I was puffing on my bowl and thinking
about what Ted had said about the Lottery.
It didn't make sense, and I wanted to find
out more. I was pretty deep in thought
and deep into my bowl, when I heard a
muffled thud, like wood on wood contact.
I got up, walked toward the bathroom,
opposite my bedroom, stood and listened
for a minute. I could swear I heard voices.
Like two people talking real low, and
whispering.
I looked at the bathroom door and called,
'Ted. Everything alright in there?'
'Uh, yeah. Yeah man... Just a second',
Ted said, with what I could detect as
panic in his voice. I distinctly heard the bathroom window close, and the sink
faucet turn on. I could hear Ted splashing
in the water, so I backed away from the
door and went to sit down.
A few minutes later, Ted opened the door
and stepped back into the living room.
His face was wet, from having splashed
water on himself, but it couldn't hide the
paleness that now showed in his face.
His eyes looked scared and panicked,
as he started walking toward the kitchen.
'Wait, Ted! What's going on, are you o.k.?
I said quickly as I stood up to follow him
out. Ted opened the patio door, and said,
'Yeah man, I'll be alright. I hope you are
gonna be alright', He said as he quickly
walked away toward the back of his unit.
I just stood there, shocked at his statement,
and baffled by the sudden departure.
I watched him step inside his apartment
through his patio door. I looked right down
the exterior wall, and saw a dark shadow
peering out around the corner. As soon as
I turned my head that way, it was gone.
Stepping out onto my patio, I called out,
'Hello?'. Nothing. Silence. I swear I saw
someone. It was too tall to be an animal.
It was a human shape.
I went in real fast, grabbed my flashlight,
and stepped back out onto the patio, and
followed the wall right. Five other units
spanned the distance, and when I got to
the corner, there was nothing there. All
was quiet, except for the sound of crickets
and an occasional vehicle going by.
The units all had the same layout, with a
high bathroom window, a patio door, and
a picture window. The bathroom window
was too high to climb in without a huge
struggle, and all of them had screens on
them. I glanced at my bathroom window,
and saw no foul play, so I went back inside.
'What a strange guy', I thought, closing
and locking the patio door.
The t.v. was still on, so I turned it off, and
went to my bedroom to lay out my clothes
for tomorrow. I set the alarm for 5:00 a.m.
and brushed my teeth.
I changed into my pajamas, went out to
the living room, made sure the thermostat
was set at 70° Faranheit. With everything
locked up, I turned off all the lights and
went to bed. Laying there, thinking about
the day, my thoughts drifted towards Anna.
I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

