by Paul Cwick

"Greg…?" Norma Stiles asked hesitantly as she approached her friend. Greg looked up, and Norma recoiled at the sight.

"Greg…MY GOD!!" Norma cried. "Your FACE!! MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?!?"

Her voice choked, and she had to swallow several times before she could speak again. When she did, her voice was quieter, but no less choked with emotion. "What did she do to you?!? What in God’s name did that crazy freako maniac do to you?!?"

She? How the hell did Norma know it was a "she" that did this to me? Greg wondered Instinctively, he sat up straight, wiping his eyes, and he made a weak attempt to smile.

"Nothing, nothing," he said. "I was just in a minor accident, that’s all. It’s nothing, really; it looks far worse than it is. I’m fine, really; I’m fine."

Norma stared blankly at her friend for a moment, then slowly sat down in the booth opposite him. She regarded him in grim silence for several minutes.

"Greg, Come on." she said at last. "This is me, Norma, remember? Don’t bullshit me."

"I’m not—" Greg began, then stopped as Norma gently laid her hand on his arm.

"Greg… How long have we known each other? Since high school, right? We’ve always been able to talk to one another, haven’t we? We’ve always been able to share our troubles with one another, no matter how large or small." She paused. "Isn’t that right?"

"Yeah," Greg admitted.

"I’ve always been able to confide in you and you’ve always been able to confide in me, right? We’ve never had secrets from one another. If something was bothering one of us, we knew we could always talk to the other about it. Isn’t that right?"

Greg nodded.

"I mean, even that time, about five years ago, when I was going through that real rough period. Remember?"

Greg’s brow wrinkled. He was somewhat embarrassed to realize that he didn’t remember. "Um," he began. "I’m not sure I—"

"You know: when Nick asked me to marry him and I was trying to decide what my answer should be. Remember? I really bent your ear a lot during that time."

Greg lowered his head. "Oh, yeah... now I remember…"

Norma was silent for a moment, then said, barely above a whisper, "Matter of fact, at the time I was—" she hesitated, then went on. "I was kind of hoping that you would take the hint and ask me yourself. If you had, you know, the chances are very good I might have said ‘yes.’"

Greg closed his eyes. "Norma, please," he said softly. "Let’s not go there again, all right? It’s in the past. What’s done is done."

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry," Norma said. "I shouldn’t have mentioned it." A brief, awkward silence followed for a moment. "I guess what I’m trying to say is that, whatever else may have happened in our lives Greg, you and I will always be able to talk to one other about anything."

Greg raised his head and looked at his friend. He saw in her eyes a sincere, honest concern for him, a desire to help. He felt her reaching out to him.

"Please." Norma said. "Tell me: what’s going on?"

Greg opened his mouth, about to speak. But just as quickly, he closed it again. He wanted to tell Norma about Cat, about the nightmare he’d been living through these past months. But he just couldn’t. He knew how crazy it would sound, even to a close, trusted friend like Norma. Especially to a good friend. Everyone else thought he was crazy, all he needed now was for his friends to start thinking it too.

Finally, he sighed resignedly and lowered his head again. "Nothing…nothing…" he said.

Silence followed. Norma then said quietly, "It’s Cathy, isn’t it?"

Greg’s head snapped up. He stared intently at Norma. How did she know? he wondered. And how much did she know? He couldn’t answer her; yet almost automatically, without conscious will, he just nodded silently and lowered his head again.

"I thought so." Norma said softly. "Or, at least I had a feeling." She paused again. "Greg, what the hell is she doing to you? I mean, I’ve never seen you like this before, never! I’m—" she hesitated, then spoke barely above a whisper. "We’re really worried about you, Greg."

Greg looked up again, and regarded Norma quizzically.

"That’s right: we. It’s not just me; Nick is worried about you, too. We’re your friends, Greg; we want to help you." She paused again, then spoke quietly. "Now please, for god’s sake, tell me what’s going on? Why are you letting her do this to you?"

