by C. L. Brees
“We should get out there and look for her before it gets too dark outside.”
“Yeah, we don’t have much daylight left. Lead the way,” Mike insisted as Alex walked into the dining room then the living room.
“We’re going out to look for Heather. John, do you mind walking down with Amy to her house to get her stuff for tonight?”
“Sure, I can do that.”
Alex smiled and grabbed Mike’s jacket off of the coat rack. The two exited the house and made their way to the driveway where Mike had parked behind Alex’s BMW. Mike looked over at Alex and flashed a smile.
“We’re going to find her, Alex. You know that and I know that.”
“I have faith that we’ll find her safe and sound.”
5
Alex and Mike searched for Heather for over an hour and a half but had no luck in locating her anywhere in the subdivision or shopping centers closest to the house. As Mike drove past the guard shack back into the subdivision he could sense the feeling of failure upon Alex’s face. As they pulled up in front of the house, Alex opened the door without saying a word. Just as Alex was about to step out onto the street, Mike quickly grabbed his forearm.
“Alex, listen to me…she’ll turn up. If it will make you feel any better, call me in the morning and let me know if you’ve heard from her. If she hasn’t reached out by then, I’ll file a missing person’s report myself personally.”
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t have to come to that.”
“I hope it doesn’t, but just know that I’m on your side here.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate that Mike. I better get inside and get some rest. I have a feeling I am going to need all I can get.”
Chuckling aloud Mike turned to Alex, “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Alex quickly walked up the walkway towards the front door. Mike sat in his SUV, watching to make sure he found his way inside safely. As Alex unlocked the door and entered, Mike drove away. To his surprise, both his mom and Amy were both camped out in the living room, watching a show on television.
“I’m surprised you two are still awake.”
“We were waiting up for you. Did you guys have any luck finding her?” Amy asked.
“We didn’t. We searched the park, the entire subdivision, went through all her favorite stores—nothing.”
“Well, we shall see if she surfaces tomorrow. But for now, you two really should start getting ready for bed,” Carol insisted, as she stood up from the couch.
“You’re absolutely right. We do have an early morning ahead of us, Alex.”
“Well then, let’s get to it,” Alex said as they made their way towards the staircase. “Goodnight, mom.”
“Goodnight. See you bright and early.”
In the middle of the night, the somber storm clouds had moved in on Ridgewood Hills. A light mist had begun to fall over the town while everyone slept. Lying in the guestroom across the hallway from Alex’s room, Amy could hear as the drops of rain pounded upon the window. The slight sound of a rolling thunder could be heard in the distance as she lay there, tossing and turning in the bed. She rolled her head over to check the illuminated alarm clock on the nightstand. The bright LED display indicated it was two forty-five in the morning. She sighed and rolled back over onto her other side, facing away from the alarm clock. She knew sleep was going to be her enemy that night.
Meanwhile, across the hallway Alex lay fast asleep in his bed. He wasn’t the type of person to be disturbed by the rain, storms, or any drama that was going on in his life; if he was tired, there was nothing that could disrupt him from getting his rest.
Amy, on the other hand, still could not fall asleep. She softly arose from the bed and made her way into the dark hallway. She couldn’t help it—a late night snack sounded good to her in that moment. She crept out into the hallway, trying hard to be as quiet as possible. She didn’t want to make any noises that could possibly wake up Alex or Carol. As she moved down the hallway, the creaking floor beneath her echoed off of the walls. She began moving faster, hoping that the quicker she walked the quicker the sound would end. She didn’t want it to be a nuisance to the others who slept so close by. She finally made it to the dark foyer downstairs.
She wondered aloud to herself, “should I turn on the lights?”
Amy believed she could get away with turning on the dining room lights and rummaging through the kitchen with the dim light from the adjacent room. Opening the refrigerator door, Amy grabbed a small bag filled with turkey, a jar of mayonnaise, and a slice of mozzarella cheese. She closed the refrigerator behind her and made her way to the other side of the kitchen to grab some bread, a knife, and a plate. In the distance she heard a noise that startled her. It was as if someone were walking throughout the house. She set the plate down gently but kept the serrated knife grasped tightly in her hand as she crept slowly back towards the dining room.
Amy eventually made her way to the corner of the dining room to investigate the noise. Petrified, she grasped the knife in her hand. She could see a shadowy figure moving near the staircase. She quickly retreated back into the kitchen with her back against the wall. Her heart was now beating rapidly and her palms were becoming sweaty as she continued to hold the knife tightly in her hand. The sound of footsteps kept getting louder and louder with every passing second as she kept inching backwards along the wall. Just as she was about to make her move, she raised the knife above her head. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight, she thought to herself. All of a sudden the shadowy figure appeared around the corner. It was Alex.
“Amy is that you in there?”
Amy heard Alex’s whisper and let the knife down to her side. She walked quicker out of the kitchen and around the corner into the dining room.
“Yeah, it’s just me, Alex. You scared the shit out of me. I had to come downstairs for something to eat. I can’t sleep.”
