Chapter 1

 

Finally! I can see the floor. I am soo happy I’m almost finished unpacking. This will be the last time I move. I’m exhausted! I’m done!

 

I walked out of my home office carrying a few empty boxes.

I’ll just take them down to the garage where I put all the other empty boxes. What the? I immediately stopped in my tracks.

 

Bam! Bam, bang!

 

I looked towards the room where I heard sounds coming from.

 

Bam! Bam, bang! There it went again.

 

What the hell is that? The sounds were coming from my master bedroom.

I began walking in the direction of the sound. Once I got to the door of my master bedroom, I stopped. I slowly walked—I’m talking baby steps, like a turtle slowly walking—and peeked inside of the bedroom to see what was making that noise.

 

“Hello? Hello,” I quietly said. “Is anyone there?”

 

What am I thinking about? “Is anyone there?” I said, looking around the hallway. There’d better be nobody else in here. I was the only one here. I lived alone.

 

I slowly pushed the door open. I entered the room, turning on the light from the light switch immediately on the wall to my right. I slowly walked into the room, looking around scared and trembling like a leaf being blown from a tree.

 

“Hello? Is anyone in here?” I whispered.

 

Bam! Bam, bang! The sound continued.

 

Weeeoooeee!

 

What now? What the hell? The house alarm was going off.

 

Weeeoooeee! Weeeoooeee! Weeeoooeee!

​

I ran out of the master bedroom, down the hallway, and down the stairs to the front door.

 

What is really going on here?

 

My custom front door with white magnolia flowers and vines was wide open. I slowly walked up to the door, trembling from head to toe, and grabbed the door by the handle.

 

That was strange! The bottom lock was locked and there were no signs of breaking and entering. But how could that be? I twisted and turned on the lock and knob to see if it was defective. Nope, it wasn’t. If the bottom knob was locked, the entire door should be closed and locked.

 

Wait… unless it was opened from the inside.

 

I slowly turned around, scoping every inch of the house. Everything was in its rightful place. Nothing seemed to be missing. I turned back around to look outside—it was pitch black. There sure was a lot of emptiness out here. Nothing but my car, trees, and darkness. Come on, girl, pull yourself together. I slowly walked out of the door, looking around the front of my house.

 

Geez! It was so dark out here, I couldn’t see my hands in front of my face. I needed to invest in some pole lights around here. Anyone could be hiding out here without being seen. I looked as far as I could see. No one was there. I walked back into the house, closed the door, turned the deadbolt on the top knob to secure the lock and the same with the knob just below it and locked it. My heart was beating at a rapid speed, my body was trembling and my throat felt as if it was closing.

 

What the? Why are my hands feeling heavy?

 

I looked down at my hands. Oh jeez, Atlas! Get it together. It was just the empty boxes I was carrying to the garage before I heard the noise in my master bedroom. I thought I’d dropped them when I ran out of the bedroom.

 

I walked immediately to the left of the front entrance to the kitchen. Once I exited the kitchen, I walked into a small room. I opened the door, turned on the light and walked in. Directly in front of me were eight security monitors for both the outside of the house as well as the inside of the house. I walked up to the alarm system and punched in the code to disarm it. Then I walked up to the monitor that was for the front of my house. I rewound the video to see if I could see someone—anyone—out there.

 

What the hell? This isn’t right. Nobody is out there!

 

That didn’t take long.

 

While I was looking at the monitors, I noticed a police car driving from my gate up to my house.

 

I walked out of the security room through the kitchen to the front door. I could clearly see the officer getting out of his car and walking over to the door. I unlocked both locks and opened the door.

 

“Good evening, ma'am,” the officer said. “I’m Officer Konnor. I’m here because your home security notified the station that your alarm went off and you didn’t disarm it within the time frame to let us know you were alright. Is everything alright, ma’am?”

 

“Hello. I guess so.”

 

“Did anyone try to break into your home?” Officer Konnor questioned.

 

“I’m not sure. Well, I mean, I was upstairs unpacking when I heard the alarm go off. I immediately ran downstairs. Once I got to the door, it was still locked but wide open.”

 

“Locked, huh? Were there any signs of forced entry?” Officer Konnor asked while looking around the front yard.

 

“No, the door was locked. Well, the bottom lock was locked. The deadbolt was unlocked. As for forced entry, you can see, there was no forced entry,” I said, pointing at the door.

