Chapter 4

Gail woke up the next morning with a yawn. Sitting up, she noticed she was alone in the bed. She also noticed that the anxious feeling that had plagued her yesterday disappeared. She sighed with relief. It was so nice to feel relaxed again. Gail got up from the bed and left the bedroom in search of coffee. She walked into the open area that was her living room, dining room, and kitchen, Gail saw Bruiser asleep on the couch. “Wow, you prefer the sofa over my bed. Gee thanks, Bruiser,” she grumbled, heading straight to the coffee maker. 

As she prepared her coffee she looked over at him again and smiled. The forty-eight hour mark was coming up and no one had called her to claim him. Gail held the warm cup in her hands and turned to face the living room, resting against the kitchen counter. If no one called, Gail decided she was going to keep Bruiser. His company had become comforting, especially with all the weirdness. 

She lifted her cup to take a drink of her coffee when she paused when she noticed her phone. It was on the floor in the living room, laying between the couch and the coffee table. Her brow furrowed as she stared at it. What was it doing there? She knew for a fact she had left it on the kitchen counter after calling her aunt last night. Gail set down the coffee cup. She walked over and picked it up. Gail held it, turning it, as if it would somehow explain how’d it got there. All she saw was a few new, or they looked new, scratches near the base of the screen. “How did you get from there,” she whispered, glancing back at the kitchen counter then back to the spot where she’d picked it up. “To there?”

Unless… Gail only thought she left it on the kitchen counter. Gail unlocked the phone, hoping perhaps inside would hold some more clues. The home screen looked as it always had. The same apps, the same wallpaper, the same everything. Gail opened the gallery, not sure what she expected, but there wasn’t anything besides pictures she’d taken herself. She flipped through the screens, not seeing anything out of place. Gail went back to the home screen when the phone icon caught her attention. It seemed like a ridiculous idea, but she tapped the icon anyway.

Gail scrolled through the call log and looked over the recent call list. She gasped so loud she woke Bruiser up. There were two outgoing calls she didn’t recognize from last night and the night before. They were both made around midnight when Gail was already asleep. “What the hell?”

Bruiser whined, then yawned with a large, tongue flopping yawn. He sat up on the couch, watching her with his head cocked to the side. 

Ice ran down Gail’s spine as she stared at her phone. Someone was in her house. Someone was in her house while she was asleep, unaware and vulnerable! With her heart pounding as if she’d just ran twenty miles, Gail hurried to the front door and laid her hand on it, testing the protections there. They were still dormant. Turning on her heel, she hurried across the room and down the hall to the side door. She did the same to it and it too was still dormant. “What the hell,” she whispered, her hand still on the door. 

Bruiser barked at her from the end of the hallway. She glanced back to see him staring at her, head cocked. Gail laughed, realizing she must have confused him. She walked up to him and pet his head. “We got a mystery on our hands, Bruiser.” She looked at her phone, the unfamiliar number staring right back at her. “Perhaps we should find out who our intruder has been calling.” 

Bruiser barked at her, giving her leg a little nudge then trotted towards the door. 

“You gotta go?” she asked and he barked again in reply. “I will take you out in a minute, okay. I wanna see who’s on the other end.” Bruiser whined at her as she tapped her screen to call the number. When it started ringing she put it up to her ear and waited for whoever on the other end to answer. She didn’t have to wait long.

As soon as the call connected an unfamiliar male voice said, “You shouldn’t be calling so much, Brother. It’s not safe.”

Brother? Not safe? 

“Who is this?” Gail demanded, anger replaced some of her worry. “And who is your brother? Why was he in my house?”

There was silence on the other end, but when she glanced at the screen, the man hadn’t hung up. 

“Answer me,” she insisted. “How did he get into my house? Why was he in my house? What do you want with me? Are you one of Edwin’s people?” 

Still the man said nothing. When Gail pulled her ear from the phone a second time, it showed the call disconnected. “Damn it,” she swore. Her palms had sweat as she stared at the phone. Gail had to call them back. She needed answers. Gail tapped the number again. The phone rang and rang, but they didn’t pick up. Gail let out a growl of frustration, squeezing her phone, wishing it was the man who had answered the call. “What is going on?”

Bruiser whined and nudged her again. Gail sighed and petted the dog’s head. “Something weird is going on, Bruiser.” She bit her lip as she tried to make sense of any of the things happening to her. He butted her hand once more, before going into the kitchen and sitting in front of the fridge.