“It’s alright Amy. You know you can set the knife down now; it’s just me. There’s no one in here except us.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that – sorry,” she said as she placed the knife on the kitchen counter. “I got hungry, and it’s hard for me to fall asleep, partly because I’m not used to sleeping in a different house, but mainly because I’m worried about what Mike told us earlier—you know, about these crazy lunatics who are killing off people we know one by one. What if these guys decide to try and murder me next?”
“They’ll have a hard time doing that Amy. Why are you stressing about that? We live in the safest neighborhood in all of Metro Denver. My house has one of the best security systems on the market, and finally we have Mike only a mile away from here.”
“You’re right, Alex. Why am I over-reacting to this? Do you think we are going to be in any shape to go to school today?”
“I feel up for it, but I can tell you’re not, since you were just about to murder me in my own house! I think I can afford to miss a few more days of school. We’ve only missed two days this entire year so far,” Alex joked as he saw a shadowy figure in the corner of his eye moving outside the living room window.
Amy realized that he saw something, and she watched as Alex quickly made his way towards the living room. “What is it, Alex?”
“I swear I saw a shadow outside in the front yard,” Alex shrieked as he grabbed Amy’s arm and pulled her closer to him.
The two slowly made their way into the darkened living room. They inched closer towards the large picture window. The blinds were wide open, and the view outdoors was crystal clear. Amy looked at Alex as he concentrated on the window.
“Maybe it was just a stray animal of some sort,” Amy said.
“I don’t think it was a stray, Amy. Since when do you know a stray animal that stands on two legs and is tall enough to be moving in front of the window?”
“Alex, I think we’re both just on edge right now, maybe it was your mind playing tricks on you—you know, showing you things that really aren’t there to begin with
.”
Alex walked up to the window and scanned the front lawn. There was nothing to be seen except for the raindrops that fell from the sky. He quickly closed the blinds and walked away from the window as fast as he could.
“True. But I’m sorry, I know what I saw and I sure as fuck know that it was no stray animal looking in my window.”
“Well if it was a person, who do you think it was?”
“It’s hard telling; I didn’t see their face. All I saw was a bulky figure standing there, and when I turned my head it quickly moved away from the window.”
“Now I’m worried. What if someone is watching the house? I think you had better call Mike, like now. He did tell us to call him anytime tonight if something happened.”
“I don’t think we need to wake Mike up for this. For Christ’s sake, it’s almost three in the morning. Look, I tell you what; I have some tequila hidden under my bed. Why don’t we just make a margarita or two and then get back to bed?” Alex asked as Amy pondered the offer. “So do we have a deal or what?”
“Alright, you got yourself a deal,” Amy exclaimed. She grabbed hold of Alex’s arm, and they made their way towards the kitchen through the dimly lit corridor.
Alex grabbed two small glasses, a salt shaker, some sliced limes, and the margarita mix from the refrigerator. He gently closed the door to the refrigerator and the two stealthily made their way back up the stairs. Alex wasn’t a big drinker and neither was Amy. But with strange things happening around town, he figured What could it hurt for us to have a drink? Alex reached his bedroom door and quietly opened it inward. He walked in and sprawled out on his stomach to reach under his bed. He pulled out a small bottle of Jose Cuervo Silver and placed it on his bed. He sat up in the bed, clutching the bottle as he stood to his feet. Walking over towards his desk, he set the bottles down and opened them. He poured a small amount of tequila into each of the glasses, squeezed a couple of limes in, and filled the rest of the glass with the sour mix. He handed Amy her glass and picked up the salt shaker on his desk, sprinkling a small around directly into his glass. He was in crisis mode and there was no time to salt the rim directly. He handed the salt shaker to Amy who did the same. She took a huge sip from the glass and coughed a little.
“Whoa, thanks Alex. I am starting to feel a little better now. I’m sure after this I’ll be able to go back to sleep.”
“There’s no need to rush. I was about to say: relax—we’ll get back to sleep in a little bit. We still need to finish this drink and—why not—have a second. There’s nothing wrong with having a little buzz if it will help get us back to sleep.”
“Ah, what the hell, it can’t hurt I suppose. I mean after all, if Mr. All-Put-Together says it’s alright, then who am I to question it.”
“You got that right! Here you go,” Alex said as he poured a tad more tequila into both of their glasses.
“Well, bottoms up,” Amy said as she raised her glass.
“Bottoms up, Amy.”
Setting the glass down on the desk she looked up him. “Thanks, Alex.”
Anytime. Now, go back to bed and we can figure out what we’ll be doing in a few short hours. There is still time to change your mind about school.”
“Alright, goodnight. I’m almost one hundred percent sure that I will not be going to class,” she whispered as she soundlessly closed the door behind her.
Alex climbed back underneath his covers, which by now were ice cold again. He glanced over at the clock on his nightstand: three forty-five in the morning. He groaned to himself, knowing the alarm was going to screech in only two hours. He lay there, staring up at the ceiling, his mind racing and recalling the shadowy figure that had been lurking outside of his home earlier. Even though he didn’t share his feeling with Amy, he was panicked inside. What if Mike was right and someone was after him? He knew there wasn’t a chance in hell he would fall back asleep after that sort of scare. He knew he had to try though, even if it was only for a few hours.
