The slow creaking noise coming from the office door made Maria jerk back so hard, she almost fell off her chair. She could feel how hard her body vibrated in pure shock. She turned her head towards the direction of the door and saw Oliver standing there, giving her the most confused expression she had ever seen. Maria realized that she had reacted in a strange way. It was no wonder Oliver looked at her like that.
"you...don't look very good Maria. Is everything okay with you?"
Maria sat up straight, adjusting herself on the chair. "Yes of course, everything's fine. I was just lost deep in my thoughts."
She let out a nervous laugh as she averted her gaze from Oliver. There was a few seconds of silence with made Maria uncomfortable.
"Um, how did the interview go?"
"It went pretty well. I was able to get some pretty useful information." Oliver replied as he plopped down on his chair.
"It seemed like her daughter had a crush on me."
"What?"
"Well, she was acting all nervous around me. And she kept blushing like she had just seen a boy she was in love with."
Maria wasn't all too surprised. Whenever they walked together, Maria would see girls staring at Oliver, some whispering between themselves without tearing their gaze from him. Oliver was very attractive and everyone else could agree with her.
"Oh yeah, by the way, I met chief Bradley on my way up to the office. He said he was up here something minutes ago, something about giving you a flash drive containing footage from the beach house. Have you checked it out?"
Maria throat went completely dry. She swallowed saliva, trying as much as possible to lubricate her dry throat.
"Oh, the flash drive..."Maria managed to utter as she licked her lips.
The office suddenly became hotter. She shifted uncomfortably as she felt sweat trickle down her belly under her peach coloured chiffon dress.
"Yeah, the flash drive. Did you check out the footage?" "of course I did but it looks like the drive was empty. I couldn't find any footage on it."
Maria felt terrible for lying to Oliver but her instincts kept telling her that no one at all, could even lay eyes on what she had just seen. Maria pursed her lips together tightly, hoping that Oliver would buy her small story.
"Well, that's too bad. The footage from the CCTV cameras would have really aided this investigation. I wonder if we could request for another one."
'I most definitely hope not' Maria thought. Pushing her laptop aside, she decide to look at some paper work. She was still disheveled as strands of her jet black hair hung freely in front of her face. Tucking the strands of hair behind her ears, Maria tried to compose herself. She hadn't quite recovered from the footage she had just seen. She stole a glance at Oliver, scared that her may be looking at her behaving so out of character. To her relief, Oliver was very focused on the paper work which was lying on his desk. Maria let out a heavy breath and decided to finish up on paper work she had left for the day...
'Why are all the lights turned off?' this was Oliver's first thought as he parked his car in front of the house. The house sat in total darkness which made Oliver a bit worried. The lights were always turned on when ever he came back home. He walked up to the front door and unlocked it. Shutting the front door behind him, he walked slowly, trying not to bump into stuff as he went by. Getting to the bed room, Oliver flipped on the light switch and looked around the empty room. He rubbed the back of his neck as he let out a small chuckle. Oliver felt quite stupid for expecting to see Kenna in the bedroom. They hadn't slept on the same bed for days. It made him quite sad to sleep on this large bed all alone without any human warmth. Tossing his leather bag on the bed, Oliver decided to head to the living room.
"Kenna?" Oliver called out in the dark living room.
No response. He had expected to see a lit up room with Kenna lying on the sofa. He turned on the lights. Kenna was nowhere to be found.
"Kenna?"
this time, he called out louder. Oliver went to the kitchen and looked around. It was empty, except the sink which was filled with dirty plates. With all the work he had going on, doing the dishes was the last thing on his mind. 'I should really clean up' Oliver thought. He came back to the living and sunk down on the sofa. 'maybe she's out with her friend. I should probably call' He thought. Oliver pulled out his phone and quickly dialed her number. Ring ring ring ring....click!
"Hey Kenna where are y-"
"Hi! It's Kenna, please leave a message after the beep." Beep beep beep beep. Oliver sighed and rubbed his eyes. Kenna wasn't home and now she wasn't picking up her calls. He dialed her number a few more times before tossing his phone on the sofa in defeat. 'What could she possibly be doing right now' Oliver's mind was in agitation. He couldn't help but think about the possible situations Kenna could be in right now. Maybe she went for a drink and got helplessly drunk. Maybe she couldn't handle the tension between them and decided to go stay with her parents for a while. Maybe, just maybe she was in another man's bed. Oliver refused to let his thoughts get too far. 'She'll definitely be back tomorrow' he thought. It was just a way of reassuring his anxious self. Oliver could feel his eye lids getting heavier and decided to finally put them to rest.