Despite the worry and tension gathering in the pit of her stomach, Gail laughed. “Hungry are you? Let’s see what I can whip up for our breakfast and before you get any ideas, you’re getting dog food.”

Bruiser chuffed and growled a low, soft growl.

“Trust me, your food is so much better for you than people’s food. Hell, I shouldn’t be eating half the stuff I do.”

Preparing hers and Bruiser’s breakfast helped settle some of her nerves, but she knew she had to figure out what was going on and how did she fit in it all. As she set her and Bruiser’s plate at the table, Gail sat down to think. “So this is what we know,” she told him in between bites. “We both got a weird feeling yesterday. Then someone broke in, used my phone, and got out without triggering my alarms twice.”

Bruiser barked at her. 

“I know. None of it seems to make sense,” she replied with a shrug. “Why would it be EdwinEdwin? I have done nothing stupid that would make him come looking for me.” She stabbed her scrambled eggs, chewing them slowly as she thought and watched Bruiser eat. He really was a picky eater. Most dogs she’d seen scarfed down anything they could get in their mouths. Bruiser acted like she was giving him something barely edible.

“If only your eating habits were the weirdest thing in my life,” she said in a half sigh. Bruiser chuffed and gave her what almost looked like an offended glare. “Hey, I’m not judging. Well, I am, but not a whole lot.”

He chuffed at her again, dropping back down to all fours and walked into the living.

“Sorry,” Gail said, holding up her hands. She continued to eat and think about everything. The more she thought about it, the more confusing everything seemed. Gail shook her head and their plates into the sink to wash later. “You know what, I need to get out of here. What do you say to a walk?”

Bruiser wasn’t so offended he’d refuse to go on a walk. He jumped off the couch and headed to the door. 

“Good boy. Yes, some fresh air is what we need.” Gail got out the leash and collar she’d bought from the store. Bruiser made a little growl at the sight of them. “Sorry, but you ran off once. Plus, it’s also the law. Every dog has to be leashed.”

Bruiser growled again, looking irritated at the idea. Gail couldn’t help but smile a little as she put the collar on him and connected the leash. “I know you don’t believe me, but I am sorry.”

He gave her an offended huff as he sat by the door and waited for her. Grabbing her keys, Gail led Bruiser out of the house. She locked the door and once again took a moment to check the protections around her house. They were all the same as they had been yesterday, intact and dormant. She stepped down off the small porch and led Bruiser around her house to the back. There was a small dirt trail that led through a small section of the woods that surrounded this side of town.

Despite the scents of the forest usually having a calming effect on Gail, her mind raced as they walked. With the protection on her door still dormant, if the person who used her phone had entered there, it meant they weren’t who she thought they were. If they weren’t who she figured they were then what did they want from her? Was it just to use her phone? If so, why didn’t they knock? “I don’t have enough information. There has to be more to this,” Gail said, breaking out of her thoughts. 

She walked with Bruiser for a few more minutes in silence. The only sounds she heard were her and Bruiser’s breathing and their footsteps. They were the only sounds. Gail stopped, taking in a slow breath, and looked around them. The forest was quiet. No bird songs or rustling of squirrels looking for food. There wasn’t even a breeze rustling through the leaves. It was as if someone had put the world on pause.

Again, the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. “What is going on?” she whispered. “Come on Bruiser,” she said and walked again, but Bruiser didn’t move at first. His whole body tensed and was on alert. His head swerved from the right side of the path to the left then back again, as if he was looking for something. She gave his leash a little tug and he started walking. 

As they walked, Gail tried to locate the source of the tense, anxious sensation permeating the area around them. She used all the tricks her aunt had taught her, but she didn’t even come close to locating the source. The farther they walked, the more the sensation grew. Bruiser was looking all around them, turning in circles. Gail had to untwist the leash more than a few times.

They had been walking for almost an hour when the feelings of anxious tension grew so thick, Gail found it harder to breath. Fearing she was walking right into a trap, she stopped Bruiser. “This is too much. Whatever is down this trail is above my paygrade. Come on.” She turned to return home, but Bruiser didn’t move. He just turned in a circle with a soft growl. “Come on, time to go home.” Again, Gail tugged on his leash and he walked to her side. 

Gail had only taken three steps when she saw a man standing in the middle of the trail about fifteen feet from her, blocking the path home. Gail stopped as soon as she saw him. As soon as she did, others emerged from the trees. Gail’s throat closed and her heart raced as she turned on her heel, realizing the ring of people surrounded her. “Shit,” she breathed, turning to face the man in the path again.