My husbands secrets and lies

Episode Four: Intruder

“We’re going out on the boat again, are you coming?” Phillip asked me.

“I think I am going to pass this time; I just want to stay on this couch, read my book and take a long nap. I feel tired all the time,” I told him.

“Well, you do just that. I will take the kids and you can have some peace and quiet.” He says, he kisses me on the forehead and leaves.

The house is quiet as the wind gushes outside. I stared out the window for a while, before I heard what sound like a door slowly opening. I walked to the front door where I found the door wide open. I looked outside and saw no one, so I closed the door again and returned to the couch. It must have been the wind that blew the door open. I’m all snuggled up under a blanket, reading my book and after a while I fall asleep.

I suddenly wake up from what feels like someone shaking me, but when I open my eyes there is no one in the room with me. The blanket that was covering me as well as the book I was reading was lying on the other side of the room. It’s quiet throughout the house and then I hear footsteps upstairs and moving around on the second floor. I got up to go see who it was.

“Hello? Is someone up there?” I called out. I hear footsteps running and then everything goes quiet. What the f**k was that? My heart is now pounding as I’m sure someone heard me and then ran away and is now probably hiding upstairs somewhere. What do I do?

I ran outside and looked for where the caretaker's house was and ran towards it. I knocked on the door. No answer. I knock again. No answer. After several attempts, Nick answers the door:

“Are you OK?” he asks when he sees that I am clearly panicked.

“I think there’s someone in the house. I heard footsteps going upstairs and when I called out, it sounded like someone was running and then it went quiet. They might be hiding upstairs.” I quickly said.

“Wait here.” He says and then disappears and then reappears holding a rifle,

“Stay close”, he tells me as we go back to the house and when we get there he says;

“Stay here, scream if you see someone.” He enters the house and goes upstairs. I can hear a commotion as he checks the closets and other spaces a person might hide in. It takes a while for him to check each room, bathroom and balcony. He then comes back downstairs and does the same thing in all the rooms before returning to me.

“The house is clear, are you sure there was someone in the house?” he asks.

“Yes, definitely. They probably ran away when I went to get you. It must be one of the staff, right? We are the only people on this side of the island, I was told.”

“Yes, we are, but all the staff are on the boat ride with your family. Your husband wanted to give you some time to rest, so he invited everyone to go. Would you like me to stay here until they get back?” he asks.

“Do you think they are gone?” I asked. I don’t want him to stay with me, but I am scared of being alone.

“I’m sure that whoever it was, has left, but whether they might return is a different story.” The retired officer says.

“I’ll lock the doors until everyone gets back. Thank you for checking the house and offering to stay with me. I will be fine until they return.” I said to him.

“No problem mam, I will go around the house and check the area outside the house as well. I will keep an eye out for you,” he says.

That does make me feel better knowing he is looking around and being close. Not in the mood to read anymore and shaken up by the idea that someone is lurking around, I walk around the house when I notice the study room’s light is on. I looked inside the room and saw nothing moving or stirring. The room is dimly lighted by a desk lamp. I go to the lamp to switch it off and then realise that the switch is not turned on. The light begins to get stronger and stronger until it bursts, the glass falls on the desk and then the door shuts close, leaving me in a pitch-black room. I scream as I try to open the door, but it won’t open. I bang on the door and scream hysterically as I panic in the confined space that I now find myself trapped in with no light source as the light switch is on the wall outside the door. I slide down the door with my back and place my head in my hands. I close my eyes as I try to calm myself. Then suddenly the door opens;

“What are you doing?” I heard Phillips' voice say. I jumped up and into his arms. The children, nannies and servants are right behind him, looking at me like they did the day before. They looked scared and worried.

“What happened?” he asks, concerned when he feels me shivering.

“Someone is here”, I said.

“Where? In the house? Where?” Phillip says, now on full alert.

“I don’t know, in the house, on this island…somewhere. I heard footsteps upstairs. I went outside and got Nick after calling out and no one answered, but when we returned, no one was there. The light from the lamp was on, but the switch was off and then I tried to get out, but the door would not open!” I told him.

“Please take the kids upstairs and give us a moment.” Phillip tells the staff and they all leave.

“You’re not making any sense. What lamp? The door was open when I got here? Stay here, let me go and find Nick and talk to him for a second, OK.” Phillip then leaves the house and talks to the caregiver to find out what happened. When I looked outside, I could see the two of them in the distance, in what seemed to be a verbal confrontation. Phillip returns;

“Everything alright? What did he say?” I asked, curious about what they were fighting about.

“Listen, honey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This is an old house that creeks and makes noises, or maybe an animal got inside. Nick searched everywhere and there was no one around. Nothing is missing from the house and you are not harmed. Let’s not let this spoil our vacation.

