Truth - The Balance

Chapter 1 - The knocker

"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." - Buddha

Natalie timidly picked up the old photo frame on her bedside table. Tears threatened to spill, looking into the eyes of the man who had stole her heart eight years ago.

The smiling face of Paul looked back at her. His black eyes looking into her ice blue ones. God, how she missed him.

She ran her hands through her long, back length, raven hair. Natalie could still remember his cologne, the smell of his hair, and taste his sweet breath that once mingled with hers.

She let out a sigh and gently placed the photo back down and fell back on her pillow. Gripping her roots tightly, she pulled at them, " Arrgh!" She screamed out in frustration into the darkness of her new apartment, her voice echoing off the lonely bare walls.

It had been nearly ten months since Paul was fatally shot in Iraq. Natalie could no longer take living in their old home they once shared together and sold it as quickly as she could. Every room, every object held a memory of him. She was far from being over him, but she was trying her best to start over; A new apartment was just the thing.

But why did it feel just as lonely? Just the same?

A cold furry nose and whiskers tickled her side and she sat up straight in her bed, her lips turning up into a sad smile.

"You miss him too, Cookie?" Natalie asked her eleven year old black calico cat. Cookie responded with a silent meow that ended with a squeak. Natalie slowly scratched behind Cookie's left ear and sighed again, rolling onto her side.

A knock sounded on her front door, spooking her and her cat.

She furrowed her eyebrows and rolled back over to her night stand, blindly feeling around for her cell phone until she found it. The time read 11:45 P.M. 'Who could be here this late?' She pondered, while trying to roll off the bed. But her foot got stuck in a tangle in the sheets and, not so gracefully, she fell face first on her bedroom's plush carpet floor.

Natalie quickly stood up right and walked over to her dresser. Various make up and knick knacks littered the top of her dresser, along with photos of her family and friends back in Florida. But now she's in northern Alabama, and doesn't know a soul here other than her new land lady and boss.

So who could be at the door?

Natalie quickly glanced at herself in the double mirrors above her dresser. Her hair was a crow's nest and the thick eyelashes that framed her clear blue eyes were wet and matted together. Her small nose was red, and her lips looked even more plump than usual. Natalie's overall face was swollen.

Natalie quickly raked her fingers through her hair, attempting to comb out the unruly locks, but failed, and dried her eyes on the back of her hands.

The knocking on the front door sounded into loud bangs. Natalie grabbed her handgun from her dresser and marched silently out of her bedroom door, into her living room. She hastily popped the chamber out of her .357 revolver and spun it, making sure it was loaded before she quickly pushed it back into place. Taking it off safety and cocking her gun, she made it to her front door.

Lightning struck the front yard, illuminating her apartment and her small screened in porch. Next to the white block door sat two floor to ceiling bay windows, with only a pale thin white lace curtain covering them.

Looking to her left, she could see the rain beginning to beat down on the window panes in her kitchen. When the lightning struck again, she could see the dark silhouette of a large man in front of her door through her bay windows. He pounded on the door again.