Greg’s mouth opened and closed several times, as though trying to speak. He wanted to spill the beans and tell her everything. But he just couldn’t; the words just wouldn’t come.

He lowered his head again, almost on the verge of tears. Another awkward silence followed.

"I’m sorry," Norma said finally, starting to rise from the booth. "It’s really none of my business. I have no right to pry into your personal life."

"No, no," Greg said, raising a hand. "It’s not that. Please. Don’t go." Norma hesitated, then settled back in her seat.

"It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, I do! I want to tell you what’s going on. I just—I just can’t. It’s just—it’s just so crazy… If I told you the whole story, you’d never believe it in a million years. You’d think I was crazy." He paused. "Everybody else thinks I’m crazy already. Maybe I am. Maybe I was crazy to get involved with that woman in the first place, crazy to stay with her all this time! I just—Oh, I don’t know!"

Norma gently rubbed Greg’s arm reassuringly. "Greg, as I said before: You can tell me anything, and I mean anything! Don’t worry about how crazy it might sound. Believe me," she said, recalling the incident she had witnessed at the mall some weeks earlier, and Nick’s far-out theory to explain it. "You’d be amazed at what I’d be inclined to believe at this point!"

"It’s not just that, I—" Greg began, then hesitated, then dropped his voice down low. "I don’t want to see you get mixed up in this! I don’t want to see you get hurt!"

"By who? Cathy?" she snorted. "I can handle her; don’t you worry about that."

"No, you don’t understand!" Greg said, then dropped his voice to a whisper. "She’s nuts, I mean really nuts! She’s freaking dangerous!! There’s no telling what she’s liable to do! She could kill you! Nobody could stop her now!" Even in a whisper, Greg’s voice betrayed the near-panic he felt.

Norma spoke softly, soothingly. "Greg…shhhh…it’s okay…it’s okay… Calm down." She paused for a moment. "Well," she said at length. "if what you say is true, then why don’t you go to the police? Tell them? File charges against her? They’ll take her into custody, and they’ll see to it that she gets treatment or whatever. Or at the very least, maybe you could get a restraining order."

"I can’t tell the police for the same reason I can’t tell you!" Greg cried. "They’d never believe me! They’d lock me up instead of her! And even if they did believe me, they probably still couldn’t do anything to stop her! I doubt they could arrest her even if they tried!"

"Greg, you’re not making any sense. Why wouldn’t they believe you? I mean," she hesitated, then dropped her voice low. "I mean, all they’d have to do is take a look at your face to know you’ve been abused by her! That’s all the evidence they’d need! And why couldn’t they arrest her?"

"Because she’s…!" Greg started to say, then caught himself again. "I can’t tell you."

"Greg…Greg…" Norma said, trying to maintain the soothing quality of her voice, yet unable to entirely conceal the frustration she was beginning to feel with her friend. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and made another attempt. "Listen to me, please," she said. "Whatever is wrong with Cathy--whether she’s crazy, psychotic or whatever--there’s no reason why you should let her go on hurting you this way. Go to the police. Tell them. Whatever it is. No matter how crazy it sounds." She paused a moment, then: "And if you can’t tell them, at least tell me, for god’s sake!"

"I can’t, I just can’t!" Greg said, almost in tears, his head resting on the table.

The two sat in a prolonged, awkward silence. Finally, Norma let out another long sigh. Well, she thought; I tried. But I won’t give up. Maybe I’ll try again later, after he’s calmed down a little bit. Maybe he’ll feel more like talking then. But I’m so close, I can feel it… It’s like a pendulum, and it was starting to swing my way. All he needs is a little more time, a little more coaxing. There’s something he’s not telling me, something big. If I can just get him to confide in me and tell me the whole story, I know I can help him, I just know it…

Norma sat and watched her friend in silence for several more minutes, then finally rose from the booth.

"Well," she said, leaning over close to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "If you change your mind and feel like talking, just give me a call. I’m a real good listener, you know?" She reached over and gently rubbed his back. "Call me, please!" she whispered. She turned and walked toward the exit, then stopped at the door. She looked back at Greg for a moment or two, then stepped outside.

