darling

one

Locking up the shop, I tossed the keys into my bag and attempted to keep my umbrella steady with the other. Today had been a hectic day. It was normally busy in the lead up to Valentine's day, but it had been a mad rush all day. I was glad for it though, it gave me something to take my mind off Johannah.

Sometimes my sister would disappear for a week or so at a time. And normally she would come back tired and on edge. I knew she was friends with some scary people, but I never judged her and kept my nose out of it. But she's been gone for three weeks now, with no contact, and I was worrying. A lot. Jo's never been gone this long, and the sinking feeling in my stomach had been making me feel sick with nerves for the past week. I hoped she was okay. She was the only family I had, other than some cousins from Ireland that I didn't really speak to. Even if she wasn't the nicest to me, I still stressed about her a ton.

I hoped she would come back soon. Or at least let me know if she's alright. Shaking the thoughts away, I gripped my umbrella handle tightly as the rain poured. The weather here was terrible. But I was partial to cold weather. I can't stand the heat. Walking down the street, I weaved in and out of people carefully, trying to avoid knocking someone with my umbrella. It was a boring plain black one, but the handle had a bird carving. Mary Poppins was my all time favourite movie, so when I saw it online I knew I had to buy it.

It didn't take long to reach my building, and I sniffled quietly as I entered, lowering my umbrella and giving a shake before I stepped inside. It's bad luck to have an umbrella open inside, you know. Giving a broad smile to a lady passing by in the lobby, which was met with a sneer, I approached the elevator and pressed the button. Holding my bag close to my side in a poor attempt to generate some heat, I waited patiently for the lift to arrive. It seemed to take ages.

Stepping inside the empty lift, I pressed my floor number and studied the advert stuck to the back of the closed doors. Once the lift arrived at my floor, I gave a polite smile to my neighbour, Mr Kransky, and got a stern nod back. He was a strange guy. Walking down the hall and coming to my door, I fished around for my keys in my bag, before inserting them into the door and opening it. Thank lord I was home. I was practically buzzing to have dinner and get warm under a blanket on the couch. A shiver wracked my body as I stepped inside and shut the door behind me, locking it, before taking the keys out. Turning around, ready to chuck the keys into their home in my fruit bowl, I froze as I noticed a dark figure in my living room.

My breathing came to a halt as my eyes landed on the man sitting in my armchair, a glass of something red on the table in front of him. He grinned as my keys dropped to the carpet.

"Hello, darling."