brushed over the last time she'd seen the girl and she shuddered. The man watched and said nothing else. A question swelled in her throat, threatening to choke her if she didn't let it out. She bit her lip hard, willing herself to stay silent, but she had to ask.
    “Was there a woman hanging in the staircase?” Her question hung in the air between them.
    “Why don't you tell me,” he said. He took a recorder from his pocket, checked the settings, and clicked it on. She wished she could take her question back, but it was already out there.
    “Missy said she saw a woman hanging herself,” said Cambria. “That's why I locked her in her room.”
    “Her parents found her hiding under her bed, too scared to say what happened,” he said. “It makes sense if you locked her in her room.” The man raised his eyebrows. “Do you think that was appropriate?” Cambria's mind stuttered.
    “Um... not locked her in,” she said nervously. “I just held the knob so she couldn't get out.” That didn't sound right either.
    “Did you see this woman hanging herself?” he asked.
    Cambria remembered the twisted face staring at her through the high window again, beckoning to her. Had it been there the whole time, invisible to Cambria, hanging on the beam over the