Greg sat alone at the table for several minutes, mulling over his conversation with Norma. She really did want to help him, he knew that. She was trying so hard. And he really did want to confide in her. And maybe she could help him…somehow. But no…no, that was impossible. And anyway, she’d still never believe him.

On the other hand, what did he have to lose? He couldn’t be much worse off than he was right now. He silently debated for several more seconds, then looked to the exit. Through the glass door, he saw Norma approaching her car. He hesitated a moment longer, then bolted from the table, and ran to the door.

"Norma!" he called, flinging the door open and running outside.

Moments later, at an empty table near the one where Greg and Norma were seated, a chair suddenly shifted by itself, almost as though someone were sitting in it and had just gotten up. Shortly after, the door to the café opened and closed by itself.

***

Nick sat at the table at the public library, flipping through the pages of a newspaper. He flipped the pages rapidly, as he was looking for a specific kind of news story, although of exactly what, he couldn’t be quite sure.

No, no, nothing here, he thought. He reached the last page of the paper, and with an air of disgust, folded the paper up and placed it upon the stack of newspapers he had borrowed and had spent the last two hours looking through.

Nothing, zero, nada, he thought. He heaved a big sigh. Well, he thought. Maybe the papers for one of the neighboring towns might have something. I’ll try one of them…

He got up from the table, picked up the stack of papers and returned them to the periodicals desk. He asked the librarian if she had any papers for the city of Laconia.

"Ummm…Let’s see," the librarian said. "Well, we have the Laconia Evening Citizen; will that do?"

"That’ll be just fine, thanks."

"The same time frame?"

"Yes, please."

The librarian returned shortly with another stack of newspapers, which Nick accepted. He thanked the librarian, then returned to the table where he’d been sitting.

Nick was very worried about his friend Greg. So was his wife, Norma. In fact, it was she who had initially sensed there was something terribly wrong with Greg. She tried to tell Nick, who’d admittedly had his doubts at first. He’d also had doubts as to whether he and Norma should interfere in Greg’s personal life. That was before that bizarre incident at the mall. Now, both he and Norma were in complete agreement, that something strange was going on, that Greg was involved somehow, and that he needed their help.

However, they disagreed strongly as to the best way to help him. Norma was of the opinion that they should talk to Greg directly. She felt sure that, with the right encouragement, she could get Greg to confide in her and tell her what was troubling him. Nick, on the other hand, felt that they should get more facts first, to get a clearer picture of the situation, and to consider other possible explanations, before they even attempted to talk to Greg. Toward that end, Nick decided to do some research, to find out if there had been any other strange incidents similar to that which they’d witnessed at the mall and if they had coincided with any of Greg’s known movements at the time. He decided that the place to begin was at the local library, and the source to check was the back-issues of the local newspapers.

He had spent the morning checking the local papers first, but with no luck. He now picked up the June 21 edition of the Laconia Evening Citizen, and was just about to open its pages and begin looking through it when his attention was caught by a large color photograph on the front page, above which the headline "MYSTERY WOMAN VANISHES" appeared in bold type.

Hmm, what’s this? he thought briefly, and he almost looked right past the article he glimpsed the name: Jeremiah’s. A bell went off in Nick’s brain: That was the name of the club where Greg was when that riot (or whatever it was) took place!

He quickly glanced through the article and sure enough, Greg’s name was mentioned in the final paragraph. My God, this is it! he thought. This is the thing Greg was mixed up in! He quickly jumped back to the beginning of the article, and he re-read it more thoroughly. As he read, he began to slowly shake his head in disbelief. Or rather, it wasn’t that he didn’t believe the story, it was that he didn’t want to believe it.