Chapter 10

I woke up in terror. Sweat pouring off me.
Eyes shocked open as the mysterious
knife wielding killer disappeared once
again, like a whisp of smoke dissapating
as the seconds ticked by. I look over at my
clock. There are no illuminating red digital
numbers showing. The face is black.
I reach over to turn on the bedstand light,
but it doesn't turn on. I got up, went to the
bathroom and turned on the light. Walking
out to the living room, I found the flashlight
I had put on my desk earlier, and went back
to the bedroom to examine the alarm clock.
Everything appeared normal. I followed the
cord to the wall. Both it and the light were
plugged in.
Baffled, and still shaking from my
nightmare, I got up and went into the
bathroom to wash my face and wipe
my still perspiring body down. It was a
bad one this time. I went deeper into
the nightmare than normal, but I don't
remember what transpired. I never
remember. It just leaves me terrorized,
wet, shaking and with wet bed sheets.
No wonder my girlfriends would go sleep
on the couch or loveseat. I didn't even
want to go back to bed do to the cold,
wet aftermath.
I got done washing up, changed my
pajama top, and went out to the living
room to look for a breaker box.
I went to the kitchen, turned the light on,
and found it. It was behind the refrigerator.
I slid the refrigerator out enough to get
behind it, and opened the breaker box.
All the individual breakers were labeled,
and I found the one that says, bedroom.
Sure enough! The breaker was tripped.
I flipped it to the off position, then flipped
it on. I went to the bedroom, and the night
stand light was on. I walked inside the room
and looked at the clock. It was flashing
12:01 a.m. in bold red digital numbers.
Looking at the clock on the desk, it said
it was 3:13 a.m.
At least 10 minutes went by, and that would
mean I woke up at 3:03 a.m. again.
I am seriously spooked now. I don't know
what all this means, and I am wide awake,
when I should be sleeping.
I went back into the bedroom, peeled the
wet sheets off the bed and put them into
the clothes hamper in the corner on the
right of the closet. The mattress was slightly
wet, so I aimed the fan on the bed to
help dry it. I synchronized the alarm clock
to the desk clock, and went and sat down.
There was still an hour and a half before
the alarm normally goes off, so I tried to
think of what I could do to calm my mind.
I went over to the still sealed boxes, and
opened a tall, skinnier box I had packed
my telescope in.
Carefully opening the box, and pulling the
dismantled pieces of the telescope out,
I went over to the desk to get my Phillips
screwdriver to reassemble it.
After about 10 minutes, I was polishing
the lens, and setting it up on its tripod.
I love to look at the stars, and have spent
countless hours peering into the cosmos,
pondering life's intricacies.
4:00 a.m. No sense in laying back down.
I set the telescope over on the left of my
desk, and went to the kitchen to fry a
couple eggs. I had some turkey bacon,
so I started with that, and whisked up
3 eggs in a bowl with some cheese, a
splash of milk, and a pinch of salt and
pepper. Popping a couple pieces of my
berry bread in the toaster, I finished
cooking the scrambled eggs. My toast
popped up, I buttered it, and took my
breakfast in to sit down and eat.
The food was warm and calming. The
bread was filling, and settled my stomach.
I finished up, went back to the kitchen
and washed my plate, and the dishes
I dirtied.
I then went to the bathroom and took
a quick shower. A few minutes in, all of
a sudden, it went dark. I was panicked!
I couldn't really see that well, and I had
soap all over me. I turned the water off
stepped out, and as my left foot put
pressure on the now wet tile floor, I
slipped. Grabbing at anything, I couldn't
get my balance and came down hard on
my back, bouncing the back of my head
off the shower stall threshold.
I was out cold!
I came to, to the sound of my phone
ringing. My head hurt bad, and my vision
was blurry. I pulled a towel off the rack,
slowly stood up and wrapped the towel
around my now dry body. Light was
coming into the bathroom now, and I
could see where I had been laying.
I must have been there for quite some
time, as there was a little pool of blood
where my head rested on the floor, now
deep crimson and mostly dry.
The phone stopped ringing, as I stumbled
into the living room. The sun was up and
I looked at the clock on the desk...
7:43 a.m.
I had been out over three hours. I was
late for work. My head was throbbing.
I picked up the receiver and dialed #67
to dial the last incoming number.
After a few rings, a man's voice said,
'Good Morning. County Assessors Office'
It was Al.
' Hey, Al', I said, in a whimpering voice.
'Jim? I just tried to call you. Everything all
right?'
'No. Not at all. I think I need to go to the
hospital. I was in the shower and the
lights went out. When I exited the shower
I slipped, fell and hit my head real hard.
I have been unconcience for hours'. I
said, wincing from the pain in my skull.
'Oh, that's Terrible!' Al exclaimed. 'Do
you want me to send Anna to come get
you and take you to the hospital?' Al
asked.
'That would be terrific, Al. My vision is
still blurry and my head is throbbing.'
I explained, a little relieved.
'O.k. just hang tight! Just go sit down
and put some ice on your head. Anna
will be there in a jif. I have to go to a
town meeting, so I won't be in for the
rest of the day. Don't worry about work,
just get better and we'll see you
tomorrow', Al said.
'Will do Al, and thank you.' I said, hanging
up the phone.
I went into the kitchen and looked at the
refrigerator. What the hell was going on in
this place?!! I pulled the refrigerator out
again, and opened the breaker box.
I followed the breakers down to the one
that says, 'Bathroom', and the damn thing
was tripped! I turned it to the off position,
then turned it back on. Click!
I closed the breaker box, pushed the
refrigerator back against the wall, and went
to the bathroom. The light was back on.
I cautiously walked across the tile floor, to
the sink and mirror to examine my head.
I had dried blood caked to my hair at
the spot of impact, so I began to wash
my hair out, bending over the sink.
Pinkish red water and blood flowed down
the drain as the wound reopened a bit.
I washed the blood off as best as I could,
gently pat it dry, and went to the kitchen
for some ice.
I dumped the remainder of ice cubes into
a hand towel, twisted the end, and went
and sat down on my easy chair, gently
holding the makeshift ice pack against
the wound.
Anna knocked on the front door, about
10 minutes later. I let her in, and she
looked at me with a worried look. 'You
look terrible! Al told me you hit your head',
She said softly.
'Yes, I was unconcience for over three
hours, laying on the bathroom floor, wet
and naked', I told her.
'What happened?' She asked.
'I was taking a shower, when suddenly
the light went out. As I tried to step out
of the shower in the dark, I slipped, fell
and hit the back of my head'. I explained.
Realizing I was still wrapped in a towel,
I blushed a little, and said, 'I better go
put some clothes on'.
'Hold on', Anna said. 'Let me see the back
of your head'.
I turned my back to her so she could see
the back of my head.
'You're too tall, I can't see it that well. Here,
sit down', she commanded earnestly.
I sat down on my easy chair so she had
better view of my wound.
'Yep! You got a nice gash back here', she
said. 'Gonna need a few stitches to close
it up'.
I sighed and stood up. 'O.k. give me a few
minutes. I'll get changed.
Thank you very much Anna'. I said with
appreciation in my voice.

