No. 308

The phone rang at 3:34am. Sean’s deep sleep shattered. He felt all the blood in his body turn cold. Rolling over, he answered immediately, bypassing a glance at the display.

“Hello?”

“It’s me,” said his sister. Sean could hear fear in her voice. “Are you ok?” she asked without a pause.

Sean felt the tightness in his body lessen slightly. She would have led with really bad news.  “I’m fine, Dana. I’m ok,” he reassured her. “Why are you calling?”

The line buzzed quietly for a moment before she responded.

“I had a bad feeling about something,” she told him eventually. “I just felt—,” she trailed off. “I can’t explain it.”

“Everything’s alright, Sis,” Sean told her.

“I’m sorry I called so late,” she said. “Sorry I woke you up.”

“No, you can always call. Anytime.”

“Goodnight, Sean,” she said, softly. He could tell she was embarrassed.

“’Night,” he told her. “Love you.”

“You too,” she said. Then she hung up.

Sean put the phone back on his nightstand and sat up. The shot of adrenaline from the unexpected call would make getting back to sleep difficult. He put on his robe and went downstairs to watch TV for awhile.

He made himself a snack and settled in front of the glowing screen. The news was on. Before he had a chance to change the channel, the picture changed. Sean saw a house, surrounded by crime-scene tape. As the cameras rolled, a police officer walked up the front steps.

The instant before the officer raised his hand to knock, Sean recognized the house.

The sound still scared him.