Page 3 of In Death, Love Survives
Deep breath, Nova. Deep breath.
I dial the police as quickly as I can, and it rings once. A female dispatcher answers my call.
“What’s your emergency?”
“Someone has broken into my house.” I take a huge breath. “I think the person just killed my parents downstairs. Please. Please help me,” I whisper-shout.
A split second of silence goes by.
“Get somewhere safe. I’m dispatching officers to your location.”
“Th-thank you,” I stutter.
“I’ll stay on the line with you until they get there.”
“Do you need my address?”
“I have it here.”
“Thank you,” I stumble out the words again.
Loud pounding on the stairs makes my heart race frantically.
“I think the person is coming up here.”
“Hide. Hide somewhere now. Where they can’t see you easily.”
I look around the room from where I’ve cornered myself already. I hear the sound of my bedroom being searched, with more objects being smashed and tossed.
I know I’m on borrowed time before they come in here next for whatever it is they’re looking for.
Wait. Is this the robber the news has been featuring for weeks? Is the person here and committing murder now too?
This can’t be happening.
I frantically try to find somewhere to go in the room but feel helpless.
“The police are pulling up. They’re almost to you.”
“Please, please help me.”
“They’re almost there. Stay on the line.”
I sink down in the corner I’m in, hoping for the best. I can hear someone padding down the hallway in hurried footsteps. The person is close, so close to where I’m hiding. I’m not going to make it.
I squeeze my eyes shut as the footsteps finally stop… in my parents’ bedroom.
When I open them, the masked man and I make eye contact. His eyes and mouth are visible, and those eyes look familiar.
“He’s here.”
The man has something in his hands, and I drop my phone.
“Hi, pretty.”
That voice sounds familiar, too, but I can’t place it.
He swings the object he’s been holding onto, and it hits me hard across the face.
