JEREMEY'S HAND SHOOK as he handed me his phone. I looked at the text message.
Harper: I warned you
My heart gave a single pound against my rib cage, a heavy thud that echoed in my ears like I was underwater. "Shit, shit, shit," I repeated myself over and over again, still holding the phone, my hand shaking as I tried to make sense of the message.
"Where's your phone, Harper?"
I drew heavy breaths in through my nose and stood up. My vision went dark for a second with the sudden change in elevation. My head spun, and colors faded to grays. I felt like I was about to pass out. I imagined myself swaying, and my head slamming into a concrete wall. I reached out my hand to brace myself, but found nothing but empty air. I blinked a few times, and finally my eyes unclouded, stars flashing in my vision like lightning bugs on a late July evening.
I set Jeremey's phone down on the glass end table and ran my hands along the pockets of my jeans, checking for a phone I knew wouldn't be there. I couldn't remember having it when I woke up that morning. I pressed my thumb and index finger into the corners of my eyes and then pushed my hand back through my hair, trying to think.
"Where's your phone?" Jeremey repeated himself.
"I don't know," I finally responded, pinching my eyes shut and trying to concentrate.
"Did you drop it last night?" His voice was stern.
I opened my eyes. Jeremey had gotten out of his chair and stood right in front of me, glaring at me. I thought back to the previous night. I remembered using my phone as the light. I remembered setting it down by the basement window to get a better look, and I remembered...
"Harper?" Jeremey's voice broke as he said my name. He wasn't so much angry... he was scared.
"I forgot it." My voice came out as a whisper. "When the truck came... when the dogs came—" I paused. "I set it down beside the window to the basement to get a better look, and then when you shouted about the headlights, I didn't think about it. I forgot to grab it. I just..."
"You left it there?"
I bit my lower lip and nodded.
"Fuck," Jeremy hissed. He turned away from me. He paced across the porch, pushing both hands through his hair and continuing to whisper curses under his breath. Finally, he turned back to face me.
"Jeremey, I'm sorry," I apologized. "It was an accident, I didn't mean to. It all happened so quick, I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," he said. "Fuck." He bit his lower lip.
"I mean, he probably already knew it was us," I tried to rationalize it. "The dogs barking, chasing us. The headlights. He probably already knew. He probably saw us. There wasn't anything on my phone for him to find anyway. It doesn't matter that much that he found it. He already knew."
"Yeah, yeah." Jeremey paused again. "But the thing is, Harper, think about where he found your phone. It wasn't just in his yard. It wasn't just on his property. It was right next to the window to the basement. Right there. And... what you saw. God, I don't even know. I don't even know what that was. But he knows now. He knows you saw..."
"Her," I filled in the blank for him.
He winced when I said it.
"What are we going to do?" I asked.
YOU ARE READING
Wind
Horror•• Wattys 2018 Winner •• Wattpad Featured Story •• One day, a wind blew into the town of Millstone and didn't stop. Slowly people moved away. It was like the town was trying to clear itself out, as though it was preparing for something sinister. Whe...
