The Watchers

If the window is open, close it. If the curtains are drawn close them too. Nobody should see what happens behind some windows at night.

Anna didn’t know that a glance at her neighbor's window that hot night in July would have deadly consequences. She was a watcher. She loved to watch everything, birds, squirrels, ants, and even turtles swimming in the lake but her favorite thing to watch was people. She loved to watch people. She found people fascinating and mysterious. She had been a watcher of people since she was a little girl. She especially likes to watch the people in her building and the surrounding buildings. It made her mundane routine a little more exciting. Anna always got home from her job as a receptionist exactly at 5pm. She caught the 4:30 number 13 bus and it dropped her off a block from her building. She walked home and she watched people. She watched the same group of four kids shoot dice on the corner and she knew that boy with the red hair was going to win. He always won. He was the hustler of the group and Anna would nod and smile when she passed them. The red headed boy would give her a nod back and continue to click the dice in his hand before he would shoot them against the chain linked fence. A few feet from the kids was Mrs. Jenkins. Mrs. Jenkins was a watcher too. She was an older woman who had retired at the age of 60. Her and her husband were supposed to travel the world until suddenly her world ended. Her world ended when he passed away. Now, all she does with her time is watch TV and watch people passing by her window. On hot days her window would be open and she hoped to catch a cool breeze. Her apartment was alway hot and stuffy on hot days. Anna waved as she passed the old woman and Mrs. Jenkins held up the peace sign as she always did. Anna cracked a smile and continued to walk and continued to watch. She passed Larry, a single father strolling his young daughter to the corner as he did every evening. Larry was not a watcher or a talker. Anna kept going, barely looking in his direction. She didn’t need to look to know he was there. He was always there. 

The key in the gate made a loud noise as Anna unlocked the security gate to her building. She hated that lock. It was too old and too loud. It always alerted Mrs. James that she was coming home. Mrs. James lived across the hall and was a talker. Anna tried to climb the steps to her door as quietly as she could. She didn’t feel like talking. She only felt like watching out of her favorite window. Anna quickly ate a light dinner and she took her place in front of the window. She called it the unseen window. It was her special spot.  She didn’t think that she could be seen when she watched from that window. She didn’t think so as she pulled up her favorite blue chair and emptied her microwave popcorn into her big yellow bowl and kicked off her slipper to watch. She didn’t know it but the watcher was also being watched.

She put on her glasses and looked  towards the window of apartment 407. She had the best view of that apartment and she had watched it for years. She watched that window when Stella moved in with her kids and stayed for four years. Stella was married to a man who was a cheater. Anna knew it because she saw his mistress when Stella was out of town for work. The lady had long blonde hair which came to her waist, green eyes and a slim figure. She was the complete opposite of Stella. Anna watched as the husband passionately kissed the woman and took her inside the bedroom. She was still watching an hour later when they both appeared in front of the window again and the woman grabbed her yellow coat and tossed it across her arm. She gave Stella’s husband a peck of a kiss on the lips and left. She always was watching the day Stella came home and found them together. She couldn’t hear but she saw Stella wave her hands in the air, she saw her mouth drop open and she saw Stella’s husband and the blonde lady leave. Stella stood there and threw a glass against the closed door shattering it. Anna knew that was the end of Stella living there and she was right. More people came and went after Stella. Most would go about their business in the daytime, most likely to their jobs and come home and do little but watch TV movies before going to bed. After a couple of years they would move out and more would move in; it was like looking at a rerun on TV.  But, then 6 months ago he moved in.

Anna was watching the window as usual and she saw a tall, handsome, man inside the apartment. She knew that he was the new tenant. He was about Anna’s age, early 40’s and looked like he worked in some professional capacity, judging from his suits he wore every day. He didn’t have a family. He was alone. He would have guests sometimes but they were always male guests and an older woman who looked like him. Anna figured it was his mom or another relative. Anna thought he was going to be another boring man in the window until one day she saw something that she shouldn’t have.

Tyler noticed Anna looking at him through her window the second day he moved in. He didn’t have curtains then and would glance out of the windows at night to see the night people and the stars. One night he saw her. She was just sitting there. She was eating something and she was watching. He tried to make her think that he didn’t notice her and went about his nightly routine. He ate his dinner, called his mother, brushed his teeth and showered and went to bed. He did walk around in his towel though. What the heck, he thought, she can have a cheap thrill. He was in shape and worked out every day and knew he was hot. He noticed her smiling when he walked around in his towel and was tempted to wave but he never did. He pretended that he didn’t even see her.

“Do you have the package?” The voice asked Tyler on the other end of the phone.

“Yes.” Was Tyler’s reply.

“I will be there at 8. Be ready with the package.” The voice said.

Tyler hung up the phone.

