Chapter 3
The rest of the day flew by quickly. Biology, Algebra, and then study hall. Easy enough. The four of us walked down the street together, through the two inches of snow that had fallen just that day. Most days, I'd walk to Katie's house, then to Cameron's, where he and Jeremy would wait for us and then we'd walk together, and we'd all usually go to Katie's house after school and hang. Today, though, I just wanted to get home.
Bidding goodbye to them as we reached Katie's, I started down the street, listening as kids screamed as snowballs flew around the neighborhood. I tapped my thigh as I walked, keeping my gaze on the sidewalk. I didn't want to look up and look around; I knew I'd instantly look at the forest, trying to see whether or not the man was there again.
Something slammed into my back, making me jump and jerk my head up in surprise. Turning, I saw a group of about five little kids staring wide eyed at me, as if they were about to get in trouble. I smiled slightly and waved, and saw them all relax before going back to throwing snowballs at one another.
Aside from the fact that I told myself not to look around, I did. I relaxed instantly, though; it was bright out today, so that was another factor that didn't freak me out so much. Kids were running around, cars moved slowly along the roads, and adults stood shoveling driveways. Wasn't so bad.
I took a breath and glanced at the forest out of the corner of my eye. Nothing but trees. I turned my head to look, scanning the tree line. Nothing still. I visibly relaxed, trudging along the snow covered sidewalk.
Maybe it was just my imagination. Maybe I really didn't see anything. The thought made me relax more as I reached my house, unlocking the door and opening it. It was very dark inside. Odd, because mom usually left the TV on. I shrugged it off and turned the lights on, dropping my backpack and taking my coat off, flipping the TV on as I passed.
Again, it was on the subject of Eliza's death.
"…Besides the wounds received that caused her death, Eliza had many scrapes and cuts along her arms and legs. Investigators guess that she had been running through the trees for a while before she was murdered…"
I stiffened, holding the fridge door open as I thought. When I had dozed off, Eliza had been running…she was running from something…and then she fell, and was found by…
I shook my head. No, I must've missed part of the news this morning. Maybe they had said something before hand, and I just…wasn't paying attention, or…I sighed. Whatever. Grabbing a can of Mountain Dew and a bag of grapes, I shut the fridge door and plopped myself down on the couch. Flipping through the channels on TV, I wondered again about the man. He appeared in the forest, and again in my dream. Weird.
Maybe he was just a creepy stalker guy. Or something.
I liked that explanation better than him being the murderer, and he was just looking for another victim.
I stopped on a Sci-fi channel and watched the TV for a while. I had no idea what the show on was about, but it was interesting. Some guy was murdered by an alien, or something, and now a bunch of people went hunting for the alien. Just goes to show how smart people are.
The power flickered and went out, making me jump. I looked around for a moment before standing up and moving to the door, opening it and letting light flood in, ignoring the icy breeze that came as well. She looked outside at the neighbors house, blinking and swallowing the lump in her throat as she saw that their lights were still on.
Maybe mine will come on in a moment, I thought, waiting with the door still open. Finally, after a few dark, silent minutes passed, I opened the drawer next to the door and grabbed one of the flashlights from inside, shining it around the house, my heart pounding.
A moment later the lights clicked back on, and I sighed, leaning against the doorway as I shut the door. Okay, so maybe it was just a short power surge or something…Anyways, it didn't matter to me. The power was back on, so I could relax. I went and turned the TV on again, only to be greeted by static. Furrowing my brow, I switched channels, again, to find static.
Shutting the TV off completely, I grabbed my laptop from behind the couch and turned it on. It warmed up slowly, taking its time to turn on. I looked around the living room nervously, afraid the lights would go off again. I jumped again as the computer made a small noise, announcing that I could finally put in the password.
A sound from upstairs made me jump, and I looked around wildly. Was there someone in the house? There had to be; I didn't have any pets, or brothers, or siblings, and mom was at work. I was home alone…
Slowly setting the computer down on the couch, I stood up and, very shakily, started up the stairs. I knew it was a stupid thing to do, knew I should've gone to the neighbors and had them call the police or something, but still, I slowly made my way up the stairs, skipping a few that I knew would creak if I stepped on them.
My breath caught in my throat as I reached the second floor, and I tentatively started forward. The sound came again, a thump as if something had fallen over, and I winced; it came from my bedroom. Gripping the wall with one hand and tapping my thigh with the other, I moved closer to my room, carefully, silently.
When I was right beside the door, I took a very slow, deep breath, being as quiet as I could. The door was ajar and I could easily see into there, but…it was pitch black, as if somebody had tossed a thick blanket over it. I was scared to move inside the room, instead taking my flashlight and, after a few silent moments, flicked it on, shining it into the room.
Nothing was there.
Puzzled, I moved into the doorway and shone the light around. Still, nothing. I shone the light around the room several times, moving back and forth, double checking, triple checking, quadruple checking to make sure no one was there. Sighing, I turned and started back down towards the hall, rubbing the bridge of my nose.
God, I was stupid enough to think someone was in my room… I heard something else, like footsteps ahead of me, but dismissed it. If there was nothing in my room, then I must've just imagined it as well. But I didn't, and I realized that a few seconds to late.
As I was walking, I bumped into someone; for some reason I thought I was at school and I had just ran into someone, I looked up, ready to apologize…but the only thing I could do was stand and stare, frozen in horror.
It was the man in the suit again.
I couldn't see him all that well, though. Darkness had engulfed the whole upper part of the house, the only light coming from downstairs. The man's face as obscured, but I didn't really care about that; I had taken a few shaky paces backwards, screaming. No. No no no no no. He COULDN'T be real. If he was real, then he was here to kill me. If he was here to kill me…
I heard my name being called. I could hardly make out the voice, and it was distant; All I knew was that it felt like someone had grabbed my shoulders. I wanted to look down, and reassure myself that nothing was there, but I was still shrieking in fear.
"Sierra!"
I sat up, gasping, back in the living room. A good coating of sweat covered my face, and, as my vision came back into focus and my panic faded, I realized my mother was kneeling beside me, her eyes wide with worry.
"Are you alright?" She asked, her voice taught. I took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm myself, and nodded. "Are you sure?" I nodded again, although I wasn't at all sure.
"I-I'm fine. Just…just had a nightmare." My mom stood up and brushed the dirt off her knees, sighing as she sat down beside me on the couch.
"Must've been one hell of a dream, then. When I opened the door you were whimpering and twitching like crazy." She commented. I looked up at the clock on the wall, which read twelve thirty. Jeez I'd been out for a while.
"I'm fine." I said again. I wasn't shaking anymore, and my heartbeat was almost back to normal…as far as I could tell. "Really. Just had a freaky dream, nothing bad." My mom looked at me again before standing up.
"Well alright…" She sounded worried still as she left the room, casting a quick glance before shutting her door behind her. I was left alone on the couch, my laptop on the floor, the fish on my screensaver swimming around. I pulled my knees up to my chin and sat there for a good while, thinking.
The man from the forest was in my dream again. Fucking great. I was completely terrified now; was he real? Just a figment of my imagination?
What the FUCK was going on?
