The Secret Sea - (Chaptered Version)

7 *

Another wasted day followed by more banging in the night. "Jesus, they're really going at it," I groan, sitting up. The thumps are different this time—accompanied by low voices. My heart starts to skip as I reach over and turn off the fan. Everything goes quiet. I turn on the fan again, to see if it was somehow creating the cacophony but the blades turn smoothly. After turning it back off, I sit in the silence and listen intently. A horrible sense of dread drips along my spine until I convince myself I'm overreacting. "The neighbor kids must have realized I'm sleeping back here," I mumble to myself. It seems plausible. As a child, I certainly would have ridiculed someone for living like this.

More rhythmic knocking circles the shed. Muffled singing spills in through the thin walls from slight, crackling voices. I can't make out the words. Goose bumps are covering my arms and neck. This can't be children. The thudding gets louder.

One step takes me from my bedroom to the kitchen, where I grab a chef's knife from the sink. I leap out of the shed in my underwear, brandishing my weapon. "GET OUT OF HERE!" I yell. Small feet scurry across the lawn, away from the shed. I suspect it may be a clowder of cats, but cats don't giggle. The tall hedges shake and the night goes quiet again. I'm quivering as I rush back into the shack and barricade the door with my bed.

I wake in the morning with my hand against my chest, still gripping the knife. The sun is up. I drop the blade as a loud pounding on the door rattles the shed.

"You okay in there? I thought I heard yelling last night."

I push the bed away from the entrance and throw on some jeans. "Hey! Yeah...everything's cool."

I open the door and see Eve raising an eyebrow. "You sure?" she asks.

Goddamn that flimsy nightgown. "I thought I heard someone outside the shed. It freaked me out, but I think I was just having a nightmare." Internally, I'm doing my best to convince myself it's true.

"How does that explain the green glob next to your nipple?"

I wipe my chest and look at my hand. Some leftover avocado must have flicked off the knife when I grabbed it. "That's...nothing."

"Alright," says Eve with a shrug. "Well, want to join us for breakfast? Steven is frying up some eggs and chorizo."

"No thanks," I say, "I have an interview at Land and Home. I better start getting ready."

Eve groans. "Someone as talented as you shouldn't be working for an insurance company."

"It's the only job I'm currently qualified to do. Until I can paint something aside from blue squares, my art career is effectively stalled. I don't know what my problem—"

"Don't self-deprecate so much," interrupts Eve. "It makes you look weak, and you're not. Well...come on in if you change your mind." She leans in and gives me a quick hug. I try not to think about how good she feels against me.