Learning to Live, Again

Chapter Twenty-One

Caleb

I sat at home- I mean- Niamh's house. The bed I was laying on had belonged to me for the past four months, but now it didn't belong to me anymore. The room I lay in had been mine, and I'd shared it with the boys as often as Niamh would have, but now it wasn't mine anymore. Part of me was extremely happy that this room belonged to Niamh once again, but another part of, a smaller part of me, was sad to be leaving.

I was close to Niamh when I sat in here, looking around at her knickknacks and pictures. There were tons of her and Corbin plastered along the walls, and in every one of them, she was grinning ear to ear, not a care in the world.

Niamh was no where close to coming home, but I figured it would be easier on both of us if I just took all my things out now. That way when she did come home, she wouldn't have to wait for me to gather it all.

Sitting up, I picked up my suitcase, grunting from the weight of it. I had a ton of clothes and books in it. Not to mention my gun, which was empty, and now a pack of bullets (which I had had on top of the closet so the boys couldn't reach it even if they stood on chairs.) I carried it downstairs, setting the case beside the front door. I looked around the room, my heart beating painfully in my chest.

I was going to miss those boys and there mother so much.

Bending over, I went to pick up the suitcase again, when I heard the sliding glass door open. All the lights were off in the house except the one in the laundry room, which is where the sliding glass door was, and I could see a shadow moving across the threshold, headed towards the living room.

I ducked down behind the couch, reaching for my gun and cursing myself for putting it in the suitcase. Dropping to my hands and knees, I peaked around the side of the couch. I could see the intruder, and I could also see the glint of the gun he held in his hands. He was crouching a little, trying to be quiet it seemed, as he made his way slowly into the living room.

He was inexperienced; the way he held the gun told me as much. He wore a gray hoodie with the hood pulled over his face, but I could still see the frightened looked on his face as he tip-toed towards the stairs. He was short and super scrawny.

If he'd had a knife, I would have had no trouble jumping him and shoving him against the wall, but he had a gun. If he even had an inkling that I was here, he'd shoot me dead before I'd have the chance to move to jump at him.

Taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I crawled around the side of the couch that he couldn't see. Peeking around the other side, I could see him making his way cautiously up the stairs. When he turned down the hall and out of sight, I jumped up and raced into the kitchen. I yanked the phone off the wall and dialed Kobe's number.

He picked up on the fourth ring.

"Hello?" He sounded sleepy, and it dawned on me that it was two in the morning.

"Kobe, it's Caleb. Get up. There's a man in Niamh's house. He has a gun and mine is in my suitcase."

Kobe was instantly awake. "Where is he? Have you called 911?"

"Upstairs," I whispered. "And no. I need you to get over here as soon as you can."

"Why haven't you called them yet?" He sounded angry and exasperated with me.

"I'm going to call 911 when we get off the phone, but you know how long they take to respond. Plus, you know where Niamh's house is. I don't have to explain anything to you. Just get over here. I'm going upstairs after him."

"Caleb, don't you d-"

I hung up the phone and listened intently. I couldn't hear anyone walking down the stairs, or really anyone walking at all. Slowly turning, I walked along the wall in the direction of the living room. An image of Spy vs. Spy popped into my head, and I had the crazy urge to laugh out loud. I shook my head, mentally clearing my throat and suppressing the insane laugh that wanted to escape.

Now was not the time to laugh.

My heart was racing, and I could feel the quivering of my limbs from the adrenaline coursing through them. Slowly, I peeked around the edge of the wall, and nearly shit myself. I was looking down the barrel of a gun, and if the click I heard was real, it was now a loaded one.