Anna saw a big man with a braided beard and wearing a baseball cap enter Tyler’s apartment. The man was carrying a briefcase. Anna thought that was strange. She had never seen anyone who visited Tyler carry a briefcase and dress like he was coming from a softball game at the park or something.  Anna watched as the man opened the briefcase and she watched more closely as Tyler filled the briefcase with bundles of money. Anna tried to estimate how many bundles of she saw going into the case but she lost count. She was thinking that maybe it was some type of drug deal. Could Tyler be a drug carrier or in the mob? She didn’t know. She kept looking and looking as the man closed the briefcase and walked towards the door. But, the man didn’t make it to the door. He fell a few feet from the door. Anna gasped. She couldn’t believe what she saw next. Tyler was holding a gun and pointed it straight at the man’s back. 

“He shot him!” Anna said aloud.

Anna moved away from the window. She had to call the police. She had just witnessed a murder. She ran across the room to get her cell phone and she started to dial 911. That is all she remembered before she blacked out.

Anna woke up tied to a chair in a small dark room with just one light above her head and some wine bottles surrounding her all around the room. She didn’t know where she was and her head hurt so badly she could barely see. She slowly looked around the room again. Tyler appeared in front of her. She wanted to ask him what she was doing there and she tried but the gag in her mouth prevented her from talking. He looked down at her feet and they were tied to the chair along with her hands which were carefully tied behind her in the chair. She tried to move but couldn’t.

Slowly Tyler took the gag out of her mouth and told her that screaming would be useless. He said nobody would hear her. She wanted to scream but decided to save her energy. He told her that she didn’t need to worry where she was. He was not going to hurt her for now.

“Why am I here?” She managed to say. Her throat was incredibly dry and she desperately wanted some water. 

“You know why you are here.” Tyler said.

“I really don’t. Can I have some water?” Anna asked politely.

Tyler walked across the room and picked up a bottle of water, opened it and placed a straw inside the bottle. He brought it to Anna and she sipped it slowly. Tyler took the bottle away and sat down across from her on a grey steel chair.

“I don’t even know who you are.” Anna said

“You may not know my name but you know me.” Tyler said.

“You have been watching me for over a year. You watch me through your window.” 

“What’s your name?” Anna asked.

“My name is not important. What is important is that I need to figure out what to do with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Miss Anna Snow. I mean that you saw me kill someone and I saw you watching me. I watch you too. We are both watchers.” Tyler said. 

“How do you know my name?”  Anna asked.

“I know a lot about you. I know that you eat dinner at 6:29 every night on the dot. I know that you eat mostly salads for dinner. I know that you haven’t had a visitor in the last 6 weeks and when you do have a visitor it is your best friend, August. I know that you don’t have a boyfriend. Your last boyfriend, Dylan, left you because you were a watcher. He was not. I also know that your cat, Bow, died tragically last week and you found him lifeless under a car. I also know that if I don’t get rid of you that you will be trouble for me. I can’t have that.” Tyler said.

“You have been watching me all this time?” Anna asked.

“Yes. I told you I am a watcher too.”

“If you let me go I won’t tell anyone what I saw.” Annie said trying to sound sincere. 

“Oh, I have heard that more times than I can count. Most of the people who told me that aren’t around to say anything.” Tyler laughed.

“Why did you kill that guy?” Anna asked.

“I guess I can tell you. See, Miss watcher that guy was blackmailing me. He was a watcher too. He had been watching me for years. He was part of a sting operation that never happened. I paid him off. He thought he was going to get a million bucks pay off. He was so dumb. But, most people like him are.” Tyler said matter of factly.

“Why was he blackmailing you?” 

“Annie, Annie, Annie, you ask too many questions. But, let’s just say he was not my first victim. My first victim was an accident, sort of. She couldn’t keep her mouth shut either but before I could shut her up she was hit by a bus of all things. She didn’t die but is still in a coma. Nobody knows when or if she will come out of it. See, Anna I am a bad man. I am a hired hit man for lots of bad people. The dead man found out my secret and thought he could blackmail me. He threatened to turn me in to the cops. I couldn’t let that happen. And now you saw it all. “

Before Tyler could say another thing the swat team burst into the room. He put his hands up. That was his only choice. 

“Annie are you okay?” The officer asked her.

“I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me. Did you get all that?” Anna asked.

Tyler looked dumbfounded. He didn’t know what she was talking about. He didn’t know how he got caught. He was always so careful.

“Yeah we got it. He is going away for a long time if we can help it. We finally got the notorious hit man, Tyler Quartermain Reese after all this time.”  The officer told Anna.

Anna turned to Tyler who was standing there handcuffed with a dumb look on his face. She chuckled.

“Tyler, you are right. I am a watcher. But, I am not your ordinary watcher. I work for the FBI and I am paid to watch and take down people like you. Now, one piece of advice for you. You better watch yourself in jail. I heard that you should always watch your back and don’t drop the soap.” 

“I’ll be back.” Tyler screamed as they took him away.