Amber woke to the sun streaming through her window and remembered blearily that she had forgotten to close her curtains the night before. Well, she thought she had closed them but they were wide open. That made her worried but she pushed that feeling down. Amber grumbled to herself and sat up. She ran a hand over her hair to somewhat calm it before making her way to the window and peering outside.
More snow had fallen during the night and Amber smiled at the sparkling whiteness. She hugged herself and allowed the warm air of her own breathing fog up the cold window in front of her. Once she was awake enough, she checked the clock and saw it to be 7AM. She groaned and made her way out of the room. The problem with waking up so early was that once she was awake, she stayed awake.
She was off until the 15th and hoped Greg would be back on time to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It was the day when everything important happened to them: their first date, their first kiss, their first time moving into the same apartment and their engagement. Amber had almost been tempted to have her wedding on Valentine’s Day but moved it to March 1st instead. No one was willing to attend a winter wedding and half her family had to drive a long distance.
Amber shook these thoughts from her head as she finished up her morning cleansing routine and trotted down to the kitchen in her bathrobe to start the coffee machine. Once the coffee was brewing, she darted back upstairs to dress for the day.
As she was pulling on her pants the doorbell rang and she cursed. She quickly threw on her robe to cover her bra-clad chest and ran back downstairs. Just as the previous days, there was no one at the front porch when she peered through the peephole.
She did see footprints in the snow this time and noticed them to be large, wide and heavy looking. She smirked at the male-looking footprints and unlocked her door. She looked down without a second thought to see a bright red bag decorated with pink hearts.
Amber peeked down either side of her street but saw nothing of the special delivery man. The street seemed strangely empty and she realized just how alone she felt. With a mental shudder she shrugged and picked up the bag. Once the door was locked again she opened the bag to see a rather larger black velvet box.
Her curiosity piqued higher as she opened the simple gold clasp on the box to reveal a gold pendent of two interlocking hearts with a diamond at their joint hanging from a gold chain. She smiled and immediately put the necklace on because it matched her engagement ring perfectly. Amber dabbed at the wetness of her eyes with the end of her robe and hoped Greg would make it home tomorrow. She had no idea what she would get him for Valentine’s Day but just being able to see his smile would over-shadow his surprise gifts.
That night Amber shifted through her and Greg’s DVD collection for something she had not watched in six years. She grumbled at the sheer amount of DVD’s they owned and pushed aside a few comedy films. She let out a little sound of accomplishment when the plain covered DVD case came into view.
Amber sat back on her haunches and popped open the case. Inside was a single DVD with “Our Special Day” written in her own neat hand in black marker. She giggled to herself and popped it into the DVD player. As she settled back to watch her wedding day she snuggled into the big red blanket on the couch and hoped Greg would be back soon.
The house seemed so empty and foreboding without him. She found herself starting at every little sound. Creaks came through the night and she swore that they came from the back porch. She was always too afraid to check in case someone actually was there so would convince herself that it was merely the house settling.
The past few nights it had been worse. She felt as if she was being watched and had closed all the curtains in the house. The feeling would not be alleviated so easily and she found herself looking over her shoulder at the strangest times. She had even locked the bathroom door that afternoon without realizing it.
She sighed and wondered how Greg would feel about finally getting a dog. That was one subject they could not agree on. Greg made a good point about neither of them being around enough to take care of a dog daily. Amber wanted a dog, a big mean looking dog just for protection though.
Amber trusted in the security system but a friend at work told her that anyone could cut the wires of a security system and sneak into a person’s house. Even if they didn’t cut all the wires the response time for police to get to Amber’s part of town was half an hour. Amber knew a lot could happen in half an hour.
She tried to concentrate on the joyous video playing in front of her but found that she could not. She flicked off the DVD and cuddled deep into the blankets wishing for someone to talk to. She wished Greg did not have to travel so much. She hoped he would agree to get a dog. She wondered if her good friend was off work tonight.
At that thought she reached for the phone and dialed a number. The ringing sounded dismal to her and a machine informed her that her good friend was not home. A panic rose in her throat but she pushed it aside and tried to put cheer into her voice.
“Hi Tracy, it’s Amber. Just wanted to see what you were up to tonight. If you get this message at a half decent time, call me. Maybe we can watch a movie or something. Okay, good-bye,” Amber said and was happy the nervousness in her voice did not show.
She hung up the phone. Her voice did sound oddly loud in the quiet house and Amber sighed. She tapped the phone against her leg lightly for a few minutes before placing it back into the receiver and hiding in the blankets again. The wind whispered outside and Amber could swear it was telling her to stay out of the house tonight. Amber wondered where that feeling had come from and shivered in her warm cocoon.
Shadows played in the corners of the room and Amber cowered deeper into her blanket. She pulled the phone in beside her and wished she had someone to keep her company. She wondered briefly if her neighbours were home and shook her head at the thought. They would think she was insane if she asked them over for coffee the night before Valentine’s Day. Amber sighed and listened to the noises in the house.
Nothing but the regular creeks and groans came to her ears and she muttered at her own unfounded fears before pulling herself from the covers. She checked the locks on all the windows and doors before finally making her way up to her bedroom. On a paranoid second thought, she drew an old steel baseball bat from the hallway closet and set it against her bedside table.
Amber changed into a nightgown and settled into bed with her overhead light on. She had closed her bedroom door, a habit she had never done and wished it had a lock on it. She tried to read but the words blurred. Even her favorite chocolates tasted bitter in her mouth and she sighed. She noted the time to be merely 8PM and snuggled into her bed regardless.
After a few weary thoughts, she tried calling Tracy again but got only the answering machine. She did not leave a message this time and decided that she was going to leave the bedroom light on, just for tonight. If Greg happened to sneak in before she could turn it off in the morning she could explain how afraid she had felt and maybe that would convince them to get a large frightening dog.
With that thought in mind, she turned over and closed her eyes. She knew her sleep would be restless because of her thoughts and the light but she could nap tomorrow once she knew whether or not Greg would be home. If he wasn’t home, she would stay over at Tracy’s tomorrow night. Maybe then she would feel better and not be so paranoid. After a brief struggle with her own mind, she fell into a light sleep.