No Privacy

I have to explain how one move to a small town wasn’t what I thought it would be. Before I moved to Forks, Washington, I had lived in San Diego. It was expensive. That was a drastic change for me but I didn't want the high-paced city life anymore. I wanted the quiet life and the very very green scenery. I wanted privacy. I had a job offer as I a photographer for a website about "nature's hidden gems" and I was an unpopular blogger. I wasn’t even a good photographer; it was simply a hobby for me. This agency contacted me out of the blue and a little cash wouldn’t hurt. I was offered free housing and couldn’t deny the offer. To anybody, that would sound skeptical but I had been praying for a sign or some sort of miracle. This seemed to be it.

Every day in this small town of 3,000 people, I went to the same library to work on an article hoping that it would help me become an established blogger. One day I met a peculiar librarian named Lillian. She was a small, elderly, dark haired woman and she seemed very sweet. Very much so in her own world. Lillian smiled at everyone that walked in but people had hard time getting her attention as well. I felt someone's eyes on me and of course it was her. She eventually sat next me, placed her hand on mine and said, "Claire, your photography is excellent." This took me off guard. Firstly, I had a private portfolio that I had only shown to agencies I thought would be interested in my work. I had no idea how she knew my name either. She must've seen how appalled I was because after a few seconds, she told me it was small town with a slight smile and left my table. I didn't think anything of it. She seemed sweet and she was right. It is a small town. Those words rung in my ears. The thought of a small town had frightened me suddenly. It was where all of the horror movie activities occurred. I knew my best friend Sydney was going to visit me to keep me company for a bit so I felt more at ease.

I only questioned how small this town really was when I went to the local supermarket. I went to check out and the cashier seemed to be in his 20s and he was very handsome. I prepared myself for the casual conversation anybody would have with a cashier. Instead of him saying, "How are you? Was your shopping experience alright?" He started off with, "Hey my buddy Junior owns a small shop on Charleston Avenue and he could offer you pretty good deal on a new laptop if you’d like." I told him I wouldn't need one even though my current one had a few scratches and was an older model. "Well that 2010 model wouldn't do you any justice like the newest MacBook,” He said with a smirk. “How would you know which model I had?” I asked irritated. “Just go to the damn shop and save some money. I know you could use it. Get out of this town. It’s not a place for someone like you,” He said with a smirk. I didn't bother to say anything else and I was on the verge of tears. The shock of him knowing the year of the laptop and his insult had overwhelmed me. I felt relieved when I was finally in my car and I just wanted to go home. Was I being stalked? Did he know the librarian? Surely, she had seen my laptop plenty of times. I didn’t know if I was thinking too much about it or why he was so rude.

As I was heading to my front door, a man started to walk over to me with something in his hand that looked like a passport. He was seemingly middle aged and lived alone. “Hey sorry I missed you, I just came back in town. Nice to have a neighbor around here,” He said eagerly. I agreed with him and smiled back. “How do you like it so far?” He asked. “It’s pretty quiet but the people I’ve met are a little strange,” I said with a slight smile. “Like who?” He asked. “Oh nothing. Just a rude employee I encountered at the supermarket down the street,” I said. “I wouldn’t worry about it. This a good place to live,” He reassured me. “I’m going to head in. Have a good evening.” “Thank you and you as well,” I responded. Once I was in my house, I thought about how he was the first person to greet me without knowing something about me he couldn’t possibly have known.

The next day I decided to call the company whom had hired me. It had been 2 weeks since I moved to Forks to further my career and I heard of no project I was supposed to work on. The phone rang and rang. Eventually someone picked up. It sounded like a woman. When I stated my name and the position I applied for, the line disconnected. That was fine. I’d just email them instead. There was knock at the door and I went over to open it. Sydney must’ve caught an earlier flight. Instead, it was the neighbor I met yesterday. “Hello good morning! Just thought to myself that it would be informal of me not welcome you to dinner with my family and I, “He said with bright smile. “I didn’t know I had more neighbors”, I said. “There’s my w-wife Maggie, I have t-two sons, and my mother lives with us, “He stuttered. “Okay, well I’ll consider it. I never caught your name by the way,” I said suspiciously. “It’s Nathan,” He said sternly. “I’ll consider it,” I said. He suddenly began to walk away. He turned around momentarily and said, “Claire, let me know if you’d like to. It’s tonight at 6:30.” I nodded and closed the door. The nervousness he had in his voice when he spoke about his family, made me question his true motive. The shift in his mood made me uncomfortable. He had just been warm and sweet yesterday. In the mist of the strangeness of this rainy town, Sydney would be here shortly. I decided to read one of my books and dozed off. I awoke 2 hours later to a knock at the door and it was Sydney.

“Hey! Oh my gosh. This house is absolutely stunning Claire!” She exclaimed. “Thank you but please come in,” I said excitedly. She looked around in awe. “So, how are you liking it here?” She asked. A feeling of uncertainty hit the pit of my stomach. “Um, it’s alright. The people seem to know me more than they should,” I said. Her face suddenly had a wave of concern over it and her eyebrows furrowed which signaled me to continue. “I went to the library and the librarian knew my name. She knew I was a photographer. Then, there was this jerk that basically told me I was poor. He also knew the model of my computer. But wait there’s more! The neighbor is weird. He seemed upset that I wasn’t eager to have dinner with him and just overall seems sketchy.” Her face seemed to relax. “Okay first let’s not get ahead of ourselves. She probably knows your name because you have a library card. The douche at the supermarket is pretty weird I gotta admit. The neighbor is probably interested. There’s nothing wrong with that,” She said smiling. “Oh no! He said he was married with two kids. I don’t have a library card either,” I said. “Well I think we should go to his dinner and do some investigating,” She said as she winked.

