October 14, 1998
7:36 am
The doorbell rang in a pleasant chime. Laurie placed her coffee mug on the dining room table and headed for the door.
"Package for Laurie Strode?" the deliveryman asked.
"That's me," Laurie answered as she signed the clipboard.
"And if you could put it in the basement, that would be great."
"Sure thing ma'am," the deliveryman complied, as he grappled with the rather large package and followed Laurie to the basement door.
John grabbed the Jeep keys and a banana as he whizzed pass, only stopping to comment on the size of the package.
"Jeez mom, what'd you buy?"
"Aren't you going to be late for school?" Laurie countered. She'd tell John what she purchased later. No need to delve into the details now.
"Yeah. Um…see you there," John said, wondering why his mom wouldn't tell him. No time for an inquisition though. Or he would be late.
The deliveryman set the package in the basement and helped Laurie unwrap it.
"You need help setting it up ma'am?" he asked.
"No, I think it should be pretty straight forward. I have the directions. Thank you for bringing it down here," Laurie said, as she led him back to the front door and bid him a good day.
8:44 am
Laurie laughed with confusion as she tried to understand the directions. There were more parts to this thing than she had assumed. She was about two-thirds of the way to completion though, when the foreboding twinge returned again. She ignored it, only to be met with a 'galumph' sound coming from upstairs.
Laurie stopped in her tracks.
Maybe the deliveryman forgot something, she thought, trying to rationalize the noise.
It was a ridiculous thought, she knew, but she tried anything to keep from losing her composure.
Why did I send John to school ahead of me? Laurie pondered, wishing her son was here for backup.
Maybe it was John who'd forgotten something. Yeah, that's it. But she wasn't taking any chances. So with a screwdriver in hand, she crept up the basement steps.
"Hello?" she called out, hoping for a friendly response.
Nothing.
"John, honey, is that you?"
Laurie's voice shook a little now as she steadied her grip on the only weapon she had.
"John?" she repeated.
Nothing.
She had made it to the basement door. The question was if she dared to open it. Her free hand slowly reached for the door and began to turn the knob.
Laurie peaked from behind the wooden barrier to find a familiar shape sitting at the breakfast nook. He placed his coffee cup down, looked her square in the eyes and bid her a cheeky hello.