CHAPTER 2
Ian climbed up the stairs and entered the brown hallway. Reaching the last door, he rummaged in his pocket looking for the key and unlocked the door. The house was quiet with his parents hard at work. They weren’t well-off, his parents working different shifts, some in the morning some at night. Today they were on their morning shift.
Entering the room, he switched on the light and barely looked around at the scarcely furnished flat. He crossed the almost empty living room and entered his bedroom, turning on the lights. A single bed lay in front of a window to his left, with curtains that had ‘cowboy’ written on it. The study table stood across the bed, shelves above, one holding books and a stack of posters he hadn’t put up yet, and the higher one only two pieces, a clock at one end and at the other a small decorative piece of an angel that sat with its wings spread out, bought from a poor little girl, who had practically shoved it into his face a day before, taking almost no money for it.
He walked towards his cupboard and opened the doors only to make a small box fall over him. The angel’s packing, he threw it in the bin and looked around for fresh clothes and went into the shower.
Once out, he plopped down on the bed and closed his eyes, feeling exhausted. He lay there for a couple of minutes, reflecting back on his waste of a day. Finally, he sat up facing the window, looking up at the sky, as he loved gazing at it, picked up his phone and dialled his mom's number. After three rings, a friendly voice came from the other side.
"Back home?"
"Hey, ma. yeah, just got home" Ian spoke into the phone.
"How was your day, sweetie?"
"Exhausting. boring, of course. nothing big. nothing special."
Ian felt the back of his neck crawl suddenly.He felt...watched. as if there was someone else in the room with him. Too strong a presence to overlook, he turned around but saw no one. just his study table with books, clock and the angel decorative piece. i did feel-
"So made any friends?" his mom cut in and broke his thought. he turned back to the window.
"Not friends actually. but yeah got acquainted to a boy and a girl, apparently the famous ones or something. gave me the tour of the place," he replied distractedly, his thoughts going back to the feeling of being watched. Maybe I'm just exhausted, he reassured himself.
"Was the girl pretty?" her tone was casual, but Ian knew where this was going and rolled his eyes.
"Ma, please. don't worry about my love life. I'm fine, really. For some reason, his mother thought he still hadn't gotten over his ex-girlfriend.
"I was only asking!" she sounded embarassed.
"I know. Ma, i'm tired. will take a nap."
"Okay, dear. we'll be home around 7-ish. so dont wait up for dinner. and eat properly! I'll-"
Her voice trailed away. He wasn't listening anymore. That feeling had returned. He could feel himself being watched. It felt stronger. There was no doubt about it, Ian knew there was someone in the room. He started getting goosebumps. The skin on his back was becoming aware of the presence.
"Okay, ma. I got it. See you. Bye"
He turned off the cordless, still staring at the window. whatever it is, is here. Right behind me...
And then he turned. His mouth went dry all of a sudden.
What the-
Was that-
Did i just see-
Was that a wing??