 

“May I come in to check your security camera? I’ll be just a minute.”

 

“Oh, I'm sorry, Officer Konnor. Please come in.”

 

I opened the door wide enough for him to come in. I looked around the front yard before closing the door behind us. Just because he was here didn’t mean I wasn’t still on edge about this whole thing.

 

“Please follow me,” I said. “I’ll take you to the security room.”

 

“You know, ma’am.”

 

“It’s Atlas, Officer Konnor. Please call me Atlas.”

 

“That’s different,” he commented.

 

“What’s different?” I asked while leading him in the direction of the security room.

 

“Your name. I’ve never heard anyone with that name,” he replied as he walked behind me. “I mean, you know, just on the maps.”

 

“Oh, yes, I know. You know, I asked my mother why she named me that.”

 

“What did she say?”

 

“She told me it was the drugs they gave her during birth,” I laughed.

 

“That must have been some drug,” he replied drily.

 

“Hahaha!” I laughed. “Oh, here we are! All of the security cameras are in here.”

 

“Man, this is some room you have here,” he said as he entered the room.

 

“Thank you. Each one of them shows different views and angles of the house both inside and outside. Just before you came, I rewound the one that shows the front of the house.”

 

“Did you see anything suspicious or anyone out there?” he asked while looking at the monitors.

 

“There wasn’t anyone on the camera.”

 

“Are you sure no one was out there?” Konnor asked me with a concerned look on his face.

 

“Yes, I’m sure.”

 

“May I take a look?” he asked, walking up to the monitor that showed the front yard.

 

“Sure, go right ahead.”

 

I watched Konnor rewind the video. He studied the monitor, then slowed the film down to watch every second carefully.

 

“The front yard is completely empty. Not a soul out there,” Konnor explained, looking at the next monitor.

 

“Do you think whoever it was trying to break in here was trying to get in from another area of the house?” I asked him.

 

“No, because your security system is showing the front entrance is where the alarm went off,” Konnor kindly explained.

 

“Oh, is that the way that works? It informs you of the specific location?”

 

“Yes, it does. You have a top-of-the-line security system. These things do a lot more than alert you if someone tries to break in, Atlas.”

 

“Oh, really? Please explain.”

 

“Well, for one, it has a wide-angle lens plus HD resolution to catch all the action. Mobile notifications that alert you when something happens, so you can see what’s happening in your home, any time, day or night, and you can contact your family instantly with the push of a button.”

 

“Really? That’s good to know, Konnor, because I haven’t read the owner’s manual yet. When I called for a home security system, I just asked for the top-of-the-line.”

 

“Yes, Atlas, this is the number one security system. It can call in to family at home while you’re on the go as well,” he explained.

 

“That’s good to know. Would you like something to drink, Officer Konnor?”

 

“No, thank you. I’m just going to take a look at the rest of your monitors to make sure no one was trying to break in anywhere other than your front door. I have to make sure you’re safe before I leave,” he said as he rewound the next

monitor.

 

I stood there until he was finished observing all of the monitors. I wanted to mention to him about the sounds I heard coming from my master bedroom before the alarm went off, but I didn’t. I didn’t want him to think I was the average nut case. So, I kept my mouth closed.

 

“Well, it looks as if everything is alright. There’s nothing on the monitors showing anything about someone trying to break in,” Konnor explained, walking towards the door.

 

“That’s good to know.”

 

“Would you like for me to do a walk-through of your entire home before I leave?” he asked while walking in the direction of the front door.

 

“No, I’m sure it was nothing.”

 

“You may have a malfunction with the system. If I were you, I would give the company a call tomorrow and inform them about the system going off without anyone trying to break in,” he advised as he tried to open the front door.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry! I locked the door once you came in to check the monitors,” I explained while unlocking the door. “But as far as calling the company tomorrow, I sure will, as soon as I get up. Thank you so much for all of your work and for coming here as fast as you did.”

 

“No problem, Ms. Atlas! I was doing my job.”

 

“By the way, Konnor—I mean, Officer Konnor… how did you get in? Well, through my secured gate?”

 

“Oh, yes,” he laughed. “The way your security system is set up with the police station, whenever we’re notified of a possible break-in, the security system lets us in. We are given a password code once we drive up to your gate. We have to enter the code that was provided to us by them. That’s another one of their advantages,” he said while getting in his police car.

