Not That Bad #Wattys2018

Chapter Twenty Nine

Everything is nosier when you're trying to be quiet. We stop and glare at each other about five times every time we hear a twig snap or a leaf crinkle. The night is dark, except for the flickering lights from the butts of fireflies. I can only make out the outlines of everyone's faces.

We eventually make it to the sliding glass door by the patio. From there we have a pretty good view of Imogen's living room. I feel like a perv. There she is in pajamas with hearts all over them. She gets up and dances to the theme song. From here it looks like just an average teenage girl. Nothing like a demon at all. Just so you know, her dance moves suck.

Rori Villan would take a picture. Better yet, a video.

But I'm not Rori tonight. In fact, I'm not Buttercup either. I feel like freaking Nancy Drew, sneaking around spying on someone in their living room. Maybe that's who I should have dressed as. Eli would be Ned, Skylar would be Beth and Chase would be George of course. I nearly laugh out loud at the thought. Skylar mouths that she's going to disconnect the mains now. She does this weird run thing and disappears.

I motion for Chase and Eli to come closer. "Change of plans." I whisper, "I want to get the trophy. Eli, scare Imogen with Chase." Eli nods.

"Do you know where her room is?" he whispers back.

"I'll find it."

The wind howls. Just as I'm wondering what's taking Skylar so long, Chase yelps. I clasp my hand over his mouth, but he pulls it away. "Something just rubbed against me." he says, sounding spooked.

"Are you sure?" I say.

"I felt it too." Eli says at the same time. Just then, I see a pair of glowing eyes staring at us. I freak but then it comes out into the light. It's just a silly little ginger cat. It's so ironic. There we are about to break into someone's house but we're freaking out over a cat.

I start to giggle but then the cat starts hissing at me. That's when Imogen stops her stupid dance and turns around. We duck behind the many potted plants on the patio and wait. And wait some more. The sliding door opens. Imogen walks right up to the ginger cat that's currently hissing at my toe. I hold my breath.

"Aw, Chex do you wanna come inside?" Imogen coos, "It's warm in there." She picks up the hissing cat and walks back to the door. But she stops and laughs. Laughs. I don't know what she's laughing at, but it's creepy. But I'm thinking, thank God she didn't see my toe.

I take the chance of peeping at Imogen again. She's back on the couch, this time with the cat in her arms. That's when the lights go off. Imogen is oddly silent. I'm not sure whether we should move or not. I signal for the boys to wait. But we can't wait too long. We don't have much time.

"Damn it." Imogen finally says, frustrated, "UGH!" Her voice is still coming from the living room. At that, I open the sliding door as quietly as I can, give the boys a thumbs up and creep into the house. I'm officially in the devil's territory now and she can do whatever she wants with me.***

Somehow in the pitch blackness I find the staircase. On my hands and knees I crawl up until I get to the second floor. From there, I get up and tip toe past a bathroom. Lucky for me, the next room is a bedroom with the door open.The moonlight is a big help. Purplish covers on the bed, a desk with sparkly stationary. I'm pretty sure this is Imogen's room. Besides the notepad on the desk with Rori Villan crossed of with red marker is a big giveaway.

OK.Kidding.

But she may as well have done it. Imogen has this huge glass case of trophies. Trophies, ribbons, pins and shiny buttons are lined up on each shelf. Most of them are from spelling bees, there's one small one from ballet, a couple Francophone ones, ones from science fairs. Finally I see the one. I can barely make out the rocket shape, but it seems bigger than I remembered, and thanks to the light of the moon coming through Imogen's window, I can tell it's a lot shinier than I'd imagined too.

I hold it to my chest for a while. This was my trophy. Mine. And then I look at all the others on the shelves. I wish I knew which ones Imogen really deserved. I bet only the small ballet one. Downstairs, I don't know what Chase and Eli have done, but I hear that hissing cat again, the sound of something big falling and Imogen screaming.

It's time to go.

I run down the stairs and nearly fall twice but I make it to the front door and out onto the front lawn. Skylar is there waiting. Finally Chase and Eli emerge from the dark house. "She's calling the police." Chase pants, he doesn't stop running. The lights start flickering back on. And now the alarm is set off too.

Fuck.

Eli doesn't stop running either. "But the truck is that way!" I shout, my voice sounding panicked.

"Forget about the fucking truck!" Eli shouts, "Run!"

With that damn rocket trophy tucked under my arm I take one last look at Imogen's house with all the lights on and the alarm system loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood. We did that.

Fuck. We did that.

I run.

I hear Chase and a (crying or giggling) Skylar behind me and I feel this rush of adrenaline. My heart is pounding. I have the trophy, but what exactly was I going to do with it? I don't want it at my house, but I definitely don't want Imogen to have it.We run until we get to a fence. There's no where to turn.

"Oh my God guys, is that a siren?" Skylar voice is high-pitched, "I'm too pretty for jail!"

"We all are." I say, calm and sarcastic. But I'm freaking out. The sound of the siren is getting closer. I examine the fence and notice a sign: LAKE TAHOE. DO NOT ENTER.

Someone drew a skull and cross bones on it in red ink. I wouldn't be surprised if it was blood. I shudder. 

"Guys, in here." I say. With my free hand, I remove the old faded police tape from a hole in the fence. "Let's go." I crawl through the hole first and wait for Chase, Skylar and Eli to follow.

Actually, it's not that creepy on the other side. There are a couple old colorful boats and a lake so wide and dark it looks like a pool of ink. The moon shines a silver light on the still water, like a spotlight. We walk toward an old deck and sit on it. The sound of the siren dies and we can finally breathe.

I examine the gold trophy, the blue ribbon wrapped around its side.Eli bumps his shoulder with mine. "What are you going to do with it?"

I shrug. "I don't know."

Chase says, "Well you better think of something because we literally risked our lives to get this for you."

"OK, Chase." I say, a little flustered, "I'll think of something." A car drives by on the road. But then the engine dies. Next thing we hear is the sound of someone climbing through the fence. Skylar grips Chase's arm. I put my hand on Eli's and hold my breath.

We stare into the darkness. A figure begins to take shape. It gets closer and closer.

It's Imogen.