Chapter Five

Chapter 5

 

Lili dropped her bag, and pushed through the door. She reached out and grabbed her hockey stick from beside the stairs, and raised it over her shoulder, as if it was a baseball bat. Trying to walk without noise, Lili soon realised, was incredibly difficult when panicked. Everything looked normal, where it should be. She considered running down the street to get Miss Rain, but soon decided it would be silly to trouble the woman. If someone was in the house, one blow from Lili’s hockey stick would knock them out long enough for her to run. She was heavy handed anyway, and seemed to hurt people without intending to, so she imagined she’d be able to hit pretty hard if she had to.

After checking the second floor, she walked up the stairs. Checking her parents’ bedroom first, she then moved on to their bathroom and study.

With a sigh of relief, she found they were all empty. Lili turned to go up the stairs to her floor. She stopped. Her bedroom door was open, and so was her window. She could see her dark curtains flapping in the wind, and a cold chill rushed down her spine.

Someone had been in her room. And they were possibly still there.

She sucked in a breath, and readied her hockey stick. Cautiously, she made her way up the stairs. Each stair creaked under her wait, and she mentally cursed each time she took a step. If someone was in her bedroom, they would’ve heard her coming and jumped out the window. She debated with herself �" should she go and see who was there? Or should she wait and phone the police?

She lived at the end of her street, and with this area having very little trouble, the police wouldn’t know the area all that well. It would take them ten minutes at least to get here, and by then, the trespasser would’ve left.

So there was only one thing she could do.

She abandoned the idea of silence, and ran up the stairs as fast as she could, running straight into her bedroom. There was a figure standing beside her bed, and Lili screamed.

The figure was wearing a dark hood.

With amazing speed, the figure turned to face Lili.

‘Lili, you’re here! Why are you screaming?’ Chase’s voice filled her ears, and Lili collapsed to the floor.

‘What the hell are you doing here? How did you get in my room �" and why is your hood up?’ She asked, looking up at him.

‘Dude, I thought I left my phone here a few nights back �" Claire said she saw it on your desk, and I told my mum to tell you I was here if she saw you. You left the door open, so I ran up and went to get my phone.’ Chase explained. He smiled, trying to reassure her. ‘Nice hockey stick you got there, by the way.’

Lili looked to her hand, and realised she was still holding her hockey stick. She held it up to him, and once he took it, held her head in her hands. Chase always walked in to her house randomly, and most of the time she was glad to see him. With a shiver, the hooded figure returned to her memory.

‘Why is your hood up?’ Lili asked, attempting to sound casual.

‘Why isn’t yours up? Have you seen the rain outside?’ he looked at her, his eyes questioning and worried.

‘What? Oh, yeah, the rain.’ Lili mumbled, hiding her embarrassment. Of course his hood was up because of the rain, she was stupid for having hers down. It just hadn’t occurred to her to put up her hood while she was running for her life.

‘Hey. Are you okay?’ Chase asked, coming to sit beside her. ‘You look really shaken up.’ With a sigh, Lili lifted her head, and place it on to her knee, looking at Chase.

‘It’s been a long day.’ He gave her a questioning look.

‘Lili, it’s only twelve thirty. Lunch ends in half an hour. You want to stay here? I’ll keep you company. I’ve got English next anyway, oh the joy.’ He smiled, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Lili herself couldn’t hide her smile. She stood up, and Chase followed.

‘Thanks. Are you sure?’ Lili asked.

‘I’m sure. You guys always have hot dogs �" of course I’m sure.’ Laughing, Lili hugged Chase. Three minutes later, Lili and Chase were downstairs in the kitchen, taking it in turns trying to open the hotdog jar.

‘How the hell do you open these things? It’s like they’re glued on or something!’ Chase yelled, grunting in between words. He had the hotdog jar in his hands, trying to twist the lid open. Lili laughed.

‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ she said. Chase nodded, not even looking away from the jar. With another laugh, Lili walked through the kitchen, and opened the patio doors. She stepped out, and made her way to her dad’s shed. The toolbox was on top of a shelving unit, and Lili sighed. Typical. Testing her wait, she started climbing to the top. It only took a few steps before she could stretch and reach the tool box. She pulled it down, and opened it. After finding a hammer, she stepped out of the shed.

‘Hey Chase! I have something that’ll help you open that jar.’ She said, singing the ward ‘jar’. While walking down the garden, she twirled the hammer, and looked at the window. She expected Chase to come and see what she’d found, but he wasn’t in sight.

Her eyes caught sight of a dark figure, standing to her left.

The figure was the same as before �" wearing a dark hood, tall, and with a feminine stance �" and sent the same familiar chill down her spine. Lili stopped spinning the hammer in her hand. Instead, she gripped it tight, ready to swing.

The figure hadn’t located her yet, and was still looking away. Lili found that confusing, as she’d shouted for Chase pretty loud, and the figure should’ve heard. Unless it was deaf. Lili thought about this. Maybe the figure couldn’t hear. That would  give her a small advantage. But it was fast. She froze as the figure slowly turned towards her.

‘Chase!’ she yelled, as loud as she could. She prayed he’d bring the hotdog jar, so he had something �" no matter how small �" to defend himself with. The figure looked straight at Lili then.

The hood covered its eyes with a shadow, and all she could see was its chin. It had skin of a ghostly pale, and she caught a glimpse of dark red hair from under its hood. Mesmerised, she watched it some more. The cloak-like outfit covered most of the thing, and didn’t give away any clues. Lili decided it was almost definitely female �" and not only because of how it stood. The figure lifted its head a little further, and its mouth came in to view. It was curvy and feminine, confirming Lili’s assumption.

Chase ran out of the patio doors then, a wicked looking cleaver in his hands.

‘What? Who died?’ he said, his eyes searching around the whole yard. Lili hadn’t realised she’d looked away from the figure, but as she looked back, she noticed it was gone.

‘I’m going insane,’ she mumbled to herself.

‘Lili! What’s wrong? Why’d you yell? I thought you were in trouble or something!’ Chase’s eyes looked worried, confused, and a little angry. After another look around, Lili saw no threat. She dived in to Chase’s arms, glad to be safe for a little while longer.

‘Nothing, I’m fine. It doesn’t matter now.’