 

“Okay, I see. Thanks for coming out.”

 

“No need to thank me, I’m just doing my job,” Konnor said, starting the police car. “If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call the station. Have a great night, Ms. Atlas.”

 

“You too, Officer Konnor.”

 

I watched Konnor drive through my gate. Once he was out and it closed, I went inside the house and closed and locked both locks.

 

I walked through the kitchen to the garage. I opened the door, turned on the light, and placed the empty  boxes in the corner with the rest of them. I walked back towards the door, turned off the light, and closed and locked the door.

 

What an evening I’d had on the first day in my new home! I needed to get myself ready for bed. I had a busy day tomorrow.

 

I dreaded walking upstairs to my bedroom. I dragged one foot after the other, trying not to drag my feet on the hardwood stairs. I was always told dragging your feet was a sign of laziness. One thing I wasn’t was lazy. Finally, my bedroom door.

 

I walked in, forgetting about the chaos of the evening I had. I walked over to my dresser, opened the top drawer, and pulled out a pair of red lace panties. I opened the drawer underneath and pulled out a red spaghetti strap t-shirt. Walking over to the bathroom, I turned on the light, turned on the water in the separate shower as hot as I could stand it, removed my clothes, pinned up my hair, and got in.

 

After what seemed like an hour of washing my body, I turned off the water, dried off, and put on my panties and my t-shirt. I turned off the light, walked over to my bed, pulled the covers back, and got in. Once my head touched the pillows, I was out.

 

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock going off. I hit the snooze button, lay there for a few more minutes, then got up.

I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until I woke up. Moving is a job. I wouldn’t want to do this for a living. It was tiring.

 

I walked over to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.

 

What to wear today? What did I want to put on?

 

I walked over to my walk-in closet and removed a two-piece, straight-leg black suit. I walked over to my shoes and grabbed a pair of black open-toe heels with a clear strap going across the top. I walked towards the door, turned off the light, and closed the closet door behind me.

 

I removed the pants from the hanger and put them on. Next, I removed the matching, thin, long-sleeved blazer from the hanger, put it on, and tied the strap around my waist. I slid my feet in my shoes and bent down to buckle the straps. I went into my jewelry box, pulled out a pair of pearl studs and a matching pearl necklace, and put them on. I opened the top vanity drawer, removed a clear hair brush, and brushed my hair. Once I was satisfied with my shoulder-length hair, I placed the hair brush back into the top drawer on the vanity and closed it.

 

After applying my eyeliner and mascara, I grabbed my cell phone, car keys, and handbag, then went downstairs, through the kitchen to the security room. I opened the door, turned on the light, disarmed the alarm, and set it for leaving the house. Back at the front entrance, I stepped outside and closed and locked the door behind me.

 

What a pretty morning to be working in a flower bed and not going to work. Oh, well.

 

I got in to my car, putting my purse on the passenger seat. I started the car and sat there for a few minutes until the engine idled down. I put the car in drive, pressed the gate remote opener to exit, drove out of the gate, and watched it close before driving off.

 

It usually took me fifteen minutes to get to my hotel. I didn’t have to punch a time clock because I owned it. I spent about three hours there every day, just in case I was needed.

 

Wait, what the hell?

 

All of a sudden, it felt as if someone was sitting in the back seat of my car, watching me. I adjusted my mirror to see if anyone was there. No, no one was in here but me.

 

I looked away from the rear-view mirror back on the highway. I needed to focus on my drive to the hotel before I had an accident. But I just couldn’t help but wonder what was really going on with me? It seemed as if I was losing my mind. Oh, I know, I must be really exhausted from the move, I thought.

 

I was now coming up to a traffic light. The light was yellow, getting ready to change red. So, I stopped. All of a sudden, I got that feeling again as if someone was watching me from the back seat of my car. This time I turned around to take a look.

 

What the hell?!

 

Continue reading by purchasing at http://www.amazon.com/author/wykethaparkman

 

Follow Me: http://www.amazon.com/author/wykethaparkman & www.goodreads.com/authorwkp

 

Available on Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Walmart Ebooks

​

Also Available at Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million and Local Book Storess

 

Email:  authorwkp26@gmail.com

​