Chapter 12 #2
The bottom tray in my glimmering box has a sea of beads to rummage through.
I am searching for pearl-colored accents on the first piece.
My fingertips glide over the filled container, pushing around colored plastic, when I feel something that doesn’t belong.
My hand stills above the uniquely shaped item.
No… there’s no way! I left it at home! This weekend was meant for me to get away… away from everything.
I close my eyes, willing myself to slow my breathing, my heart picking up pace. Opening my eyes as I let out the air evenly, pulling the item from its obscure location.
The white tech sits in the palm of my hand, with exactly as I feared would be on it. A crude purple star on the long side.
Before I can think better of it, I quickly stand from the desk, startling poor Kingston in the process. He tilts his head, probably wondering why such a peaceful moment warrants such urgency.
I open the outer door to the windowed room and throw the stowaway headphone into the yard.
There! Instant regret racks through me. Wait… was this just a means to an end? I already realized those things have trackers in them. Oh fuck! I scurry outside and begin searching frantically for the stupid earbud.
“Where is it?! Where is it?!” I mutter, as I crawl around on hands and knees, pushing past fallen leaves, parting dormant blades of grass.
It might as well be a needle in a haystack!
I wasn’t sure if I was shaking from anger at myself or fear; that someone could know precisely where I was because of that blasted device.
I need to find it! Consequences be damned, I have to destroy it!
My mind keeps circling back to the unknown. Did they already know where I was? Out here in the middle of nowhere, alone.
The trees dance slowly to a song I can’t hear.
When the sun begins to set, I make my way back inside.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I couldn’t find it. The shadows soon disappear along with the last trace of light.
Perhaps if I busy myself with making earrings again, I won’t think about it… but I am thinking about it.
I find myself paying more attention to the tree line than embellishing earrings with beads. I feel uneasy. Watched.
Kingston whines to be let out and fed. I take the opportunity to rummage around in the kitchen for something to eat. Canned soup seems to be the only thing my parents have.
I sit in the bay window enjoying the microwave bowl of soup, while Kingston’s shadow sporadically moves about the grounds.
He’s likely sniffing out a mole or locked onto the scent of something that has passed through.
Golden lights automatically come on, illuminating a narrow perimeter around the house, but not much of the expansive mountainside yard.
I polish off the contents of roasted lentils, place my phone in the waistband of my skirt and call for Kingston to come in.
Hanging half out of the back door, that’s when I notice something glowing on the ground.
Kingston runs past me into the house for his own meal; however, my feet are moving in the opposite direction.
Toward the source of the white light. It beckons me out to the edge of the yard, where I reach down to the illuminated object. Is it really…?
I pick it up, turning it over in my hand, and I find the purple taunting star.
It lights up?! Someone is toying with me.
Now that I’ve found it, I must get rid of the thing.
I wasn’t going to play this game any longer.
I march over to the end of the property that overlooks the tree capped valley.
Making sure to keep back far enough from the edge.
It was dark and I wasn’t about to fall off the side of a mountain.
Just as I wind my arm back to throw the earbud into the abyss, my phone vibrates against my hip.
I freeze, unsure what to do next. I palm the illuminated tech and withdraw my phone. Take a deep breath, fills my screen. I hit accept.
“Hi, Mom.” I scan the area while walking quickly back toward the house with my cell phone to my ear.
“Hi, sweetie! We arrived a little while ago. Sorry, we didn’t call right away; we ran into some old friends from Boston. Do you remember the Colbys? Such a nice family. They have a son around your age.”
I have no idea who she’s talking about, but that doesn’t stop her from rambling on.
Standing with my back against the door, inside the locked house, I stare at the haunting earbud in the palm of my hand.
I am barely listening to the person on the other line at this point.
What am I going to do with this damned thing? !
“So, he’s being a good boy?”
Her question pulls me away from my racing thoughts. “What?” I ask.
“Kingston!” She repeats. “Is he being a good boy for you?”
I look toward the black shaggy dog, who now squiggles along the carpet, in a sort of interpretive dance, joyful over a full belly. “Yeah! He’s a great dog.”
A deeper voice now asks, “What do you think of the view?” My dad is on the phone now.
I rechecked the lock on the door. “It’s umm…” I walk over to a kitchen drawer and toss the confounded thing in before slamming it shut with my hip. Finally, my brain can think clearly. “We definitely don’t have views like this back in Southie,” I say. Sounding more deranged than carefree.
“Well… enjoy it and thanks for making the trip. Love you, Cinnabun.”
“Love you too, Dad. Enjoy your trip. Talk to you later.”
After checking every lock in the house, twice, I commence closing each and every curtain. If there was no drape, I block the window with throw pillows, so there was no possible way to see into the house. As I covered the last window, I swear I see something moving. Maybe I’m tired…
It was most likely just a deer or maybe a black bear?
My dad said they are prevalent in these areas.
If I’m being honest, it looked like it was on two legs.
Like a person. I peek around the pillow one more time, and I swear I see the silhouette of a large figure, standing right where I previously found the earbud.
My breath feels like it’s caught in my throat. As I’ve practiced so many times before, I close my eyes and count to ten. When I open them and scan the tree line again, the shadowy figure is gone.
I feel trapped. Caged in this house. Is my mind playing tricks on me or am I being stalked for real?!
Kingston is ready to turn in, curling up in his plush, flannel dog bed by the fireplace.
The kitchen drawer is outlined in light from where I shoved the earbud.
I could just leave it in there for the rest of my stay, or I could destroy it.
Do old 1920’s remodeled homes have garbage disposals?
Would pulverizing this one break the link between me and my deranged stalker?
I grab a wooden spoon out of the utensil container on the counter.
Open the drawer, ready to shred this thing into a thousand pieces, when my phone vibrates again.
I grab it off the table, expecting my parents to have forgotten to tell me something, but instead, it’s a text from an unknown number.
Unknown: Be a good girl and put the earbud in.
I slammed the drawer shut, as if a snake was within it. I make my way to a window; moving the curtain to the side, I scan the dark yard for any signs of movement. I do this from each window but find nothing.
The tired dog whines. Poor Kingston probably thinks we were waiting for someone to arrive.
Soon, I find myself yawning uncontrollably.
Just as before, I powered down my phone.
I already changed my number, and I did not want to receive any more messages.
Once I was confident no one was outside, I too curled up in the living room to fall asleep.
There was no way I was walking outside, in the dark, to get to the guest suite.
What if someone breaks in? The best thing I had was a set of wrought iron and fireplace tools.
I pull the stand over to the couch before wrapping myself in a throw blanket and using the underside of a scratchy embroidered pillow of a mallard, for my head.
My eyes feel so heavy that regardless of my fears, I stand no chance of remaining awake.
At least Kingston is here. Surely, he would wake me.
With that slight piece of mind, I soon drift off.