Meeting Sang *COMPLETE*

Kota

                 

Rain falls in sheets against the glass as I approach Sunnyvale Court. The storm has only gotten worse on the drive back, and I can barely see while slowly rolling the sedan forward. Gabe's been insisting on me to replace "the old as fuck machine" for a while now, but so long as it has four wheels and drives, fine by me.

A shadow flickers in my periphery. I step on the brakes, peering into the darkness with a frown. Is there something out there? In this rain? Or someone?

I don't like shadows.

A neighbor's garage is open, and the shadow seems to be hunched just beyond it. I flick off my headlights, but that only makes the darkness deeper and now I can no longer see anything clearly. Could've been a trick of the light. It's too dark to tell much of anything really. I park my car at the farthest corner of the driveway and climb out, standing just outside my door, watching, waiting. For what or whom though, I have no idea. The house with the open garage is where the new family moved in just a few weeks back. A family of four, although I've only ever seen the father and one of the daughters come out since.

Mainly it's the daughter I've caught glimpses of when she often went out walking in the woods. The beautiful daughter with the largest pair of eyes I've ever seen, in a shade of the brightest green. I find myself worrying about her. They don't have a security system set up in that house yet, and if someone were to break in...

The moments drag on by, and I suddenly notice I'm getting soaked. I look to the house again, but there's nothing there anymore.

I really don't like shadows.

For her sake, I hope there's no one there. I finally open the garage door to my own house, letting Max out of his crate and forcing myself to head inside. Max yips, and I shush him so as not to wake Mom or Jessica. He sniffs along the floor of the dark hall before giving a single bark and giving a nudge against my leg. I open the door to my bedroom and he scampers up the stairs to wait at the top step. I figure I have some time to let him out a bit before I sleep. Max curls up at the foot of my bed while I sit and take off my sneakers. The back of my neck still prickles with the wrongness of the air. I can't stop thinking about that shadow I saw, almost like a person standing hunched on the family's driveway.

I move to the window, maybe to assuage my fears, but something still feels off, and my instincts are right nearly a hundred percent of the time. My gaze rakes over the expanse of the street, squinting through the splatters of rainwater on the windowpane. Then it inevitably moves to again study the house up the street.

And I pause, unsure of what exactly I'm seeing as my eyes adjust.

The shadow is back, only this time it's on the move towards the street. It's still at the two-story gray house, gradually making its way across the expanse of driveway. A hump in the distinct shape of a book bag protrudes from its back. Smallish figure.

I simply stare a moment. I'm not entirely positive, but I have a sense it's the daughter of that new family.

"What in the world..." I stop short, breathe in and hold, as if the girl down the road can hear me. I continue to study her, trying to make absolutely certain.

Is it really?

Yes. She has such a small frame, and the height is hers. And the way she's walking, head down, not once looking up or around. She stops at the street and waits. At first I wonder if someone is about to pick her up. But for some reason I don't think that's the case.

For the past few weeks she always snuck out the back door, dashed to the woods behind her house and walked the trails. I know because I spotted her a few times. I've tried approaching her on numerous occasions, hoping to 'accidentally' bump into her, then say hello, introduce myself, get to know her.