Deciding I had imagined the figure and was simply being paranoid, I then hurried to my mom’s room to get settled in for the night. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not shake the feeling that whoever had invaded our home was still out there, watching us.
Watching me.
Chapter 5
I tossed and turned all night long, unable to sleep. But I wasn’t the only one. Mom woke several times during the night; I heard her padding through the house, double-checking the locks and windows. Oliver couldn’t seem to get comfortable, and when the sun finally cast an early morning glow through the curtain, I gave up trying to sleep any longer and just lay there, staring at the ceiling.
When we eventually decided to get out of bed and face the aftermath, we headed downstairs and began with the kitchen. With brooms and dustpans in hand, we swept up the glass, tossing it in the trash bin. Mom followed with the vacuum cleaner to be sure she picked up all the tiny shards. Once we’d cleaned the floor and the counters, she began making breakfast, and within minutes, the smell of pancakes filled the kitchen. I helped flip them on the griddle until each of us had a nice tall stack.
We tucked in at the breakfast counter to eat, but I struggled to get them down, and before long, they were churning in the pit of my stomach. I picked at what was left on my plate, glancing at my family. They looked as tired as I felt, but Mom seemed determined to get the house tidied as soon as possible. She drained her cup of coffee and set the mug down with an affirmative nod.
“Right, I’m going to call the alarm system company that Sheriff Biggins recommended and a locksmith to change the locks on the doors as well. Hopefully, it won’t take too long to get everything sorted out. Then we can get on with the rest of the house.” She picked up the phone and dialed a number. Five minutes later, she was yelling at someone on the other end, and Oliver and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m not waiting two weeks to have someone come out to my house,” she snapped in her best mom voice. “My home was broken into last night, and I have two kids. You think making me wait for the insurance company to contact you is going to help? And why does that even matter?” She paced around the kitchen, nodding her head, but whatever the person was saying only set her off again. “Look, I don’t care what your policies are, but please get someone out here today, or you’ll be getting a visit from the sheriff!”
Two minutes later, she was smirking and thanking the person before hanging up.
“They’ll be here this afternoon,” she grinned as she searched for the number of a locksmith. That call seemed to be much easier. Barely five minutes later, she set the phone back in its place on the benchtop and planted her hands on her hips, observing the scene around her.
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Oliver mumbled.
Mom winked and tied her hair back in a blue bandana. “I don’t think you two could ever be on my bad side. But I wasn’t kidding when I said everyone in this town thought I was losing my mind. Your mom’s got a crazy side you will hopefully never see.”
With her leading, and putting on some very loud, bouncy music to flood the house, we set to work. As we went, we kept a list of anything that was destroyed beyond repair so Mom could tell the insurance company and we could buy replacements.
“On the bright side,” Mom said, after wiping sweat from her brow and retying the bandanna in her hair, “I never liked those dishes, but now we can get new ones.”
That was how we looked at each room we cleaned. It was springtime anyway, so it was the perfect time to clean out the house. I thought the day would have dragged by, but by two o’clock, the main floor was cleaned and organized once again. My cell phone buzzed on the kitchen table, and I hurried to see who it was.
“It’s Kate,” I told Mom. “Can I take a break?”
“Yeah, I think we’re done for today unless you two want to tackle your rooms.”
I hugged her one more time before I bolted upstairs, deciding I could chat while I cleaned. I was eager to get my room back to some semblance of normal and was still considering scrubbing it from top to bottom. I loathed the fact that someone had been in there touching everything I owned.
By the time I reached the top of the stairs, Kate had hung up. So I called her back. She picked up on the first ring and started rambling before I even managed to say hello. “Where were you today? Rumors are going around, and Jack said that his dad was at your place last night. He said your house was broken into! Are you guys okay? Was the person still there—”
“It’s okay!” I interrupted her. “We’re fine, all of us are fine. But it was all so scary!”
“Oh my gosh, Holly! What happened?”
“While we were out last night, someone broke into our house,” I explained as I bent down to pick up the schoolbooks that had been dumped out of my backpack. Every pocket had been emptied, and the contents were thrown all over the room.
“We had to watch the sheriff come in and search the house. It was really scary!” My voice shook with the memory. No matter how much I told myself we were safe, I was still scared and anxious. I wasn’t sure that our house would ever feel safe again.
“I can’t believe it! Do you want me to come over? Do you need anything?” The concern in my friend’s voice rang in my ear.
“No, it’s okay. Thanks for offering, Kate. But I think I’ll be back at school the day after tomorrow. We’re going to need another day to get our bedrooms, and the rest of the house sorted.”
“They went through your bedrooms?”
“Yeah, my clothes were everywhere. It’s weird and creepy! But Mom called the alarm system people this morning. They should be coming out soon to get us all hooked up, and a locksmith is coming, too. Mom’s not leaving anything to chance.”
