The Novella Life of Illuscia Nester Himawari

    The family was seated around my dinner table like it was their own. Eating, laughing, living it up without a care to be had. But as soon as I entered, the party stopped. They just sat there, staring at me as if I was the one who didn’t belong. Thomas filled the dead air, “Abigail, there you are,” he said, wiping his mouth with a red kerchief that matched his shirt. “You were going to share with us what happened in the basement, yes?” Keep playing along Eve, don’t escalate. Wait for help to show up. But, why did they all look so calm? “I… I was looking for tools and got lost in the dark,” I said. “It… reminded me of an old memory. A scary one, and… I let my imagination get the better of me. But I’m okay now, it was all in my head.” Thomas gave a slight nod: Good work. The kids nodded too, but Paige, she just stared at me, eyes narrowing. A sharp gust of wind SLAMMED against the windows - the house lights flickered. The family jumped. T

    Thomas and Paige stared at me, both playing dumb. Pretending they couldn’t hear Charlie’s ringtone. Oscar-worthy shit. But I didn’t have time to appreciate the performance. If Charlie was somehow in the basement, then she might be hurt, or worse. I needed to get down there, call the police, and find her - NOW. Tucking away Paige’s phone, I started out of the kitchen. “Eve, where are you going?” said Thomas. Ignoring him, I hauled across the room, snagged the flashlight from the couch, and- “-Eve, you can talk to us.” He grabbed me by the arm- “-Don’t FUCKING touch me,” I wrenched free, stepped back. Silence. They just stared at me, wide-eyed, scared even. Good. They should be. “Eve. What, what’s wrong?” he stammered, still giving a top-notch performance. Bravo. Flashlight clenched in my hands like a weapon, I eased back towards the basement door. Slipping inside, I slammed it shut. Darkness. With both hands grasped

    Get to the neighbor’s house. Pushing forward down the driveway, I tucked Charlie’s necklace into my back pocket. Maybe she dropped it by accident? Doubtful. Regardless, my goal didn’t change: Get to the neighbor’s house. Call Charlie - find out where she is - why she left without telling me. At this point, I was even considering calling the police, but… …What would I tell them? I let a family of five into my house, I think they put up a painting? Not exactly police priority. Call Charlie first, evaluate from there. The storm was getting worse. As I trudged down the road, freezing wind swept through me, down into the forest at the end of the street. My face stung, teeth chattered, eyes burned. Fun. Finally, I reached Harpreet and Miguel’s place. A mint-green bungalow with a meticulous, but snow-covered, Japanese garden out front. I gave three sharp knocks and waited. Nothing. As I reached for the bell, the door swung open. Harpreet

    The family on my doorstep looked normal enough. Normal in a 1950’s sitcom kind of way: Tall handsome dad, petite blonde wife. Behind them, three young, blue-eyed kids lined up by height. One girl, two boys. This was the type of family that showed up early to get the front row pew. “Hello miss,” said the father, “Sorry to bother you so late.” “Hey… how can I help you?” “I grew up in this house.” “Oh, nice.” He cleared his throat, “Would you mind if we showed the kids around?” “Like… inside the house?” He nodded, “Show them where their dad grew up. If it’s not too much of a problem.” “Oh, I… I’m not sure. My girlfriend’s coming home soon and-” -The mother winced at the word’ girlfriend,’ almost like someone had spat in her face. I pretended not to see it. The father smiled, “We’d only need ten, fifteen minutes, tops.” “Yeah, I just… we’re still moving in and, it’s a bit of a mess and-”