The Stalker

One particularly uneventful Friday Shannon received a phone call in the early evening. A woman's voice on the other end started out talking slowly, in almost a whisper. "Shannon, be aware of those around you. You are in danger. Don't trust anyone." Shannon stared at the phone like it was a foreign object and she held it away from her head momentarily before returning it to her ear. "What do you want? Why are you bothering me?" Shannon said angrily. "I only want to help. Remember, don't trust anyone," and the woman hung up. How weird, Shannon thought. There's a nut ball around every corner these days.

"Who was that?" Myrtle said to Shannon as she entered the living room. "Oh, no one, wrong number I guess," she replied. Myrtle stared at her, wondering if she was telling the truth. Shannon had become very secretive lately but she couldn't blame her. It had to be terribly difficult with her parents gone now. Myrtle had decided it was probably best to let her have time to herself and not interfere.

*******

Shannon spent most of her days absorbed in mystery novels, reading her history books and writing papers for school. She thought about her mother and father frequently, but couldn't seem to make their ghosts appear no matter how hard she wished for it. They hadn't visited her since the night of the house fire. She had thought she had seen something in the upstairs of the house that night, perhaps a ghost. There was no doubt in her mind that she had heard Lily tell her to run shortly before her house burst into flames. It troubled her that Lily had abandoned her now but maybe it was for the best. Maybe now she could put the Edmondson mystery to rest.