Pearl Nancy

My brow was furrowed on that gloomy morning, as I traveled through the dark storm on my way to Mary’s Cafe for my daily coffee and biscuits. Every morning in Somerset is just as the last; cold, black, and wet. My luster for life had been long departed for quite some while, whilst I hid in my shoebox of an apartment day after day, smelling nothing but my own foul and unmanaged aromas. I would wake, and curse each day under my own rotten breath, head to see Mary, and indulge myself in her bitter coffee and crunchy bread, then I’d make my way back to my place of residence to write transcripts of audio recordings for the community college. My wildest dreams had come true, and these were the fruits of my labor. Plenty to savor.

It had been two hundred and thirty two days since I had vowed to cease all my communications with the spirits. I did this so I could keep my sanity, but I’m not sure how I thought I could keep something that I never possessed. That year was the hardest year that I have ever lived, and my stubbornness was the only one to blame for this. My heart hurt and I wanted to live like the others, instead of like a chattering lunatic. However, it turned out that living like the others was far more insane than my psychic-melodrama of a life. This bland flavor of existence nearly ended my life, or I nearly ended my life because of this bland flavor of existence. From the moment I awakened on that dark Sunday morning I had felt the buzzing. I only feel the buzzing when someone is trying to come through, but at that point I was used to ignoring it. Ignoring it was always disorienting to say the least. That morning was particularly intense, as my refrigerator had blown its fuse, my green lamp had plummeted off of its shelf, and the energy in my apartment had been as thick as pine smoke from the moment I awakened. I pulled back into the pebblestone driveway of my complex and I climbed up the creaky wooden stairway to my door. To my surprise my door was left ajar. I am certain that I would not have done this, but at the same time I know that nothing in life is certain. I walk into my door and I shrug it off. I shut the door behind me and lock it, then I shed my clothing into a pile on the floor. I had been holding my pee for quite some time so I waddled into my restroom to relieve myself. As I was peeing the dizziness kicked in until my knees buckled beneath me and I tumbled onto the stained carpet spraying everything in my path with my fluids. That is when I heard her voice as clear as day. “Reset your password.” “What?” I mumbled in a daze. “Reset your passwords, honey. All of them.” “But why?” At this point I was startled out of my trance by a sprinkle of erratic urine landing on my lips, so I peeled myself off of the floor and wearily walked back into my main room. I sat on the foot of my bed and began to wail, for I hadn’t heard her voice in so long. After a while I rolled onto my stomach and took a nap.

I’m not sure how long I napped but it had to be at least a few hours. When I opened my eyes again it was pitch black, and all I could smell was my urine. That's when I remembered. I was unsure why she wanted me to change my passwords but I trusted her then, as I trust her now and always. I rolled out of bed and sat down at my computer. I pressed the power dial and waited for her to boot up. This took roughly four minutes and then I was in. First I began with the password to my computer itself, then I moved on to my bank accounts, my Somerset Community College account and my discord. Last I changed the passwords to my Netflix and my Hulu accounts. I sat and pondered for a few moments and I exited out of my browser, fairly certain that my task had been completed. I wandered into my kitchen and grabbed my melted butter pecan ice cream out of my busted freezer, and a couple of warm beers out of my (also busted) refrigerator and drank them down in bed before falling back to sleep.

I’m rustled awake by a violent shuffling and a blue glow in the far corner of my room. I wearily lift my head up to see what's going on. There sitting at my computer was none other than Pearl Nancy, frantically typing on my keyboard madly and menacingly. Shit. I think to myself. I take a bold deep breath and I leap out of bed. “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” I scream. She hauntingly stands from my chair, contorting herself and screeching in rage. That's when she charged me like a raging bull. I remember being grabbed by my face and her biting a sponge sized chunk out of my shoulder. Then I was crashing through glass, and I felt my body smashing against the pavement. I sat in my hospital bed traumatized and wide awake. More awake than I can remember being since I lost my Sally. A short, stout officer walked into my hospital room to tell me that Pearl still hadn't been located, but the department was working ‘tooth and nail’ to find her. I simply sighed and nodded my head. That is when the notifications started chiming in on my phone. I grabbed my phone off of the bedside table, and looked at my notifications. At least fifteen alerts were at the top of my screen from Vocal.

YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN FROZEN DUE TO FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY- YOUR PAGE HAS BEEN FLAGGED DUE TO HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT- YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR POLICIES PROHIBITING HARRASSMENT- YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR POLICIES PROHIBITING HATE SPEECH.

The one password that I forgot to change was the most important of them all. My only outlet. The place where I went to create my art when I was feeling down. This was taken from me. Now how will I carry on? I thought. This is what Pearl Nancy does. She ruins people. I thought that I would never see her again after I left Iowa, but I was wrong. That wasn’t the last time that I saw her either. I see her all the time in the walls. All these years later I’m still trying to figure out how she put the blood from my shoulder in my own teeth that night. The only thing that I can think of is that she planted it while I was unconscious on the pavement. Maybe someday I will know, but for now I remain perplexed.