Chapter 11

Anna got me into her 280Z and to the
local hospital within 15 minutes. The
hospital was on 4th and Elmberry Avenue,
in the middle of town. It wasn't long, I had
six stitches in the back of my head.
6 stitches!
The frickin' address of the hospital is
1366 Elmberry Avenue. Tell me that's not
weird!
Anna took me back home, and helping
me out of her car, escorted me to my front
door. 'Are you gonna be o.k. here by
yourself today?', She asked with concern
in her voice.
'Yeah, no worries. I'm just gonna rest. I'm
not even gonna go out today', I answered.
I unlocked the door, and Anna came in with
me. Walking over to the desk, and writing
her number down on a note pad she said,
'Here's my number. If you need anything,
please, call me. I'll be glad to come help
you Jim'.
'Thank you very much Anna', you're so
sweet', I said, sitting down in my easy
chair.
'Try to keep that bump iced for the day.
Off and on in intervals, and don't go to
sleep till tonight, o.k.?' Anna said lovingly.
'O.k. will do Anna'. I promised.
Then, she left and I was all alone again.
I just sat there. Stunned by everything.
It's as if I am under attack. Things just
don't make sense, and dots were starting
to connect. There was something wrong
with this town.
How did two breakers trip in the same
time span? I barely have anything plugged
into this place, I know I'm not overloading
any circuits. Hell, the bathroom doesn't
have anything plugged into it.
Then there's Ted's behavior last night, and
the shadow. Did Ted put some kind of
clear, slippery substance on my bathroom
floor in front of the shower? Oh crap!
I still gotta clean the blood in there. I
hope it doesn't stain the tile and grout.
My thoughts drifted back to Ted, and
his mischievous mouser, Garfield.
I have to figure out how he is getting in.
Oh, and my cell phone disappearing,
and then reappearing all smashed up.
I need to talk to Miss Malloy', and maybe
find out some information on this
apartment. Something is just not right.
I went to the bedroom and got the
special wooden box I made, that contained
all the little animal skulls. I opened it up,
took out the cat skull, and stared at it a
while. I can't explain it, but the skulls help
me think.
I think someone has a key to this place.
I think someone is trying to drive me away,
But why? The odds of these things
happening this frequently at random,
are very slim. There must be foul play.
What is this town hiding? What happened
to the last auditor, that prompted this
County to put a help wanted ad out?
If I can't get any answers from people, I
will have to go to the Library and pull up
some history on this place...
... And what does Polyandrion mean?
I suddenly felt real vulnerable, and
uncomfortable in this apartment. It
was like someone was watching me.
I know it's impossible, this place is only
so big, with no where to hide, but still.
It's like I was under surveillance.
Surveillance!!! The thought hit me like
a brick. I non shalantly looked around at
the walls. I looked at the ceiling light in
the middle of the room. The smoke alarm,
that I just put a 9 volt battery in 2 days ago.
Jeez, my head hurt.
I got up and went to the desk where Anna
left the Ibuprofen the Doctor prescribed.
Taking the lid off, I dumped two of them
into my hand, closed the container, and went
into the kitchen for another tea.
I carefully examined the walls for any holes
that I might not have noticed before.
The light in the kitchen and living room
were too high for me to reach, so I will
have to wait to inspect them. I will buy a
step ladder next time I go to the hardware
store. I want a patio table and chairs
anyway... That is, if I stay.
After popping the pills, and examining the
walls in the house, I felt a little better, not
having discovered some kind of spy cam.
I was hungry, but a little to wobbly still
for cooking, so I grabbed the phonebook
to see what I could find.
After some browsing, I picked a pizza
place that boasted thin crust pizza, so
I picked up the phone and placed an
order with them. I hadn't broke out my
record player yet, and my head hurt too
much to set it up, so I turned on the t.v.
I flipped through the channels till I landed
on Caddy Shack, with Chevy Chase.
Classic! I was absorbed in the comedy,
when there was a knock at the door.
'Coming', I hollered. Ouch! No hollering.
I looked out the peep hole to see a young
man in a red and blue ball cap, with the
words, 'Picadilli Pie Co.' on it.
I opened the door, and the young man
said, 'Jim'?
I said, 'Yes, thank you', as I took the pizza
and set it down on the loveseat.
'That'll be $22.00 dollars sir'. The delivery
driver said. I handed him a $20 and a $5.
'Keep the change', I said.
'Thank you sir. Have a good night', the
young man said, walking away and getting
into his Subaru.
The thin crust, prosciutto, roasted garlic,
sauted mushroom, pesto sauce with fresh tomato pizza was exquisite! Thin crust
pizza isn't very filling, It's more of a taste
thing. I ate the whole large pizza before
I realized it.
I had just got done washing it down with
some tea, and putting the pizza box by
the garbage to be taken out, when the
phone rang.
'Hello?' I said, as I brought the receiver
to my ear. 'Hey there Champ, How you
doing?' It was Al.
'Oh, hey Al. I'm o.k. my head feels like
it was a baseball, knocked for a line drive,
but I'll live', I told Al.
'Well, if you need tomorrow off too, don't
worry about it. Anna told me about that
gash in your head. Must have been pretty
bad. You're lucky you didn't break your
neck!' Al said.
'Yeah', I said, dismissing his attribute to
luck. 'I can try to make it in tomorrow'.
I really wanted to get started on those
files I have clipped', I said.
'Well only if you're feeling better. You
don't need to kill yourself over a bunch
of numbers', Al said.
'Alright Al. I appreciate your concern.
I'll talk to you in the morning', I said.
'Goodnight', I added. 'Goodnight Jim'.
I thought to myself, 'Someone may be
trying to kill me over a bunch of numbers'.
It was late enough, 8:45 p.m. so I went,
brushed my teeth, put fresh sheets on the
bed, got into some pajamas, and went to
bed. I layed there listening to the crickets
for an hour before I finally fell asleep.

