Traces of Delilah

Fourteen

Delilah's bracelet was the only piece of the Kim's property left behind in this house. Everything must've been removed after the story made headlines. Not that I didn't expect it. The house was being renovated so it was required to be cleared out. But damn. This didn't make any sense.

"God damnit, Skylar." I blew a curl out of my face and huffed. 

Two days was enough for me to call a quits on my search. I was hoping someone had slipped up. Maybe the cleaning company had accidentally left another piece of the Kim family's belongings laying around. The attic had been one of my first guesses.

But the attic was mostly filled with dust particles that were floating around. There were about six boxes sitting towards the back. All of them were covered in months old filth. Skylar must've cleaned it out and stored some of her stuff in here when she moved.

"Son of a bitch." I groaned. 

A notification lit the screen of my phone as it went off in my hands; it was Skylar.

Drive down here and eat with me, loser. I go on lunch in twenty minutes.

I couldn't help the chuckle that passed through my lips. Attached to her message, was a Mean Girls gif. I guess it wouldn't have hurt if I'd met with her. I wasn't doing much else with my life, except sticking my nose where it didn't belong. It was getting stuffy in this house anyways. 

My phone buzzed again.

Are you ignoring me? The message is read. >: (

I snorted and quickly shot her a message back with a laughing emoji.

Relax. I'll be there. Don't get your panties in a twist.

Then, I climbed down the attic stairs.  

As soon as the hot air clashed against my skin when I opened the front door to the house, dread washed over me. It happened so fast; I would have thought it was all in my head. I was willing to bet the air didn't cause that though. The hairs on the back of my neck stood with ease. And the neighborhood's silence fit the dread I was feeling.

I couldn't figure out why my body was reacting like this. When I had turned, there was nothing suspicious along the sidewalk or the streets. There were just cars, less than usual, might I add. Three of them were parked a few feet apart directly in front of Skylar and I's house. All behind my car. And one of the three was on. But I could hardly see who was inside.

I fixed my glasses on my nose and squinted. There didn't seem to be anyone inside now that I'd gotten a closer look. Maybe the windows were too dark for me to make out any figures and I had been mistaken. It could've been possible one of the neighbor's turned on their car and left it unattended. A few of them often did that when they were about to leave home.

The car looked very familiar the more I looked at it though. Whatever it was, my feet rushed me to my car. By the time I was buckled in my seat, it felt as though a pair of eyes were stalking my every move with a hawk's persistence.

I checked my mirrors, then my surroundings outside the windows. There was nothing else out of the ordinary that struck me as odd. Just the same old neighborhood I saw every day. This time, a few neighbors were standing outside their houses too. 

"Shake it off, Chastity. You're just imagining things," I whispered and shook my arms, clutching onto the steering wheel.

The last time I had been this pumped-on adrenaline was when I had too much caffeine before work the other day. I'd been so bouncy. Oliver wouldn't stop asking me if I was okay, and Jace wouldn't stop poking fun at me. This was a more frightening version of that memory.