Intimate Stranger (Editing)

Chapter 11: Lilah

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Part Eleven
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Lilah

Lilah pulled the car into the driveway, parking and turning off the ignition. She reached across to the passenger seat, where the two bags of milk and Cola-Cola sat on the seat, that she had gotten at 7-Eleven on the way home from the party. She hadn't been drinking, so it was safe for her to drive home. She was responsible. Especially when her parents were on vacation and she was left to keep an eye on her brother, Trace.

With one hand, she got a hold of both bags and lifted them up with a grunt. Lilah slid out of the car and slammed the door closed, and headed up the front walkway. She reached the front door, and unlocked it, still towing the two bags in her right hand. As soon as she entered the home, she noticed the unusual, uncomfortable silence of the house.

"Trace?" She called, a questioning tone to her voice. "I'm back from the party! And I got more coke!" She threw the car keys on the hallway table, and slipped off her ballet flats.

She didn't get a response, from Trace or anyone else, but with the silence, she wasn't expecting one. Lots of times before, Lilah had come home to an empty house. Those times, her parents were both working late, and Trace was at Katie's. She assumed the latter was the case that night. But for some reason, she had an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Perhaps he was in his room with his ears plugged into his ipod. It would explain why he wasn't answering her when she called. He couldn't hear her.

She made her way to the kitchen, where she put the drinks from 7-Eleven away. She sat down at the kitchen table for a moment, and decided she was hungry. Lilah made PB & J sandwich, and when Trace still hadn't come downstairs after she was finished eating it, she figured she should go up there to tell him she was back.

She headed up the stairs and down the hall. She reached his room. The door was closed. She stopped for a moment before knocking, thinking it was strange that there was absolutely no noise coming from inside the room. Not even the sound of Trace humming along, out of pitch, to whatever music he was listening to.

"Trace?" She called as she turned the doorknob in anticipation .

She swung the door open, ready to see him sprawled out on his unmade bed, some kind of hand held video game player in his hands and ear bud's protruding from his ears. But the room was empty. She noticed that his cellphone rested on his desk. Unusual that he would leave the house without it. Now she couldn't even text him to get his ass home.

She sighed, frustrated with her brother. Lilah searched the rest of the house and didn't find him. She came to the conclusion that he was next door.

Under normal circumstances, she would have just ignored the fact that he wasn't there. Lilah didn't even know why it wasn't normal circumstances this time.

But she didn't ignore it. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that told her something was wrong. Even if Trace was at Katie's, wasn't it weird for him to be there after 12am, and with a bunch of girls?

She stomped out of the kitchen, to the front door. Lilah slipped her shoes back on, and snatched the keys from the table. Walking across the lawn, she made her way next door to fetch him. She wasn't wearing a sweater and it was a chilly night. Not to mention eerie. She was on edge for some reason, and the simple screeching of a cat in the distance, made her jump. The streetlamp outside Katie's house was broken and blinking.