“Maybe you’re right, I’m over tired and I just need to rest and get my head straight. I’ve just been having horrible nightmares since we got here.” I said.

“Really? What do you dream about?” he asks.

“A woman… living in this house, screaming. I dream of being chased around on this island and sometimes I dream someone is constraining me. It all just feels so real.” I say, realising just how bad and realistic the dreams really were.

“Well, they are just dreams,” Phillip tried to reassure me.

“But it’s not just the dreams, it’s something about this house”, I said.

“Don’t be silly, I’ve been coming here my whole life, and nothing has ever happened here, you are just suffering from insomnia and it’s making you lose touch with reality. Go and spend some time with your kids, it will help you get your mind off things.”

I smile softly and then leave to spend some time with my kids. He is right, I do need to redirect my focus and energy, so I headed upstairs to their room;

“Bath time girls!”, I said when I entered.

“Mom, Megan took my brush!” Alice says.

“No, I didn’t!” Megan yells back.

“Stop it girls, why are you always fighting? Alice, here is your brush”, I said as I picked her brush up from the floor underneath a clothing item;

“Apologise to Megan and you girls need to pick your things up”, I said while picking up an earring from the ground;

“That’s not ours”, Megan says.

“It must be one of your nannie’s”, I said, and placed it in my pocket.

After the girl’s bath, we had dinner. Then I went to their room and sat in a rocking chair and I started to read them a story until they fell asleep. I sit in the chair while looking at them sleep. My heart is filled with love for them. I got up and walked to the balcony. I enjoy the breeze and the garden view that is lit up by decorative lights. At the edge of the garden, where the fence separates the garden from the oasis of palm trees and other indigenous plant life covering most of the island, my eyes caught something moving. As my eyes glaze over the area, I notice a shadow behind a tree. Someone is watching me. My heart beats fast as I freeze, trying to see if the shadow moves. I jump as the shadow suddenly disappears into the trees. I kept looking up and down the fence line to see if there was any more movement, but I saw nothing else. Should I wake up Philip? He already thinks I’m losing it and would not be happy if I woke him up and he doesn’t see it with his own eyes. I decided to leave him. I close the balcony door and to make sure my girls stay safe, I go back to the chair. After hours of listening for any movements in or around the house, I finally fell asleep in the chair.

Like every night, I feel someone pushing me to the chair, constaining my breath and screams. I struggle with the invisible force and eventually wake up, out of breath.

It’s really dark, and when I get up from the chair and try to walk out in front, I walk into a desk. Where the hell am I? I felt around and felt the desk lamp, but when I tried to switch it on, it did not work. I am in the study room; this is the same lamp that had previously broken. I felt my way to the door and opened it. Thank god it opens this time! I turned on the light. How did I get here? Why was I walking in the dark and even closing the door when I entered the study? I went back inside and sat on the chair again, trying to recall how I got there. When I look down at the desk, I see that the drawer, that had been locked the whole time, is now open. It appeared that someone had ripped it open. I am suddenly aware of my throbbing hands and as I look at them, see that they are red with handle marks almost cutting into them. Am I dreaming again? I can’t tell the difference anymore.

I inspected the drawer to see what was locked away and found a stack of papers and started to look through them. The top half seemed to be some bills followed by some family photos; a photo of a young Phillip with his high school girlfriend, it would seem. They are at the beach. I turned the photo around and read on the back, written, Phillip and Natasha, 2001. Before I could continue looking through the photos, two of them fell to the ground. I bent down to pick them up but got distracted by a yellow flier between the papers with MISSING written on it in large, bold letters. I pull the flier from the stack and find a picture of Natasha on it and written underneath; Last seen 16 October 2001, wearing jeans, white sneakers and a white shirt. I look at the photo of Phillip and Natasha and notice that she is wearing the same clothes as described in the flier.

Another piece of Phillip’s past that I was not aware of. Was she ever found? How do I explain breaking his desk drawer, snooping in his personal documents and then questioning him about it?

I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and quickly put everything back. I closed the drawer and as I stood up, Phillip entered the study:

“What are you doing? You didn’t sleep in our room. Where were you last night?”, he asked.

“I fell asleep in the girl’s room and I came down to look for my book. I seemed to have misplaced it.” I quickly lied.

“Well, since we’re both up, would you like some coffee?” He asks

“Yes please”, I say and follow him to the kitchen.

“What is on the other side of the island?” I asked to make conversation

“There is another house and a private beach. The owner does not live on the property full time? Why do you ask?” he says.

“Just wandering. So, what’s on the agenda today?” I continued.

“We could go to the small island nearby. There is a waterfall not far from the shore. The children will love it. It’s about two hours of boat rides from here,” he says.

“Great, I’ll go and wake them up and get them ready.”