Sydney and I walked over to Nathan’s. I felt my anxiety increase as we got closer. Sydney could see that so she rang the doorbell. I heard the front door unlock and there Nathan was. He seemed to be delighted. “Hey, I thought I’d take you up on that offer and if you don’t mind, I’d like to bring a guest,” I said nervously as I turned to Sydney. “Of course, I’m Nathan. Come on in”, he said politely. “Nice to meet you Nathan, I’m Sydney,” She said.  His house was cold and very quiet. “You can sit on the couch over there while I help set up dinner,” He said. We made our way to the living room. “He called me Claire,” I said in a speculating tone. “So, what’s the problem?” Sydney asked. “I never told him my name. I just remembered he called me that,” I said. My anxiety continued to rise. “Don’t think too hard about it, news travels. It’s a small town,” She assured me. I couldn’t help but to be aware of my surroundings. I noticed an apron hanging on the arm of the couch. An apron that belongs to an employee of the very supermarket I went to. I thought I should use the bathroom as an excuse to get more clues. Luckily, Nathan walked in shortly after I made my mind. “Can I use your bathroom please?” I asked. “Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. It’s the first door, down the hall, and to the left,” He said. The bathroom was smaller than I expected. I started to search through cabinets. Nothing. So, I went to look underneath the sink. I found nothing. Nothing suspicious anyways. I certainly didn’t see any feminine products to indicate a wife being present. I walked back to living room to see that Sydney wasn’t there. “We’re in here,” She said. I followed her voice to the dining room. Nathan was seated as well. Sydney and him had seemed to engaged in a delightful conversation. She clearly had no intent of helping me investigate anything. He had a rotisserie chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes on the table.  “This looks very good but where’s everyone else?” I asked. His smile slowly faded. “The boys are out camping, my wife had to work a bit late, and my mother isn’t feeling so well,” He said flatly.

For the rest of that dinner night, I let Sydney do all of the talking. I was trying to find holes in anything he was saying. She twirled her hair and he was flirting back. I felt like the biggest third wheel. The sound of footsteps approached. That sound was like heaven to me. I looked up to see who it was. It was the jerk from the supermarket. He had a bruise on his face. He seemed to hesitate when he was approaching us. “Hey dad, w- “, he started say. Nathan stood up quickly and his demeanor had become even darker. “I told you I would speak with you later,” He said in a threatening tone. His son’s eyes met mine and I saw the panic on his face. I felt sympathy for him. He left the room. I thought his sons were camping but I guess apparently not.

When we went back home, Sydney was exhausted from her flight and fell asleep almost immediately. I couldn’t shake the thought of the strange events. I turned a movie on and eventually fell asleep myself. When I woke up, it was 8:06 A.M. Sydney and I felt the need to get out of the house. We went to a local restaurant for some breakfast. We ordered waffles, bacon, and orange juice. As I was eating, I couldn’t shake the feeling of regret. Lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t realized a blonde woman sat down in our booth. She had seemed nervous. “Listen carefully, the man you live next to is dangerous. Get out while you can,” She whispered. She seemed genuinely concerned and was very serious. “How is he dangerous?” I asked. “The whole free housing for amateur photographers thing didn’t sound off to you?” She asked in disbelief. “That’s how he baits. He’ll be all polite at first but I have seen the real him. The whole job offer is a scam. A scam to recruit people to carry out crimes for his benefit,” She continued. “Recruit?” Sydney asked. “The goal is to target an audience who is needy. If you don’t do what he says, he will deem you homeless. That house is his. In fact, he owns multiple houses,” She responded. “So basically, he’s a wealthy man manipulating unfortunate people to carry out his work that he wants no part of?” I asked. “He helps the running of a drug cartel. He supplies people with housing in order to control them. There’s no way to advertise that online without being arrested. His name isn’t even Nathan. It’s Carl.” She said. “What am I supposed to do? Who are you by the way?” I asked. “His supposedly wife. I can’t run with him anymore. So, I ran away. All you can do is pack and take the next flight. He’s already wanted and the feds are looking for him. I have to go. Remember what I said,” She said. The woman hurried off.

I wasted no time to hurry back “home”. I knew my gut had told me something wasn’t right. That things were off. After I spoke to him about the employee at the supermarket, shortly after he had suffered a bruise. I think the bruise was a consequence of what he said. I recalled how Carl countered what his son said as if he knew the exact conversation, I had with him. How the son said this wasn’t a town for me and when Carl said it was nice place to live. His son, if that even was his son, was clearly an object of his game. Someone who became a victim of manipulation. It explained why he was upset during dinner. His son’s appearance exposed that he was lying.  It explained why they knew so much. I had my life story on my resume. My interview was over the phone with a woman. A woman who was probably Lillian. Was an older woman in on this too? There was a group of people playing a role to make everything look legit. I couldn’t afford to move to San Diego again. That’s when Sydney offered a couch to sleep on until I could get back on my feet. I needed to make sure I got back to California before I could report Carl. Once I made it back, I did research and found a few mugshots. He had a very recent one. I found an article about him online. I wondered if the blonde woman had turned him in. He had been arrested for possession of drugs and trafficking them. His sentencing hadn’t been determined yet. A few months later, I am completely aware of all things. I did receive my miracle. I could’ve been in a worse position. The only signs I needed was the feelings of intuition. I believe the lesson I learned was to desire everything carefully.