Surveillance

Amelia was alone in the house for the first time in years. Marriage and children can do that to a person. She could count on one hand the amount of times she did not have at least one of her three kids with her in the 8 years since she brought her oldest home after birth. There was not a night that one of her lovely littles did not climb in bed between her and her husband, Brad.

When WAS the last time she had been alone? The last time that came to mind was one time Amelia used the toilet and no one interrupted. No whiny voice on the other side of the door. No questions. Hands down the best damn bathroom break ever. How long ago had that been? Had Bryson, the eldest, been in school? It was hard to remember the exact date, but that feeling had been held forever in the back of her mind.

Tonight was going to supremely overtake the serene bathroom memory. Amelia had the entire night to be alone. No husband, no kiddos. Just her, a book, a glass of syrah, and a fire. The thought of reading a book almost turned her on.

First on the agenda was a glorious bath and the initial glass of wine. Both were so great that Amelia almost felt guilty. She had soft piano music playing in the background, essential oils in the bathwater. She even began reading her book. All in all, it was perfection.

The book engrossed her. It was a mystery thriller. A haunted house, or was it? Was the main character experiencing real supernatural phenomenon, or having a mental break? She had to know the answer.

Amelia sank deeper into her bath and her story. Drifting...

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Amelia’s body jolted to the screeching of the alarm system. Bathwater raged in the tub in waves, spilling onto the tile floor. She had been too relaxed and dozed off. She hurriedly pulled herself and her, now soggy, book from the chilly water and threw on her robe.

When Amelia made it to the front door, she noticed the motion sensor flood lights were on in the front yard. The alarm panel was blinking wildly, showing multiple signs of motion around the outside of her home.

Probably that raccoon again or one of the other multiple animals that have set the system off, Amelia thought passively. Her family’s home was in the middle of the proverbial “nowhere.” They seen more animals than they seen other people.

Amelia silenced the alarm and reset the system. Just for the sake of it all, she stole a glance out the front door window. Almost instantly, the yard went dark. That meant no movement outside for five whole minutes, it was safe.

Fully awake and slightly jittery from the adrenaline rush, Amelia returned to her room to dress and to doctor her (hopefully not) ruined book. She really wanted to finish it, not tonight , but maybe on her flight tomorrow.

As Amelia was carefully separating and drying pages of her book with a blow dryer, movement on the surveillance monitor caught her eye. She held her stare, making out a silhouette in the dark of her front yard, merely steps away from her porch. She shut off the dryer and put both objects down, wanting a closer look at the screen.

Sure enough, there was a person standing, stark still, in the dark. Amelia studied the figure for a moment. The top of the head appeared hooded. She could not tell which direction it was facing, but felt it was looking at her home, at her.

A shiver consumed Amelia’s body. The flood lights had went off before she had really seen outside earlier. Had that person been there, completely still, the whole time? Amelia began to panic and ran for her phone to call the police station. She found it off, dead.

Of course.

A small voice in her head, that sounded amazingly like her husband, said, “I’ve always told you this would happen.”

The voice was annoyingly correct.

She now had two choices: Turn off everything and hope the person just leaves; or confront and scare them so that they do so.

Being a grown woman and mother, Amelia chose to be brave. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen and went to the front door. She flicked the flood lights on and flung open the door, ready to defend her home.

Nothing was there. The yard was completely empty.

Amelia stepped out on the porch to get a better look around. There were no animals, no people. Only yard chairs and bicycles and other kids toys.

Feeling silly, Amelia went inside and put the knife back. She looked out all the windows, as a precaution, and seen nothing out of the ordinary. She shook her head at herself, maybe a scary book for her first night home alone in ages was not the best choice. The thought that her brain was still active enough to play tricks made her giggle.

The giggles were stifled by what she seen on the surveillance monitor when she entered her bedroom. On the first porch step stood a hooded figure all in black. Its skin pristine white. The hood covered most of the face, but she could see its mouth, and it was smiling wickedly.

There was no denying the person was there, Amelia had left on all the lights.

The screen changed to view the back yard, snapping Amelia back to reality. She grabbed the phone again, this time to actually charge it, then went to her closet for socks and shoes. If the time arose to run, she wanted to be prepared.

She came back to the monitor as it was showing a side angle view of a now empty front porch.

What the….where did…? Amelia’s head swam in confusion. Was she seriously losing her shit?

She stood, puzzled, as the camera view came back to the full porch. Amelia’s heart leapt into her throat.

There, on the top step, stood the robed person. It was looking, with dark eyes, directly at the camera next to the front door. Amelia felt as if it could see her staring back at him. All the hair stood on the back of her neck. The figure's smile widened, showing too many sharp teeth.

This can’t be real, Amelia thought. The alarm would have went off again if something was out there.

Her brain was on overload. Too much wine, too scary of a story.

What a nightmare.

Yes! That had to be the explanation. She was dreaming!

The monitor scrolled through its routine, coming back to the porch once again. The figure was directly in front of the camera. Amelia could now see its full face and was horrified at the sight. Its skin was nearly transparent without a single hair anywhere, not even eyebrows. Its nose was sharply pointed. The lips were bloody red covering razor like teeth. It's eyes scared Amelia the most, they had no whites. No, they were black as the pupils entirely.

Amelia froze. The figure looked in the camera with one eye, tilting its head like a bird, smiling like the cat that caught it. It backed away slightly and rose its ugly pale and twisted hand towards the camera. Long, claw-like fingernails tapped the lens. Amelia heard it somehow.

That’s it! I have to wake up now!

But Amelia could not take her eyes off the figure. The bedroom door slammed shut, trapping her.

The channel changed, but, this time it only blinked and went right back to the stark white hand tapping tapping tapping on the camera, on the monitor. The sound amplifying with each hit, matching her rapid heartbeat. She ran and unplugged the monitor, but nothing happened.

Amelia watched in horror as the view changed faster and faster, yet stayed the same, and the tapping began to shake the monitor on the wall.

Please wake up! She screamed at herself, willing her legs to run away from what she knew was about to happen. Also knowing she could not escape.

The tapping sound came once more, then a sound like the ripping of fabric as Amelia’s worst nightmare came to be. One blackened fingernail protruded from the monitor, then another, and another. Crooked bony fingers followed, and Amelia wailed. Hot liquid ran down her legs. A piece of black robe dropped to the floor, and so did Amelia. Terror had made her body useless.

Her sobs escalated as the white pointed tip of a nose started making its way into her room. She managed to scoot herself across the floor until her back hit the wall. Amelia covered her face, no longer able to watch the terror unfold.

She heard a thud and the ruffling of, what she suspected was the robe of the monster. She felt it coming across her bedroom, slowly, like a snake.

Then, a hand landed on her shoulder. Amelia screamed in agony and terror, then...

The security alarm went off.

Amelia screamed the scream of a dying woman, splashing water out of the tub. She was up and out of the water before her brain realized she had been right, she had in fact been dreaming.

Saved by the bell, she thought. A wave of relief went through her. But then,she wondered, why is the alarm…..?

Amelia’s brain electrified when her eyes stopped on the surveillance monitor. Her heart completely stopped.

No, no, no…….She sat down in the floor, crying.

On the monitor was the palest face, looking sideways at the camera like a bird, smiling like a cat.