Inhabited

Chapter 23

(A.N.)~Wow this has gotten so many reads really quick!:) Thank you so much! I'm going to start slowing down on the posting so more people can catch up! Just be patient and wait for the updates;)
oh and Lily's bathroom is in her room, keep that in mind when reading!

I watched as Harry backed his Range Rover out of my driveway. All happiness that was in me was now washed away. I'm starting to notice this happens way too often with him. Maybe he's just a busy guy and I can't accept that but he could at least bid a farewell before he has to leave every time.

I turn back to go inside after he drove away. I sat down on the couch and just thought. I thought about everything. I thought about the past, the present, and the future. I thought about my family's past and me and Harry's past. I thought about the recent things that have been going on and how much my life is a mess. There's no way to fix this or get anyone I've lost back. My dad is forever gone, he's not lost like Jackson, who I could possibly get back if we ever find him. I've stopped worrying about Jackson, though. It sounds like a horrible thing to say that I've stopped caring that my little brother is missing but if we haven't found him now and the police haven't, then we never will.

I went upstairs to take a shower. I wanted to wash everything from today a way and feel fresh and stress free. I strip off my clothes and hop in the shower and let the steam of the hot water fill the bathroom to calm me. It feels so good trickling down my aching muscles. After what seemed like hours of standing in there, I turn off the water and get out, dry off, and put on some clean clothes that I had set in the bathroom.

As I walk in to my bedroom I notice that my door is open. I stop dead in my tracks. I knew I had closed the door before I came in...why is it open?

I look around my room, spinning in a circle, staying in one spot. I was scared to move anywhere else. I thought that maybe I didn't shut the door all the way and that it opened from the draft in the house. That wasn't the reason why. I remember clicking it shut.

I started to walk forward and take a few steps towards my door when I hear a noise coming from downstairs. It sounded like a pot in the kitchen clanking with another. My heart speeds up and I can hear my heart beat in my ears. All I can hear my mind saying is someone's in my house.

I don't want to walk downstairs and come face to face with a stranger in my house. I've never been prepared for this. My parents have told me what to do but I knew that if this was to really happen, I'd be a coward and not be able to do any of it...and now it's happening.

I try think of a quick plan on how to escape and get to my car in the garage and leave but nothing works. The only way to get to the garage is to go through the kitchen and whoever it is, it sounds like they're in my kitchen. That all could change in a split second. They could be anywhere in my house and hide so easily and I would never know. I could turn around at any point and they'd be standing there with a gun or knife to my head.

I take a deep breath and walk as quietly as I can out of my room. The stairs are right outside of my door and I take slow steps down them, looking over the railing at the downstairs, making sure I don't see anyone. My heart is about to fly out of my chest and my stomach feels sick. I haven't heard any noise but that doesn't mean that whoever is here is gone.

I eventually hit the end of the stairs and step on to the hardwood floor. The hardest thing about this kind of flooring is that it isn't carpet...it's hard to be silent on hard floors. I look forward and see that the front door is wide open. How could this be?

I instantly got a chilling memory in my mind. I didn't lock the door when Harry left. I turn an immediate left in to the kitchen and my heart rate picks up.

There's no one in the kitchen.

I huff out a breath in relief and quickly pace over to the door that leads to the garage. I try to unlock it as fast as I can but a hand placed on my shoulder stops me.