-No, don't! Stay where you are and don't make a sound.
Billy did what his brother said and crawled back under the table.
-Mum and dad will be back soon, all we gotta do is stay out of sight and totally quiet.
Billy could hear a slight wobble in his brother's voice and realized that his brother, though four years older, was probably scared too.
-Andrew, are you scared too?
-Sure I am Billy, but if we stick together we will be alright, don't worry, I will look after you.
Andrew looked at his watch for the umpteenth time as if looking at the watch somehow would make time go faster. Where were they? They should have been back by now. Suddenly a branch from the maple tree smacked the kitchen window and Andrew wondered how long it would be before the window would shatter into a million pieces.
-Billy, just stay here, I have to go and check the window in the kitchen.
-No Andrew, don't leave me here, let me come with you. Please! I don't want to be alone.
-Okay, just walk behind me, but you gotta be quiet, alright?
Slowly edging their way to the kitchen, Andrew grabbed one of the fire pokers from the fire place poker stand. Not that he was at all sure of whether he would actually have it in him to hit somebody with it, but it made him feel a bit more at ease. -For Billy I would, I would hit somebody if Billy was in danger. He tightened his grip of the fire poker as he pushed the kitchen door open.
There it was again, in the kitchen window, a face, a very scary face.
Andrew dropped the poker on the floor, grabbed Billy's hand and shouted: -Run Billy, run!
They ran as fast as they could into the office, locked the door behind them and huddled behind the couch. With the wind outside roaring, the rain whipping the windows, and his arms tight around his brother, Andrew said a quiet prayer: -Please let the power come back on, please, please, please.
-Andrew, Billy said with a quivering voice, who was that?
-I don't know Billy, I didn't recognize the face. But, Andrew thought, we took off so quickly that I didn't really have the chance to see who it was. Andrew looked at his watch again. Ten past nine.
-Mum and dad said they would be home by nine at the latest, so don't worry Billy, they'll be here soon. Andrew hoped his words calmed Billy, but he was worried too. Storms and power cuts often interfered with traffic and perhaps they were stuck somewhere? Or worse, had an accident?
-How long do we have to stay here for Andrew? Andrew looked at his watch again. Twenty past nine. -Perhaps I need to go check the kitchen, see if that face is still there, Andrew thought to himself. Maybe there was no face at all, maybe we just imagined it? He decided that he had to investigate. -Billy, you need to stay here while I go and investigate. I will lock the door behind me so that no one can come in, you will be safe, okay? -Okay, Andrew, I'll wait here.
Andrew locked the office door behind him, then slowly walked towards the kitchen.
He stopped in the doorway to scan the kitchen. Nothing. No face. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Had they both just imagined the face? Nah, that can't be right...how could both of them have imagined the same thing? Suddenly feeling brave, Andrew stepped in to the kitchen, walked up to the window and looked out. Apart from broken branches, twigs, and a general mess of things,...nothing. The rain had almost stopped and the wind barely moved the leaves on the Maple tree. He let out a sigh of relief.
With a spring in his step, Andrew ran to the office, unlocked the door and shouted: -You can come out now Billy, everything is okay! Billy slowly stood up from behind the couch then ran into the kitchen with Andrew following closely behind. -See, nothing here Billy! Andrew said victoriously.
While the two of them were standing in the middle of the kitchen, suddenly the lights came back on and the TV started up as if nothing had happened.
Sitting in front of the TV and watching a Batman cartoon, Andrew turned to Billy and asked: --The face that you saw, what did it look like? After thinking for a few minutes Billy answered: -I saw a scary, dark face, with glowing eyes and it looked like he was wearing some kinda weird hat. -What did you see, Andrew? Andrew let out a Huh, then said:- I saw a dark, scary face too, but there were no glowing eyes, only normal looking but very dark eyes, and no hat, only a lot of wild hair.
-Do you think it was real, Andrew? Do you think somebody was really here?
-I don't know Billy, but it's over now, let's just watch Batman and forget all about it.
Andrew looked at his watch. 10:15 pm. Something must have happened to his parents. He was old enough to understand that for detectives and forensic investigators, normal work hours does not exist, but sometimes he wished they did.
-Kids? Are you alright? We're back now. Sorry we are so late, but a psych inmate from the High Sec Prison at Glenfield Park escaped today during the storm.
Have you had something to eat yet or are you starving?
Kids? Billy? Andrew?
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