Preston Greens

18. "I'm Not Safe Here"

We kicked the men out of the house and gave them a copy of the photo. We grabbed a magnifying glass from dad's desk and took Peppermint over to Leslie's, since her inspection was already over. Mom almost fainted when she saw the photo. 

When I saw it, I almost immediately recognized it. What didn't make sense was that we didn't notice it until this time around. There it was, right behind me, was the man looking through the window. The same man that put Lisa in her trance. The same man that had my letter, the same man that brought the army, and there he was, watching my family and me. 

"We have to go." I told mom. 

"We can't leave!" She shouted, gathering some food. 

"Beth, she's right. He can be watching us any moment." Dad said. 

Mom grabbed some more food and we got into the car. We were going to go to Kim's house, which was about ten minutes away. Mom called her sister in panic. Dad called the police. The police said all they could do was put security cameras, and that's what they did. Dad sent the men over to the house to install the cameras and we were on the road. We pulled into Aunt Sara's driveway and got out of the car. We knocked on the door like mad men and Uncle Tom opened it in distress. Kim came running to me and Aunt Sara grabbed my mom and pulled her into the kitchen. 

"What is going on?" Kim said. I pulled her into the dining room and sat down on the chair. 

"Kim, somebody is stalking my house, me, and my family, including you. HE has stolen our mail, tried to kill us, and stares into our window. We have the ultimate proof." I told her.

 "Dude, that is serious." Was all she could come up with. I started crying into Kim's arms and she started crying too. We ended up falling backwards into the chair and came crashing onto the tile floor. Everything was lost. I felt like all my memories were erased and that all happiness ever experienced was also seen by, by, that man. Just thinking of him made me quiver.

We went over to Kim's room and I sat on the floor. I drew a sketch of this man, and he looked very familiar, but not in a good way. I will never forget the look he had on his face when I hurt him. 

Changing the subject in my mind, I decided to think about Kim's house. Her house was in a decent neighborhood, better than mine, and her house was built in 2004. My neighborhood had a bit more charm than Kim's, probably because Kim lives in a subdivision where all the houses were built around the same time by the same builder, and the houses looked identical. I wouldn't live in her neighborhood if I had the choice, I mean, majority of the houses were like cubes with no arches or anything like that. The only thing I liked about her place was that her neighborhood was obviously free of ghosts and stalkers and spirits, the fact that her house was two-story, (two-story houses seem more fun) and that her house was newer. I really liked my house though, and I didn't want to move. Maybe I can work something out with my house's spirit. 

The adults were in the kitchen for a while, and the worst part was that I hadn't heard a single laugh or even a chuckle escape from the group, so that only meant they were talking about some serious business. Uncle Tom would have already let a joke slip out by now. 

Kim and I had our ears pressed against the floor (the kitchen is downstairs) and tried to be so quiet that we could hear a pin drop so we could listen to their conversation. I could only make out "Stalker, dangerous, spirit, news, boyfriend, and Katrina." Kim heard "Carly, move out, news, police, and cameras." It all made sense except the boyfriend part. I was sure I heard that one clearly. I wonder whom they were talking about. 

"Who's the boyfriend?" Kim asked me. I shrugged. 

"Have no idea, and I'm being totally honest with you."