To Help A Neighbor

Kate was sitting on her back patio enjoying the late afternoon sun. The golden glow of sunshine lit up the colors in her flower garden like no other time of the day. She came home from work early today and immediately changed into some shorts and a tank top, got herself a tall glass of cold iced tea and headed outside. After the pressure at work with all the changes being made, this is just what she needed to clear her mind. She took a deep breath of the clean fresh air, sat back in her favorite lounge chair and closed her eyes to relax.

Suddenly she heard a faint creaking noise from her neighbor’s house. She opened her eyes and listened but thought maybe she imagined it. She leaned back sipping her tea, closing her eyes again. Then she heard it repeat, this time louder. It was a distinct cracking noise, like on old wooden floorboard splitting. Kate sat straight up, putting her tea on the little turquoise side table. She knew her neighbor Brad wasn’t home; he’d gone to Virginia Beach for the weekend with his buddies. Trying to think what the noise might be, Kate imagined maybe an old shelf snapped in the basement, or possible a pipe broke and there’s water dripping. “No, she said to herself, if there’s water damage it’s because Brad is pretty careless and sometimes forgets to turn off the shower or faucet before leaving the house. It’s happened before.”

with this in mind, Kate decides to get into his house and see what was happening. Having no key, she got a screwdriver from her garage and went to Brad’s side door to try forcing the lock open. There was a small white trellis with a green-leafed vine thickly entwined around it blocking the view of the door from the street and the other neighbors. No one saw her manage to open the lock and quietly enter the house. Kate closed the door behind her and listened quietly for a moment but heard nothing. She then softly called out, “Brad, are you here?” No answer. She called again, still no answer. Then once more, she heard the creaking sound. She thought it came from upstairs. “This is creepy,” she thought to herself. She walked into the little dark kitchen feeling uneasy when she thought she saw a dark shadow move across the entrance to the dining room from the corner of her eye. she stood breathless; a cold chill ran down her back. As she slowly turned to look that way, she stepped back shrieking in ghastly terror…