Nick’s eyes drifted back to the color photograph which accompanied the article, and a jolt of recognition shot through his entire body. He suddenly realized that the "mystery woman" mentioned in the article had to be Greg’s flaky girlfriend Cathy. He knew it, instinctively, beyond any shadow of a doubt. And if the article was to be believed, she had somehow disappeared in full view of a crowd of people. Jeez, no wonder Greg’s mind was slipping, he thought! His girlfriend disappears in full view of everyone; I’d probably start flipping out too! Nick couldn’t begin to imagine how such a thing could have happened, but somehow, it apparently had…

Unless… A crazy idea began to form in the back of Nick’s mind, and he immediately fought to suppress it as being ridiculous. No… No... No... he repeated to himself, over and over, as he re-read the article. It can’t be. The crazy idea struggled, fighting its way to Nick’s conscious mind, and he kept trying to push it back, to squelch it, as it was just too absurd, too impossible to contemplate. But in the end, the crazy, absurd idea won; it was now firmly implanted in Nick’s conscious mind, refusing to be ignored any longer. Nick now realized how such a disappearance could have happened.

Cathy had disappeared…by turning invisible.

But that’s physically impossible, Nick silently argued to himself. People can’t really turn invisible. Yet as he read the article a third time, about the empty clothes continuing to dance by themselves after the woman herself had vanished, about patrons being struck by an unseen force, he felt the blood in his veins turn to ice water. He recalled anew the incident at the mall, in which tables were overturned and cups and plates went flying, a commotion which had started at the precise moment that Cathy’s name had been mentioned.

His hands trembled and his knees threatened to fail him as he rose from the table. He hurried over to the copy machine, taking the newspaper with him. I gotta show this to Norma, he thought as he placed the paper on the glass and pressed the "Copy" button.

***

Norma stopped in her tracks and turned to face Greg, now running up to meet her.

"Norma, I—" Greg started to say. "I want to tell you everything. And—and maybe I will, I just—I need more time, that’s all." He made a weak attempt to laugh. "I—I’ve been having a bad day today, you know what I mean? I just— Just let me—let me pull myself together and—and I’ll give you a call, all right?"

Norma beamed broadly at Greg. "Of course," she said, smiling as she patted his arm. "That’s fine. And just relax; everything’s going to be all right."

When he saw her smile, he instantly felt better; somehow, he knew that sharing his problem with even one other person would be far better than keeping it a secret all to himself.

Cat stood nearby, listening to Greg and Norma’s conversation, barely able to control her growing rage. She felt like strangling the two of them right then and there, but she doubted that, even in her invisible state, she could take on the two of them at the same time. So instead she held her anger in check and simply listened.

I knew it…I knew it…I knew it… she silently repeated to herself. He’s just been conning me all this time! I knew those two had something going on between them, I knew it! And this proves it! The two of them, sitting together in the café, getting all chummy with one another! Right out in public, for everyone to see! There sure as hell is something going on between them, that’s obvious! And with her married already! God, he’s disgusting! They’re both disgusting!

And talking about me! Cat silently fumed to herself. That bastard! Calling me ‘nuts!’ Where the hell does he come off calling me ‘nuts?’ What the hell is going on around here anyway? First little Mr. & Mrs. Domestic call me crazy and now they’ve got Greg calling me crazy, too! So they’re the ones putting all these ideas into Greg’s head! Or at least Norma is! She’s responsible for Greg’s ‘attitude’ lately! I knew it!

Cat listened a few moments longer, then turned away from Greg and Norma. She shut her eyes tightly, as though trying to shut out their words about her. She almost felt like crying, she was so enraged. How can they do this to me? she thought, almost in tears. How can they say such things about me! Me, of all people! I mean, what have I ever done to make them treat me this way?

Cat’s fury continued to grow within her. She began to pace in circles, as intense emotional pressures built within her.

I can’t take this, she thought. I just can’t stand here, listening to all this! I’ve got to do something! I’ve got to! I can’t let them get away with this! I can’t!

