Chapter 2 The Screaming Pipes
Chapter 2: The Screaming Pipes
I stood in the middle of the guest room, staring at my three oversized suitcases. The room was small, with sloped ceilings and floral wallpaper that looked like it had been there since the Great Depression. It smelled like lavender and dust.
I was exhausted. My head throbbed from the five-hour drive and the even more painful conversation with Caleb downstairs. I just wanted a hot shower and a bed that didn't smell like a library.
I grabbed my silk robe and headed for the bathroom. It was a tiny space located right between my room and Caleb’s. I could hear him moving around on the other side of the wall. The sound of a heavy boots hitting the floor made me jump.
Halfway,
I reminded myself, looking at the shower handle.
Turn it halfway and wait three minutes.
I turned the brass handle carefully. I watched the clock on my phone. One minute. Two minutes. I shivered in the drafty room. At exactly three minutes, I tested the water. It was ice cold.
"Come on," I whispered. I was tired, I was cranky, and I just wanted to feel clean.
I forgot Caleb's warning. In a moment of frustration, I cranked the handle all the way to the left.
The pipes didn't just rattle. They groaned. Then, a sound erupted from the walls that I can only describe as a high-pitched, metallic wail. It sounded like a freight train was trying to whistle through a pipe.
"Oh my god!" I jumped back, tripping over the bath mat.
The bathroom door flew open. I pulled my robe tight around me as Caleb marched in. He wasn't wearing his flannel anymore. He was in a grey t-shirt that was far too tight across his chest, and he looked even grumpier than he had downstairs.
"I told you!" he shouted over the screeching pipes.
"I thought you were exaggerating!" I shouted back, my face heating up. "Who has plumbing that screams?"
He didn't answer. He reached over me, his arm brushing against mine, sending a jolt of something that definitely wasn't just cold air through my body and gripped the handle. He turned it back to the middle with a sharp twist.
The screaming stopped instantly. The silence that followed was heavy.
Caleb stayed where he was for a second, his hand still on the faucet, his body hovering just inches from mine. I could see the dampness on his skin and the way his jaw was clenched. Up close, he didn't just smell like sawdust; he smelled like soap and rain.
"Halfway," he said, his voice lower now. "In this house, you have to be patient, Elena. You can't just force things to work because you're in a hurry."
"I'm not trying to force anything," I lied, looking at his chin instead of his eyes. "I’m just used to things... working."
"Well, things work differently here," he said. He stepped back, giving me space. He looked at my silk robe, then at my neatly manicured toes, and shook his head. "The hot water will be up in a minute. Try not to wake the neighbors next time."
He walked out and closed the door firmly behind him.
I stood there, my heart racing. I told myself it was just the scare from the pipes. I told myself I hated his arrogance. But as the steam finally began to rise from the tub, I realized something terrifying.
I had forty nine more weeks of this.
I took my shower, got into bed, and pulled the heavy quilt up to my chin. Below me, I could hear the old building settling. Somewhere in the dark, a floorboard creaked.
I opened my laptop to look at the shop’s bank statements one last time before sleep. The red numbers stared back at me. Fifty thousand dollars. It was a mountain.
Then, I noticed a small sticky note stuck to the corner of the desk. It was in my Aunt Margaret's loopy handwriting.
Elena, darling, don't look at the numbers. Look at the people. Start with the man in the next room. He’s sturdier than he looks.
I ripped the note off and crumpled it up. "Nice try, Margaret," I whispered.
But as I closed my eyes, all I could think about was the way Caleb’s arm had felt against mine, and the way the house seemed to breathe around us.
I wasn't in the city anymore. And for the first time in my life, I had no idea what was going to happen next.
