Page 22 of Greed

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Penny asked, coming to stand beside her.

She shook her head. “Nothing, I’m just losing it. Come on. I’m starving.”

Minetta stared at the ceiling and recounted the little stars still present from the little girl who used to live here. She hadn’t bothered to remove them even though James did nothing but complain about how they kept him awake at night. It was an idiotic statement. They barely gave off enough light to light up the ceiling around them, let alone shine in his eyes. It was just another way to put her down. She’d always found the star stickers had this odd, soothing ability when she was trying to sleep, but they were not helping tonight.

Giving up, she tossed the cover off and left Toby sleeping soundly. She stared at her dog, who was softly snoring on the other side of the bed like he didn’t have a care in the world. If only she could say the same. The only thing aside from actual sleeping meds that might help was a hot cup of camomile tea.

Her mind kept racing as she replayed the day over and over again. Why was she still thinking about the insolent, amber-eyed man? She must really have a thing for the worst possible members of the male species. Not that she’d dated much, but if James was any indication and now her fascination with the jerk from earlier…it didn’t really say much for her state of mind.

The bedroom door did its usual squeak that reminded her of every horror movie with a scene where the character is mysteriously woken in the night by the sound, the eeriness of the old hinge always making her shiver. As much as she didn’t want James around, she couldn’t deny she missed having a man in the house when he wasn’t there. Maybe she should get like ten more dogs. Toby would like the company, and not many would feel confident breaking into a house with an entire pack waiting for them.

The board that always groaned in the hall did so as she stepped on it, and she sucked in a shaky breath as her mind began to play tricks on her. The stairs were not much better, each one announcing the age of the house in its own unique manner.

“You are totally fine. You’re being silly,” she said out loud. Resolving herself to her task, she marched onward. As she reached the ground floor, she shivered. The house felt cold, like really cold, which was odd considering how hot it was outside, and she didn’t have any air conditioning. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed at the goosebumps that were rising all over her body. Chalking it up to the fact that she was scantily clad and was overtired, she headed toward the light switch in the kitchen. She really wished that the person who’d built this house had put a switch at the bottom of the stairs.

Her teeth were practically chattering by the time she reached the opposite side of the kitchen and smacked at the light switch. It clicked, but the thing wouldn’t turn on.

“What the heck is going on?” No matter how many times she hit the little switch, nothing happened. “Great, just great.”

This was an old house, but she doubted that the two long fluorescent bulbs both decided to blow at the same time. She wandered over to the lamp in the living room and hit the switch, hoping that it wasn’t what she thought it was. It as well stayed dark.

“Okay, this is not funny,” she mumbled.

She could try the hallway one, but at this point, either the power was out in the area, or she had a bigger issue with her electricity, like a flipped breaker which meant a trip to the basement in the dark. That was so not happening, and her mind was conjuring up the worst. God, she was cold, she thought as she stumbled her way over to her reading chair and banged her knee on the coffee table.

“Ouch!” She groaned as the pain lanced down her leg. Finally making it across to the chair, she grabbed the throw off the back and pulled the pretty piece her mother had made around her shoulders. It was the last thing her mother had made before her hands had become too riddled with arthritis, and her memory of how to make one of the beautiful blankets was lost in the far reaches of her mind.

Minetta leaned against the large bay window and looked up and down the street. The light right in front of her house was out, but the rest were on. She didn’t know much about how the grid worked, but she was pretty certain that if the rest of the street was on, then the one was simply burnt out. Her street was usually quiet this time of night, she lived on the outskirts of the city, and the area was full of families with small children. They would all be tucked away sound asleep by now.

A hiss-like noise caught her attention. She stood straighter, listening for the odd sound again. She gave a start and jumped around as a shadow moved in the reflection of the glass. Her pulse pounded loudly in her ears as her eyes searched the darkness. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw movement by the front door and stared hard at the spot over the little half wall. Her heart picked up pace and pounded hard in her chest until it was all she could hear. There was a golf ball-sized lump in her dry throat, and as she swallowed hard, the movement was almost as loud as her heart.

Why was the darn house so cold? She shook again, and a small puff of steam rose from her mouth into the air. She laid her hand on the glass, and it too was freezing. Had it turned that cold outside overnight? Somewhere in her mind, she knew that unless it was winter and she had no electricity, there was no possible way this could be happening.

This had to be just her imagination playing tricks on her. Her own fear was creating the impossible. That was the only logical explanation. Nothing else moved, and annoyed with herself now, she rubbed at her eyes and headed for the door that led to the basement. It had to be a breaker, that’s why the house was cold, and if that was the case, she had no choice but to go down there.

Dammit, she really didn’t want to do this, but she was being silly over nothing. As her hand reached for the basement door handle, the house took that moment to shake as the pipes forced air through them. It sounded like a miniature earthquake ripping through the home as the floor and walls shook. She jumped back from the door as the handle rattled back and forth like something was trying to get out. All she could picture was a serial killer on the other side.

She bit her lip as she stared at the handle that settled after the pipes quieted, but her nerves were frayed. Her body trembled all over, and no matter how much she told herself she was being ridiculous, she couldn’t stop the freaked-out sensation from traveling from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

She looked around the darkened space, the once small rooms feeling huge and the front door very far away.

Something moved again, and this time she did jump back and stare at the living room. Someone was watching her. She could feel it, and her senses went from denial to overload with a single breath.

A sweat broke out all over her body, the moisture forming beads on her forehead and down her back. She couldn’t see what it was and turned her head to the left to allow her peripheral vision to help her out. It was telling her something was there, the slow rise and fall like something was breathing. It looked like nothing more than part of the shadows, but shadows didn’t move like that, and they didn’t look like a large lump in the middle of her floor. If this was James home early trying to scare her, she might actually kill him.

“Who's there?” she called out, but the only sound was the same soft hiss as earlier. Her adrenaline spiked, and her mind screamed to run.

Hands shaking violently, she reached out, never taking her eyes off the spot, and fumbled for the knife she always left laying on the cutting board. Her eyes tried to make sense of the dark shape that seemed to be moving or growing. She blinked a number of times as if that would clear her vision.

She watched in horror as the thing shifted again, and this time it wasn’t her mind playing tricks on her. There was a glint, a quick flash in the dark, and she realized she was staring into a set of eyes, and it most certainly wasn’t James.

A blood-curling scream bubbled in her throat but was lodged there as she stared, keeping her feet rooted to the floor. She couldn’t tell what the hell it was, but whatever it was began to rise from the middle of her living room like a great black blob slowly taking shape.

“This is not real. This is not real. Your mind is playing tricks. Tell it to go away,” she mumbled. “Go away!” she yelled. The words had sounded fiercer in her head. But, saying it out loud didn’t help. In fact, it only enforced the fact she was indeed awake, and the thing was still there.

It was in that moment, as it stretched to its full height, she realized it had been on all fours. Had it been following her? Had it been hiding in her house this whole time? Oh my god, had it been in the living room with her? Panic clawed at her throat, her pulse pounding frantically.

The animal or large man had something sticking out of the top of its head. She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head back and forth. But, as she opened her eyes, they went wide as she stared at what looked like twisted antlers and glowing eyes.