For Fear Of Falling

Chapter 1- Home Inspection

I stepped into the morning chill and began to shiver.  The November air crept into all my senses, waking up my mind and my body.  I hugged my jacket tighter around me as I briskly walked to my 2010 silver Ford Focus and stepped into the preheated  car.  My name is Jasmine Vince.  I'm a social worker in the state of Idaho.  Boise is currently my home and while Idaho may be small we have our fair share of problems.  I've been a social worker for about 2 years, specializing in children, and I learn something new about child behaviors everyday.

I looked in the rear view mirror and caught a glimpse of my light blonde, wavy hair that fell just below my shoulders.  I had spent a lot of time hiking out in the sun this past summer and my sun bleached hair showed it.  My skin was quite fair despite the extra sun and I almost seemed to be washed out by my black peacoat.  I had a turquoise scarf around my neck that offset the effect.  My green eyes were nicely highlighted by my soft makeup.  I had soft features that gave me a look that children seemed to like and trust.  From a young age I had found that I was good with children which influenced my choice of career.

I pulled into the parking lot at work and grabbed my work bag from the seat beside me.  I had a full agenda today.  Today I was meeting with a family concerning their 15 year old sons drug abuse.  He had been attending some support groups but was still having a hard time giving up the drugs.  I went into my office after waving to the receptionist.  I looked over the young teen's file.  His case was one of the happier ones.  The next case was that of a little girl who had been abused by her mother's newest boyfriend.  The mother had refused to give up her boyfriend and so the child had to be removed from the home.  The foster parents were coming in with the little girl today to talk about the possibility of adoption.  Happy thought for the little girl but the biological mother was sure to fight such action.  I sighed.  The girl was in a much better living situation with a family that really loved her.  I had already started preparing the case for parental termination of rights.

The next item on my agenda was not my favorite.  I was assigned to a home inspection.  A phone call from a concerned party had come in about the possible abuse of a four year old boy.  I really didn't like going into other people's homes because I never knew what I would find.  Most homes were decent but some had deplorable conditions.

I went through my first appointments with anticipation.  Finally the time came and I found myself headed out to my car. The drive seemed unusually long and a feeling of dread crept up my spine as I drove to one of the richer neighborhoods in the city.  I gaped at the house.  It was a large red brick mansion, well kept, with a circle drive and a large fountain that was shut off for the winter. The mansion and beautiful and ornate white trim. Large, leafless trees reached their jagged branches into the grey sky. The house itself was set pretty far back with a large red brick wall that obscured the view of prying eyes.  I noticed immediately as I was pulling inside the cold brick walls that there was no gate, in fact it looked as if an attempt to even install a gate had never been made.  Why make the effort to have a wall if you weren't going to install a gate to keep out intruders? 

I pulled my car to a stop just behind an occupied and running police car that was also parked in front of the house.  I hesitantly stepped out of my car and watched as the two officers also got out.  As I approached their car I got a good look at the two officers.  The one in the passengers seat was a short, stocky man in his forties or fifties.  His salt and pepper hair was trimmed short and his expression was unreadable. For being short he was quite intimidating.  He seemed to be built like a tank.  His partner on the other hand was cut from a different sheet.  He was tall, taller then 6 feet and much younger then the other officer. His body was leaner with a good layer of muscle.  He had chiseled features.  Brown hair and light blue eyes completed the look. I found myself quite taken with the tall handsome officer, but I quickly brushed the thought aside. 

I extended  my hand to the older of the two officers first.  "Hi, I'm Jasmine."  I said nervously.

The older officer took my hand in a crushing grip.  "Officer Mendez."  He released my hand to my relief.  I shook the tall officers hand, with much pleasanter and less crushing results, and he introduced himself. "Officer Herman."  Hmmm... I wasn't overly fond of the last name but who was I to judge.  You don't get to pick your family.  

I held officer Herman's hand a little longer then necessary. mostly to postpone the inevitable inspection as long as possible.  The officers seemed to feel the same sense of dread as I did and instead of the longer then normal handshake being awkward it turned into a mutual feeling of camaraderie at being stuck in a situation that neither of us really wanted to be in.  Officer Herman finally released my hand and gestured towards the front door.  The large steps seemed almost insurmountable.  There were only 3 steps and yet I felt as though I was scaling Mount Everest.   I pressed on even as the hair on the back of my neck began to stand on end.  I decided that I was simply on edge from having to make a home visit.  As I reached the massive oak door I straightened out my coat and looked down at my boots and black knee length pencil skirt.  I was as ready as I was ever going to be.

As I was about to ring the door bell the large door inched open impossibly slowly.  If I hadn't already been looking at the door with contempt and dread I might have missed the slight movement.  A little pair of blue eyes appeared around the corner.  I leaned down slowly and smiled at the little boy who had opened the door.  "Hi.  Are your mommy and daddy around?"  The little boy immediately disappeared into the depths of the house, leaving the door open.  I turned around and looked at the officers for some assurance but they stared at me soundlessly.  I straightened up and rang the door bell.  A loud bell sounded inside the house. I waited for a minute before finally putting my shoulder against the door, pushing it open slowly. The door was incredibly heavy and moved with difficulty.  It squealed as I put more of my weight into opening it. If there was a small child here alone I felt that my action was justified.

"Hello?"  I hollered into the house before taking a step inside.  My voice seemed to echo endlessly in the house.  I squinted my eyes to better see into the dark house.  It seemed impossibly dark for the number of windows I had seen on the outside of the house.   I took another step inside and was immediately reassured by the sound of the officers following me in.  I looked around the grand entrance of the house.  The walls were bare and the house smelled musty, as if it hadn't been occupied for an extended period of time. There was a large staircase off to the right of the entrance.  My boots clicked on the sleek dark wood floors.  My attention was immediately drawn to a small figure crying at the top of the stair case.  Again I called out. "Hello? Is anyone here?"  When there was no answer I decided to head up to where the little boy was crying. 

"Do you think something happened to his parents?"  I asked the officers as I walked slowly up the staircase, not wanting to scare the little boy. 

"We'll take a look around the house.  Why don't you take the little boy and head out to the car?"  Officer Mendez said in a reassuring voice.  He didn't have to tell me twice.  The feeling in this house was eerie.  I heard the officers open several doors inside the house as I continued up the stair case. The stairs were well built and didn't even creek as I carefully made my way upstairs. The stairs lead up to a large hallway that was adjacent to the stair way.  I couldn't see anything beyond the open balcony that overlooked the grand entrance. 

I was three steps from the top of the stair case when I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye.  The little boy that had crying a moment ago looked up from his sobs and smile at me.  I looked to see what had moved in the darkness only to see a formless shadow shoot towards me. I screamed and shielded my face but nothing touched me.  I heard the two officers come running back to the entrance.  I tried to look up but any light that had been in the room seemed to have fled from the shadow, leaving me in total darkness. I tried to take a step backward but as I did the stairs that had seemed so solid just moments earlier gave way with a horrible snap and now I was screaming for an entirely different reason.  I hit the ground level and the floor also gave way under my weight.  My stomach jumped into my throat.  Terror coated my pain wracked body as I hit the ground with a sickening crack and an immense amount of debilitating pain.  I lay on a cold cement floor, feeling like I was going to die until I finally passed out.