09 – The Intruder

Chloe aims the pistol right in front of her while she walks through the bead curtain of her room stark naked. The cold beads glide over her back and buttocks and her sides so that she gets goose bumps all over her body and even becomes more aware of her nudity.

Someone can now easily see her without her knowing it but, this is not the most important at this stage. She must search the place thoroughly for possible intruders that lurk somewhere. She heard them so clearly a few moments ago.

But even the plastic bags haven’t been disturbed. She walks to the back door and tests it. It is locked. She realizes that Robert has his own set of keys and he could come in and exit again at will, but that barefoot footsteps don’t fit his limp walk. She, however, don’t want to take any chance so she slides in the extra safety catch. No one will now be able to enter even with a key.

Then she searches the guest rooms, the bathroom and in the sitting room she also tests the front door and secures it.

Nothing so far! The doors are securely locked. She gets the creepy feeling that someone is looking at her bare buttocks and enjoys it and she looks at the portraits and straight into the green and brown eyes of the man and the woman. Her imagination is surely now running away with her.

She jerks with fright when she realizes what the noise was of something that fell down in the sitting room. The portrait of the boy and girl with the bloodied hands fell down and lies face down on the floor. She again gets goose bumps all over her body as she remembers the barefoot treads of children on the plank floor. It could only have been little children that ran along the corridor and up the stairs. But why did it become silent on the ceiling? Are they hiding in the attic?

Her heart pounces quicker as she steadily ascends the stairs with the pistol ready in her hand. The opening to the attic is dark and ominous. Someone can watch her easily without her knowing it. She readies herself to pull the trigger instantly.

The cold beads again tease her body and she shivers. She is ready with her finger on the trigger. She heaves a sigh of relief when she pulls the string and the light comes on. To her utter surprise, the attic is empty. No one, nothing!

Only a cool breeze greets her and she remembers that the windows in the attic are wide open. She walks up to the window at the other side and puts her head out. She looks at the dark, grotesque forest that encircles her little place. The trees look like giant zombies that silently watch her. It is straight down from up here to the ground below and one will have to use a very long ladder to reach the attic from outside. She should certainly have heard if someone tried that. She also checks the other window with the same result. To where have those barefooted creatures disappeared or is she totally going mad?

This is her first evening and already strange things are happening. Is this the type of thing that chased previous tenants away?

There simply must be a logical explanation and it slowly dawns upon her. Rats! It must have been giant rats that inhabit the woods. They must have smelled her groceries in the kitchen and came to investigate in the dark. Her creaking bed warned them and they must have scattered and escaped through the windows before she could see them. Maybe they are big enough that their footsteps resemble those of little barefoot children.

She smiles complacently and believes herself that this is the only logical explanation. The previous owners were driven away by their own imagination and rats

She closes both windows. They are heavy wooden framed with only hinges and no latches or locks and because of their weight will be secure. She pulls them tight and realizes that the wind will even push them closer. No rat will be able to enter from outside. She is satisfied. This is good enough.

Chloe puts out the light and downstairs she puts the photo of the children in its place on the showcase and once again she feels the shiver over her naked buttocks as if someone studies her and once again she looks into the green eyes of the woman that seem to follow her every movement. She smiles at her and put out her tongue at her before she checks every cupboard and cabinet. Only then she is completely satisfied and then hangs a sheet over the blinds. Tomorrow she will get Finale rat poison to poison the rats if they dare come near her groceries.

Chloe sits down on her bed and takes her smartphone. She again phones Zoey but gets the same reply from the network. Zoey didn’t phone at seven as she promised. That means they haven’t reached the hostel! Zoey could have used an alternative phone if their cell phones were defective. Anxiety is now brewing deep inside Chloe. They must have been stranded or in an accident along the way! They had to drive over that very dangerous mountain pass!

And now it is three-o’-clock in the morning!

The best plan is now to set her alarm at five-o’-clock and tries to force herself to sleep. She will then take to the road as soon as the sun rises at six and go in search of Zoey and Lyle. They probably sit somewhere along the way with no network signal. If she goes now it might be too dark to see them and accidentally pass them.

She puts out her room light but leaves the rest of the lights on. If something once again awakens her suddenly she wants to see it clearly. She engages the pistol’s safety catch and put it under the pillow and still naked she gets into bed and tries to switch off her thoughts as well so as to get a little rest.

