The Intruder: The Hidden Mystery

Chapter 4

I slammed the car door and ran into the house in a rush. Ms. Juliana tried to stop me but instead she hesitated. "Wait! Leah, are you hungry?" She yells to me softly.
"No, thank you!" I said as I ran up the stairs. "I'll make dinner in a little bit then! When you're hungry again!"
Ms. Juliana muffled as I began to slam my door. I threw my bag on the floor and dove face first on my bed.
"I can't believe this!" I shoved my face in my pillow and shuffled in my bag for my cell phone to dial my father's number. I waited for a few minutes to see if he actually picked up, but of course he didn't answer. He never picks up. Instead, it went straight to voicemail. "H-hey dad, please call me back once you get my message. I need to talk to you. Wherever you are, I hope you're doing okay." I hesitate for a second.
"I-l love you." I stuttered. I shut my eyes for a moment and open them back up again. My eyes got watery as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were sorta puffy and my eyes formed tears.
I didn't want to see myself cry so I shove my head on my pillow. I dropped my cell phone on my nightstand and threw the covers over my body, waiting for the tears to stop from dripping on my pillow.
Soon I drifted off to sleep the next moment. But the sound of my window startled me and I woke up. I was cold and my ears were ringing. My head started pounding and my eyes were sore. I heard a loud creak at my window.
I grabbed my cell phone off my nightstand to power on the screen. I stared at the time and it was ten- thirty on a Tuesday night. I shut my eyes and open them back up again to get my vision back.
I stop to think for a second before walking to my window. I took a few steps to the window on my left and peaked through the glass. All I saw was trees moving in a gust of wind and the sky was dark and cloudy. It was creepy at night sometimes since it got really dark.
On the corner of my eye I saw someone running quickly past my bedroom door. My heart was pounding for no apparent reason. I took a few deep breaths and opened my bedroom door as fast as I could. Quietly I tiptoed in the hallway to see if Ms. Juliana passed by.
But there was no one in the hall. Instead, I heard screaming from downstairs. I got startled so I slowly backed away from the top of the stairway. I realized I was still half asleep and my eyes were half closed. I squinted my eyes to adjust to the light from the ceiling and took a few steps down the stairs.
I began to realize that the screaming I heard was Ms. Juliana. Her voice got loud. Halfway down the stairs until I spotted Ms. Juliana and another guy who looked familiar arguing by the kitchen table across from each other. I hesitated for a few seconds and realized the guy standing across from Juliana was Jamie, another C. P. S. guardian.
Ms. Juliana had a big bottle of alcohol in her hand and put the bottle up to her mouth. She sets down a tiny glass cup in her other. She looked drained. Her eyes were puffy, dark circles under them and her hair was messy. She looked very tipsy. I knew Ms. Juliana was not herself. Jamie had his arms crossed giving her a disgusted look. Ms. Juliana started yelling at Jamie again.
I tried to listen to their conversation so I just stood there. Ms. Juliana's voice got even louder by the minute. Soon Juliana and I made eye contact. Both Ms. Juliana and Jamie look at me with a shocked look on their faces.
"W-what's going on? What's all that screaming?" I asked them while squinting my eyes. "WHY AREN'T YOU IN BED?! IT"S LATE, WAY PAST YOUR BEDTIME!" Ms. Juliana shouts at me with the alcohol bottle still in her hand.
I stared at her with confusion. "Oh? It's late for me? What about you, drinking alcohol at this time of night?!"
I got so angry so I began to show it. I didn't know what to say, so I just said something.
"Um, I can't sleep. Also with all that yelling, it's very hard for me to fall back asleep." Jamie gave Ms. Juliana looked disgusted and with his arms crossed again and looked back at me.
"BECAUSE YOU'RE LOUD AS HECK!" Jamie yells at her but she pushes Jamie on the floor, in front of me. "Stop! What are you doing?!" I asked her with a shocked look. "GO TO BED, NOW!!" Juliana points to the stairs. "I told you I can't sleep, a-and you can't tell me w-what to do!" I didn't realize what I just said. Ms. Juliana looked furious.
"YOU HAVE TO DO EXACTLY AS I SAY BECAUSE YOUR MOTHER IS DEAD!" Ms. Juliana stopped talking after she said that.
I stared at her with tears forming in my eyes and I ran upstairs to my bedroom and slammed, locked the door. I shuffled, putting my stuff in my backpack and putting my cell phone in my back pocket.
Within a second I hurried downstairs.
As soon as I rushed by the door, Ms. Juliana stopped me with a grouchy look on her face, her hair messy, tipsy as hell, Jamie on the floor.