The Night Of August 15th

21

Iris walked to the door with very slow and precise steps. She made sure to not lose eye contact with the guy outside, she felt that if she looked away for even a second, he would disappear. He stared at her unrelentingly, and she saw an almost indecipherable smirk form on his chapped lips. He had a look in his eyes that she could not quite figure out, she felt as though he was compelling her to take a step closer, to go to him.

Iris wrapped her right hand around the doorknob and turned it, the door clicked and then she pushed it open. She stepped out of the room to see the plumber standing before her with his arms behind his back. Her gaze descended to his arms, she studied it and waited for him to make a sudden move.

"What are you hiding?" her breath hitched, she swallowed hard and inched her head forward in an attempt to see what was behind him.

"What makes you think I'm hiding anything?" he asked in a sinister tone.

"Do you really need an answer to that question?" she cocked her head to the side. "Who are you? What do you want from us?" she demanded in a strong tone. She was trying her best to mask her fear, she knew that dangerous people pounced once they smelt fear.

"I'm just someone helping a friend out. You all were relentless to Ana, and you can't take a few little pranks?" he laughed, "look at how you're trembling. It's quite embarrassing," he looked straight into her eyes. The look in her eyes gave her away, it showed him that he and Alicia had them wrapped around their fingers. It showed him that they were winning. 

"Trying to drown someone is not a little prank. Digging a hole up for people and throwing them in it is not a little prank. Trapping us in a cabin for two weeks is not a little prank. Almost causing me to break my leg is not a little prank," she said in a strained tone.

"Causing someone's death is also not a little prank, but that was what you told Ana all the time. 'stop being such a baby, it was only a little prank,'" he mimicked. "if that's your version of a little prank then you should be grateful for what we're giving you," his face turned hard, and his voice rose an octave.

Iris rolled her tongue around her mouth, trying to think of a reply. "You were at my house the day I got the flyer. What did you want?"

He smirked. "I wanted to see you," he whispered, with his eyes wide open, and then he walked past her like he had been compelled by his master. He seemed to be counting every step he took. He walked majestically, down the hall like it was a kingdom which he ruled. He shoved his hands in his pocket and cruised away until he was out of her line of sight. Iris pushed her head back, she was completely dumbfounded. She walked back into the room more confused than she was when she walked out.

"What did that creep want?" Rowan pounced on her with her question, as soon as she stepped back into the room.

"He came to my house the day I got the flyer, he said it was for a routine checkup. It was easy to believe because there was this sewer backup issue two weeks prior to him coming to my house. Turns out he's working for Ana's ghost," she folded her arms under her chest.

"The day I was given my flier, my sister told me a plumber came to our house," Bekah said with her eyes wide open. She looked as though she had just unraveled the greatest mystery in history. "Is there a chance that it's him?" she swallowed hard.

"Now that I think about it, I think Juan Esteban also said something about a plumber being at our mansion," she said the word 'mansion' with so much pride. "I'm not too sure, though, it's hard for me to understand his ridiculous accent sometimes,'' she snickered.