“I can’t imagine how crazy that is. You’re sure you don’t need anything?” She was such a good friend, and I wondered if she was already on her front porch, ready to rush over if I said I did need her.
“No, I don’t think so. Except maybe your notes from today and tomorrow. I hate missing school.”
She sighed loudly. “Really? Holly, your house was broken into. I think you’re allowed to miss a few days of school.”
“But I’ll get behind and—”
“Seriously?” she scolded. “You don’t need to worry about school right now!”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s just so weird though because nothing was taken.”
“Like nothing at all?”
“No, all our electronics are still here, and everything of value is still lying around. Even Mom’s jewelry is still in her room. Whoever broke in damaged a lot of things, but they didn’t take anything.”
“What about the…you know what?” she whispered.
I frowned, not sure what she was talking about; then it registered as I pictured the metal case that held the time machine. The one really important thing that we’d completely forgotten about. “Oh no!”
Sprinting from my room, I skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs when I heard Mom talking to someone out on the porch. While she was distracted, I rushed down the steps to the basement, almost tripping on my feet, only to find Oliver had beaten me.
“Is it still there?” I blurted, startling him. I stared around wildly, and although the basement was a mess, half the boxes hadn’t been disturbed. Oliver stood beside the pile, not moving. “Oliver, did you hear me?”
“Yeah, yeah the machines are safe…it’s as though he was interrupted or something. Why tear the whole house apart, but stop here?”
I saw where he was pointing and realized the intruder had been two stacks of boxes away from the machines before he stopped his search. Last night when I was in my room, I knew I’d seen someone out on the street. Had it been the guy who broke in? I staggered backward until my calves hit the steps. As I sat down, I heard Kate calling my name, but I wasn’t able to respond. Oliver, his brow furrowed with worry, crouched before me and took the phone from my hand. He said so
mething to Kate then set the phone down.
“I saw him,” I managed to whisper.
“Who?”
“Last night when I looked out my bedroom window…I saw someone standing in the shadows across the road, but I thought I’d imagined it. What if I didn’t? What if we interrupted whoever it was when we came home?”
He scratched absently at the back of his neck. “It’s possible I guess, but the only unlocked door was the kitchen one. We were right by it the whole time. We would have seen him trying to escape.” I heard the doubt in his words as he continued. “You didn’t see anything, Holly. He’s not going to come back. And besides, there is an alarm system being installed today.”
“That might not work if this person can magic their way through walls,” I mumbled.
Oliver straightened suddenly and threw a glance over his shoulder at the undisturbed boxes. “Yeah…but that’s impossible, right?”
“So is time travel.”
My phone buzzed beside me with a text, and I saw Zac’s name. I needed a distraction and numbly told Oliver I was heading back to my room. He barely nodded at me as I trudged up the stairs and closed my bedroom door. Sitting in the middle of the floor, I texted Zac back. He was just as worried as Kate. It was nice to know my friends cared about me.
I spent the rest of the afternoon texting back and forth with Zac and Kate while I organized and cleaned out my closet, my desk, and every inch I could reach. It kept my mind busy. But as the sun set and darkness closed in, I wondered about the shadow-figure I had seen the night before.
My mind swirled with images of him moving in closer and closer; waiting to make his move and come back for whatever he hadn’t found the first time.
Chapter 6
The following afternoon, by the end of what would have been the school day, I felt that my room was finally clean and tidy. I’d hung my clothes back in the closet and put everything else back in its place. I was waiting for Kate to text me, but I wasn’t expecting the doorbell to ring.
“Holly! You have a visitor!” Mom yelled up the stairs.
I checked my phone. Kate would have texted me first. I shoved a stack of books onto the shelf where they belonged and hurried downstairs. To my surprise, I saw Zac smiling shyly on the front porch, a bunch of colorful flowers in his hand. Mom stood by the open door, grinning at me.
“Hey, Holly,” Zac said when I reached him. “I uh, I thought I’d stop by and see how you were doing and all.” He fiddled with the flowers in his grip.
“Thanks, Zac,” I replied. “That’s so nice of you.”
He glanced at the flowers as if he’d forgotten he was even holding them. “Oh, and um…these flowers are for you. I thought they might make you smile after what you’ve been through and all. I wasn’t sure what else to do.”
I heard a hard sniff and glanced over to see Mom watching us both, holding her hand to her mouth. I widened my eyes at her and waited for her to walk away, but she didn’t seem to catch the hint.
“Mom? Mind if I go for a walk with Zac in the park?”
“Sure, sure, go have fun, but be back by dinner, okay?”
I grabbed my jacket off the hook by the door and in my rush to escape my mom, I still had the flowers in my hand as we headed towards the park. One look back told me Mom was still watching and when we turned the corner and were out of sight, I sighed in relief.
“What?” Zac said, but he was already laughing.
“She’s so embarrassing sometimes.”
