Powering OFF

6

Glitches
——-
It didn't take long for the system to be installed. My three cameras were well spread out around the house. One for the front door, one in the living room, and one for the patio doors on the side.

After learning how to work everything, I felt better, despite the constant pain in my back and head.

The man with the equipment wore a casual black shirt with a large tool belt around his khakis. "Alright, everything's all set up," he chirps.

He observes my living room and front door, staring directly at the black keypad he installed above the handle. I hear a weird sound coming from his mouth, although it's hard to tell with his back turned away from me.

Did he just snicker?

"Doesn't the equipment come with a yard sign?"

His shuddersome grin fades. "Yard sign?" The man repeats.

"The one from your website?"

How could an employee not know what's on his company's website?

"It says WGR?" I add.

His eyes shift from left to right. "Ah," he croaks. "Yes. I must've forgotten to bring it. I will have someone bring it to you as soon as I can." He clears his throat before his eyes wander across the room again.

"Don't hesitate to call us if you have any problems. This is state-of-the-art technology."

I thank him and eye the door so that he'd get the hint to leave.

"Have a nice day!" He calls out before returning outside to the company car.

The rest of the day went by slowly. My house looks futuristic with all of its new gadgets. Every bedroom has "smart locks" installed into the windows.

The control panel shows any person in front of my door on its 8-inch screen.

With my newfound security, I decided to catch up on one of my favorite books to make the time go by faster.

Hours later I was sitting on the couch, on the hundredth page of a novel that I had planned to read four months ago.

But for some reason, I feel strange.

Besides the slight headache and the wonky feeling from the acetaminophen, I feel that something isn't right.

The silence of the living room is giving me chills. I glance up at the TV with the notion that some background noise may help me feel better. After a few seconds, I decide to shrug it off and keep reading.

That's when I hear something unusual. 

It sounds like electronic sounds, coming from the ceiling. I get up and walk closer to where I think the sounds are coming from. The black lens in the box above me is positioned directly across from the couch.

Is it- zooming in on me?

Standing there, looking up at the camera, my neck starts to tense up. I hastily press my hand on the knot underneath my ponytail, close my eyes, and massage it for a few moments.

The noises are gone now.

I take this as a sign to head upstairs and lie down.

***

I am woken by a certain numbness in my fingers. My nose feels blocked and my breathing, irregular. I'm afraid to remove my comforter because it is the only thing keeping me from freezing.

Something's wrong with the temperature in this house. It's hard not to focus on the fact that I'm visibly trembling, so I force myself to get out of the bed and investigate.

My mouth drops when the numbers on the heat and air conditioning unit flash on the screen. It reads 40° Fahrenheit. What?

I hurry and push the arrow keys repeatedly until it returns to 74°. My eyes remain glued to the unit to make sure the numbers stay the same.

"What the hell," I whisper to myself. I turn around and eye the control panel. No way. There's no way that could've caused this.

My fingers are starting to ache. I quickly search around the closet for a blanket to wrap around me. The blanket isn't enough. The comforter on my bed might make a difference.

I stand near the control panel with my comforter wrapped around me.

Then, my phone rings, distracting me from the weird feeling I have. "Well hello stranger. Why haven't you answered any of my calls?"

It's Leah.

"What are you talking about?"

"I've called you like five times today. Do you know what day it is?"

Her question repeats in my head. Then, it hits me. It's Saturday. She's supposed to come over for movie night! A sharp pain stabs the side of my head.

"Oh man, I'm sorry Leah! I completely forgot."

"I forgive you, this time," she jokes. "Are we still on for tonight?"

Leah shouldn't come to my house tonight. There are a lot of weird things going on right now. I didn't want to get anyone involved just yet because it could be me, for all I know.

My mental stability isn't exactly ideal. I still haven't been able to get my Buspirone. That could be the reason I'm so jumpy. But, I should figure things out for myself.

"I don't think tonight's a good night. I've just been busy with work. You know what I mean, right?"

That performance was far from believable. Knowing Leah, she probably could hear the shakiness in my voice. "Alright? Well, did you get the security system installed?"

The lump in my throat swells up.

I tell her it's on the wall, across from my room.

"I guess I won't need my key anymore, haha."

"It's really not hard to work. The man told me everything, and we can get you a new key made."

We chat about the control panel and how I can see the face of whoever comes to visit. Leah then makes a joke about striking a pose each time she shows up at the door.

The conversation comes to a screeching halt when my lights start to flicker out of nowhere.

Next thing I know, Leah's voice cuts off mid-sentence.

I was able to call her back a few minutes later, and made up a lie for the reason my phone cut off.

"My phone died."

She might've believed me. My phone is always dying because I can never remember to charge it.

The numbers on the thermostat have not plummeted again. It's still standing at 73° as I had left it a couple of minutes ago.

If I can just get my medicine, everything will go back to normal. I hope.