The Watched
By
Amanda Nowak
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PUBLISHED BY:
The Watched
Copyright © 2010 by Amanda Nowak
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Adult Reading Material
The Watcher
“Get in!” Michelle screamed at her friend who stood stunned, scared and unmoving, twenty feet from the doorway of the gas station they'd just left. “Get in now!”
Michelle sat in the driver side of the black Grand Prix, waiting for Brenda to get into the car. The robbery had not gone according to plan. The man behind the counter had a gun, and now he was dead, and they needed to move.
Brenda broke herself out of her trance by shaking her head, her short blonde hair going crazy. What had just happened, happened too fast and she wasn't sure it was even real. But with Michelle yelling, she had a good idea that it was true. She had just killed a man.
She trotted the short distance to the car and climbed into the passenger seat. Before she had even shut the door Michelle took off from the parking lot, squealing the tires, and taking off down the deserted street.
“What are we gonna do? Where are we gonna go? We need to call the police!” Brenda managed to get out before the sobs that were starting wracked her body and she could no longer breath, let alone talk.
“We can't call the police! We will both go to prison. What would we say? Sorry officer, the guy didn't want to give us his money and he pulled a gun on us so we shot him? No, that's not gonna happen. Now, just shut up and let me think.”
Brenda tried to calm herself while Michelle thought about what to do next. After Brenda shot the man, Michelle had checked for cameras. There were none, they had lucked out there. She had wiped the counter for prints so there was no way to tell that they had even been there. Now she needed to get far way from there, calm Brenda down, and figure out a plan. She was pretty sure they were safe, but didn't really want to take a chance.
Remembering a cabin her parents owned that she had visited as a child, Michelle decided that was where they needed to go. Flipping a u-turn in, she headed back the way they'd came, passed the scene of the crime and drove to the one place she thought she might feel safe.
A couple hours later they were turning onto the dirt road that would lead them to her family's cabin. Brenda had sat the entire ride in silence. Not asking where Michelle was taking them, how far it would be, or what they were gonna do when they got there. Michelle, thankful for the quiet, hadn't spoke either, just tried not to think. Brenda had killed someone. She wasn't sure what came next, but she was pretty positive that the girl sitting next to her wouldn't be able to handle it.
Arriving at the long driveway that would take her to the cabin, she looked around, trying to find something familiar about the land, and couldn't. However, when the cabin came into view, she was bombarded by wonderful memories of the days she had spent there with her parents, now passed away, and it brought glimmering tears to her eyes. Life had been so great, and then the accident and she was alone. The only family she had left, was Brenda. Not by blood but by choice. They had declared each other family. The only people they had in this world were each other.
Brenda's family was still alive, but the world would be better off without them. Physically, and sexually abusing her almost since the day she was born, they weren't anything but a waste of space and air. No one deserved parents like that, and Brenda had been lucky to get away when she did. They met two years ago at a homeless shelter. Brenda sixteen and Michelle eighteen, had immediately found a kindred soul in the other. They had been together ever since.
As Michelle turned the car off in front of the cabin, they both as in the silent vehicle a little longer. Staring at the little house, neither sure what to say or wanting to be the first one to speak. They opened their doors simultaneously, and stepped out into the fresh air. The cool air, smelled of woods, dirt, and dew; all the beautiful things that the forest should smell like. It relaxed them both as they turned to look at each other. Michelle gave a nod and they started to move up the stairs that would take them to the wooden cabin.
Michelle opened the door and stepped in first, with Brenda following on her heels. She stepped inside through the doorway, and let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. She had been sure that no one was supposed to be here, just wasn't sure if someone would be. A Squatter or vagrant. Not that she had any reason to be scared, it was her property, and she could have kicked him out, but being tired, and lost in other thoughts, hadn't wanted to deal with it. But it was obvious that the place hadn't seen a visitor for years due to the layers of dust that covered everything. From the ceiling to the floor, and every surface in between was covered in the inches of dust and dirt accumulated since her family had been there last.
Brenda finally broke the silence, “This place is creepy.”
“No. It's not.” Michelle said defensively of her old place. “It's cozy.”
“Um..... ok.” Brenda replied. “What now?”
“Well, we gather some wood, start a fire, and go from there. I'll check by the fireplace to see if there's any left there. We could use the real dry stuff for kindling to start the fire, and stuff from outside to keep it going. You head out to gather some logs. You shouldn't have to go far and I'll search here for things to get the fire going, like matches and a hatchet for the wood.”
Brenda looked at Michelle uncertain if she wanted to do what was told, but ultimately turned and went outside to look for the wood. Michelle started looking in the dark and she stumbled upon a box of matches on the mantle. She lit one and squatted down to see if she had any wood or paper. Jackpot, she thought. There was everything she'd need, a couple small logs and some sticks along with some old news papers. She blew out her match before it burnt her finger, and started to build a teepee in the dark inside the fire place with the sticks. Then she torn up some of the paper, and put it in the holes of her wooden pyramid. Once it was ready, she struck another match, and held it to the paper. It went up quickly, and the sticks caught. She gently set the logs on the baby fire, and sat back to watch it grow.
By the time Brenda came in with the logs she gathered from outside, the fire was glowing warmly. She set her load next to the old stuff, and went to join Michelle on the couch in front of the fire. They sat there staring at the dancing flames. With the chill in the air from the long time emptied cabin gone, they both started to feel exhausted. Michelle rose, threw a couple more pieces on the fire, returned to the couch to settle in to relax.
“Let's get a couple hours of sleep. I'm tired and need to rest. We will see how things look then.”
“I don't know if I can sleep. But I guess I should try.” Brenda answered with a yawn
Soon, the now occupied cabin was filled with the sound of snoring. The fire was starting to dim, and a shadow stood behind the couch, hovering over the girls.
Michelle woke with a start, and for a moment couldn't figure out where she was. It was still dark out and it was hard to make out the room she was sitting in. After a minute or so it all came back to her. The robbery, the shooting,
and the cabin. She looked to her right where Brenda had been sitting when she'd fallen asleep and the rest of the couch was empty. She arose, taking in her surroundings, decided that Brenda probably couldn't sleep and went searching the cabin.
She stretched as she started toward the fire place. It was down to coals and they were getting weaker. She tossed a couple of twigs on, gave it a blow to get them lit, and laid some logs across the small fire. Figuring that would do, she turned to rest of the cabin and went in search of Brenda.
Calling her name, she peeked into the small bathroom. Realizing quickly that Brenda wasn't there, she headed to one of the two bedrooms in the back of the cabin. She stepped into what was her parents room. It was dark and dusty and she called for Brenda again. With no answer she walked around the bed slowly, and saw no sign of Brenda so she returned to the door and headed for the other room.
Her room was smaller than her parents. Memories came swelling back as she stepped into the room and a smile spread on her face. She