My Life My Rules

Chapter 60: Unwelcomed Guests

Having returned from the aquarium several hours after the sun had set Nina, Lain, and Kaila were finally home. Pulling into the driveway the women could see their living room lights turned on as shadows dashed past them in a hurry.

"What is going on in there?" Lain asked.

"Mom's probably letting them run around." Nina shrugged as she parked the car and unbuckled her seatbelt.

Having an unnerving feeling pulse throughout her body, Lain was quick to follow. There was a strange feeling she couldn't quite describe happening in her gut. Deep within her intuition she knew something was off.

She knew her girls well by now and upon analyzing the way the two shadows darted out of the window when their headlights peered into the house, set her off the wrong way.

While Nina went to unbuckle Kaila and grab the bags from the back, Lain went straight for the door. Listening closely as she shuffled for her keys buried in her purse, her heart started beating faster when the usual sound of laughter and cheers that filled the house were nowhere to be heard.

To make matters worst, Lain had proof that her suspicions were correct.

As she went to unlock her door, the handle itself twisted on its own. She was fast to cover her mouth trying to muffle her gasp.

"Hurry up babe, I need to use the bathroom." Nina complained as she walked over briskly carrying Kaila on one hip with the bag over her shoulder.

But Lain shushed her after removing her hand from her mouth.

"What is it?"

"The door was open." Lain whispered.

"What?!" Nina held tighter onto Kaila as the little girl who was smiling wide suddenly dropped down into Nina's neck hiding away from the potential danger.

As she pressed an ear up against the cracked open door, Lain's eyes fell to the floor where she nearly screamed. Tears welled in her eyes as she frantically looked back up at her wife.

Questing what the sudden panic was, Nina saw Lain pointing towards the ground right underneath them. Taking a peak herself, Nina froze. She was at a loss for words when she suddenly saw the left behind muddy footprints tracking themselves into their home.

The sizing and frame of the shoe was their final indicator. Nobody—and that meant absolutely nobody—had feet that would fit those imprints. All of the markings that were at their doorstep were too large to belong to the family.

Just as Lain was about to pull out her phone to call the cops, their worst nightmare occurred. "Eek!" They heard Faye screaming in terror from inside of the house.

"Faye!" The women shouted in a panic.

Putting Kaila down on the floor while Lain already took off into the house, Nina quickly looked at Kaila. "Get in the car, lock the doors, and hide. Don't come out until I come to get you." She said before racing off after her wife leaving no time for Kaila to respond.

"Mom?" Nina stopped in her tracks seeing Natalia laying on the floor in their living room as she was  breathing hard clenching her heart. Kneeling besides the older woman she was relieved to find her mother with no physical wounds.

"Get the girls." Her mother—in her struggle to breathe—managed to say without a moment to waste.

"But you-"

"The girls!" Natalia coughed as she squeezed her chest tighter.

Sighing as she nodded, Nina jumped off the floor as she followed the sound of her screaming wife and girls. Racing upstairs as fast as she could Nina couldn't even feel the pain in her feet from walking all day long at the aquarium.