The Rabbit Hole

Chapter 5

Casey's called me back to tell me that my schedule time to the abortion clinic is set for tomorrow morning. Lately I've been thinking, mostly weighing down my options if I were to keep the baby. A new member to our little family of three, but there would also be this problem of finding out who the father of the baby is, whether it be Scott Rimely or Matthew Hainford. If it were to turn out that Scott is the father then I'd have lucked out in a way. Scott is the quarterback and Captain of our school's football team, born to a very wealthy family and already being offered scholarships up the wazoo, and off course with all that, he's also granted great looks and a very much good personality, a perfect gentleman, none of that jerk-jock stereotype, he's well brought up and respectable. An all round great candidate, my parents would welcome him a lot easier than the other runner to the father of my child. If it were to turn Matthew to be the father then I'd really believe that a witch may have put a hex on me. Matthew is, well, in short, a bad boy. He's the kind of guy a girl like me wouldn't dare invite home for dinner. He smokes and gets into fights a lot, always in trouble with the teachers. He lives at the trailer park with his mother, drives a motorcycle to school. Basically the worst kind of candidate for the "who's the father?" game show. Knowing my luck, I bet Matthew is the father. In a way, I'm kind of rooting for him to be the father. There's something about a bad boy that's so exciting. Living without rules -that's probably how I got pregnant in the first place. Either than that, Matthew's been my one true love, even with our endless arguing my heart still beats his name whenever he's around. Scott was just a fling, I have no pure feelings for him whatsoever, cold I know but it's true.

Sitting in the living room snuggling in a warm blanket with my Mother sitting right next to me, I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something. What could it be? I'm pretty certain that I locked every door back at the Bridgewater's residence, I watered all the plants, fed the cat...wait, I only fed the cat once. Mrs. Bridgewater fed him in the morning and I fed him again on the afternoon. Dammit, I still have to feed him one more time, and looking at the watch makes me feel worse about it, it's 8:23 pm, I'm two and a half hours late to feed the cat his dinner.

I stretch out of the snuggle-form I once was in and push the blanket off. Mom gives me a surprise stare, "Where are you going in such a hurry, sweetheart?" she asks.
"I forgot to feed Mrs. Bridgewater's fat cat."
"Oh, it's already gotten dark outside. You want me to come with you?"
"No, it's okay, Mom. The house is just down the street, I'll be there and back before you know it."
"Okay."
As I walk past the kitchen I hear Dad snoring on his favourite couch, passed out with a newspaper resting on his chest. That old man, I love him so much, I can't bare the thought of disappointing him with this pregnancy. I plant one peck on top of his bald spot and jet out of the house.

The street is empty of people, it seems so peaceful with all the street lights lit. I carry on the path to the Bridgewater residence with nothing but my silhouette carrying off against the dimmed sky. I reach my destination but now I can't shake the feeling that I'm being watched, so I glance over my shoulder to see if there's anyone behind me. Nothing, no one, just the black shape of my shadow cast along the Bridgewater driveway. I insert the key, unlock the door and twist the knob open and enter the house. The sound of the home security system beeps to a constant, I enter the code to shut it off, close the door behind me and head straight into the kitchen. Mr. Buttersworth, the fat cat, remains seated and staring at an empty bowl. He really is starving, poor thing. I grab a can of cat food from the pantry and fill up Mr. Buttersworth's bowl then set it on the ground. Before I leave, I water a couple of plants that looked quite slanted. I walk past the living room and find that the front door is open, I could've sworn I closed it when I came in.

Walking towards the door now, I do a quick check on the outside and nothing, just the outside palm tree rustling in the wind and the neighbourhood dogs barking up a storm. The feeling of unease is getting to me, the cold night wind brushing against my skin. I take a walk around the house following the trail leading to the backyard, I get there and there's no one. The aqua blue light of the swimming pool gleams off a magnificent shine. Still in the wake of my uneasiness, I catch the sound of a rustle at the bush in the far corner. The hairs from the back of my neck stand as I slowly approach the bush. The rustling haven't stopped even though I'm a couple of feet from it. I hear the drum of my heart beating. I slowly reach out to pull back the bush and jump out screaming at the sound of my phone ringing, Casey's calling. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who got a fright from the sound of my ring tone as the culprit of the rustling bush -a rabbit-scurries away. "Casey!" I exasperate, calming down from the fright. "What? Did I do something wrong?" she asks confused. I let out a relief laughter and say "No, it's just...nothing, never mind."
"Ookay, weirdo."
"Shut up." I laughingly reply to her.
"So, about tomorrow. When should I arrive at your place?"
"You're coming with me?"
"Of course. I'll be by your side all the way."
"Thanks, Casey."
"What are friends for, right?"
"Right."
"Where are you anyway? I hear wind. Are you outside?"
"I'm at the Bridgewater house."
"At this hour?"
"Yeah, I forgot to feed the cat."
"I knew Mrs. Bridgewater made a mistake hiring you."
"Oh shut up."
"And?" She says, in wait.
"What?"
"Hello? The time. When should I meet you?"
"Oh, sorry. Let's make it 9:00 am the latest."
"Nine. Got it."
"Thanks again for doing this with me."
"Yeah, I'm awesome. See ya."
"Bye."

And after that, I return inside and shut the door so I can set the alarm system. Upon pressing the first button there's a subtle sound of a crunch that captures my attention, originating from the kitchen. At first I thought it was the cat but then again the cat food is all mush, it shouldn't have a crunch sound to it. So I head back into the kitchen and find the fridge door open, I glance at the fat cat and he still remains unmoved from his spot, eating away at his dinner in a gluttonous manner. I push the fridge door closed and I hear it again, the crunch sound. Now I can place that sound, it's the sound that a carrot makes when you bite it. The feel of uneasiness returns, the weight of fear settles within my chest right now because I know, I'm not alone. There's someone else in this house aside from me and the cat.
"Hello?" I nervously call out, "Is there anyone here?" A loud thud from the next room causes me to jerk backward into the kitchen and also Mr. Buttersworth to jump up terrified, then follows the beating of footsteps headed towards the kitchen. I quickly saunter to the alarm system to press the panic button but I'm quickly hugged from behind by an unknown stranger. He's fast and strong, and he quickly wrestles me to the ground, I'm kicking and screaming, shouting and hollering but he quickly overpowers me. Mr. Buttersworth hissing at the man, I try to fight him off but I can't, so I rely on my sight, the room is dark, I can't see his face clearly but I can smell his odour, car oil and carrots in his breath. He laughs in a hush tone and edges closer to my face, relishing over the fact that he's got me. I'm terrified, but I continue to fight back. His face is closer to mine, so I headbutt him right on the nose causing his grip on me to loosen. I smash a vase over his head and trail to the door as fast as I can, until a hand on my hair pulls me back into the house and then runs my head against the wall, after that...fade to black.

~dark days for Heather. Vote please~