She handed them to me and my stomach started rumbling as I went into the kitchen. Although I was still freaked out about the flying shadow, I was also starving, as I hadn’t eaten anything since my salad at the diner earlier.
I opened up the refrigerator and took out the large bowl of pasta, setting it on the counter. As I began scooping out some of the salad, the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. I raised my eyes to the window facing me and let out a bloodcurdling scream. A pale face was staring at me through the glass. It disappeared quickly and I leaped away from the window in terror.
“What’s wrong?” hollered my brother, rushing into the kitchen.
“Someone was watching me,” I choked, pointing towards the window. “Through there!”
He stared at my frightened face then grabbed a butcher knife from the block.
“What are you planning on doing with that?” cried mom, entering the kitchen.
“Nikki thinks there’s someone out there.” He raised the knife. “If there is someone, I’m not going unarmed.”
Just then the doorbell rang, startling us all.
“I’ll get it,” said mom. “Hopefully it’s the sheriff and he can take a look around outside.”
We followed her to the front door and she swung it open.
“Hello,” smiled Caleb, holding out two bottles of wine, a red and a white. “I wasn’t sure if you were a wine drinker or not. I brought red and white, just in case.”
“Thank God you’re here,” she said, grabbing a bottle of wine and pulling him through the door. “Nikki thinks someone is lurking around outside.”
“Think?” I snapped. “I know there is. Someone was in the woods watching all of us, and then a face stared at me through the window.”
Caleb was dressed in civilian clothing, jeans and a white polo shirt, but he reached down by his ankle and pulled out a gun. “Okay, I’ll go take a look. You guys stay inside and lock your doors.”
“Mom, I’m seriously really scared,” I said, as she locked the door. “What the hell is going on around here?”
She walked over and hugged me. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”
“What if it’s dad?” said Nathan, his face pale. “What if he’s found us and is trying to scare the shit out of us?”
“Oh, hell, I never even considered that,” said mom, looking quite troubled, herself. “I hope not.”
“Would he do that?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. The law is after him now. He might do anything. I can’t imagine how he found out where we were staying, though. The only person who knew was Ernie.”
“I think you should call Ernie and make sure he’s okay,” said Nathan.
She moved towards the phone, her face white. “I’ll call him right now.”
There was a loud knock at the door. “It’s me. Let me in. Everything’s okay,” called Caleb.
Mom put down the phone and rushed to the door. “Did you find anything?” she asked, when he stepped inside.
He smiled. “Actually, I found a couple of raccoons outside that were looking pretty mischievous. I didn’t find anything else out of the ordinary, though.”
“Um, did you see footprints by any of the kitchen windows, or any prints?” asked Nathan.
He bit back a smile. “I didn’t see much, I’m sorry. But I really don’t think there’s anyone out there.”
“I know what I saw, and it was a human face, staring at me through the kitchen window,” I said. “It freaked the crap out of me.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Okay, what did this person look like?”
I sighed. “It was hard to tell, it happened so fast.”
“If you couldn’t really tell, then it’s quite possible that you saw an animal,” said Caleb, walking towards the window. He lifted one of the blinds and peered outside. “There are a lot of those in these woods.”
“It moved so quickly, I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, but it definitely wasn’t an animal. I’m sure of that,” I said
He released the blind and walked back over to us. “I can look around again, if it makes you feel better.”
“Thank you, Caleb,” interrupted my mom. “This family has been through so much that it would really be comforting if you could do that for us.”
He nodded slowly. “Okay, I understand. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Thank you,” I said, as he walked back towards the door.
“No problem. If it’s going to calm everyone down, I’ll be happy to do it.”