Tears of fear spring to my eyes as I stand there helplessly, trying to figure out what to do. I run into the kitchen and grab a knife from the knife block, hating now more than ever that Baz took the gun from me.
Keeping the app on my phone open, I hurry back into Ava’s room, wanting to make sure she’s okay. When I walk in, she’s still sleeping soundly, and I breathe a ragged sigh of relief.
Clutching the knife to my chest, I shut her door. Sliding down the wood, I rest my phone in my lap, my eyes trained on the cameras on the porch. I stay like this until day breaks. Once the sun starts to creep over the horizon, lighting up the room, I finally let myself doze off until I need to take Ava to school.
I’m jumpy and groggy the entire day. I try to make sense of what happened last night in the rational light of day, but I can’t. I don’t know why anyone would do that. I consider asking the neighbors if they had anything similar happen to them last night, but when I ring the doorbells, no one’s home. I tell myself it’s nothing. It’s a prank by rich kids. Doorbell ditching. Completely harmless. All they did was ring the doorbell and leave. It’s not exactly dangerous.
That night I’m running a little behind schedule as I get Ava into bed. The events of last night have messed with me so much, I’ve been running on fumes all day. I burned my hand while cooking dinner because my mind was elsewhere.
Today has been an absolute wreck, but as I climb into bed next to Ava, I finally relax after a day that’s been filled with anxiety.
“Does it hurt?” Ava asks as she lifts my hand that I wrapped earlier after I burned it.
“It stings a bit, but I’ll be okay. Getting sleepy yet?”
She shakes her head, and just as I’m about to respond, the doorbell rings. My entire body tenses. I feel the color drain from my face. Ava’s brows pull down.
“Who’s that?”
Fear vibrates through my veins as I climb out of her bed and unlock my phone, opening the app. My chest squeezes in a vise when there’s no one there again. The hairs at the back of my neck stand at attention. My throat dries, and I school my features, keeping the fear off my face.
“I don’t know. You stay right here, okay? Yell if you need me. I’m going to go check.”
With my heart thumping wildly in my chest, I hurry down the hall and run into the kitchen, my sweaty palm closing around the same knife from last night. I dart my gaze around, once again, waiting for another ring, but it never comes.
I grab a hand towel from the hall closet to shield the knife before I go back into Ava’s room. She’s sitting up in her bed when I walk in, confusion written all over her face.
“Did you answer it?”
I force a shaky smile, placing the knife on her dresser before I climb back into bed with her. I pull her against me, wrapping my arms around her protectively.
“It was the wrong house, baby. Why don’t you try going to sleep, yeah?”
She shakes her head. “But I’m not tired yet.”
I let her watch TV for a little while longer. Unlike all our other nights before, my eyes are glued to the screen of my phone, waiting for something else to happen, but it doesn’t.
That night, I fall asleep next to Ava, and the next morning, after dropping her off at school, I go over the footage from the entire night. I fell asleep around midnight, waiting around for another ring, but it never came. I’m nearing the footage from three in the morning when my heart stops. The dark hooded form comes up to the door but never rings the doorbell. Bile rises up my throat. This same person was standing outside of my house, staring at my front door for a solid five minutes before leaving. What the fuck?
Almost like the universe is giving me a sign that it is, in fact, time to tell someone, Baz’s name pops up on my screen.
Baz: Since it’s Friday, would you and Ava be up for another swimming lesson today?
Mackenzie: Sure. She’ll be excited to hear it when I pick her up from school. I think you’re now her favorite person.
Baz: I’ll see you here around four.
Mackenzie: Can you come to us instead?
The thought of leaving the house unattended frightens me. What if the person is watching? What if while I’m gone with Ava at Baz’s, he comes in?
The thought alone sends a shiver down my spine.
I know I have the security system for that purpose, but maybe having Baz come to me will scare them off if they are watching. I could look like an easy target if I’m alone with Ava, twenty-four seven.
After Baz agrees, I offer to make dinner for us all tonight, even with my messed-up hand. I’ve since learned that even though Ava is a picky eater, she enjoys spaghetti, so I decide to keep it simple for her tonight.
Over the course of the afternoon, I try to figure out the best way to bring up what happened last night and the night prior to Baz, without scaring Ava. I’ll likely have to wait until she falls asleep before I tell him anything. I wasn’t lying earlier when I said he’s all she’s been talking about since their last swim lesson. She adores Baz, and from what I saw at his penthouse, I think he adores her, too.
When the doorbell rings a little before four, a jolt of fear shoots down my spine. I swipe open the app and breathe a sigh of relief when I see who it is. I press my fingertips into my eyes and rub away the anxiety. My hands are shaking, and my heart, even though it knows there is no threat, is still pounding violently in my chest.
I open the front door, and I really must look like shit because Baz frowns when he walks in. He takes the door from my hand, shutting and locking it for me. He pauses, staring down at me, searching my expression.
“You all right? You look pale.”
“Yeah,” I reassure with a smile, tucking stray strands of hair behind my ears. “I think I’m just tired. I haven’t been sleeping well the past two nights. It’s finally starting to catch up with me.”
“Sebastian!” Ava yells, running around the corner and straight into his arms. She goes on, telling him about her day at school, the new friends she’s made since starting, and anything else he’ll stand around and listen to. I smile to myself and head back into the kitchen to finish dinner.
I keep the food and the garlic bread on the warmers, so it stays warm as we head into the backyard. Dressed in my bathing suit, I keep a wrap over my body, not ready to feel that exposed in front of Baz. Sure, he’s seen me naked and hasn’t expressed any disgust over the scars on my body, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to put myself out there like that.
After putting Ava to bed, Baz lingers around, waiting for me. Once I step back into the living room, wringing my hands, he frowns.
“Tell me what’s really going on. You’ve been somewhere else all day.”
I trap my bottom lip between my teeth, trying to figure out where to start. Sliding my phone from my back pocket, I open the app, pulling up the footage from Wednesday night.
“The other night, after Ava fell asleep, the doorbell rang. It was a little after ten, which I thought was weird. We don’t ever get visitors. That wasn’t the weirdest part, though. When I looked on the app? There was no one there.” Something flashes in his eyes as he takes the phone from me, watching the video. “They came back again not long after and rang it again. They just ring it and leave.”