Chapter Twenty
"I'm going out." Nicolas called into the kitchen as he slipped his light blue jacked over his "Fear Nothing" T-Shirt.
His sister peered over at him, studying him as though she was debating whether to let him go or not. "All right but be back before ten, Mom and Dad will be home then and they told you not to go out." Cody said, giving her brother a half-smile that said 'your secret is safe with me'.
Nicolas said goodbye and reached for the doorknob, leaving his sister alone in the house to continue washing dishes.
Cody ran a dinner plate under the semi-hot tap water, rinsing the soapsuds off the slick surface. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail to keep it from getting wet.
Cody finished washing the dishes and dried them, placing them in the cabinets with an echoing 'clink' that filled the silent house. Cody let out a bored but somewhat tired sigh as she left the kitchen and walked into the living room. She sat down on the couch and was about to reach for the TV remote when the windows begun rattling.
Cody jumped nearly six inches when the windows started rattling; Cody looked around, trying to see what was causing the windows to shake. It wasn't an earthquake because nothing else was happening, pictures weren't falling off the walls or anything so Cody quickly ruled out earthquake.
Before Cody could think too much on what might be causing the shaking, the rattling stopped as quickly and mysteriously as it had started. Cody let out a breath and realized that she had been holding her breath since the ratting started.
"How weird." Cody muttered to herself, trying to fill the eerily silent house with some sound. However, the sound of her voice sounded even more out of place then the silence did.
Cody reached again for the TV remote again but decided against it, as though her reaching had caused the windows to rattle. Instead, Cody switched on the lamplight and decided to sit on the couch and think until she thought of something to do.
Within ten minutes, Cody felt like she was about to drift asleep. There was a hissing sound and the lamplight flickered and went dead, as did the other lights in the house. Cody jerked her head off the back of the couch and her eyes were greeted with a blackness that made her think she was still asleep or her eyes were still closed.
Cody stood up and rolled her shoulders, instant reflex upon standing up, and walked into the kitchen to rummage around for a flashlight. When she entered the kitchen she immediately reached out for the light switch but pulled her hand back, chiding herself for doing that.
She opened the junk draw -which was a spare cabinet draw that had no place among the other draws, the odd ball- for a flashlight. She groaned when she didn't find one, a groan of disgust and tedium as she realized she would have to go into the garage to get a flashlight. However, Cody wasn't too keen on going into the garage and she especially didn't want to do it in the dark. Exiting the kitchen, she returned to the living room and opened the draw to the coffee cable.
Without much difficulty she found a half burnt candle and a book of matches laying in the draw. Cody fumbled for them and set the candle on the table. She opened the book of matches and groped to get one out; her hands shook as she attempted to light the match. After a few tries and a few matches, Cody finally managed to light one; she held the burning tip to the black wick until the wick caught afire.
Cody shook the match out and placed the book back in the back in the draw and closed it. Cody looked around for something to place to candle on to make it easier for her to carry. After a few minutes, she couldn't find anything so she held the candle at the very bottom and held it up. The small light did its best to chase the darkness away but it just cast eerie shadows and flickering light upon the darkness.
Cody walked gingerly toward the side door, which led to the garage; the candlelight did little to brighten up the dreary darkness. Cody reached out for the light switch and clicked it, only to feel foolish when she realized that the power was out. That was the whole reason she went into the garage, to get a flashlight since the power was out.
Cody held her hand out so that the candle would be able to light more of the dark; the light brought a few things into Cody's vision. Shelves piled high with junk were straight across from her, pressed against the wall; boxes littered the floor; to her far right there was a shelf piled with garden tools, rakes, shovels and more glinted in the faint light.
Cody decided that the place where a flashlight was most likely to be was on one of the junk shelves. Cody gingerly walked over to the shelves and peered upward, holding the candle up to see if she could see a flashlight. In the dim candlelight, Cody could barely make out the faint bright green coloring of a large camping style flashlight. She reached her hand up to retrieve the flashlight.
Annabel was about to turn back and head back home, away from the strange neighborhood when she noticed someone watching her from her right side. Annabel turned her body to face her right and cocked her head to see who was watching her. It was Joshua.
"I didn't mean to scare you or give you the impression that I was stalking you or anything but I went by your house to see you and your parents said you weren't there." Joshua said and walked over to stand in front of Annabel.
"How did you know I was here?" Annabel asked, eyeing Joshua closely.
"Nicolas saw you when he left his house just a few minutes ago; I saw him when I was looking for you, he said that he thought it was you." Joshua answered.
Annabel studied him for a second, trying to decide if he was telling the truth. "Where is Nicolas now?" She asked, deciding that she had no reason not to trust Joshua.
Joshua shrugged. "I have no idea." He answered. "What are you doing here?" He asked, looking into Annabel's eyes.
"I don't know." Annabel said, a since of strong confusion in her voice. "I just started walking and I ended up…wait did you say that Nicolas saw me when he was leaving his house?" Annabel asked, her voice clouding over with worry and confusion.
"Yeah, why?" Joshua asked, noticing the change in Annabel.
Annabel's eyes darted around quickly as she thought for a few minutes; if Nicolas lived here that meant his sister did too. As soon as Annabel thought about Cody she felt a wave of worry that washed over her entire body; something was wrong, it was the same feeling that she got when she saw Randy's picture or when she nearly shocked herself with the blow drier.
"Find Nicolas." Annabel instructed, her voice tight with fear.
"Why? Annabel what's…." Joshua begun but Annabel cut him off.
"Go!" She commanded. Without another word Joshua turned around to find Nicolas. Annabel watched him go before she turned around to face the houses in the neighborhood again. One of them was Cody and Nicolas's; she just wasn't sure which one it was. And she felt like she didn't have much time to find out.