She began to feel a chill spreading through her body, accompanied by a growing panic within her, a pervasive feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, as though events were spinning out of her control, in spite of her best efforts. She immediately recognized these signs for what they were, however: symptoms that her invisibility potion was about to wear off. It had been several hours since she had taken the last dose, so it was about due to wear off. She had taken two doses today already, so the prospect of taking a third didn’t exactly thrill her right then. Yet she knew she had no choice; she could hardly reappear right there and then in the middle of a parking lot without any clothes on.

Moreover, she was now tired, cold, hungry and sore all over and just wanted to go home. It had been a long day for her. She had to go to all the time and trouble of sneaking rides on public transit, transferring four times, just to get to Greg’s office and take his little toy away from him. She didn’t want to, but she had no choice. In spite of everything, Greg continued to play these games with her. Why? She couldn’t understand why… When is he ever going to learn?

And now, to top it off, it now appeared that her instincts all this time were right, and that Greg was, in fact, fooling around behind her back. Oh, he may not have said anything explicit to his little friend in there, but that didn’t mean anything. Reading between the lines, Cat could tell that there was definitely something going on between those two.

No… no…Cat had no choice. She simply had to take another dose of her potion. She couldn’t let this situation slide. She was glad that she had come up with the idea of carrying an extra stash of her potion with her. It had come in handy on more than one occasion, and she now needed it once again.

She crept invisibly to a corner of the lot that was partially-obscured by bushes. She reached down and, with some slight discomfort, produced a tiny glass vial filled with a gray-green liquid. A casual observer who happened to be looking in that direction would have been surprised to see a tiny glass vial suddenly appear from nowhere, float up, remove its cap, tilt upward, float back down, then disappear from sight once again. But by now Cat had become quite proficient at finding obscure locations where she could take additional doses of her potion without attracting undue attention.

She swallowed the fluid, and she felt its enhanced potency begin to take effect immediately. The creeping chill she had earlier felt was now replaced by a spreading, glowing warmth throughout her body, accompanied by increasing strength and confidence, which replaced her earlier feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.

Cat had at one time wondered whether these feelings of strength and confidence were side-effects of the potion, but she later decided that they were the natural end-result of finally being empowered, of being able to take charge of her own destiny and assert herself. She liked the feeling as much as the feeling of being invisible itself.

The warmth spread throughout her body as it absorbed the potion. Once again, Cat felt strong, rejuvenated, ready to take on the world. She walked back to the spot where she had been standing earlier, and eyed Greg and Norma narrowly, her earlier fury re-igniting itself.

She looked at the two of them, and thought back to a time when she and Greg had been able to talk to each other in such friendly terms. She realized how much she had missed such closeness to him, and grew angrier and angrier as she pondered how Greg had deliberately thrown it all away. And for what? There was no good reason that Cat could see as to why he should want to leave her for someone else, no reason whatsoever. It was all so pointless, she thought. And the fact that it was so pointless made her even angrier…

She looked around, to find an object upon which to vent her fury. Her eyes fell upon Greg’s cobalt-blue BMW. She looked at the car, Greg’s pride and joy, and remembered how proud and arrogant he had been ever since he bought it. As Cat thought back on it, her fury reached a boiling point. A perverse idea popped into her head at that moment, and a twisted smile played itself upon her unseen features. She walked over to the car, as if directly impelled by the angry forces within her, without conscious will of her own.

She knelt down beside the car, next to one of the wheels. She found a piece of an old paper napkin beneath the BMW and picked it up. Don’t want to soil my fingers, she thought. She wrapped it around the valve-stem cover of one of the tires, loosened it and tossed it aside. She casually played one long fingernail against the valve-stem, prodding at it gently, almost playfully. She prodded it a couple of times, producing short, sharp bursts of a hissing sound. Then, looking up at Greg and Norma across the parking lot, she pushed down on the valve stem, producing a long, continuous hiss. She smiled as the tire gradually deflated. It’s good to have long fingernails, she thought.

Greg and Norma exchanged a few more words, then parted. She got into her car and drove away. Greg then turned and walked to his BMW. The day had been a complete nightmare for him, yet after talking to Norma for even a few minutes, already he felt better than he had in weeks. He still hadn’t told her about Cat’s invisibility, nor was he entirely sure that he ever would, just yet. Still, he considered it as a viable option, one which he was not ready to dismiss.

