Time is Running Out

Chapter 4

The next morning, Kara rolled out of bed and stumbled to the counter. She slept terribly, and every sound found her wide awake, waiting for a figure that never appeared. She sat down with her coffee and flung her laptop open.

I came up to the cabin for a fresh mind. This place always felt like magic to me. I had no memories of anything negative here. I give my dad credit for that. He was very good at his mission to protect us. Maybe he was the magic. Without him here, I'm not really feeling it anymore. Things just don't feel right anymore. And I'm not referring to grief, or feeling lonely. I hear noises that don't have owners, and things are moving to places with no explanation. I know I locked the door last night. Especially after all mom's talk about doing so, and the dog tags falling in the morning. I feel paranoid. I keep telling myself I'm just so stressed out about Sadie's deadline, and the future of my career, that I'm manifesting these visions. It doesn't help that I'm not sleeping, I read somewhere once that insomnia causes hallucinations. Maybe that's what's wrong with me. If I knew I could function, I'd quit drinking coffee. But I don't think that's the problem. Some part of me is starting to believe my mom. Is there something terribly wrong going on here? Is my dad's ghost really trying to warn me?

Kara stopped typing. Did she really think that her mom's stories about being warned by her dad had some truth to them? No, definitely not. But how did she explain everything this week so far then? Her phone buzzing on the counter snapped her out of her thoughts, and she answered it without a second glance at the screen.

"Sadie."

"Kar! How's my favorite author?"

"I'm alright Sadie," Kara sighed and rubbed her forehead. Her head was starting to ache and she took a sip of coffee, hoping that a lack of caffeine was the problem.

"God. You sound awful. Are you good?"

"Honestly?" Kara debated what to tell her, before deciding on the truth. "I'm sleeping like crap. Some weird stuff is going on around here, and I'm feeling so paranoid."

"Wait what? What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how my dad's tags hang by the front door? The first night I was here, they ended up on the barstool next to me. And yesterday, they fell while I was talking to my mom on the phone about them. And later? The doorbell rang, and when I opened it, I found the tags OUTSIDE of the door."

"Wait, are you telling me that your mom's stories about the moving tags are true? I thought she was just spouting crazy talk."

"I guess. And after the door? I saw someone. There was a figure on the other side of the room and-" Kara froze. There was someone outside the window. She could see them, clear as day. Their head was covered in a black hood, wearing a black coat. She shut her eyes tightly, and opened them again. They were still there.

"Kar? You there?" Sadie called through the phone.

"Hold on Sadie." Kara set the phone down and got off the stool. She crept towards the front door, and grasped the handle. She took a deep breath and flung the door open. She ran outside, but found no sign of the hooded stranger she saw through the window. She ran around the corner of the cabin, but saw nothing. She made her way back inside, slightly disappointed. Out of breath, she went to pick up the phone, and found her dad's tags draped over it. She carefully moved them off and picked up the phone again. "Okay. I'm back."

"WHAT THE HELL KARA?" Sadie gasped through the phone.

"Sorry, I thought I saw something. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, don't mind me, just over here PANICKING!" Sadie was panting. "You can't just talk about seeing a figure in your cabin and then just disappear on me! God I thought something happened to you!"

"I thought I saw them again, Sadie. They were outside the window, wearing all black. But when I got out there, there was nothing. They were gone. And the tags Sadie. They were on my phone when I came back. There's someone here Sadie, I'm not alone."

"That's crazy talk Kar. Look. You're alone. That cabin is in the middle of nowhere and only the Rosewoods know it exists. And your mom wouldn't play some sadistic joke like this on you. You're overtired, and overstressed. That's on me. I'm sorry I pushed you so much. Just come back, and we will talk about the book. I'll see if I can get my boss to let up and push the date back again."

"No. I told you I'd have it done Sadie. And I'm finally getting somewhere. And my dad, I think he's trying to tell me something."

"I'm worried about you. This whole murder mystery kick you are on is going too far. Calm down, and come home."

"I'll be fine Sadie. Look, I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Fine. You better." Sadie hung up, and Kara took a deep breath before adding what just happened to her story.

Sadie thinks I'm losing it, and should just go home. But I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere. Whether it's with this story, the mystery, or something else, I'm not sure. But I'm not ready to leave. I'll go to bed earlier tonight, and see if that helps. My dad's finally trying to communicate with me, and I'm ready to listen.