OddityVille: Funko (Book Three)

Chapter Five: Intervention

As each window within the house goes dark once more, Marcus stares through the curtains from the edge of the yard, waiting for any hints on where Funko is now. With his eyes shifting from one side to the next, he sighs and looks back at Phil, who takes a sharp breath before speaking into the phone.

"Yeah, hi. I'd like to report a break in that's still in progress. No, I'm not in the house. Address is 301 Molly Avenue. No, I haven't seen the guy, but he's messing with the lights. I'm out on the curb with a member of the household now. Marcus. How long? Alright. Alright, thanks. I'll stay on the line." Phil covers the phone with one hand and looks to Marcus, who looks back. "Five minutes."

"What time is it now?"

Phil looks back at his phone before answering.

"11:45."

"My mom said she'd be back around midnight, so if we see her we've got to stop her from going inside."

Phil agrees with a shake of his head and returns to the phone call.

"I'm still here."

As Phil turns away from the home, Marcus scans the windows. Once his eyes have drifted over those of his mother's room, the light inside kicks on. He holds his breath as a shadow crosses the curtains, almost indistinguishable through the light. Yet, he knows who it is. Marcus nudges Phil on the arm, then points toward the house. As Phil looks away from the phone, he too spots the shadow and the upstairs light. They can vaguely see the mass wave at them before the light cuts out once more.

"They're upstairs right now." Phil remarks into the phone, darting his eyes between Marcus and the unseen entity. "We'll wait here."

As a few minutes pass, a vehicle with blue and red lights appears at the left end of the street. Though the sirens are off, it is obvious that the officer driving is in a rush to reach the building. Once the car has parked in the lot, both front doors open up and two men step out. They look to the boys, but do not approach. Instead, they give a nod toward them and the boys nod back, with Phil pointing to the window they had seen light coming from. The officers then pull their guns and begin walking up to the front door. Once there, the leading officer turns the knob and heads inside, followed closely by the second officer.

After what feels like forever, both of the officers reemerge and shut the door on their way out. They then walk over to Marcus and Phil, where the leading officer shakes his head and returns his gun to its holster. As he does this, he gives one look back at the house, then down at the boys.

"Sorry kids, nothing."

"Are you sure?" Marcus asks, eager to know if they checked everything they could have. "There are closets in every room and an attic crawlspace. Did you check there?"

"Pull down ladder upstairs? Yeah, we checked. Didn't find a thing. When's your mother going to be home?"

"Any minute now." Marcus assures.

"Well, here's what I want you to do. You're going to head on inside with your friend here until your mother arrives. When that happens we'll call you back out and get a proper statement on what happened."

"I'm not going back in there." Marcus exclaims, shaking his head as he does so.

"Look, son. We checked everywhere. If there was someone in there, they're long gone by now. You've got nothing to be afraid of. We'll be right here."

"Thank you, officers." With this, Phil steps toward the house and Marcus catches him by the wrist, while the officers return to their car.

"What are you doing?"