Greg approached his car. He was just about to pull out his keys and open the door when his eyes fell upon the flattened tire. "Oh, shit!" he said. Then a chill ran down his spine. No…no…no… he told himself. It can’t be…It can’t be her doing, he thought. It’s just a coincidence. I must have picked up a nail or something when I pulled in here. But, looking around, Greg realized how unlikely that was, as the lot was immaculately clean, indicating that it had been thoroughly swept on a regular basis.

Fighting the growing waves of panic within him, Greg struggled to think and act in a calm, deliberate manner. He opened the trunk and pulled out the tire iron, the bottle jack and the spare tire. He knelt down, placing the bottle jack under the chassis, and raised the end of the car up off the ground. He loosened the lug-nuts, and pulled the wheel off. In his haste, he did not notice that the valve-stem cover of the tire was missing.

If I can’t have you, Cat thought, then no one will!

Greg had just gotten the wheel off and was just reaching for the spare when it happened. The jack-handle lifted itself away from the jack, hovered in midair for a moment, then inserted itself into the jack valve. A quick turn and the ram of the jack collapsed and the jack itself toppled over. The chassis of the BMW crunched loudly onto the hard pavement of the parking-lot, almost crushing Greg in the process. It all happened in a fraction of a second; fortunately, Greg’s reflexes, honed by months of nervous tension, were quick. He caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye and instinctively rolled out of the path of the vehicle just before it collapsed onto him.

A couple of other people in the parking lot heard the noise and turned to see what it was. They turned to look and saw a young man sprawled on the ground, next to a car with part of its chassis resting on the ground. They ran over to the young man to see if they could help him.

Greg sat back several feet from his car, staring at it with bulging eyes. His heart pounded as though it were about to burst out of his chest. My god, he thought. She finally, really did it! She tried to kill me!!! He jumped when a heavy voice spoke to him from behind and above.

"Hey buddy, what’s the trouble?"

Greg looked up to see a large, heavyset man in a plaid shirt and jeans standing over him.

"Need’ny help with your car?" said a slightly smaller, similarly-dressed man standing behind him.

Greg opened his mouth, but couldn’t summon any words. Instead he just silently nodded.

The large man looked at the slightly smaller man, then looked back to Greg and said, "Well, dontchoo worry. Earl & me kin git your car up & runnin’ quicker’n a rabbit on a hot date."

The two men knelt down beside Greg’s car and looked it over. The slightly-smaller man whistled. "Damn, boy!" he said to Greg. "You got to be more careful when changin’ a tire! You coulda got squashed just like a June bug!"

"He’s right," the larger man said, as the two went to work, re-positioning the jack beneath the rear axle. "Cars’re serious business. You got to be careful."

Careful, Greg thought. What good is ‘careful’ against an invisible woman? He watched the two men work on his car for a moment, then finally moved to get up.

"W-w-w-w-want-want-want me to h-h-help?" Greg said, trying desperately—and failing miserably—not to stammer.

"Naw, thanks," the slightly-smaller man said with a smile as he tightened a lug-nut. "This’s what we live for!"

Greg sat back down again, and tried to calm himself down and think. Okay…okay…okay, he told himself. I should be safe for the moment. She’s not likely to try anything again with other people around. She may be crazy, but she’s not stupid. As soon as they’re done, I’ll jump in & drive away before the crazy bi—"

"Say, Jimmy-Bob, what’s that?" the slightly-smaller man said suddenly.

"Sheeee-it!" the larger man said, as his mouth dropped open.

Greg stood up to look. As he did, he saw what the two men were looking at. Or rather, he didn’t so much see as hear. And what he heard was a long, low hisssssss. He walked over closer to his car. As he approached, he heard the sound coming from another of his tires. When he approached the tire, the hissing sound stopped, then resumed from another tire. It seemed as though the air was being let out of all the tires!

