Hear No (Hidden Evil, #1)

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The Shadowman was watching her. He followed her through her daily routine, perched on the balcony outside her apartment while she slept, even lingered one aisle over in the grocery store.

Why was a monster in a grocery store?

Kaylee awoke mid-panic. Her heart was racing and her senses jumbled from escaping the dream world too fast. She breathed deeply, orienting herself to the small master bedroom of her apartment in Reston, Virginia. When she confirmed where she was, she relaxed.

The sense of not being alone remained, like it had been every day for the past month. Not one to believe in ghosts, she had begun to reconsider, especially on nights like this, when she was all too aware of how alone and dark it was in her two bedroom apartment. She never checked the closet of the second bedroom. There could be someone there, or in the broom closet near the entrance, or maybe even in her master closet …

Kaylee glanced towards her closet then shook her head.

No more scary movies before bed, she told herself.

She threw off her blankets and padded to her bathroom. She’d awoken like this four out of the past five nights, often enough that she understood she wouldn’t be going back to sleep again. The hair at the back of her neck remained on end as she washed her face.

Kaylee shivered. She wiped her face and studied herself in the mirror, wondering if the stress from her work was causing the nightmares and paranoia. She was always tired anymore with no energy for much of anything after the fourteen-hour days chained to her desk.

Her wispy dark blonde hair was pulled back in a loose bun on top of her head, rendering her round face childlike with her large blue eyes and small features. Her ears were tiny and stuck out too far from her head, her body of medium build and toned from her daily runs. She wore a tank top and underwear to sleep in. Dark circles lined her eyes.

Her best friend was right. She needed a real vacation and not just the occasional three-day weekend she spent working from home.

Kaylee left the bathroom. She turned on lights as she went. While she didn’t believe in the boogeyman, she wasn’t comfortable enough after the nightmares to sit alone in the dark.

She set her laptop on her coffee table, turned on the TV to the horror channel for background noise and then checked her phone.

Renaissance Faire starts this weekend. You MUST come! The message had been sent by her best friend, Andrea. Kaylee saw it before she went to sleep and had been debating. Taking the weekend off work meant she’d start next week way behind. If she wanted to take a real vacay soon, she had to be caught up.

Her eyes went to the balcony, where the Shadowman – a nickname she gave the strange darkness – sat watching her at night, according to her nightmares. She couldn’t see past the darkness peering through the glass doors to see the table and chairs on her balcony. She didn’t see the stars or moon either, as if the world ended at her patio door.

She shivered again, convinced Shadowman was the embodiment of her stressful job. It was following her home now and freaking her out when she needed to spend more time relaxing. Or working.

One weekend wouldn’t hurt. She typed a quick response to Andrea. The moment she pressed the send button, she felt the intangible weight of being watched lift off her shoulders.

“Maybe you’re right,” she murmured to the picture of Andrea on her phone. “Give myself permission to take a break, and just … let … go.” She did her best to impersonate her best friend’s stoner way of talking then laughed. There were days she’d give anything to be as zen as Andrea.

Kaylee closed her laptop. She’d give herself permission to relax right now, too. She pushed the laptop away with her foot and leaned back on the couch, gaze drifting from the TV to her balcony once more.

The full moon was brilliant, lighting up the entire space on her patio. The chairs, table, even the small candle on the railing were all visible.

Kaylee sat up straight, startled. Had the moon been behind a cloud before when she looked? She crossed to the door and peered at the sky.

It was clear. Not a cloud in sight.

Yet something had been blocking her view of the balcony.

Shadowman.

She stepped back from the door and shook her head. She was tired. She made a simple mistake or was half asleep the first time she looked. There was no other explanation. She wasn’t about to buy the idea that there was some sort of … creature sitting on her balcony at night.

Uneasy, Kaylee returned to the couch. She tucked her legs beneath her and stared at the TV.

If she was this stressed, she needed a vacation much sooner than she thought. She tried not to look out the balcony, but her gaze drifted back.

Was there something more than stress going on?