“What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.” Noel shut her bedroom door to the tumult of her family in the living room, pressing the phone closer to her ear intently.

“I said, I’m lucky to be dating the most amazingly beautiful girl in the world.”

She blushed furiously at the compliment, and she knew he could hear it in her voice as she spoke, “Liar.”

Noel heard him smile as he laughed mockingly, “Aww, did I make Noel blush?”

“Shut up, Evan.”

“I wasn’t lying,” he gloated.

“Yeah you were!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Fine!” Noel countered. “Tell me something that’s true then.” She turned her head sharply at a loud crash in the other room, frowning. “I think buffalo might have replaced my family.”

“It’s true that I love you,” Evan replied.

Smiling slightly, Noel retorted (for woman’s word is law), “That doesn’t count!” She thought for a moment. “Tell me something no one else knows.”

“I can’t think of anything!”

“You didn’t even try!”

“Fine,” he sighed. There was a loud period of silence; all that could be heard was the laughter from Noel’s obnoxious family, and the static buzz of the phone line. “I keep having this nightmare,” he said finally.

“Oh?”

Evan’s voice grew flat as he elaborated, “I’ll be in the car with my family, coming back from somewhere, and when we pull into the driveway, your parents are waiting for me on the steps – to tell me that you’re dead.”

Noel remained silent for lack of the right words. He shakily continued, “The first night I woke up crying; the second night I couldn’t even breathe it hurt so bad.”

“Aww, I’m sorry hun.”

Shouts emerged from the living room suddenly, followed by a series of crashes and the shatter of glass. Muffled voices and rips reached Noel’s ears, and Evan could hear the cacophony even through the line. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Noel said in disinterest. “My dad and my brother are probably wrestling again.”

“That doesn’t sound like wrestling, love.”

“Whatever,” she dismissed with a shrug. “Anyways, don’t worry love, I’m still alive. Nothing’s going to happen to me.”

“Good.”

The silence that filled the phone line was matched by the eerie silence of Noel’s home, all evidence of life in the other room having ceased. She assumed they all had gone to bed, early as usual – so unlike her night owl self. Her thoughts began to fall in rhythm with the soft sound of Evan’s breath in her ear, and her mind wandered aimlessly for a long while, totally out of tune with reality.

A knock on her door woke her from her trance with a yelp. “Noel?” Evan immediately asked in concern.

“Door.”

“Ah.” He laughed a little at her skittishness. “Doors can’t hurt you, hun.”

Noel rolled her eyes and covered the receiver with her hand. “What do you want, Mom?” she shouted.

No answer came, and Noel frowned, saying, “I think my brother’s being a douche.”

“You think?”

“Yes. I tend to do that sometimes.” Another knock came at the door. “What?” she snapped.

When a few moments later no answer was heard, Noel sighed in annoyance. “Is murder still illegal in this state?”

“Sadly. There might be an exemption rule for siblings though,” he joked.

She laughed. “There’d be nobody left!” A knock came again. “Goddamn it!” Angrily she stormed to the door and swung it open furiously. “What?”

Evan heard a horrified gasp. “What’s wrong?”

Noel just stood gaping, face contorted in terror, at the figure standing before her. More horrific than the man with the knife was what he gripped in the other hand – the lifeless neck of her brother, throat slit ear to ear. His feet dangled centimeters from the ground.

“Noel! Talk to me!”

Snapped back into consciousness by his voice, Noel shook herself, slowly uttering the words, “I love you.”

“What? Noel!”

The phone crashed to the floor; all that could be heard were blood-churning screams. And then it was over – the world fell silent. Her body lay lifeless on the floor, the blood flowing heavily from her neck, her cold fingers barely touching the phone where they fell. The only thing that filled the silence were the desperate cries, “Noel! Noel!”