"Damn, boy," the slightly smaller man said, dropping the tire-iron on the ground. "You need a new set o’ tires! These’re leakier’n a two-cent rubber!"

Greg and the two men watched the three alternately-deflating tires, before one of them finally spoke. "Well," the larger man said as he pounded the hubcap onto the wheel he’d been working on. "We got one of ‘em fixed anyway."

***

Norma felt somewhat relieved as she returned home from her all-too-brief meeting with Greg. At least he’s still alive, she thought. He looked like hell, it was true, worse even than he’d appeared to her only a few weeks earlier. She couldn’t begin to imagine what had happened to him, although she had her suspicions. But at least now he seemed more willing to talk, that was a start.

She had just opened the front door of her apartment and stepped inside when Nick came running up to her, waving a piece of paper in his hand. She took a step back from him.

"Read this!" Nick said, with the same quaver in his voice that it always had whenever he was excited or upset about something.

"Can it wait ‘til I take my coat off?" Norma said, closing the door behind her.

"No! No, read it now!" he said, adamantly.

Norma looked at her husband quizzically, then took the piece of paper from his hand. It appeared to be a photocopy of a newspaper article. She briefly glanced it over. "What is this?" she asked, holding it up.

Norma sighed and read through the article. Little by little, her eyes opened wider and wider, until they looked as though they were about to pop out of their sockets. Her mouth dropped open, then she snapped it tightly shut again, swallowing loudly. She shook her head. "No… No, it can’t be! You’re not saying… You’re not suggesting…!" She turned to her husband, half-smiling weakly, as though hoping it must be a joke.

"Yeah…! Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting!" he said. "Look at the picture. Look at the outfit. See it? Does it look familiar? Remember last New Year’s Eve party? Do you remember what Cathy wore?"

Norma looked at the picture again: Of the empty leather bustier adorned with tiny metal studs, and the tight leather jeans. Even though she tried to deny it, even to herself, she recognized the physical build beneath the seemingly empty garments, and intuitively knew that it belonged to none other than Cathy McKenna.

Norma put her hand to her head and her knees began to weaken. Nick took hold of her and helped her over to the couch.

"My God!" Norma said. "My God, it…No, it can’t be…! It’s not possible…!" She looked at her husband again. "Could it be…? Could she really be…?" she whispered, as though afraid to say it aloud.

"Invisible?" Nick finished for her. "We can’t avoid that word, can we? But think about it, it’s the only explanation that makes any sense."

Nick sat down beside Norma on the couch, facing her directly. "Now let’s think about this for a minute. Now we both agree we haven’t seen very much of Cathy lately, right? Not for the last several months. Now think about everything that’s happened to Greg during that time: The incident in the restaurant where his clothes got ripped up and it sounded like he was talking to himself. Or maybe talking to someone! Then this ‘mystery woman’ disappearing at the nightclub, where Greg just happened to be at the time. Then Greg getting thrown out of that health club for God knows what reason. Then that thing you and I saw at the mall—" he hesitated, as a chill went down both his and Norma’s spine simultaneously. "For all these bizarre things to just suddenly start happening to Greg—at the exact same time that Cathy disappeared…Well, it can’t just all be a coincidence…"

"Oh my God, oh my God…" Norma repeated, her eyes closed.

"And who else but Cathy would do these kinds of things?" Nick went on. "And why else should Greg be the target?" Nick shook his head. "No…no… All these things that have been happening to Greg…Well, they have to be the work of Cathy. As crazy, as impossible as it sounds, she’s apparently become invisible, somehow."

"But how?!?"

"Well, I don’t know how," Nick said, trying to remain calm. "But however she did it, and for God knows what reason, she’s now obviously using it to torment Greg."

Norma slumped forward, burying her head in her hands. "My God…! An invisible Cathy McKenna! A more frightening prospect I can’t imagine!" She sat motionless for a minute, then suddenly raised her head again, looking directly at Nick. He saw tears in her eyes.

