Belina’s mom, Alejandra, arrived minutes later. We climbed inside the car and drove off to my house, telling her a less detailed version of what happened; and by less detailed, I mean without Belina, Daniela and myself in it. She dropped us off on the driveway of my house and left.

Mom wasn’t home from work yet, so my friends and I crashed the kitchen and made ourselves lunch.

“Belina, heat this up would you?” I asked, tossing her some old pizza on a dish.

“So, have we decided on a suspect?” Daniela asked while chopping up the lettuce.

“I’ve got a good feeling Justin has something to do with this,” I answered.

“It could be David…” Belina slipped out. Daniela dropped her knife on the counter and laughed.

“David is too much of a weakling to be able to do all that.”

“Can we focus?” I turned on the TV and a news report popped up.

“Charles Derkwood was apprehended earlier today. Carson High School Principal refuses to release details. As of other news today, about an hour ago, a murderer was release on bail money. We could not identify who bailed him, but this is what the murderer said, ‘If I plan on killing anyone, then I would kill myself rather than go to jail. I’ve learned my lesson’.”

“What a psychotic…”

“Maniac,” Daniela finished Belina’s words.

“Whatever,” I switched the channel to Comedy Central. Dane Cook was on.

“Love him!” Daniela said. I rolled my eyes and poured some oil into a skillet and threw in some bacon. The phone rang.

“Belina, could you handle the bacon for me?” I ran to the phone and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Oh, you’re home early,” Mom replied, “Listen sweetie. Your dad called me from England. He said that I needed to fly over there and go with him to one of his important dinner parties. So take care; I’ll be home in two days.”

“Okay. Fly safely. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.” I hung up.

“Who was that?” Belina asked.

“Mom. She won’t be home tonight.”

“Does that mean the house is all to ourselves?” Daniela asked, grinning.

“I hate to admit it, but yes.” Daniela and Belina howled. I took the bacon off the skillet and crunched it up over Daniela’s bowl of salad. Belina took the pizza out of the microwave as Daniela grabbed three sodas. We headed to the living room and flipped on a movie. We were watching Charlie’s Angels, howling every time the creepy thin man came out…

“‘You shake, I bake?’ ‘I want to shake’,” the movie played. The sun had set and we were watching it for a third time. Daniela had fallen asleep already as Belina was texting on her phone.

“Who are you texting?” I asked.

“Conner,” she squealed quietly. I raised a brow.

“Well, I’m going to put this in the dishwasher.” I stood up and Daniela dropped onto the seat, still asleep. I took our plates and bowls into the kitchen. Crickets were chirping outside; fast, then slow. I opened the dishwasher, rinsed the dishes and placed them inside. As I took out the soap and poured it inside, I felt as if something was missing; not physically, but mentally, if that makes sense. I shut the dishwasher and set it. It hummed and made a rumbling sound. I was about to leave the kitchen when I suddenly realized what was missing. From all the noise, one sound was gone. The chirping had stopped. I hurried back to the living room and woke up Daniela.

“Guys, I think someone is here,” I said in a whisper.

“What do you mean?” Belina asked.

“Tell me one good reason as to why crickets would stop chirping.”

“They feel threatened or a predator is near,” Daniela answered yawning.

“Well the crickets out back stopped chirping…” Suddenly we heard glass break from the kitchen. We stood up. Belina immediately dialed nine-one-one. I looked around us for a way out. The window would make too much noise. I heard heavy footsteps walk in our direction. The TV and lights were already off thankfully.

“Nine-one-one emergency,” I heard from Belina’s phone. The footsteps stopped suddenly.

“We have an intruder at four-three-nine Marbella Avenue,” Belina whispered. The footsteps were now louder than ever. Our intruder was running towards us. Belina shut her phone and placed it in her pocket. I grasped their hands. The running sound stopped and I heard someone clear their throat.

“Ahem. I know you’re here,” the lights turned on, “Boo.”

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