Don't Text Back

Chapter 11

After running a few errands that took hours, I was finally able to give Kyndall all the paperwork that was needed. She had told me it would take about two weeks for them to review everything. I was able to meet the manager who was really nice, and excited that I had applied for the job.

After I was all done in the pet shop, I wandered back to the house. I was a little nervous as I walked for some reason, unable to rid my mind of the man that I had seen. Closer to the house, my cell phone rang. I turned it on to see who it was and was shocked to see my Mom calling.

"Hello," I said, answering the phone nervously.

Static. Nothing but static abruptly slammed into my eardrum, making me snatched the phone away from my ears. I quickly ended the phone call. I was about to call back but stopped myself. I wasn't yet ready to face all the yelling my mother would do. If she wanted to call me back, she could have.

As I walked in the house, I closed the door shut behind me. "Hey there," Dakota said as I walked inside.

"Hey," I said, giving her a warm smile.

She got up and quickly walked towards me and placed her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry about the other day. I hope there aren't any hard feelings."

"None at all," I smiled. "You guys were right, I was just way too drunk, I think."

Dakota's smile faded. "Rebecca is tough. The last girl that lived with us claimed Rebecca did the same thing to her. We just don't want what happened to her to happen to you. And in my opinion, I think it's best that you keep away from Rebecca. She has her days where she seems sweet, but she's not easy to keep."

I nodded my head but looked at her funny. "If I may ask, what did happen to the last girl?"

Dakota shifted her head to the side and smirked. "You ask if something bad had happened to her."

I let out a laugh. "No! I mean, did she move?"

Dakota laughed. Shaking her head, she placed her hand on my shoulder again. "You're funny. But honestly, we don't know what happened to her or where she went. One day she left, vanished just like that."

I blinked a few times. For some reason she behaved like that was not a big deal. "Alright," I simply said then made my way towards the couch. While she walked into the kitchen, I got up from the couch and went upstairs. Before I was about to sit on my bed, I noticed a dark cell phone laying on my pillow. My hand flew to my face out of shock. It was the same cell phone I had smashed.

"No freaking way," I shook my head. "It can't be the same phone."

I jumped when it began to ring. No, not again. Walking towards the bed, I grabbed the phone and went over to the window. I opened the windowpane and without looking, tossed the phone out of it. I was about to shut the window, but I didn't hear the phone ever hit the ground. I looked out of the window and saw something that frightened me to the very core.

A man wearing a tall hat, a strange black cloak with a face full of wrinkles and gray hairs peeking up at me. However, that wasn't the part that made my legs feel like jelly. This man was holding a chain, and as my eyes followed the chain, it landed on a strange animal. The animal had four legs but disturbingly stood on two dog legs as if it were a man.  The legs were boney and had a few patches of fur here and there. Four hooves replaced by each paw. The face of the strange creature was the head of a horse without eyes and too dark holes that were darker than the night sky. His jaw was broken and hung loose, revealing razor-sharp teeth that no horse could ever have had.

Roger. I thought.

"Come home, Griselda," the man murmured in a whiny tone as if he were a little boy instead of an old man. He reached out his hand towards me. "You better do as I tell you or else."

I backed away from the window; however, my back hit something solid. I whipped around and saw Rebecca standing there with wide eyes. I backed away, but shockingly two hands grabbed me by the waist from behind.

"Come home, Griselda," the old man wines again. Using my weight, I dropped to the floor and looked up. The old man was trying to climb through the window, but I kicked him in the face and heard him as he hit the ground. A mixture of barking, animal stomping, and loud horse huffing came from Roger. I made my way to close the window, but Rebecca began pushing me.

"What are you doing!" I yelled out still trying to close the window before I fell through. "Stop!" I yelled once more, this time louder hoping Dakota would save me from getting pushed.

It worked, and Dakota came running inside of the room. I was able to shut the window in time before falling. I stepped behind Dakota then pointed to Rebecca. "She tried to push me out of the window with that man," I said while trembling.

Rebecca's jaw dropped. "You can't possibly say I tried pushing you. You were about to fall and I grabbed you and pulled you back inside."

I shook my head quickly. "Don't lie! You saw him, and you tried to push me with him."

Dakota sighed and pressed her fingers against her forehead. "You have got to be kidd-"

"You don't believe her right," Rebecca asked. "It's only been a day, she's probably still drunk."

Dakota shook her head then grabbed Rebecca by the hand. She closed the door behind herself, leaving me alone. I quickly opened the door back, not wanting to be alone. I grabbed my phone, wanting to call someone. I didn't know who to call. At this point, I almost called my parents. However, instead of deciding on them, I decided to call TJ.