8

The security light clicked on again, and Abi saw that the intruder next door was still staring, his eyes seemingly boring into hers. Abi knew that he couldn’t possibly see her. The office was pitch-black, and she was standing several feet from the window. He wouldn’t be able to see more than a reflection from the street, but something deep within her, the same part of her that told her to hasten her steps when walking through a dark alleyway, climbing dimly lit stairs, and sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings, suggested otherwise.

The intruder stared at the office window for what felt like several minutes. Eventually, the security light blinked out, he disappeared, and Abi felt a sense of relief. She grabbed her phone, dialed emergency services, and continued to watch, waiting for the light to detect movement and for the intruder to be visible again.

“Emergency services, how—”

“Police!” Abi hissed. “I think my neighbor’s being burgled.”

The light snapped on again. Abi saw that he was carrying a large sack in his right hand and heading down the side of her neighbor’s house.

There was a pause on the other end of the line, followed by a click, as Abi was transferred.

“Police, can I take your name, please?”

“My name is Abi Ansell,” Abi said, her heart feeling like it was going to explode out of her chest as she edged closer to the window.

“How can I help you?”

Her hands were sweaty, the phone felt abnormally hot against her ear. She switched the phone to her left hand, wiped her right hand on her nightdress, and then switched back.

“My neighbor is being burgled!” Abi said, her impatience audible. “There’s a man—”

Just as she spoke, the intruder made himself visible again, stepping under the security light for a second time. He paused under the light, looked down the street—

“I think he’s already been inside. Oh my God, I hope he hasn’t done anything.”

—and then back to Abi’s office window.

“It’s definitely a he? Can you see the man now?”

“Yes, I’m looking at him right now. He’s—he’s—” Abi’s heart sank. She stood upright and sighed as the man turned away from her. “He’s my neighbor,” she finished.

“Excuse me?”

“He’s my neighbor,” Abi repeated. “Shit. I’m so sorry, I—I—I didn’t realize.”

There was a pause on the line. Abi could have sworn she heard the operator snigger. “That’s okay, ma’am. So, there is no crime taking place?”

“Unless being weird at four in the morning is a crime?”

“Luckily for you, ma’am, it’s not. You have a good night now.”

The operator hung up, leaving Abi red-faced, shocked, and a little annoyed. The intruder in the spotlight was Robert. He seemingly hadn’t realized that the house had a security spotlight, which explained his rigidity and his prolonged stare, but in the heat of the moment that hadn’t occurred to her.

It was time to go to bed. The late hour and her sleep deprivation was clearly making her paranoid, but before she retired for the night, she saw the security light snap on again and saw that Robert was carrying yet another bag. She quickly retrieved her phone, opened her camera app, and zoomed in on him.

He had a black trash bag slung over his shoulder. It looked a lot heavier than the first one, his movements slow and steady, his back arched, his steps staggered. Abi also noticed that he was trying to stay out of the glare of the security light as he made his way down the side of the house, all while shooting furtive glances this way and that.

Abi slowly shook her head. “As if you couldn’t get weirder,” she muttered to herself.

She watched him disappear from view, watched the security light blink out again, and then waited. As she expected, he appeared again moments later, captured by the light as he moved across his yard and into the darkness beyond. There were no streetlights directly outside his house so Abi couldn’t see what he was doing as he left the fluorescent glow of the spotlight. But she did hear a car door closing, the muffled click audible above the sound of blood rushing like waterfalls in her ears.

Moments later, she saw him enter the spotlight again, this time edging along its periphery. He was walking backward, hunched over, his steps staggered.

Abi edged closer to the window, keen to see what he was doing. Her attention was fully focused on her strange neighbor when she dropped her phone. The sound was deafening in the small room as the device clattered against the windowsill before resting against the window with an audible ping.

She froze, and so did Robert. Unable to move, no matter how much she wanted to, she was forced to watch as Robert dropped whatever he had in his hands, straightened up, and stared right at her. This time Abi was certain that he had seen her.