11:00 PM
Marlene Scott
had returned to an empty home once more after another fourteen -hour day in the
ER of Kirkwood Memorial Hospital. Having
set her purse down on the counter she went off to the bedroom changing from her
smocks into an oversized sweatshirt and leggings. A half empty bottle of Zinfandel stared back
at her when she opened the door to her refrigerator. The pale cork still protruding halfway out of
the top as a previous effort to push it back in fell short from the previous
indulgence.
Pouring a glass, she curled up on the sofa in her
living room turning on the television.
She surfed through the channels stopping on the local news where the
cast was still continuing with the story of a mysterious death inside the water
treatment plant earlier in the day.
Details were still scarce as no one would offer a statement including
the City Manager or Law Enforcement Officials.
Almost ready to resign for the evening Marlene
recalled that she had set the DVR to record a movie that she had missed an
opportunity to view days earlier.
Locating it in the digital library she tapped the remote button to play
it then fast forward to get through the commercial advertisements. When she realized that she couldn’t advance
directly to the movie itself because it hadn’t been recorded from a premium
channel she went to the kitchen to pour another glass of wine while the ad
carried on playing a new pharmaceutical solution for Bi Polar disorder. Marlene on a few occasions dealt with the
indigent in the ER, many of whom were mentally ill. As a Medical Professional it was one of the
most difficult tasks she faced as there simply wasn’t a place for them to
reside but the streets due to a failing mental health system.
Watching the movie for a little while, she fell asleep
on the couch waking up just in time to see the credits rolling on the screen
from her horizontal view. A smaller
window on the TV screen in the lower right hand corned indicated another
upcoming feature. Sitting up to stretch
she tapped the red power button on the silver colored remote immersing her
living room in darkness except for a pinpoint of light reflecting off the
screen coming from the kitchen far away.
The onset of fatigue from a long day parlayed with the alcohol was going
to serve as a nice sedative allowing her some much needed sleep and a welcomed
day off.
Collecting her purse from the counter she went toward
the bedroom at the end of the house. Marlene placed her eyeglasses on the
nightstand next to her climbing into bed as the embrace of the soft sheets
welcomed her presence. Pulling the thick
comforter over her body it repelled the slight chilly air from the room as a
storm raged outside with unbridled howling winds. The weight of the day came
plummeting down on her as fluttering eyelids gave way to a slow
rhythmic breathing after a few short minutes.
Hours later somewhere within the confines of her home
a doorknob began a slow rotation. The backdoor pressed inward with a short
creaking sound stopping for a moment. Sounds of a furnace in the residence indicated heat being forced
through a labyrinth of silver ducts below.
The labor from the system replaced almost complete silence, camouflaging the sounds of
the door opening further and permitting the intruder to step inside undetected.
Marlene Scott had been in a deep slumber, the best she
had seen in weeks given her relentless schedule at Memorial. She was coming off another REM cycle of sleep
during the past several hours, her third.
A sliver of moonlight appeared as the storm had moved on leaving behind
a clear cold sky above. The light from
it penetrated a part in the curtains of her room now keeping it from being
completely dark.
Stretching out she blinked for a second expecting to
feel a favorite pillow usually close in proximity that she wrapped her arms
around while laying sideways. When she
failed to procure it after a second feeble attempt her eyes opened. It wasn’t there. Where was it? Marlene propped herself up on an elbow in an
effort to locate it reaching for the lamp.
That’s when the silhouette appeared at the end of her bed with the
missing pillow clenched in both hands.
