You are on page 1of 2

That note should do the trick. I smirked. He wouldnt dare mess with me now.

Im an unknown shadow, a merciless monster in the darkness. I smiled as I shut the office door behind me. Nothing is scarier than an ominous, unseen threat. How can he defend himself? He doesnt even know who I am, and I have left no trace. How could a simplistic writer match wits with a genius like me? Its impossible. Silver streaks of moonlight shone through the window illuminating the furniture with a light, bluish glow. This was a nice place to stay. It looks like the writer wont be back for a while. It was almost midnight, and I had already been here almost an hour. Most writers dont have a night life, and I doubted that he went on a late night shopping trip. My eyes looked over at the grocery bags by the door. Thats odd, I said to myself as I walked over to them. Speedy Sams Grocery: We Deliver to You! was written on the bag. He has his groceries delivered to him? Thats weird. Usually Speedy Sams delivered to nursing homes, or places where someone was either too busy or too lazy to leave. This wasnt a nursing home, and someone who spent his days stalking me was not busy or lazy. Something was odd. He was a writerso maybe he didnt want to interrupt his flow of work? That wouldnt explain it at all. He would still have to be interrupted by the door bell, fill out paper work, pay the delivery man, and then sort out the groceries. My mind worked through the problem as I sat down in a chair. Things were becoming interesting. I stared at the door, wondering if this were some kind of trap. That thought still did not leave me. The fact that he had his groceries delivered didnt help. Nothing was making sense. If he didnt leave his house, then where was he? Id seen every room, and he wasnt there. The bathrooms were empty, the closets were too small and crowded with junk to hide in for more than a few minutes, and I hadnt heard any movement in the house. Maybe hed left to visit family or something. After a few more minutes of thinking, I gave up. Well, it doesnt matter now does it? If he were here, Id know it. I looked up at the clock. 12:30 am. Yep, its time for sleep. I stretched for a second and looked at the bed. No, I wont sleep there. There are some rules that I have to follow in my profession, and one is to not sleep on beds. Its dangerous and too risky to take chances. Think about it. When a person sleeps, they leave behind all kinds of evidence subconsciously. They cant control how they breathe, if they leave a little saliva on the pillow, if a hair will fall out onto the pillow or mattress, or even if they sneeze and leave residue on the headboard. Well, that went a little far. Still, I would NOT sleep in the bed. I felt satisfied with my analysis of the situation and wandered across the room. Where else could I sleep? I could sleep in the chair, but that is next to the window. No telling who would suddenly be nosy and look in at me. Theyd recognize Im not the owner, and call the cops. I didnt need cops tonight, just a good nights sleep. A yawn escaped my chest as I walked across the den. I was suddenly alert. Beep. There it was again. Beep. Some kind of weird beeping noise was coming from the corner of the room. What was that?

I walked slowly over to the beeping sound and realized that it was accompanied by a little red light. It was just an answering machine, but curiosity was driving me crazy. Who would call at midnight? I wouldve heard it earlier. Someone mustve called within the last 30 minutes, or I wouldve heard this beeping noise earlier. But why didnt I hear the phone ring? Beep. The tension mixed with curiosity was driving me crazy. My heart beat hard inside my chest as my hand reached down towards the black machine. My finger gently touched the button and the recording started. Josiah, everything will be fine, dont worry. This isntthis isnt what it seems like. You dont understand things honey She paused, taking a deep breath, You dont understand. I would tell you, but you wouldnt understand. Dont worry. Everything will be ok. Please call back when you can. Bye Josiah. The machine clicked. No more messages, it said in a strange robotic voice. She seemed familiar. Somewhere deep inside me I felt like Id heard that voice, but I could not place it. My eyes stared lazily at the machine as the beeping stopped and everything went back to normal. After a few moments, the little red flashes registered that they had nothing to tell me, so they stopped. I felt a little bit of guilt prying into the life of someone who obviously had some kind of issues. It was a little disconcerting to know that I had just skimmed a page in the journal of someones deep personal turmoil. My conscience seemed to whisper to me about the horrible breach of privacy I had just committed, but I shrugged it off. It was easier than I expected. Well, its time for sleep. Thats what I need right now. He wouldnt notice what I had done. He probably wouldnt care. I closed the door behind me and sat in the office chair. My sight became blurry as I drifted off into sleep. I knew there was more to this whole situation, but it was not something I wanted to think about. It was time for sleep.

You might also like