Maria sat on her pillow. Her legs had been drawn up to her chest and her arms were wrapped tightly around them. Maria couldn't stop herself from thinking. She had tried to fall asleep but whenever she closed her eyes, scenes from the CCTV footage would flood her memory like a stream. Sleeping was totally impossible for Maria at this point. That was when an idea popped up in her head. Why don't you watch the footage again, maybe you're mistaken. How about you do a double check. The thought came as a small voice resounding in her head. It was hard to ignore the voice. It felt like a continuous migraine that refused to leave no matter how many pills you take for it. Maria sighed and looked at her black bag with hung on the wall. The bag gave her an ominous feeling the more she stared at it. Maria bit her lower lip. 'Should I really watch it again?' she thought. Yes, just take a quick look at the footage. Who knows, you might see something different this time. The small voice was back again, probing her harder and harder. She let out a load groan and stretched out on the bed. Maria stared blankly at the ceiling while the small voice kept pushing her more and more. "Fine! I'll watch the damn footage again!" Maria screamed. She knew it was dumb to yell out loud when clearly she was the only one in the room, but it made the small voice leave her head and hopefully for good. Reluctantly, Maria got out of bed and went over to where her bag hung. She pulled out the tiny flash drive and twirled it around her fingers slowly. It was quite funny how something as small as this could cause her so much distress. Staring at the flash drive in her hands, Maria started having second thoughts. Did she really want to see that terrifying video again? No, most definitely not. She walked over to the bed and sat down on it. Momo walked into the bed room and jumped on the bed. She went over to where Maria sat and snuggled herself on her legs. Maria ran her hands through momo's white and soft fur. It always calmed Maria down whenever she did this. 'No, I can't do this' Maria thought as she placed the flash drive down on her bedside table. She had decided that it was better if she didn't see that horrendous video again. The sound of Maria's ringtone caught her attention. She picked up her phone from the bed side table and looked at the screen.
"Hey."
"Hey. What's up? It's rare for you to call me up by this time." Trevor chuckled.
"Come on, it's just 9:15pm, it's not too late."
Maria looked at her wall clock to confirm the time. "Anyway, I want you to guess where I am right now." "What? How would I know that?" Maria replied.
"Come on, just give it a try, it'll be fun."
Maria thought for a while before answering.
"You're at the bar? Or the arcade?"
"No and No. I'm at neither of those places."
Maria sighed.
"Just…..tell me where you are Trevor."
"Mmmm, okay. I'm standing in front of a house with a brown coloured front door.
There are several small wooden chairs at the front porch. Does any of this ring a bell?"
Maria's eyes widened.
"Are you at my front door Trevor?"
he let out a hearty laugh.
"Yeah, I am."
Maria was in disbelief. She decided to go to the front door to confirm it for herself. Maria looked through the peep hole and saw Trevor standing right in front of the door. She unbolted the chains on the door and opened it.
"Hey there." Trevor said grinning from ear to ear.
"What are you doing here Trevor?"
"I was out on a stroll and decided to drop by. You know, it's quite lonely walking by yourself. It would be nice if you could join me? The breeze is really nice." Maria thought about it. Maybe a stroll is what she needed to clear her head.
"Hm, okay. I'll take a stroll with you."
'Mission accomplished' Trevor thought as his eyes lit up.
"Just give me a second. I'll go wear something else." Trevor nodded and took a seat at the front porch. After some minutes, Maria came out wearing a thick cotton sweat pant with a dark green oversized sweater. She locked up the front door and they both walked away from the house. The air was nice and cool just like Trevor said it was. She thought he had only said that to get her to come with him. Trevor shoved his hands into his pocket as they slowly walked down the street. "So why exactly did you decide to take a stroll and why did you bother asking me to tag along?"
Trevor shrugged.
"No particular reason. I always go out for a jog by this time every day."
'that explains why he's dressed like he was heading to the gym' Maria thought.
"I also thought you might need to relieve some stress." Trevor said as he turned to look at her.
"I'm kidding, I just really wanted to see you."
Maria giggled. She had missed the way he always made her laugh. The streets were filled with people walking around, so it didn't feel too lonesome. The sound of fireworks filled the air. Bright colored stained the night sky, giving it a beautiful look.
"Wow, I wonder what the occasion is." Maria said as she gazed at the fireworks in awe.
"I think there's a festival going on. Should we go check it out?"
Maria shook her head.
"I'm fine with just watching watching the fireworks from here. It's quiet and more relaxing."
"Yeah you're right." They both a found a nearby bench to sit and relax their tired feet. They had been walking for an hour now and Maria was already exhausted. The fireworks continued, spraying different shapes and colors up in the sky. They both sat on silence enjoying the show. As much as Maria had tried to ignore it, the feeling kept welling up deep within her, the feeling that something huge and terrifying was about to happen in this small town.