Manifesting A Maniac

“Be right there,” Daphne huffed, in an annoyed tone. She placed her cellphone down onto her nightstand alongside her pillowtop, platform bed. Her mother had called her name twice, and she knew she better hurry to see why she was needed. It was the two of them after all since her father had recently left her mother for his assistant, six weeks ago. Her mother was overly stressed and taking most of her frustrations out on Daphne.

Daphne got up, glanced back at her cellphone, rushed down the staircase, and straight into the kitchen where her mother was stacking dishes inside the cupboard. “What took you so long?” her mother asked, as she turned around, to look into Daphne’s beautiful, almond-shaped, brown eyes. She was staring at her oddly, waiting for an explanation.

Her mother had been cleaning the same spots of the house, for the last few weeks. There was no point upsetting her, as it would kick her mom’s over compulsion disorder into overdrive, so Daphne thought quickly. “I was looking at some storefront ideas to set up my online store,” Daphne said, proudly handing her mother a plate from the counter.

“Hopefully, you get it up and going soon. You will make enough money for your tuition, selling your beautiful jewelry designs,” her mother responded enthusiastically, taking the plate, and placing it on the top shelf.

Her mother closed the cupboard and studied Daphne’s face. She took her hand and brushed Daphne’s messy bangs away from her eyes. Her mother’s eyes began to fill up, and she said, “I’m sorry honey. I am. I don’t know why your father took all our savings. He knew we reserved some of it for you to go to college,” her mother said, weeping, as she pulled Daphne closer to hug. Daphne felt her mother’s remorseful tears on the back of her neck, dripping inside her collar of her nightgown. She didn’t try to pull away until her mother had let go of her.

“Do you need me for anything else?” Daphne asked, hoping she could go back upstairs.

Her mother shrugged, and Daphne smiled and left the kitchen heading back up the wooden staircase that led into her bedroom. She closed her door behind her and walked over to the nightstand. There were five missed text messages. She smiled at his constant, attentive texts.

Before responding, she reached under her pillow and took out the little black Moleskine notebook that she had stashed underneath. She opened it and read another affirmation that she had written weeks ago. “I AM attracting the love of my life.” She said it, smiled, thanked the Universe, and closed the notebook. She reached down, picked up her cellphone, and looked at her texts. “Where are you, my forever mate?” it read, as she smiled. They were from “Greg”, a guy she recently met in an online group two weeks ago.

She tried to close her eyes, but her mind was racing, with thoughts of her life with Greg. Daphne could imagine a beautiful marriage and life with him. She was nothing like her mother, and Greg wasn’t anything like her father. Their chemistry was different. He was caring, compassionate, intelligent, and loyal. She was hardworking, loving, and ready for a new life. Daphne slipped her hand underneath her pillow and took out her small pocket-sized black notebook. She flipped through it, smiling, and thanking the Universe, while reading out loud, “I AM coming into a windfall of money. I AM prosperous and rich.” She closed her mysterious black notebook, shoved it back underneath her pillow, and laid in her bed, thinking.

It wasn’t long until she heard the annoying call of her name from her mother. “Daphne!” Her mother shouted from down the stairs. “Aren’t you going to eat?” she heard her say. Daphne rolled her eyes, laid there for another second, before responding.

“I’m not hungry,” she said, raising her voice, before sitting up. “I can’t wait to get out of here,” she muttered as she got off her bed. She placed her cellphone on her nightstand and headed for the hallway. There her mother was standing at the bottom of the steps with a plate in her hand.

“I told you, I’m not hungry,” Daphne said, eyeing the plate of roast and broccoli. Her mother sighed and stared at her. Her mother didn’t say anything, only trying to figure Daphne out. Her mother asked her if she was alright. She noticed her daughter was acting differently. “I’m fine,” Daphne said, smiling, “What makes you think I’m not?” she continued. “I was working on my website. There are tons of uploading to do. I’m just exhausted,” she said, reassuring her mother. Her mom softly smiled, patted Daphne on her shoulder, and walked to the counter to place the plate down.

Daphne walked to the sink, took a glass that was next to the dish soap, and turned the faucet on. She filled her glass, took a sip, and placed it down. All she could think of was the sound of Greg’s voice in her mind. She couldn’t wait to go back upstairs and see if he had texted her again. The rush he gave her soul was incredible. He had mentioned days earlier that he was in love with her, and now she could feel it that she was also falling in love with him. She couldn’t wait until he called her again, and when he uttered that he loved her, she would repeat the words back to him. She said goodnight to her mom, who was now on the couch watching the television, and she headed up the staircase to her room. She walked over to her nightstand, but there were no texts from Greg. “That’s odd,” she thought, placing her cell alongside her onto the bed.

