Chapter 1
Aurora brushed her pale fingers across the thin pane of glass that separated her from the rain pouring down outside. Her eyes were out of focus, but fixed through the glass, and on the dark sky. She stayed that way, just a little longer, before rolling onto other side, her back to the window, and shutting her eyes with a very soft sigh. Lightning flashed, and thunder cracked, but she tuned them out, hearing instead just the fall of the rain on her window as she drifted off to sleep.
Hours passed, as the storm raged on, the thunder rolled, the lightning struck and lit up the sky repeatedly. But none of that was what woke Aurora up in the early hours of the morning. Instead, it was the crash sounding from inside her house, a sound that sent her sitting upright in her bed, eyes wide and struggling to focus in the darkened room. Looking around, she listened, praying it had been her imagination, before another crash sounded, from beneath her. Scrambling to her feet, she looked down at the floor, and took a couple silent steps, hearing another one, this one followed immediately by the sound of shattering glass, and, after a few more seconds, a very audible, human groan. Feeling her hands shake, she moved back into the corner of her bed, grabbing for her phone and dialing 911. She spoke as soft as she could, so whoever was in her basement couldn't hear her, but loud enough for the operator to hear her. At their request, she carefully got up again, and moved across the floor of her bedroom, making her way quickly and quietly to her front door to wait for the police.
Aurora tried her best to brush off the sounds still coming from the basement, hoping it was just underaged kids in her basement breaking their own beer bottles, and throwing cans at each other. It wouldn't have been the first time it happened – and usually if they made no noise, she never noticed – but the amount of sound coming from this group...she just hoped it was older kids doing the same thing the underage ones had.
It wasn't a long wait – compared to the other times she had to call the police on the intruders in her home – before the car pulled up in front of her house, lights off, no siren. Two officers climbed out of the car, with another car pulling up right behind it. As three of the four officers headed inside the house, to get down to the basement, the fourth stopped at her side, taking her arm and leading her back to the car carefully.
"Just to be on the safe side, ma'am. I want you to stay back here by the cars, alright?" he asked, looking at her. She nodded, crossing her arms over front and leaned carefully against one of the cars. The officer nodded a little bit, before turning and running up to the front door with the others, disappearing inside with them. She bit on her bottom lip, and looked to the dirt beneath her bare feet, sighing as the rain continued to pour on her head. A soft curse passed her lips, and she looked around, tugging open the passenger door to one of the officer's vehicles, before taking a seat and shutting it behind her.
"Too damn rainy to stand out there..." she murmured, turning her head and keeping her eyes on the door, so she knew when to climb back out of the car.
That wait seemed to take forever. Aurora wrung her hands together, placing her elbows on her knees and leaning forward as she waited, humming a little to herself, and sniffling. She peered out the window several times, seeing nothing, and cursing the storm for keeping her from hearing anything, too, before finally just running her hands down her face and leaning back in the seat, looking up at the sky as best she could. Hearing the front door fly open, she turned sharply to see the officers leading several people out of the house, and she fumbled with the handle, shoving open the door and shutting it behind her. Aurora watched the officers lead three men down the front steps, hands cuffed behind them, heads down, towards the cars. She stepped out of the way, looking at the three, only one of which lifted his head enough for her to see him. A sigh escaped her lips, and she shook her head.
"Oh, Charlie," she muttered, shaking her head more and starting for the last officer still standing in the doorway of the house. He reached for her arm, and glanced at the guys the officers were placing in the cars.
"Do you know any of them?" he asked, starting for the basement steps so she could see the damage that was done. Aurora nodded.
"Charlie Conway was the last one in line – he lives next door," she sighed. "He's never gotten into the house before – not without permission-, but, he's done this before," she said, looking over at the officer. "I'm betting I know the others, but, I didn't see their faces, so..." She shrugged, pausing inside the front door to grab her sweatshirt and wrap it around her shoulders. The officer nodded, and sighed.
"Well...we can ID 'em at the station, if you wanna come down and press charges," he offered, as she moved ahead of him towards the steps. She seemed a little more at ease, knowing it was just Charlie. Pushing several wet strands of hair behind her ear, Aurora moved around the corner and down the steps to the basement, sighing.
"I don't know. Charlie never means any harm – its why I never press any charges any other time he...." Her voice stopped, trailing into nothing, as she stumbled to a halt in the back of her basement. Small statues, and furniture were tipped over, pieces of porcelin and glass shattered across the floor. She looked around, hands over her mouth, eyes wide, as she saw the broken picture frames, and torn pictures; the crushed jewelry box in the corner, and the beer-soaked photo album laying splayed in the middle of the floor. Aurora could feel her knees give way, her heart sink down to the bottom of her stomach, as she started to crumble to the floor, tears falling from her eyes and down her face.
"Whoa, whoa," the officer said, catching her before she could completely fall. A loud sob passed Aurora's lips, and she clutched at the officer, shaking her head.
"No, no no no! Ch-How could h-What was h-" she rattled, spitting out fragments of questions, unable to connect a whole one. The officer led her back to the steps, sitting her down until she could breathe, and speak. Several minutes passed, and the officer headed upstairs, getting her a glass of water and coming down to give it to her. She held it to her lips, shaking lightly, until she downed it completely and sighed, looking at the ground.
"Would you like to come with us to the station?" he offered quietly. She bit her lip, and nodded, feeling her stomach tie into a knot around her heart. Forcing herself off the steps, she turned and headed to the first floor, still struggling to breath steadily as she did. "You can either ride with us, or follow us in your car...its up to you," he said, nodding. Turning her head, she considered for a moment – ride in the cop car with one of the guys, or take her own car in silence – and took a step around him, picking up her keys.
"I'll follow," she choked out, letting him head out to his car as she locked up behind her, and moved to her own vehicle, parked in the drive.
Aurora finished filling out her report of what happened that night, what she heard, and ultimately ended up seeing, and what she did in the course between waking and the cops arriving. The cops passed by her, pulling the three gentlemen by into the 'drunk tank', while two of them hooted and hollered in slurred tones and words. One, though, didn't say a word – he just stared at the ground, glancing up once or twice as he passed to look at Aurora with a frown. She paused as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, glancing off to see Charlie get pushed into one of the rooms. Pursing her lips, she slid the paper and the pen across the counter to the officer waiting for it, and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt, pacing for a while. She knew she did the right thing, by filling out the report and pressing charges on Charlie, but she still felt the guilt in her stomach, where her heart still rested. It knotted and unknotted, twisted and turned, churned and bubbled, and she grimaced as the feeling as she paced and waited. Waited for what, she wasn't sure, but she waited.
Finally, an officer came from the back with an envelope, placing it in her hands.
"Here's your copy of the report. You can come in in the morning if you want to find out what we're doing about them. Otherwise, you just take care of yourself," he said, patting her shoulder. She nodded a thank you, unable to vocalize it, before turning, pocketing the envelope, and moving out into the rain, jogging across the lot to her car. As she shut the door, she looked up, and frowned. Small barred windows lined one side of the station, where she knew the drunks were being held. And in one of the windows, Charlie stood, facing her, arms dangling through two of the bars, his face pressed up against the two in the middle. As she started the car, and backed out of the space, he waved, very slightly, before moving back into the cell and disappearing from sight.