“Ah, I think all parents are like that.” He kicked a rock down the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets. “You sure you’re ok? Kate said you were pretty shaken up. I can’t even imagine coming home to something like that.”
I ran my fingers over one of the flowers then brought them to my nose, smelling them for a few seconds. They tickled my nose, and I grinned, but my smile didn’t last long.
“Nothing was taken,” I told him as we walked. “Nothing at all. But Oliver and I think he was interrupted. Or her...whoever it was. They were close, though, really close to finding the machines.”
I didn’t want to think about what could have happened if those were found. Zac moved closer until our arms touched and I welcomed having him with me. “Thanks for coming over, Zac. It means a lot, you stopping by and all.”
“Well…we have traveled through time together, so I think it’s the least I can do,” he smiled.
We entered the park and found a bench near the pond and several weeping willows. The light breeze rustled their branches, and I was happy sitting there watching them with Zac at my side. I asked him about school the past couple of days, and he said history was boring without me. But our group had managed to get a heap of work done for the history project.
“Lunch was kinda quiet all around,” he said. “Everyone’s a bit freaked out about your house being busted into like that.”
“What do you mean? It happens all the time on the news.”
“Yeah, maybe in other places, but Jack said his dad was really surprised. There hasn’t been a break-in reported for at least five years,” Zac informed me. “Our town’s pretty sleepy I guess, and our crime rate has never been high.”
I hadn’t thought of it in that way. “It is really strange,” I mumbled. “And I’m sure I saw someone later that night, hiding behind a tree across the road. But it might’ve been a shadow. Or I could have just imagined it.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“Just Oliver. But he thought the same thing I did, that it was just me seeing shadows.” I sat quietly for a moment before speaking again. “I wish it had never happened. There’s enough drama going on in my life to worry about someone breaking into our house.”
“I hope I’m not part of the drama,” he grinned. But at the same time, he seemed worried that I might say yes.
“No, of course you’re not!” I gave him a friendly shove. “I’m so glad we’re hanging out together.”
“Me too,” he smiled. His expression then became more serious. “You’re so much nicer than the other girls at school, Holly. I think you’re really cool.”
I grinned back, my heart soaring at the sound of his words.
At the same time though, I could not help thinking of Jade and what I had done to her history project. If Zac knew about that, I wasn’t sure he’d still feel the same way about me.
When he started talking about school again and offered to give me his notes, I managed to push my guilt aside; but only momentarily. Because all of a sudden, I was confronted with the one person I had not expected to see.
Jade and her group of friends walked towards us. Jade wasn’t dressed as nicely as she usually was and there was no hint of anything except anger on her face. She blocked the sidewalk, her friends spreading out to make a wall.
“What do you want?” Zac asked, annoyed. “Can you move?”
“No, I don’t think I will,” Jade snapped, staring at me as she said it.
“What’s your problem?” Zac frowned at her. “Stop being a bully and just move.”
“I like the park, and I’m allowed to be here, too,” she snarled.
“Go for it,” Zac shot back. “We were just leaving.” He reached for my hand and held it, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything in defense.
Jade’s eyes narrowed as she tapped her toe and crossed her arms. “What’s the matter, Holly? Can’t think of anything to say after what you did?”
My eyes widened in panic. But there was no way she could know about us going back in time to mess up her project. No way. It wasn’t possible! I hadn’t said anything, and I knew Kate wouldn’t. So how did she know?
“What are you talking about?” Zac demanded, stepping partially in front of me.
“She’s the reason I’m currently flunking history!”
“What?” I gasped. Surely, her family tree project wasn’t causing her to fail the class. And besides, she had always been the teacher’s favorite before. I thought she had managed top marks
in everything else she’d submitted. My palms grew sweaty, and I shook my head. “No, that’s not true. And I didn’t do anything to you.”
She smirked. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“If she says she didn’t do anything then I believe her,” Zac said, his tone becoming angry.
“Oh yeah? Then why did I overhear Mrs. Clarke saying that right before our history lesson, Kate sent her off to help someone who didn’t even need her help? Then, when she came back, she found some kids locked inside her classroom messing with something,” Jade yelled, drawing the attention of a few other people in the park. “And on top of that, my box of artifacts went missing!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I tried to say, but she was shaking her head again.
“They were found hidden in a janitor’s closet.”
“Yeah and…?” Zac scoffed, trying to push me even farther behind him. “Anyone could have put them there, even you.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know…to try and get even more attention than you already do! Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have somewhere we need to be.” Zac, still holding my hand firmly in his, guided us around Jade and her friends.
Jade yelled after me, but Zac told me to tune her out, and soon enough we were back on my street. That was when I pulled him to a stop.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, giving me an odd look.
“Don’t worry about Jade. She’s just trying to lay the blame on someone. It’s got nothing to do with you.”
“Actually…it has,” I said slowly, hanging my head.
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