He continued to lie in bed for ten minutes, trying to justify the reasons that not going to school that day. Eventually he concluded that only getting a few measly hours of sleep wasn’t going to be enough to get him through the day. It was truly pointless of him to even attempt to go in that morning. He gave one final look around his room before he laid his head down on the pillow. The room looked clear of any intruders. He fumbled on his nightstand for his remote. If he was going to try and fall back to sleep, he knew he needed some background noise. He flipped the TV on and rolled back onto his side facing away from the TV. He slowly closed his eyes. He was starting to feel the effects of the tequila settling in. It wasn’t long before he fell back asleep.
A few hours later, like clockwork, Alex’s alarm clock blasted out a country song. He rolled over on his side and slammed his hand down on the “snooze” button. Once again he found himself looking up at the ceiling. His train of thought was interrupted by a soft knock at his door.
“Come in.”
“Are you awake?” Amy’s soft voice whispered as she peeked slightly into the room.
“Yeah, I just woke up. You don’t have to stand out there; you can come in.”
“I couldn’t sleep last night at all. I just kept worrying about someone breaking in here. How did you sleep?”
“It wasn’t as good as I usually sleep, but I fell back to sleep after about twenty minutes or so. I can tell you that I didn’t get nearly as much as I would have liked.”
“So even though I’m up early I’m far from mentally prepared to go to school. I hope you didn’t have a change of heart in the past few hours. I mean, quite honestly, I’m exhausted and I’m not ready to go back just yet – you know what I mean?”
“I understand completely what you’re saying. As I was lying here last night I thought the same exact thing. You know me though—I kept trying to justify why we really needed to go. That was very short lived though. I don’t really think taking another day off from school is going to hurt us.”
“Well, I suppose I couldn’t sleep last night for many reasons. The main reason was that I was like two seconds away from being murdered, then Kelli was murdered in broad daylight, and now Heather has been missing all night. It’s just a lot to take in for one day,” Amy said as she lay down on the other side of the bed and crawled under the covers with Alex.
“Alright, you don’t have to try anymore to convince me. We’ll take the day off. We can call this a mental health day of sorts. I’ll get mom to cover for us and get her to run by the school before work to drop off my British Literature paper.”
“You’re the best, Alex. I will also let my parents know that I’m staying in with you today. Can you believe that they didn’t even bat an eye last night when I told them I almost died in that robbery? They spend too much time staying drunk and mad at each other to even care about what’s going on in my life.”
“Yeah, I assure you that they won’t be winning any parent of the year awards any time soon, that’s for sure. Besides, you’re moving in less than three months. You’ll be able to put all of those worries behind you.”
“Right. And don’t you forget Alex Jones, you still owe me an answer by this Sunday about whether you’re moving to New York City with me or not.”
“Trust me, I haven’t forgotten.”
Alex wasn’t sure how he felt about missing another day of school, but for Amy’s sanity he figured it would be the right thing to do. The only thing that he really had going on of any importance that day was making sure his paper was turned in. The rest of the day was going to be nothing exciting. Amy sprang up out of bed and went back across the hall to the guest bedroom to change clothes.
Alex rolled his legs out from beneath the covers and placed his feet on the floor. He began walking towards his closet to pick out a pair of jeans and a polo shirt for the day. He figured there was no point in dressing up or anything since they would most likely just bum around the house all day. Once he picked out his clothes, he stepp
ed into the bathroom and glanced at himself in the mirror. He was looking even more tired now than he did the day before. He turned the faucet to warm and leaned down towards the sink. Cupping his hands under the water, he splashed the warm water onto his face and rubbed it in. He looked back in the mirror and cracked a smile at himself. Even when he was feeling completely drained of all his energy, he could always find a way to see the positive side of anything. It didn’t hurt that he was feeling a lot better that he and Mike had finally made up. What Mike had told him the night before about the string of violent crimes that had taken place recently in Ridgewood Hills still lingered in the back of his mind. As he walked out of the bathroom, he heard the telephone ringing from his desk. He quickly raced over and picked up the phone.
“Alex here.”
“Good morning Alex, its Mrs. Burgess. How are you doing this morning?”
“Good morning, Mrs. Burgess, I’m tired, but I’ll be alright. Did you ever hear from Heather?”
“She’s still not home and I’ve been trying and trying to reach her, but I can’t find her. I’m trying my best to hang in there, you know, hoping that she’ll walk through the door any minute. What do you think I should do?”
“I’ll call my boyfriend and check with him on the next step. I can’t believe she would just disappear like this. It’s so not like her at all,” Alex stated.
“No, she’s never been gone this long without at least calling to give me an update. If she’s not with you guys, she’s in class or at the park. Can you please call me back and let me know what he says?”
“Of course, you’ll be the first one I call once I have some information.”