It was nearly 10:00 pm, and she opened her laptop and looked at her website. “I wonder why he didn’t text me,” she thought. She couldn’t concentrate on anything but wondered why he hadn’t texted her in the time she was gone. She uploaded a few photos onto her website and glanced down at her cell. Still, no texts from Greg. Another hour had gone by, and still, Greg hadn’t texted her. “Strange,” she began overthinking. She closed her laptop, laid in her bed, and finally after a few hours, she fell asleep.

The brightness from the sunlight seeped through her curtain, blaring directly into her eyes, waking her. She squinted and held her hand up against her forehead, reaching for her cellphone. To her dismay, there weren’t any new texts from Greg. She then sat up and dialed him. He didn’t answer. She didn’t understand why he just stopped texting her. Did she do something to upset him? She wondered, frantically, looking around her bedroom, becoming sad. She laid in her bed for nearly an hour, then decided to get up and work on her website. After all, it wasn’t going to upload itself, and she needed the money desperately for tuition. She had crafted jewelry all summer to be sold on her website. Her style was unique, spiritual, and it represented her, and what she embodied. Making it, gave her simple pleasure, and she enjoyed the expressions on her customer’s faces once they had worn her creative bohemian pieces.

The doorbell rang, and she heard several knocks. “Oh, that must be the mailman,” she thought, as she stood up from her bed and headed down the staircase to the front door. She looked around and noticed her mother wasn’t even in the house. She saw a note on the counter, which read, “Be right back, dropping off roast to grandma.” She walked straight to the door, opened it, and gasped. He pushed her inside, with his hand, placing one hand on her throat. She tried to kick him, but he swayed and held his grip tightly onto her neck, pushing her back up against the wall, inside her living room, using his foot to close the door behind them. He leaned closer to her face, smelling her cheeks, creepily, moving his face upward, he then kissed her forehead. Tears streamed rapidly down from her eyes. He had pinned her up against the wall, now holding her more aggressively. He spoke with an accent, and she was overcome with numbness and fear. It was Greg, and he was inside her house! Her body trembled uncontrollably, and she felt him moving his hands to get a better grip on her. Staring at his eyes, silently pleading with him, he released her. “How’s my forever mate?” he said, as he laughed. “Did you think I was going to hurt you, my love?” he continued, as he walked past her. Daphne slid down the wall and began to weep, and from the center of her being. “You’re sexier than your pictures,” he said smugly, taking another look at her. He didn’t even try to help her stand up. He was laughing at her fright and with a strange stare, he walked closer to her. “Daphne? Stand up. Come here, kiss me,” he said with a smooth, charismatic tone. She couldn’t even feel her legs, never mind stand up. Anger flashed over her, and she began to scream. “Shhh”, he hushed in a whispering tone, pulling her to her feet with his hand. Whimpering in fear, she held onto his hand and stood up. She couldn’t catch her breath, only feel her heart beating out from inside her chest. “Did you think I was going to hurt you, my forever mate?” he jokingly said, again. “Let me hold you. I’m sorry, I was acting out a fantasy,” he said laughing.

She scanned every part of his face. He had to be in his forties. He was much older than she imagined. He had a crooked lower lip and broken bottom teeth. Something wasn’t right, and she had to think fast before her mother walked in, and they were both trapped inside with him!

“Aren’t you happy to see me, my love?” Greg inquisitively asked. “I wanted to surprise you, and bring you something,” he said, reaching inside his front pocket. She couldn’t focus on what he was reaching for, and she was still overwhelmed with his arrival. Fear was still encompassed in her soul, and she had a terrible feeling. He watched her every move with the eyes of a keeper of a captive. His smile was far from attractive, and his voice was etching terror in her ears. She no longer wanted anything to do with him, never mind be a recipient of any of his gifts. All Daphne wanted, was for Greg to leave her house, and go away, and quickly before her mother came back home.

He handed her a piece of paper, smirking. She took it confusingly, studying it. Her name was on it and a list of numbers after her name. “What is this?” she asked and stared at him.

“It’s yours, my love. That’s your online bank account number, don’t you recognize it?” Greg said, waiting to be thanked. “Let’s just say, I paid a visit to your daddy after I found out what he did to you, my beautiful girl. At first, he wasn’t cooperative, but I managed to get him to transfer back every cent of that twenty grand he stole. See, I had his girlfriend inside my trunk, half dead. She wasn’t even a looker,” he chuckled, leaning in for a smooch. “ Well, they won’t be in touch any time soon,” he laughed to himself, leaning in for a smooch.

Daphne clenched her hands tightly around the piece of paper and sobbed uncontrollably when she realized that she had manifested a maniac.