Chapter 5: The First Night at Charleston Manor

“I’m gonna change your mind,” said the mayor.

Aliyah was confused. “Excuse me?”

“Earlier. You said we didn’t need to be friends.” He looked down at her with his blue eyes gleaming. “I’m going to change your mind about that.”

Aliyah’s face felt warm with self-consciousness.

Finally, the mayor opened the door and Aliyah quickly slid into the driver’s seat.

“Good night,” the mayor said. His tone changed again with these words. It’s like he’d accepted a near-impossible challenge, but he had all the confidence in the world he’d win.

***

Back at the manor, Aliyah finally had time to wind down. She prepared herself a bed in an empty room on the second level with the air mattress and blankets she’d brought. She sat cross-legged on the mattress with her phone playing a tv series she’d just recently started, some rom-com she thought she’d try out. She pulled out the steak and baked potato from the Styrofoam box and ate them cold.

Since the house’s heat wasn’t on yet, she wore two long-sleeve shirts and some leggings under her sweatpants and huddled under the blankets. She wasn’t exactly comfortable, but she was warm enough. Just after one episode, she felt the exhaustion catching up with her.

Aliyah laid down shortly after ten o’clock, but her mind began racing with the day’s events. Both the men she’d met had acted so strangely. Perhaps Mayor Cursor lost his sense of manners and respect when he gained his power as mayor, though that was just a guess. But that type of thing seemed likely. She also wondered why he'd drank two glasses of wine during a business meeting to discuss their contract. It seemed like he maybe didn't respect her completely. Looking on the brighter side, despite his haughty, self-righteous behavior, Aliyah appreciated his offer to buy her dinner. She appreciated his chivalry was nice too.

And the tall stranger at the filling station, he was a mystery. She thought about the way he looked at her, with a coyness she’d only seen portrayed in movies. But the way he stayed so quiet, only answering her questions with other questions. What was that? He didn’t seem to care what she was there for, even when she put on her stern, commanding face. Could he have seen through it?

Aliyah wondered how many people in this town were going to truly take her seriously. That’s all she wanted. Even from her parents and her sister.

She pushed away her anger about her parents and closed her eyes to try to fall asleep. Eventually, she drifted into a light, dreamless sleep.

***

Sometime in the night, with the moon shining bright in the window of the empty bedroom, Aliyah heard shouts of laughter drifting through the house. She shot up in her bed, confused about whether she’d been dreaming.

She grabbed her phone to see the time: 2:34 am.

The laughter grew, erupted into hoots and hollers. There seemed to be several voices. Alyiah froze for a moment, unsure what she should do. Suddenly, she heard what sounded like glass breaking. Was someone throwing bottles at the wall?

The racket thundered beneath her. She could hear the muffled voices and rambunctious laughter moving under her. Then someone was at the base of the stairs.

With her phone in hand, Aliyah ran as quietly as she could to another empty room across the hall. She crouched down on the floor in the closet, her breath quickening. With her knees pulled up to her chest, it was difficult to breathe. She dialed 911.

A man’s voice thundered down the hall. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he sounded like he was up to no good.

After a couple rings, a dispatcher finally answered. “911, what’s your emergency?”

Aliyah tried her best to whisper. “There are people in the house. I’m at Charleston Manor. There are strangers in here.”

“Are you in a safe location?”

“I’m- I’m in a closet. I can hear someone right down the hall.”

Suddenly a man exclaimed that there was an air mattress and a couple of bags on the ground. Aliyah heard rummaging, then frantic footsteps. At least one pair.

“They know I’m here,” she said.

“Stay quiet and stay on the line,” the dispatcher replied. “I’ve got the police headed your way now.”

Aliyah nodded. Her breath seemed loud. She put her hand over her mouth to quieten it. She grew hot with adrenaline and her eyes were wide, staring at the blackness of the closed door.

The dispatcher was saying something, but Aliyah’s mind was racing too fast for her to hear any real words. She could only hear her breath and the footsteps pacing around the room across the hall. Then they grew louder.

“They’re coming,” she whispered, scooting as far back into the closet as she could.

The footsteps were heavy, urgent. It sounded as if there were a second pair of footsteps, too. But they were lighter, unhurried. And then there was the voice again, clearer now, right outside the door. “There’s got to be someone here! Find them! Check every door in every room!”

The footsteps boomed toward her. She could feel their force reverberating through the wood floor and into her bones. She was suddenly very aware that she had nowhere to go.

In the next moment, the closet door flew open. Aliyah yelped.

“What’s going on?” the dispatcher asked.

“Well, hello there,” said the man who’d opened the door. He loomed over her with a sneaky smile creeping across his lips. His eyes were crazed and peering straight at her.

Aliyah tried answering the dispatcher, but she could only stutter.

“Guess what I found!” the man jeered. And the other footsteps made their way over.

Aliyah couldn’t see the second person, only the thin black-haired maniac standing over her.

“Why don’t you come on out of there?” he sneered.

Aliyah tried to shrink back more, but it was futile.

The man swooped down and grabbed her by the shirt with one hand, and with the other, he jerked her phone out of her hand and tossed it across the room.