Not That Kind Of Witch • Kai Parker #1

01: sibling squabbles

Valerie pulled up her battered old Volvo our front of her parents victorian style house. The white chipped awnings complimented washed out the wooden structure. She had returned home alone. This was her summer too and she wanted to spend whatever was left of it in her hometown with friends. She had been driving for over seven hours and she could hear her childhood bed calling her name. "Valerieeeeee!" It droned on.

Sluggishly slamming her house key into the lock, she pushed open the door. Taking in the all too familiar surroundings, Valerie leaned back against the door releasing a deep breath. Two weeks away in California had been two weeks too many. Sliding the latch to lock the door, she trekked past the stairs that loomed in the middle of the entryway. Again, the lure of her bed was strong.

Idling up to the kitchen counter, she deposited her purse on the island and spun to make herself a drink. Reaching up for a glass, she ran the cold faucet and was lifting the glass to her lips when she heard the faintest squeak of her dining room chairs being pushed.

Valerie froze, looking up and straight ahead. She looked to the parallel hallway for answers. She could've sworn she heard a chair squeak across the hard linoleum floors. Those chairs were heavy and couldn't produce that noise without something moving them. At 1000 mph her brain sped through all of the ways the murderer in her house could kill her. And there was many different insane ways; she knew she shouldn't have watched all those crime documentaries.

Acting like she hadn't noticed the sound, she placed the glass in the sink and casually made her way to her purse. Her phone was in there somewhere. Remembering the gargantuan size and contents of her purse, she cursed herself. If only she hadn't been one of those girls; the ones that carry their entire bedroom and bathroom around in a purse.

Placing her hands on the countertop and trying to manage a subtle glance towards the dinner table. She saw nothing. Maybe it was nothing, maybe the long hours of driving had made her insane and she was hearing things.

Valerie, searching through her massive side compartment, finally clasped her hand around a phone shaped object. But with the contents of her bag, no one could know for sure. The phone was half way out of it's hiding place when she heard the latch she'd previously locked jingle from the front doorway.

What do people even do in these situations? Is it too preemptive to reach for a knife from the assortment draw below her? If it was, she took no notice as she silently slid the draw open and located the biggest knife. Walking out into the hallway, she saw that from her vantage point the coast was clear. The buzzing of her phone had Valerie almost jumping out of her skin. Knife still brandished in the air, like she'd know how to use it effectively without cutting off a finger or somehow stabbing herself. She spun around and began walking back down the hall.

Looking up past her phone, she noticed that one of the back patio doors looked like it was slightly ajar. Goosebumps broke out all over her exposed shoulders and arms. She could've written off the squeak, hell, the jingle of the lock. But there was no way her parents had left the door open like that before leaving.

John Mathews was anal. He would've checked all the locks and probably double and triple checked them before he left. Placing her hand down on the vibrating phone and putting the knife down on the counter, she leaned against the island and tried and failed to calm her breathing. Oh god, she was going to die. She hadn't showered in 2 days and she was positive she stank. Her brain knew she could be in serious danger right now. But all she could think about was some poor coroner having to be in close proximity with her reeking corpse."It appears the COD was extreme bodily odour."

Staring out through the wall of windows, she could feel her body shaking. Her phone flashed bright with a message, illuminating the darkness that had fallen on the room as the sun had set behind the towering trees.