Two chapters later, Linda set the book down beside her on the couch. She sat and thought about how the house was coming along. Although the place was creepy, she still thought all the hard work she and Jeff were doing would be worth it in the end. It better be.
As she walked to the kitchen to get a bottle of water, she felt someone…something…watching her. She looked around, afraid of what she might see. But she saw nothing. Shaking her head, she made her way to the kitchen, grabbing a cold bottled water from the fridge and unscrewing the cap. As she turned to go back to the living room, a lady in an outdated nurse’s uniform blocked her path.
Linda blinked. The lady was still there. The bottled water fell to the floor, spilling its contents. The nurse pointed a finger at her. “No one gets out of Hilltop alive.”
Linda screamed as the nurse roughly grabbed her, knocking her to the floor. She briefly saw a man in a dirty lab coat behind her before she lost consciousness.
When she woke, Linda was shocked to find herself on the floor in a puddle of water. She bolted up to a sitting position, her mind racing, trying to figure out what had happened.
It all came back. The nurse. The…was it a doctor…behind her. She remembered the bottled water falling from her hands. She remembered being pushed to the ground. Had that all happened? Or had it been a dream? Maybe she’d started sleepwalking? That had to be it. She was sleepwalking and having horrible hallucinations. She’d probably dropped the bottle of water and then slipped in it, causing her to violently crash to the floor. She must have hit her head and fallen unconscious. But a part of her mind told her that hadn’t been what had happened. Two people had been in her house and had wanted to harm her. But that was ridiculous. The clothes the two had been wearing had been very old. None of the doctors or nurses that Linda knew dressed like that. What the hell was going on?
You were sleepwalking. Your water spilled onto the floor, and you slipped. That’s all, Linda. Get a grip on it. Get the water cleaned up and get to bed. You need to sleep. Once you sleep, you’ll feel much better.
She mopped the floor with a pounding headache. Once that was done, she went back upstairs to change her wet clothes. She was glad Jeff had slept through whatever had happened. She’d seen the way he’d been looking at her lately. She didn’t want him to think she was losing it. Or, worse yet, that she’d started drinking or using drugs again.
Chapter Three
April 19th
It had been a long week for Linda and Jeff. Renovations were not coming along as expected. Deliveries for supplies were coming in late. As they dug deeper into the building, the more damage they found. Their list was growing by the day, as was the pressure. They needed to open the house soon. They both knew it took time to build up a reputation, and with no income coming in, they’d soon run out of money.
After working half a day on Saturday, Linda convinced Jeff to have a date night. At first Jeff had protested, saying they didn’t have the money. Linda knew this was true and that Jeff would mention as much, which is why she had a dinner and movie at home already planned.
Linda made her famous four cheese lasagna with a side of garlic bread. As expected, Jeff loved it, as did Sebastian. The break was a nice reprieve that they both needed. They had both become tired of the sandwiches and cold pizza.
Halfway during the movie, Linda wondered downstairs to make some popcorn, leaving Jeff and Sebastian sprawled out on the bed. She opted for the microwave bag, instead of the kernel maker. While the traditional way was better, she wanted to hurry and get back to Jeff.
On her way back upstairs, Linda’s house slipper caught on something, and she nearly dropped the popcorn while trying to catch herself. She laughed, feeling foolish for having fallen up the stairs, rather than down. Upon further inspection, Linda discovered the cause of her stumble. The rubber matting at the edge of the wooden steps was coming undone. Anyone could easily fall if they caught their foot just right.
Linda sighed and went back into the kitchen and put the popcorn on the counter. As bad as she wanted to go back upstairs to Jeff and deal with this tomorrow, she knew she had better do it now. She rummaged through the drawers, hoping to find the glue she needed to fix a few of the steps. The last thing she wanted to happen was her or Jeff to fall while going down them, let alone up them. Once again, luck wasn’t with her, and she was going to have to waste more time fixing the problem than she liked.
Grabbing the flashlight off the counter, Linda headed to the basement. There were two ways to get there. One was through the east side of the house, the other on the west side. They hadn’t had time yet to fix the broken stairs on the west side, so the east side of the house was all Jeff and Linda had access too. Linda made a note to remedy that problem as soon as possible. She would have to talk to Jeff about the west stairwell being next on their ever-growing list.
Most of the west wing was off limits to them. It’s also where most of the guest rooms would be as well. While they had decided the east wing’s second floor would be their own personal space, the second and third floors’ west wing would be for guests. The two didn’t have the money just yet to buy another property of their own like most might do. This was their best solution for privacy. But to start working on the west wing, they had to be able to get to the west wing.
Yes, definitely on the top of the list.
Reaching the bottom step of the basement stairs, Linda flipped the light switch and headed to the back wall where she kept their supplies. The first thing she had insisted on when moving in was a work bench with several shelves and drawers. Since coming out of rehab, Linda had discovered she was quite the neat freak. Jeff called it OCD, but Linda didn’t like the idea of having yet another problem. Instead, she thought of it as a smart business perk. After all, it was hard to keep a tight ship if you didn’t know where any of your things were.
She reached for the drawer she was sure held the rubber glue, when the lights went out. Cursing, Linda felt her flashlight over and tried finding the switch to turn it on. Her finger ran over the smooth metal and found the small rubber circle in less than a minute. Blinded by the dark, she pushed her finger over the rubber and the light flicked on. She hissed and squinted her eyes against the sudden brightness. When her eyes finally adjusted, she realized it wasn’t just her flashlight lighting up the room, but also the single light hanging from the rafter.
Adding to her mental notes, she reminded herself to remind Jeff to take a look at the wiring. She hoped it was nothing major. They couldn’t afford to hire another electrician right now. The last one said all was good, but she wasn’t sure he had checked the basement. From past experience, she knew one faulty wire could burn your entire future. She had lost everything as a young teenager due to faulty wiring, including her parents. She wouldn’t let something that might seem so minor to others slip by.
Linda inspected the small cord and the single wire running to it, looking for anything that might signal it bad, when a cold chill ran down her spine. Suddenly, the feeling of someone being in the room with her, watching her every move, enveloped her in fear. Her stomach twisted, and she felt like she might be sick. She swallowed, hard, and tried chasing the feeling away. Then, a light brush of cool air hit her ear and neck, causing her nerves to tense all over again.