Chapter 3

When I wake up, Sam is sitting next to me on the floor, her tail lightly sweeping the wood floor. The woman who was making pottery when I fell asleep is still on the television screen. I look around and rub my eyes, trying to clear them. I yawn and drop my arms onto my stomach.

I place my hand upon Sammie’s head and whisper to her, “Do you have to go outside, girl?”

Obviously, she doesn’t respond, but she does stand up and start spinning in circles. I sit up, placing my feet on the floor in front of the couch. I rub my eyes once more and stand up. Sam runs to the side door in the kitchen.

I unlock the door and pull it open. Sam pushes the screen door open with her nose and takes off to the middle of the yard to do her business. I walk over to the table and grab the cell phone that Mike bought me. I double-tap the screen, causing it to light up. When it does light up, I see a text message from an unsaved number.

Unsaved number: Can you please call me? I just want to apologize or talk about that weekend. Please. —Jake

I stare at the phone for a long moment. How did he get my number? I don’t even know my number. How does he know I have a phone? What is there to apologize for? He can’t help what happened. Nothing can change anything that is now permanent.

I shove my phone into the pocket of my jeans and turn to go outside with Sam. She is still walking around the yard, but closer to the door now. I push the screen door open and walk out into the yard. The screen door slams shut, and we are left in nothing but a silent night.

It is still dark outside, and I cannot see anything but the dark fields that surround my home and the outlines of trees in the distance. The moon is high in the sky. The light from the moon gives off enough illumination to see the empty yard around my house. Sam is still walking around and sniffing places. I pull out my phone to check the time, it is just after three in the morning.

I look around as an uneasy feeling washes over my entire body. My gut is twisting, and my stomach drops as I make eye contact with him. The man in the trench coat is back. I swallow and tap my leg a few times for Sam to come back to me. She does immediately. She’s motionless, watching me intently.

I’m not sure if he has noticed me or Sammie in the yard, so I crouch down next to my dog. Then my fight-or-flight response kicks in. I stand back up and, without even thinking, I start running toward the man. Sam is barking at me, but she stays on my heels.

She stays right beside me easily as we make our way closer to the man in the trench coat. He has already turned and started walking toward the small patch of wooded area just outside the field behind my house. There are only about fifty or sixty trees mixed in with some bushes and brush, but it is thick enough for the man to disappear as soon as he walks into the darkness of the woods.

Suddenly, when the man isn’t visible anymore, I think about how stupid it is to run after a random man who was standing outside my house. What if he kills me or kidnaps me? Sammie can only do so much. What if he kills my dog? I stop immediately in my tracks, and so does Sam. She is solely focused on me.

I listen to see if I can hear the man, but I hear nothing. No branches breaking, no breathing, nothing at all. I look around and cannot make out any figures. I take a couple of steps backward. My chest is rising and falling faster and faster. I am trying to catch my breath, but between running and my adrenaline, I can’t seem to breathe.

I back up a few more steps. Then another five steps. I feel something firm and solid behind me. I quickly move my hand behind me to feel what it is. My breathing has all but stopped. Sam whimpers lightly. When my hand touches the tree that is behind me, I take a breath in relief and try to focus on steadying my breathing again.

I’m getting myself so worked up. I whisper to Sam, “Let’s go home, girl. I don’t know what I was thinking.” I shake my head, disappointed at how reckless I’m being with my own life.

I laugh a little and take off running back toward my house, Sam still right beside me. I cannot shake the feeling that I’m being watched. Perhaps the man is still nearby. He may be waiting for the perfect opportunity to grab me. Waiting for the right moment to make his move, and being all the way out here, alone, there’s nothing I can do about it.