Chapter 11 - THE SHADOW IN THE GARDEN
The storm came on a Tuesday night,
bringing heavy rain and howling winds that shook the windows of Martha's house.
The thunder rolled across the sky,
providing a loud,
continuous soundtrack that masked the sounds of the night.
The power flickered twice before dying completely,
plunging the house into an absolute,
terrifying darkness.
Martha was asleep downstairs,
her breathing steady and oblivious to the sudden change in the atmosphere.
I sat up in bed,
my heart hammering against my ribs,
my senses screaming that something was wrong.
I walked to the window,
looking out into the rainy night,
trying to spot the unmarked police car at the end of the street.
Through the sheets of driving rain,
I could see the car,
but its lights were out,
and the silhouette inside was completely motionless.
A sudden panic seized me,
a cold realization that the protection I relied on had been compromised.
Then I heard it,
a faint,
metallic scraping sound coming from the back garden,
directly beneath my window.
I pressed my face against the cold glass,
waiting for a flash of lightning to illuminate the yard.
When the flash came,
turning the night into day for a split second,
I saw a figure standing among the roses.
It was a tall man,
wearing a dark raincoat,
his face obscured by a low hood,
but I knew the posture instantly.
It was him,
my father,
having escaped his confinement,
standing in the dark like a specter of my past.
He didn't move,
simply staring up at my window,
knowing that I was looking back at him through the glass.
He raised one hand,
pointing a finger directly at me,
then slowly drew it across his throat in a universal gesture of death.
I stumbled backward,
tripping over a rug,
crashing onto the hardwood floor in my terror.
I scrambled for my phone,
my fingers slick with sweat,
dialing Agent Vance's direct number with shaking hands.
The phone rang once,
twice,
before her voice cut through the static,
demanding to know what was happening.
I screamed into the receiver,
telling her he was here,
that he was in the garden,
that the police car wasn't responding.
She told me to stay where I was,
to lock the door,
promising that she was already on her way with emergency units.
I heard a loud crash from downstairs,
the sound of the kitchen window shattering into a thousand pieces.
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The monster was inside the house,
and the walls that had protected me for weeks felt like a trap.