"I'm going out." Nicolas called into the kitchen as he slipped his light blue jacked over his "Fear Nothing" T-Shirt.
His sister peered over at him, studying him as though she was debating whether to let him go or not. "All right but be back before ten, Mom and Dad will be home then and they told you not to go out." Cody said, giving her brother a half-smile that said 'your secret is safe with me'.
Nicolas said goodbye and reached for the doorknob, leaving his sister alone in the house to continue washing dishes.
Cody ran a dinner plate under the semi-hot tap water, rinsing the soapsuds off the slick surface. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail to keep it from getting wet.
Cody finished washing the dishes and dried them, placing them in the cabinets with an echoing 'clink' that filled the silent house. Cody let out a bored but somewhat tired sigh as she left the kitchen and walked into the living room. She sat down on the couch and was about to reach for the TV remote when the windows begun rattling.
Cody jumped nearly six inches when the windows started rattling; Cody looked around, trying to see what was causing the windows to shake. It wasn't an earthquake because nothing else was happening, pictures weren't falling off the walls or anything so Cody quickly ruled out earthquake.
Before Cody could think too much on what might be causing the shaking, the rattling stopped as quickly and mysteriously as it had started. Cody let out a breath and realized that she had been holding her breath since the ratting started.
"How weird." Cody muttered to herself, trying to fill the eerily silent house with some sound. However, the sound of her voice sounded even more out of place then the silence did.
Cody reached again for the TV remote again but decided against it, as though her reaching had caused the windows to rattle. Instead, Cody switched on the lamplight and decided to sit on the couch and think until she thought of something to do.
Within ten minutes, Cody felt like she was about to drift asleep. There was a hissing sound and the lamplight flickered and went dead, as did the other lights in the house. Cody jerked her head off the back of the couch and her eyes were greeted with a blackness that made her think she was still asleep or her eyes were still closed.
Cody stood up and rolled her shoulders, instant reflex upon standing up, and walked into the kitchen to rummage around for a flashlight. When she entered the kitchen she immediately reached out for the light switch but pulled her hand back, chiding herself for doing that.
She opened the junk draw -which was a spare cabinet draw that had no place among the other draws, the odd ball- for a flashlight. She groaned when she didn't find one, a groan of disgust and tedium as she realized she would have to go into the garage to get a flashlight. However, Cody wasn't too keen on going into the garage and she especially didn't want to do it in the dark. Exiting the kitchen, she returned to the living room and opened the draw to the coffee cable.
Without much difficulty she found a half burnt candle and a book of matches laying in the draw. Cody fumbled for them and set the candle on the table. She opened the book of matches and groped to get one out; her hands shook as she attempted to light the match. After a few tries and a few matches, Cody finally managed to light one; she held the burning tip to the black wick until the wick caught afire.
Cody shook the match out and placed the book back in the back in the draw and closed it. Cody looked around for something to place to candle on to make it easier for her to carry. After a few minutes, she couldn't find anything so she held the candle at the very bottom and held it up. The small light did its best to chase the darkness away but it just cast eerie shadows and flickering light upon the darkness.
Cody walked gingerly toward the side door, which led to the garage; the candlelight did little to brighten up the dreary darkness. Cody reached out for the light switch and clicked it, only to feel foolish when she realized that the power was out. That was the whole reason she went into the garage, to get a flashlight since the power was out.
Cody held her hand out so that the candle would be able to light more of the dark; the light brought a few things into Cody's vision. Shelves piled high with junk were straight across from her, pressed against the wall; boxes littered the floor; to her far right there was a shelf piled with garden tools, rakes, shovels and more glinted in the faint light.
Cody decided that the place where a flashlight was most likely to be was on one of the junk shelves. Cody gingerly walked over to the shelves and peered upward, holding the candle up to see if she could see a flashlight. In the dim candlelight, Cody could barely make out the faint bright green coloring of a large camping style flashlight. She reached her hand up to retrieve the flashlight.
Annabel was about to turn back and head back home, away from the strange neighborhood when she noticed someone watching her from her right side. Annabel turned her body to face her right and cocked her head to see who was watching her. It was Joshua.
"I didn't mean to scare you or give you the impression that I was stalking you or anything but I went by your house to see you and your parents said you weren't there." Joshua said and walked over to stand in front of Annabel.
"How did you know I was here?" Annabel asked, eyeing Joshua closely.
"Nicolas saw you when he left his house just a few minutes ago; I saw him when I was looking for you, he said that he thought it was you." Joshua answered.
Annabel studied him for a second, trying to decide if he was telling the truth. "Where is Nicolas now?" She asked, deciding that she had no reason not to trust Joshua.
Joshua shrugged. "I have no idea." He answered. "What are you doing here?" He asked, looking into Annabel's eyes.
"I don't know." Annabel said, a since of strong confusion in her voice. "I just started walking and I ended up…wait did you say that Nicolas saw me when he was leaving his house?" Annabel asked, her voice clouding over with worry and confusion.
"Yeah, why?" Joshua asked, noticing the change in Annabel.
Annabel's eyes darted around quickly as she thought for a few minutes; if Nicolas lived here that meant his sister did too. As soon as Annabel thought about Cody she felt a wave of worry that washed over her entire body; something was wrong, it was the same feeling that she got when she saw Randy's picture or when she nearly shocked herself with the blow drier.
"Find Nicolas." Annabel instructed, her voice tight with fear.
"Why? Annabel what's…." Joshua begun but Annabel cut him off.
"Go!" She commanded. Without another word Joshua turned around to find Nicolas. Annabel watched him go before she turned around to face the houses in the neighborhood again. One of them was Cody and Nicolas's; she just wasn't sure which one it was. And she felt like she didn't have much time to find out.
