Someone is Watching

Chapter five

Lily's house was so full of life despite being void of any living thing for weeks. It was obvious that a very happy individual once lived here. Everything was cute and stylish, and there were many picture frames on shelves and walls.

I stepped in, but didn't close the door incase I got too overwhelmed with being here. I hung up my rain coat and gazed around, having no idea where to start. I was instructed to fill up a bag with clothes, and put sticky notes on the things I would be taking to my house. To be honest, I put sticky notes on almost everything. But, her house was much larger than mine, so I couldn't take everything.

I noticed that she had several flower pots around the house, but they were all dead and droopy. "She loved plants, just like me." I smiled.

I was sticky-noting kitchen supplies when something caught my eye. She had many pictures on her fridge of herself with Arthur and friends, but one of them stood out. It was a picture of us when we were little, dressed up as ghost busters for Halloween. We were smiling ear to ear and holding up our "gear". A tear slid down my cheek, but I shook my head, reaching for the picture, and quickly pocketed it.

Finally, I came around to her bedroom. I walked to her bed and sat down on the plush duvet. I looked around at her room, her home, and was suddenly overcome with deep longing and sadness. Unable to do anything else, I laid down and cried. I don't know how long I cried for, but when I was done, I fell asleep.

A burst of thunder woke me up. I sat up and rubbed my puffy eyes before shooting to my feet and running to the front door. "I forgot to shut the door!" I shouted, mentally scolding myself as I slammed the door shut. I leaned against it and sighed, stilled disoriented from sleeping.

I looked at my watch then out the window. It was only 5:30, but because of the storm, it was already dark outside. I grabbed my bag and stuffed it with a few of Lily's shirts. I also put some of Arthur's things in there, hoping it would help him settle in at my house. Then I used some of Lily's perfume and left.

I was only a few blocks down, my raincoat drawn tight around me, when I felt a chill run down my back. At first, I thought I was just the rain, but it made me feel so uneasy that I just couldn't shake it. I glanced behind me: nothing. Maybe it was just the rain.

I quickened my pace anyway, thinking about my dry, warm house. Not long after, I felt it again. I felt as if I was being watched, like prey in the middle of a dark jungle. Something was watching me. I grit my teeth, "pull it together, Evie, you can't get scared by something that isn't even there." I lifted my chin and kept walking, refusing to let this feeling get the better of me.

I made it a few more blocks without incident, I was only a couple minutes away from my neighborhood, soon I would be safe in my own home. But I got that feeling again. It was immediately followed by the sound of footsteps behind me. I put my head down, my ears trained on the footsteps as I began walking faster. So did the sound of feet slapping against wet pavement behind me.

I quickly looked over my shoulder, a feeling a dread dropped into my stomach. It was a man in all black. I felt adrenaline zip through my body, feeling the need to sprint to my house. "Calm down." I said to myself, "maybe he's just going home, too." I turned right, and began counting to 10 to keep my breathing under control. The man turned right, too.

"It's alright, he probably lives down here or something." I slowed my pace, hoping he'd walk past me and I wouldn't have to be on guard. As he got closer, I noticed his breath was ragged and gravely. "No wonder he's trying to get home, he's got asthma." Now I felt bad for feeling threatened by him, but he whispered something as he passed me.