Victoria slipped onto the subway as insignificantly as she could, pulling her dark overcoat tightly around her. She
glanced around nervously, expecting to see Clyde turn the corner at any second.
But if she was anxious before, it was nothing compared to how she felt when she
got off on the other side of town.
“He’s got to be out,” she thought to herself. “A Friday night
at midnight… he’s got to be.”
When she got to his house, she crept up the side of the wall.
Inhaling deeply, searching for courage, she managed to peak in the window.
She let her breath out rapidly in a sigh of relief. He wasn’t in the
common area. Creeping up to the mailbox, she located his hidden key. She
couldn’t help but smile to herself at his stupidity for keeping the same hiding
place after she left.
She quickly slid the key into the lock and turned it as quietly as she
could. Cautiously entering, she let the door close behind her, but took care
not to let it close all the way.
It was strange to her how terrifying it was being back in this house. Not
wanting to waste any time, she quickly and silently crept over to her bedroom
door. He must have figured out a way to unlock it, because the handle gave way
and she entered the dark room.
The bed was unmade, probably from when Clyde had burst through the door
looking for her and consequently thrown back the sheets in a blind attempt to
try and find her. And there it was, over in the corner right where she had left
it. The chest that she had never opened. The chest that had belonged to her
mother before she died. The chest that was rightfully hers.
She could tell the lock had been tampered with, but luckily it had held
fast. The trunk was still shut tight. It was now that she realized a mistake…
how was she going to sneak this out of here? It was fairly heavy and not easy
to conceal. She would just have to hurry.
But she would not have time to deal with this problem.
The calm but intense voice came from the darkness, out of
nowhere. “Well well well, look who decided to come back after all.”
Victoria felt her stomach lurch and turn to lead as she tried
unsuccessfully to suppress the yelp of terror that escaped her lips. She didn’t
dare turn around, because she didn’t want to believe that the voice she heard
had actually come from him.
But reality struck as she heard him approach her from behind. She couldn't bring herself to turn around.
Victoria couldn’t speak. Or move. She could feel the danger in the air. She literally thought her vocal
chords were no longer functional. She felt numb.
Clyde put his face right over her shoulder and whispered in a horrible, demented tone,
“You’re gonna pay for leaving me. Oh yeah, you’re gonna pay.”
No comments:
Post a Comment