Authors: Kristen Middleton
Running Wild (19 page)
I scowled at him. “Do you think?”
He shook his head in frustration. “You’re such a smart ass. I said I was sorry, now go take your bath, I can smell you from here, twerp.”
I threw my hairbrush at him, barely missing his head. “You’re lucky I’m too tired to kick your ass. Get out of here.”
He smiled. “In your dreams wimp, I’ll see you in the morning,” he said closing the door.
I grabbed my stuff and stepped into the bathroom, still excited about having such a luxurious place, all to myself. I turned on the water and began filling the enormous round tub.
Wow, and it’s all mine, for now,
I mused.
It really was breathtaking. There was even a window facing the tub with a beautiful view of the lake. Although it was dark and I couldn’t see much of anything outside, I imagined during the day it was incredible.
I opened up the new vanilla scented spa bath gift set that my mom had given me and lit a candle. I then turned off the lights and removed my clothing.
“Oh my God,” I groaned in pleasure as I sunk into the warm tub; it had been much too long since I’d enjoyed a bath. From there it only got better when I turned on the jets and they exploded from all sides.
I closed my eyes and lay my head back against the bath pillow, feeling the warm water bubble against my skin. I imagined it couldn’t possibly get any better, but then remembered I’d forgotten my iPod. If this was heaven than listening to the music could only take me to another level of bliss.
As I stood up to grab a towel, my eyes glanced towards the window and something stared back at me. It moved away quickly and I screamed in horror.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, trying not to slip on the floor. I grabbed my robe and skidded out of the bathroom.
“What is it?” cried my mom, bursting through the bedroom door.
I pulled my robe in tighter and pointed towards the bathroom. “Someone…was watching me in the window,” I said, trembling.
Her eyes widened and she grabbed a softball bat from one of the boxes in my room. I followed her into the bathroom, half expecting someone to jump out of the shadows. She kept the light switch off and moved slowly towards the window.
“Do you see anything?” I whispered.
She turned to me and lowered the bat. “No and I don’t see how anyone could be watching you from this height, Nikki.”
I swallowed. “I know that I saw
something.
”
She sighed. “It’s been a long day and we’re in the middle of the woods. You probably saw a bird flying by or maybe even a bat.”
I thought about it for a minute and then nodded. “Well, I guess that sounds reasonable.”
She held out a hand to me. “Come here and look how far up we are.”
Of course when I looked outside, common sense told me that we were too high for anyone to be looking in. Even the bedroom’s balcony was too far away.
I sighed. “Okay, maybe it was just a bat.”
She squeezed my shoulder. “Now, it has really been a long day, why don’t you go to bed and get a good night sleep. I’ll bet that tomorrow you’ll be laughing about this.”
I didn’t know about that, but I nodded anyway.
“Is everything okay in here?” asked Nathan who was standing outside of my bedroom door.
“Everything’s fine,” answered my mom with a reassuring smile. “Nikki just saw a bird or something outside and it scared her.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed. “Really? I thought I saw something out there, too. It was a little disturbing.”
I turned to my mom for her reaction.
“What?” she answered, staring at both of us with amusement. “You know there’s no possible way anyone can stand outside of your bedroom windows. It’s too high. Unless Spiderman is vacationing in Montana and has decided to scale this particular cabin, it was just an animal with wings.”
“I think we should take a look outside,” said Nathan as he turned and walked away.
“Wait!” my mom said picking up the bat. “Don’t go out there without this!”
And she thought that I was being paranoid?
I followed them both downstairs and watched as he switched on the outdoor lights and threw open the front door.
“Be careful!” I hollered, staying back. There was no way I was going out into the unknown darkness, harmless bird or not.
My mom hesitantly followed Nathan outside while I wrapped my arms around myself. I had goose bumps but it wasn’t because I was chilly. Being alone in a large cabin in the middle of nowhere and hearing unfamiliar noises when you’re on edge is sort of a mind freak. Every sound makes you jumpy. In fact, I almost had a heart attack when the ice machine from the kitchen started making noises. Realizing I was being overly paranoid, I sat down on the sofa and waited. Then, what must have only been a couple minutes, but seemed like an hour, my brother stormed through the front door followed by my mom whose face was whiter than a ghost. He picked up the phone and started dialing.
My stomach clenched. “What’s going on?” I asked.
Nathan raised his hand to silence me and then began talking in a strangled tone. “Hello? Yes, I’d like to report… a dead body.”
***
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