'Love' With You

6. Noah Rivers And The Deathly Wails [N]

C H A P T E R  S I X -  Noah Rivers

I was currently sitting in my room reading my very worn out copy of Harry Potter for the millionth time when a dull thud interrupted the epic showdown between Harry and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

I lifted my gaze from the printed words and looked curiously out the window beside my bookshelf. My ears pricked as I wondered what the noise could possibly be.

There it was again. A dull thud followed by a string of incoherent words.

I sat up properly in my bed and silently placed my book down on the nightstand without dog earring my page (I was going to regret that later) whilst pulling off my glasses and putting them on top of the book.

I shuffled to the edge of my bed, placing my feet firmly on my carpeted floor and patiently waited for the noise again.

I glanced over at the clock hanging on my wall: 11.23.

Mom and Dad were visiting Aunt Lily in San Jose and had taken Matt along with them, Logan had disappeared again for the night and Nathan was staying over at Isabelle's: I was home alone.

The thud sounded again but this time it was even louder and was followed by a succession of quick, harsh thwacks. The shouting was louder too. The words more slurred and hysteric. I could hear two clear words being repeated over and over again, getting higher and higher in pitch every time.

Shut up.

They seemed to be coming from Clare's house but for what reason I didn't know. The only noise that ever really seemed to come from Clare's house was the deafening twang from her music. Music was always playing from Clare's house no matter what hour it was. I'd become so used to it that it had just become a comforting background noise.

For the first time tonight, I finally figured out what felt so weird about today: Clare's house had been silent.

Until now.

I sat rigid in place. I didn't know what to do. In the five weeks we'd known Clare, we'd never been in her house. She'd always said that there were still boxes lying around and there wasn't ever anything to do. She never mentioned her parents.

In fact, she never mentioned anything about herself. Not one thing about her past life back in Oxford, her old friends, her family: nothing. We didn't even know her birthday.

A piercing crashing noise knocked me out of my daze as I stared wide-eyed at her window. My body was frozen in shock: I couldn't move and I felt utterly powerless.

Taking in deep, shuddering breaths, I lifted myself up off the bed and made my way over to the window with slow, cautious steps. Breathing heavily, I lifted my window open, letting the cool summer night air whip around me and into my bedroom.

The house was silent; not a single light was on; not a single rustle was heard: nothing.

And it scared the shit out of me.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I looked up at the clock: 10.02.

The sun was streaming and my room was stiflingly hot.

The memories from last night came flooding back in: the thudding, the screaming and then the silence. I felt my muscles tighten as I realized there still wasn't any music coming from Clare's house at all, just that same eerie silence that sounded so wrong.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who found it strange by the five text messages and four missed calls from Robin. I opened up the first text message that came in yesterday at 11.44.