Secrets in the Ashes: Fragments of Desire

Chapter 7: Thunderstorm

I woke up the next morning with the sound of thunder in my head and my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth. The sun beat down on me through the window, making me notice the slick sheet of sweat across my back and chest.

"Ugh," I groaned and rolled out from under the covers. When I finally peeled myself from the sheets, I made my way to the bathroom and the first thing I did was brush my teeth and turn on the shower to begin warming up the water.

Once I was clean and able to open my eyes without fighting the urge to vomit, I pulled out my softest nightgown and pulled it over my head. I loved wearing my more revealing nightgowns when I was at my old home. They were comfortable and made me feel cute, but they were highly inappropriate and left nothing to the imagination.

I popped a few aspirin and chugged my weight in water before crawling back into bed with a book.

The first few hours of the day went by slowly as I dozed in and out of consciousness, reading bits of my book here and there. When lunch rolled around, I ordered out and had food delivered so as to not dirty any dishes. Honestly though, I was not planning on cooking at all these next two weeks.

My phone buzzed around two in the afternoon and I swiped up and unlocked it to see a slew of photos of Olly walking around some large city I didn't know the name of. It was beautiful; large buildings that touched the clouds and beautiful trees that lined the sidewalks. There were a few photos of distant mountains and selfies of Olly eating something I couldn't fathom.

I texted back a photo of me taking a bite of the pasta I had ordered and Olly replied with a bunch of heart emojis a moment later.

I told him to enjoy his trip and bring me back a souvenir, which he promised he would, and then I locked my phone and returned to my book.

Yes, our relationship was indeed a lot different from most maids and their bosses, it was the reason why I treasured it so much. Olly was, without a doubt, the best boss that a maid could ask for, and I knew in my heart of hearts that he was like this with me and me alone. It was special – I was special. I had to be.

After a while, when my hips began to cramp from being in bed all day, I decided to get up and walk around the house to stretch them. The sun had set just half an hour prior and as I walked downstairs, my eyes went immediately to the open window.

It felt silly, but there was that sensation again of being watched. With my arms crossed protectively across my chest, I went to the bay window near the breakfast table and peered out into the dark.

There was nothing there of course, nothing but trees and patio furniture. But still, I felt like if I stared into the dark long enough, I would see something staring back.

The image of pale blue eyes flitted to the forefront of my mind once more and I startled myself with how quickly I pulled the curtains shut over the window. I ran around the entire bottom story, pulling closed all of the curtains and lowering all of the blinds.

Being in this large house by myself was doing something to my head. I felt eyes on me everywhere I turned, peering out at me from every dimly lit corner.

I walked upstairs a bit too quickly after checking to make sure all the doors were locked and setting the security alarm. Throwing myself into my bed, I pulled the covers over myself and stared at my door for a beat, waiting for someone to turn the handle.

When nothing happened for a few moments, I took a few calming breaths and laughed lightly to myself.

"You're being neurotic," I said to myself, and the sound of my own voice startled me. It had only been a day since I had heard another voice and I was already feeling starved of conversation.

I ate one of my pills and then picked up my phone and texted Olly, asking him how work was going. When he didn't reply immediately, I kicked myself. It was still the middle of the night wherever he was. Or, at least I thought it was. I could never keep track of the places he visited or their time-zones.

I yelped loudly when I heard something slam downstairs and sat up straight in my bed. Then, when my breathing finally evened back out, I pulled out my phone and checked the cameras that were positioned around the house.

It had sounded like it came from the kitchen, so I pulled up the feed from that camera and rolled it back a few minutes. Holding my breath, I watched and waited to see something move, but nothing ever did.

I pulled up the cameras that showed me the outside and checked the driveway and all of the doors, playing back the last half hour on fast-forward. There was nothing and I cursed whatever had slammed and scared me.

Finally, I worked up the nerve to venture downstairs to check it out. I had kept a baseball bat in my flat and when I moved in permanently with Olly, I brought it with me. I pulled it from where it sat tucked away in my closet and gripped it tightly as I quietly turned the knob of my door and eased it open.

I paused in the doorway, listening for any sounds, but heard nothing. Walking quietly down the hall, I held the bat up, ready to swing out at anything that popped up before me. By the time I reached the hallway to the den, I felt both ridiculous and terrified.

When I got to the kitchen, I took a few shallow breaths and then peeked my head past the threshold, expecting to see some huge monster rummaging through the fridge or some masked assailant posed to strike.

There was nothing. No monster, no beast, no intruder.

"Hello?" I called out timidly. Nothing answered.

Just then, I heard a loud crack of thunder that made me shriek like a small child. I dropped the bat and slapped my hands over my mouth, my scream startling even myself as the wooden bat bounced off of the tile.

Rain was hammering against the window a second later as the skies opened up and let loose.

I let out every curse I could think of as I picked up the bat and marched back towards the stairs. The first bang must have just been thunder. This was what I got for watching all of those scary movies.

I couldn't help it though, being terrified gave me a thrill like nothing else. That thought gave me an idea.

Closing my door and sinking back into my bed, I pulled open my laptop and went to my regular streaming service. Everything on my recommendations was either horror or some sort of thriller, and I decided that there was no better time to watch a scary movie than during a thunderstorm while alone in a large house.

Hours later, I was curled up in a ball within my covers on the bed staring wide-eyed at what was my third slasher flick of the night. I mumbled quietly for the female lead to get out of the house as a masked figure chased her through dimly lit rooms and corridors.

When another loud bang rang from downstairs, my heart was already in my throat and I felt ice bleed into my veins. The storm was long over so I couldn't excuse the slamming sound for thunder again.

Not bothering with checking the camera system again, I slid out of bed quietly and grabbed my bat once more. While I was terrified to my core, I was also a little annoyed. Whatever was making that sound was disturbing my peaceful stay-cation.

I made my way down to the kitchen again, where I was sure the sound came from, and flicked on the light. Of course there was nothing. Letting out a sigh, I walked to the windows and checked them all to make sure that they were locked.

When I pushed back the curtain that hung over the den window, I froze in place.

There was a handprint on the window – one that I knew hadn't been there before because I had personally cleaned the windows myself just the day before.

I reached out a shaking hand to touch the fog that was still around the shape of the hand, as if it had just been placed there, to see if it was on the outside of the window.

When my finger left a streak through the handprint, I felt my heart sink into the very depths of my guts.

Someone was inside the house.