A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 6

The blue eyed lady slowed to a stop. I couldn't look away, it was like her eyes had trapped me. They were so bright... She slowly blinked, as if in disbelief and I was freed from her gaze. I blinked a few times trying to recover my thoughts. She started slowly jogging to the side and used her arm to clear off a bench and put the black box on it. She blended in with the shadows quite well. She looked kind of spooky on the dark street like that. She stood back up and looked back at me.

I braced myself, but her eyes didn't trap me this time. I sighed in relief. She tilted her head inquisitively and waved at me. I waved back, it was an automatic reaction even after this much time alone. She seemed to focus on me more intently and started approaching the house. I gasped and started trying to open the window. Perhaps she could help Mom.

This window had always been hard to open. She had covered most of the distance by the time the window finally opened. I pushed it up as high as it would go and leaned out of it, "Can you help my Mom? She isn't feeling well and won't speak with me."

I was shocked at how my voice sounded. It squeaked and cracked as I spoke. Other than asking Mom if I could come downstairs, I hadn't really spoken much. To talk so loudly made my throat hurt.

Her eyes seemed to brighten slightly, "I'm coming. Where is your Mom? Just stay there and try to keep quiet. Do you know if anyone else is inside?"

I shook my head and called back, "I think it is just Mommy downstairs, but she is sick and won't talk to me. She won't let me come downstairs either."

I watched as she approached the house. She started knocking on the windows. What was she doing? The door was on the front of the house, surely she had seen it when she had approached the house. She went around the corner of the house and out of my sight.

I hesitated, should I remain here or should I stand by the locked door? I decided to wait here, if I heard the front door open, then I would stand by the locked door to see if I could hear what was going on.

My mind turned back to the mysterious lady. She could speak, so she couldn't be a zombie. I was relieved, she would have made a very scary zombie. I bit my lip as I tried to recall everything Auntie had ever said about angels. She had said that they rarely remained visible for long and tended to disappear as soon as they had helped us.

This lady was the only person I had seen who hadn't been sick since Mom had fallen ill and I didn't want her to leave. I would be alone again. I decided to see if I could get her to let me come with her. I tried to remember everything anyone had said about manners. Mom had said that people always like well-behaved children. I would have to be really careful to avoid being bad.

I jumped as I heard the front door lightly bang against the wall on the main floor. I quickly scampered down to the office so I could see the front door from that window. The lady was standing in the middle of the street. Why was she all the way over there? I saw her glance momentarily up at me before returning her focus to the doorway. I inhaled in shock as I saw my Mom walking outside to meet the angel. This was the first time I had seen her since she fell ill.

She didn't look any different, but from the way she moved she still must not be feeling well. The lady turned and slowly jogged the other way. I wondered where the angel was leading her. Why they didn't just drive wherever they were going? Another guy came down the street and I watched as both of them went into the neighbor's backyard.

The lady jumped over the fence and pulled a string. I saw the gate swing closed. The lady looked back up at me and started heading back to the house. I lost sight of her as she went under the door over hang. I quickly ran to the locked door that separated the main floor from the upstairs. I heard her knocking on the door. It was open, why didn't she just come in?