"She’ll KILL him…" Norma said. "…won’t she? She will kill him!"

Nick opened his mouth, as if about to say something, then closed it. He remained silent for a moment, then he nodded. "Yes…Yes, she probably will…eventually."

Knowing Cathy as they both did, he had to conclude that it was true: Cathy probably would kill Greg, sooner or later. As unstable as Cathy was in the best of times, there was no telling what effect an extraordinary power like invisibility could have on her. It didn’t take a great stretch of the imagination to picture Cathy using such a power destructively. And that Greg could only be the hapless victim of such destructiveness.

Wiping her eyes, Norma grabbed the paper from Nick’s hands and got up from the couch. She walked over to the telephone, picked up the receiver and started dialing with trembling fingers. "I’ve got to confront Greg with this; I’ve GOT to make him listen to me!" she said.

***

Okay…okay… Greg said to himself, fighting off growing waves of panic. So she screwed up my car. Okay. Driving home’s out. There’s got to be…there’s got to be another way to get home…there’s got to be…

He looked around. There should be a bus stop right around here somewhere, I know it. There’s a bus line down Central Expressway and that’s just a couple of blocks from here. But which way? I can’t remember… And it’s getting dark now. Shoot, these streets around here are so damned dark, there’s hardly any damned streetlights!

Or maybe…maybe I should just stay here. Call a cab. She’s still around here, I can feel it! She’s watching…and waiting… I just know she is! But there are people around here. If there’s people around, she won’t try anything… Yeah, that’s what I’ll do… I’ll stay put and call a cab…

Greg looked back at the café entrance. There was a pay phone there. Good, good, he thought. I can call from there & then just wait. People will be coming and going through that door. She won’t try anything with people around…

A couple of people walked past Greg, got into their car and drove off. The parking lot was now deserted and getting dark. A pair of streetlamps switched on, brightly illuminating the lot. Greg took a couple of steps toward the café entrance, when a sharp slap struck him across the face. He recoiled as waves of pain washed over him, and a familiar voice spoke to him from thin air, in the coldest possible tone.

"You stay away from that woman, do you hear me?" Cat’s voice said to him.

"Cathy?" Greg said, looking around him everywhere, yet knowing that it would do him no good. "What---what are you talking about?" he said, trying to play for time.

"You know what I’m talking about." the voice said, as it seemed to move closer. "I’m talking about you. And her!" Another slap followed. "I heard everything the two of you said! And I’m telling you, you’d better stay away from her, if you know what’s good for you!" Another slap.

Greg tried to shield his face and back away from his unseen attacker. But each way he tried to turn, his progress was blocked by an unseen hand striking him and forcing him back. He tried to block and grab the unseen hands that struck him, but he kept missing, instead grabbing only at thin air.

"I know the two of you have been up to something all this time. I’m not blind, you know! I’ve had my suspicions for a long time, and now I know for certain you two have got something going on between you."

A sharp blow struck Greg’s cheek near his eye; he felt it begin to swell up almost immediately.

"Cathy, please!" Greg cried. "For God’s sake! She’s just a friend, that’s all! My God, she’s married!"

"So? Like that means anything? Like it’s not enough for you to cheat on me, you’re also cheating on your best friend? I wonder how Nick would like that you’re fooling around with his wife? I don’t think he’d like the idea. In case you haven’t noticed, Nick is a huge guy and he could squash you like a bug! And I doubt he’d be as forgiving as I am!"

A silence followed.

"Cathy, please…"Greg said.

"Oooooh, I hate you!!" Cat screamed, as unseen hands suddenly gripped Greg’s neck. He grabbed them and tried to break their hold, but the long, slender fingers, strengthened by years of massage therapy, tightened around his throat. Then they suddenly released and slipped away. Greg continued to grab for them, but they were gone, and he only groped at the air.

"I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, Greg: I’ve GOT you, and I’m NOT letting go! Ever! Do you understand? If I can’t have you, NO ONE else will!

-----------------------------

Newspaper article provided by Mike B.

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