Chapter 12

I jolted up. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. As
the alarm clock made it's repetitive
noise. I looked at it and turned the alarm
off. 3:03 a.m.!!
I looked around, eyes wide in shock.
I reached over and turned on the bed
stand lamp.
Nothing was moving. There was no sound.
I quietly got up, as the back of my head
throbbed softly. I threw on my robe, and
turned on the bathroom light, not
knowing what to expect anymore, and
on my gaurd. Nothing.
I went out into the living room. The clock
on the desk said 3:05 a.m. I turned on
the overhead light and went into the
kitchen. I flipped the light on there, and
checked the patio door. Locked. All
still outside.
I went to the front of the apartment and
checked the front door. Locked and bolted.
Then all the windows. All locked.
I was really confused, and even scared a
little.
I never owned a gun before, never
needed to... But now. Something was
messing with me hard! It has to be a
person. How the hell are they sneaking
in and out of here undetected?
That's it! I'm taking the day off tomorrow
and I'm gonna go pick up a few things.
I'm not gonna take this lying down!
Besides... If I leave here, where will I go?
I went and got a few Ibuprofen, and
and walked to the refrigerator to wash
them down with some milk.
My head still hurt, but was only half the
pain I was in yesterday and my vision is
back to normal.
I went to sit down with my half full glass
of milk. Why the hell did my alarm go off
at the same time I wake from my night
mares? Who could know what time I go
through this phenomenon? This is more
than just someone messing with me.
Somehow, this person knows me. I mean,
really knows me. My quirks. My past.
My nightmares.
Someone is purposely trying to scare
the shit out of me!
I just sat there for a while in the quiet.
I had turned out most the lights again,
except my nightstand lamp, and my desk
lamp. Everything was still.
I thought I saw a shadow pass in front
of the shade drawn patio window, but it
was fast. Could have been an owl, or
some other nocturnal predator. Too
small to be a human, or even a large
animal. I looked at the clock on the desk.
4:00 a.m.
I wanted to take a shower, but was to
freaked out by what had happened last
time, so I wet a wash cloth with nice hot
water and wiped my face and upper
torso down. Splashing water on my face
and hair, I reached for a towel and dried
my hair. Looking down, I saw the dried
blood I had forgotten to clean up.
'Crap!' I said out loud, leaving the bathroom
to fetch some spray cleaner and a scrubber.
I got some Lysol with Bleach spray, and
went back into clean the blood.
It came off the tile fairly well, but the grout
was stained pink. I sprayed more Lysol
on it to let it soak a while.

{Continue}

© Michael W. Taylor