~*~*~

Chloe feels that she has slept only for an hour when the alarm rudely awakens her. Unsteady she waggles to the bathroom. She puts on the light and enters the shower. Once again she feels a shivering on her backside and then remembers the blinds. Without curtains and with the dark outside someone might watch her even from a distance. Even from the high trees and she’ll never know. It now feels as if she is exposed to a crowd of lusty men on a stand that sit and watch her. Luckily the bathroom faces the backside of the house.

She gets out from under the shower, dries herself and put on clothes. She is relieved to be covered and promises herself to get curtains as soon as possible for privacy’s sake.

Chloe opens the front door wide and walks out on the veranda. She looks around for rats but it is dead quiet and the air is fresh and clean. Even the nasty wind of yesterday seems to have gone someplace else.

She now understands why it looks darker than usual for this time in the morning. There is a light drizzle. She smells the effect of the rain upon the woods; the aromatic combination of wet leaves, grass, twigs and creeping insects all over. She simply loves the smell of this forest. It is very different from the smells of the farm.

She knows she will become infatuated by the isolation of the place; her own reclusive house away from the tensions of the farm. She invites the smells inside when she goes back through the front door.

Suddenly her phone rings in the sleeping room and she leaves the front door wide open and runs to her phone. Maybe it is Zoey! Hope flickers inside her. Maybe the Venture had some problems and they were at a place with no network signal. Maybe they got help in the meantime.

She grabs her phone and looks hopefully at the screen but all her hopes are dashed when she sees Leo’s name. Damn, where is Zoey!

“Hello Leo, why are you calling so early?”

“Chloe, sorry to disturb you so early. But where are you? I am worried sick over you, my girl.”

“Leo, hasn’t Ronnie told you anything?”

“What are you talking about? What is going on? Where are you? Where have you slept last night? What …”

“Leo, I moved into a house near the city. You and Ronnie better sort out the nonsense between you or I don’t return to the farm. My presence is unhealthy for the two of you and I don’t want to add to the tension between you.”

“What? Don’t be silly, Chloe; it is your farm! Where are you hiding now, Chloe?”

“Where I don’t have to experience your childishness, Leo.”

“Are you going to live alone there?”

“Zoey was supposed to join me last night, but I am quite distressed now. She took Lyle to the hostel with the Venture and should have phoned me at seven from the hostel and again sometime before she reaches the city. She has never phoned and her cell is dead and I am going to search for them. I’ll just finish up here and then I’ll be on my way.”

“Once again I must ask you; what is going on, Chloe? I wanted to ask you yesterday but you cut me off. Why did Zoey take Lyle? Where is Quinn.”

“Well, your little asses, both of you! I asked Ronny pertinently to tell you everything. I’m not going to tell you anything. Ask him what is going on!”

“Sis Chloe, you are really nasty with me. What did I do that you treat me so badly? Just tell me where you are and I’ll be there in a jiffy and we can go and search for Zoey together, my darling.”

“Leo, you’ve got a lot of work and I will cope and you are holding me up; I am on my way soon. Zoey is probably stranded somewhere without a network signal.”

“Chloe, please wait! Don’t cut me off! Promise you will phone me when you need me. I will make sure my phone is always near me and will come immediately. Promise me, Chloe …”

“Okay Leo, just have a talk with Ronnie. Let him inform you about what happened yesterday between Zoey and Quinn. Bye Leo, I’m going now. It’s becoming light now and I’m really worried …”

“Chloe ...”

She cuts him off instantly and the next thing she hears is a loud bang from her sitting room and her heart misses a beat.

That is a new sound!

She forgot completely to close the front door. The isolation of this place renders her reckless. She grabs her pistol once again and aiming at the floor, she moves down the corridor. She doesn’t want to aim in front of her because it could be Robert that entered to fix something and she doesn’t want to get a fright when she sees his scarred face and shoot him accidentally.

She stops just before the bead curtain in the corridor as she sees a man sitting on the antique couch. She moves up to the curtain and peeps at him. She now realizes what caused the noise. There is a box on the coffee table in front of him. It looks like a box filled with books. He naturally dropped it on the table and is now sitting there with closed eyes. She puts the gun in her denim belt at her back and keeping her hand on the pistol with her finger straight and ready to, if necessary, draws it and to shoot like an American outlaw as Tony trained her.

Then she moves as silently as possible through the beads and takes place at a safe distance behind the coffee table in front of him. As usual, the beads made a sound but he sits motionless with closed eyes. Is he really sleeping? He looks relatively young and is quite attractive.

Who is this intruder that walks in just like that and leisurely make himself at home in her house?