Chapter 5

            I walked through the door to the smell of food cooking. My mom was making Shepard’s Pie, which was one of my favorite meals. She told me to take it out of the oven at 5 o’clock, so that it would cool a little bit before we ate. My mom was a part time nurse, and she apparently had to work that night, so it would be just me and my dad eating because she had to leave at 4ish.

 

            Homework awaited me upstairs, and I reluctantly complied with its call. It’s not that I didn’t like doing the work, it was just that it sucked up part of my afternoon. After finishing most of my homework I decided to take a break, and leave the English reading and questions for after dinner. It was around 4 and my mom was leaving for work. She called me downstairs to say goodbye and give me a hug, as well as remind me about the Pie in the oven.

 

I always hated when my mom had to work at night. I liked eating dinner as a family, granted the news or some show was usually on, but at least we were all there together. Then, when she wasn’t there when I went to bed it bothered me not knowing that she was in the next room over, and my whole family was safe and sound.

 

            After Mom left for work I watched some TV. Nothing really great was on, so I just flipped channels. Eventually I got sucked into a sappy Lifetime movie. During one of the commercial breaks I remembered the Shepard’s Pie in the oven (thankfully) and I took it out. For those of you who don’t know what it is, Shepard’s Pie is basically a layer of corn, a layer of ground beef, and mashed potatoes, all baked together. It may sound gross, especially to those of you who are afraid to mix your food, but I always loved it. When I took it out of the oven the potatoes were perfectly golden brown and crispy on the top, due to the butter Mom had put on them. It smelled so wonderful, too.

 

            I quickly set the table before going back to the couch while our dinner slightly cooled on the counter. I watched the rest of the Lifetime movie (which I actually sort of enjoyed, because the acting didn’t totally suck) which ended at 5:30. I had some time to kill before I figured my dad would be getting home, so I ran upstairs to grab my English book so I could read it on the couch.

 

            While I was upstairs, I heard a car door shut outside, and it sounded like it was coming from in front of my house. I figured it must be my dad coming home a little early, so I looked out my window. The street was dark, so it was hard to see much of anything. I looked at where my dad usually parked, but his car wasn’t there. All I could see was a car parked on the other side of the street directly across from my house. It was a darkly colored SUV. I couldn’t tell the exact color of it, but it was most likely very dark blue or black. I began to get that creeping feeling in my stomach, just like when I had heard about the kidnappings on the news. I tried to rationalize a reason the SUV was there, to eradicate my fears. I assured myself it was someone who wanted to stop and make a phone call, or maybe someone lost looking at a map or GPS. But why did I hear a door shut?

 

            That’s when I saw him. On the passenger side, which was the one facing my house, a man was standing. I could barely see that he was wearing jeans, a dark shirt, and work boots. He had a slightly muscular build, and was average height. He was staring up at my house. Up at my window. Up at me.

 

            I quickly dropped to the ground out of sight. My heart was racing. All of the rational thoughts I had been thinking flew out of my head. At that point I was just scared. Questions raced through my mind. Did he see me? Why was he looking at me? Who was he? I took deep breaths and tried to answer the questions for myself.

 

            Yes, he most likely saw me. Even thought I couldn’t see him very well, I was backlight by the light in my room so he probably saw me perfectly. Crap. I couldn’t think of many reasons as to why he would be looking at me. Maybe because the light in my room was the only one on in the front of the house, it looked strange to the passer-by? That’s what I was hoping. Deep down I knew that most likely wasn’t the reason, but I clung onto it. I didn’t want to think of other horrible reasons for him to be staring at me in my window on a dark night. The third question I couldn’t really answer. I had never seen this man before. I thought back to the day when I was asked for directions. That man wasn’t as muscularly built, and his face seemed a little different than this man’s. I never did see the driver though.

 

            As I gained enough courage to peek over the window, I heard a creak on the porch steps. That’s when I realized I had forgotten to lock the front door. I usually did, but I had just spaced it that day. “Oh s**t.” I whispered to myself as a heard the glass outside door open. The feeling of terror was back. I crept slowly across my room, trying not to make a sound on the creaky floorboards. I grabbed the most weapon-like things I could find in my room- scissors and some body spray (to act as mace), and I headed toward the hallway. As I rounded the corner to the stairs I heard the big wooden inside door open and heavy footsteps thudding across the living room. Mustering the last bit of courage I had, I rounded the corner until I was standing on the stairs, in full view of the living room.  My “weapons” were in each hand and I was in a fighting stance as a stared at my attacker.

 

            I was staring straight at my very confused looking father. “Annabelle what the heck are you doing?” he questioned in a slightly concerned tone. I didn’t respond. I was frozen in place, looking over his shoulder toward the window on the door. What was making chills run down my spine you might be asking yourself? Well, I’ll tell you. I was staring at my porch, where the man had just walked up onto it, looked through the window, and made eye contact with me. Then as I was about to tell my dad to turn around, the man silently walked back down the steps. I heard a door shut softly, then a car start and drive away.  I was terrified.

Author's Note

R&R please :) hopefully I'll find time to write the next chapter soon...

Reviews

[Kirbetsy]

This is great!!! I love the part where the guy came on the porch!!!! It was soooo good!!!! I also like that you describe Sherpards Pie cause I don't actually know what it is so it was helpful

[Alex Thomas]

Oh man. You did a great job with the emotions, but the character's voice still sounds a little distant like she's completely opinionless on the subject. Overall a great chapter. The specks of humor lighten this dark story.

[Arien Bleuefire]

OMG! so scary! SO GOOD! excellant descriptions! perfect mood! i LOVE how built p the cliff hanger, and it turned out to be nothing! OMG! I LOVE it! FAV chapter!
GREAT WORK!