Now we move away from a small town in South Carolina and move to the north west, to a town in northwest Indiana that might as well be a Suburb of Chicago. It is a richer, more upscale suburb and as different from Arklow and you could probably find. Woodridge Indiana is a small town whose population is hard to pinpoint as there are only invisible lines separating it from other towns in the area. Living in a nice sized house are Sharon and Christian Sharp the wife and son of Valmont Sharp.
It is early in the morning and Christian Sharp is getting ready for school. He has just gotten out of the shower and is getting dressed. As he is putting on clothing he is watching the morning news, “And that was the event at Arklow which concluded at one thirty two this morning. It was a considerably toned down show compared to many of Sharp's recent events but it still impressed the crowds. Every Sharp show is a unique experience that must be seen to be believed. This has been Jan Raquel back you you Bob.”
Chris was up until one forty watching his father's final show despite telling his mom that he wouldn't. He knows that on school days he should not stay up that late even for one of his father's shows but he had to see it, it was the final night. He is already dressed but listens to the TV for a couple minutes to hear a conversation he knows all to often.
“I have seen a Valmont Sharp show in person myself Megan, seeing the on TV just does not match the experience. Yes that was not the most impressive Sharp experience of 2005 but they can't all be the Vampire of Orleans, sometimes they are simple affairs like this.” Bob White the lead anchor of the NAC Channel Thirteen Morning News said to his partner.
Chris turns off his TV, “I will see enough of that at school with Ric and Jason.” Chris could already picture how the opening conversation between his two best friends will be. Ricardo will be complaining about his the show was not as impressive as one of the older ones and how Sharp is loosing steam and Jason will say they can't all be masterpieces and so on. Chris does not need an early preview on the morning news. He grabs his books and walks out of his room.
Sharon Sharp is in the Kitchen already ready to head to work, she has a piece of toast in her hands as she is sitting at the table looking at the Newspaper. She hears Chris try to sneak past her to get to the fridge unnoticed, “Did you catch your father's show last night?”
“Of course not I was asleep, I don't stay up that late on a school night.” He doubts his mother believes him but he knows that's what he should say.
“In that case so was I.” She smiles, “because like you I can't be up until one thirty watching my estranged husband send the spirits to the great beyond. She was a looker though wouldn't you say?”
“When she was calm down anyway.” Chris then shuts his mouth and hears his mother chuckle behind him. He pulls out an apple and some orange Juice and pours himself a glass. He takes a package of pop tarts from the box and then walks over to the table and sits down. “Okay you caught me. Am I in trouble?”
Sharon finishes her toast folds up the paper and stands up, “Not as long as you keep your grades up. She then picks up her brief case and walks over to the garage door, “Remember to lock up before you leave, oh and don't mess with the note I left for Ms. Garcia it's on the counter. See you when I get home from work.”
“What's Mai making tonight?” Chris asked as his mother starts walking out. He peers over at the note his mother left which already answers the question.
“Nothing I'm bringing something home tonight, I'm giving her a half day off and she does not come back until after the Holiday. I'm going to try my hand at making Thanksgiving again. I hope I'm not too rusty.” She smiles at her son.
“Oh no I will have my cell set to call 911 in case.” Chris kids, he's sure his Mom will do fine, from what he remembers she was a decent cook.
“Hahahaha.” Sharon then closes the door and leaves. Chris hears the car door open and his mom's car stat up and then drive away while he is sitting there eating. The car is not even out of the garage when his cell phone rings and he answers it. “Chris look out the window.”
“Mom what?” He drops his apple on the table and stands, “Why?” he lifts the binds with his fingers and peers out.
“See Mr. McCannon?” His mother says sounding nervous.
“Yeah he's staring at you? So?”
“Look at his eyes. His eyes.” She yells into the phone.
Chris takes a closer look at Ed McCannon's eyes, they seemed glazed over and dull. He is just staring at his mother with out any sort of movement, “Creepy but so what he's always been weird.”
“This is different.” She takes some deep breaths and then drives out of the driveway, “Watch him Chris please.”
“Okay mom.” Chris watches Ed McCannon as his mom drives away. The man's eyes and head follow his moms car while his body hardly moves. He does this with out blinking even once, “He's watching you.” McCannon's eyes then shift and his moves his attention to the window, he takes a couple steps off his yard near the street and stops. Now he is staring at Chris. “Whoa.” Chris steps back and drops the shade.
“What happened Chris?”
“You're right mom something's not right here, now he is staring at me, at the house. I knew he was strange. I should confront him?”
“No don't. Ignore him, though this is not the first time someone has looked at me like that. Actually it's been happening quite often in the past few weeks. Just never so close to home.”
Chris thinks for a minute, “Yeah mom I have noticed it too. Kids I generally just ignore have been acting extra strange. Staring at me for no reason, I never gave it much thought. It's weird.”
“When I get home we will talk about it some more. I should get off the phone while I'm driving.” Sharon then hangs up the phone Chris turns his off and puts it in his pocket. Chris then walks over to the window and looks across the street, Mr. McCannon seems to have moved on, he's no longer looking at him but has turned around and is heading home.
Chris walks out of the house fifteen minutes later and looks across the street at the McCannon place. While he promised his mom he would not talk to him he intentionally left fifteen minutes early so that he could ask the old man some questions. He walks his bike over across the street and then parks it in front of the porch. He then walks up to the door and rings the door bell. The door opens a little bit and an old man in his early seventies looks out, “Yes?”
“Mr. McCannon it's Chris Sharp. Why were you staring at me and my mom?” Chris asks.
“What? I was not staring at you.” The man blinks at him, “Damn it I was just getting my paper, takes me about less then a minute and your mom was leaving.”
“You were looking at her for about two minutes and then you started to stare at the house.”
The old man shakes his head? “No, no I did not. I, I...” McCannon shakes his head and closes the door. “Go away.”
Chris shakes his head, “Maybe I went at this the wrong way. That was not very bright.” Chris says mostly to himself. He then walks over to his bike and gets on, he better head to school, maybe Jason and Ric have seen something.