Jon Athan - Am I Beautiful?

“She–She’s here,” he stuttered. As he lurched out of his office, he yelled, “She’s here!”

He crashed into a wall in the hallway, injuring his shoulder. The thud was loud enough to reach every corner of the lavish house.

As he barreled down the hall, he shouted, “Amber! Amber!”

Riley started crying, then he heard a loud clang .

“Don’t touch them!” Adam barked as he reached the kitchen.

He was relieved to see Amber lifting Riley from her seat, trying to soothe her. Riley had been frightened by her father’s booming voice. There were two slices of bread on a counter next to the sink—ham, lettuce, and tomato stacked on one and the other white with mayonnaise. The butter knife had landed in the sink after Amber had rushed to Riley’s side.

There were no intruders in sight. The windows were closed and doors locked.

“What are you doing?” Amber asked while trying to keep her voice down.

“I–I heard… Someone’s out… The–There’s a prowler outside.”

“Excuse me? A prowler? ”

“I heard someone walking around the house, right outside of my office.”

“Are you being serious right now?”

“Yes!”

Riley looked up at the ceiling and cried upon hearing her father’s shout. Amber had grown accustomed to the crying. She was more concerned about Adam’s claim. She leaned over the sink and peeked out the window. The backyard was empty. She saw bushes and trees swaying, but she couldn’t hear the leaves rustling due to Riley’s bawling.

She said, “I think it was the wind, hun.”

“No,” Adam said sternly. He went to the back door and looked through the windowpanes. Then he squeezed past Amber and looked out the window over the sink. He said, “No, no, no. There was someone out there. It was her.”

“Her? Who? Adam, what is this about? What’s going on with you?”

“It’s… It’s the serial killer. Scarface, Carved Face, whatever you want to call her, it’s her .”

“Carved Face?” Amber repeated. “You’re talking about those internet rumors? Gossip , Adam? Are you kidding me? You’re scaring your daughter and me to death with your screaming. What the hell’s gotten into you?”

“Ma–ma!” Riley cried while bouncing in Amber’s arms.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, baby. We’re just playing. It’s playtime, okay?”

In a bemused state, eyes distant and face hollow, Adam said, “She’s here. She’s coming after me.”

“After you?” Amber asked. “Why would anyone be coming after you? What does that mean, Adam? Hey, please answer me.”

Adam ran out the front door. He stopped at the top of his porch steps and scanned the neighborhood. He didn’t see any suspicious cars or people in the area. As a matter of fact, he didn’t see any pedestrians at all. He hustled down the steps, then he dashed across the lawn. He stood on his tiptoes and looked over the gate at the side of his house.

He spotted three windows. One window looked into the laundry room, another into a hallway, and the last one into Adam’s office.

A rake lay beside a pile of gardening tools between the office and hallway windows. It was the source of the noise Adam had heard, but he couldn’t admit it.

Impossible, he thought. Someone pushed it down. Someone was watching us. It’s the only explanation.

“Who’s out here?!” he yelled at the side of his house. “What do you want from me?!”

Amber came out of the house, face livid. She approached the porch railing to her right and found her husband walking in circles on the lawn. Sitting on the floor in the living room, Riley continued whimpering while sucking her index and middle fingers.

“What are you doing?” Amber hissed while glancing around the neighborhood.

She was embarrassed by the unwanted attention. She could see her neighbors moving about in their homes, curious about the ruckus. It was an upscale neighborhood with an active Neighborhood Watch program. It wasn’t common to hear people yelling or arguing outside in the middle of the day.

As if she were scolding a child, Amber said, “Come inside, Adam. Right now .”

“Where are you?!” Adam shouted as he spun around on the lawn.

“There’s no one here! Come inside!”

Ignoring his wife, Adam yelled, “If you want me, come get me! I have a… I have a gun! You hear me?!”

“Adam, wha–what are you… What? ”

Their next-door neighbor, Vince Edwards, stepped onto his front porch with a can of beer in hand. He peeked over at the Miller residence. He was surprised to see Adam out there, barefooted in a bathrobe with his hair unkempt and knotted beard covering most of his neck. He didn’t recognize him at first glance. It looked like his neighbor had started falling apart before the pandemic even began.

“Vince,” Adam said upon spotting him. He marched over to the short wall separating their properties. He asked, “Have you seen anyone snooping around here?”

“Snooping?” Vince repeated.

“You know like a prowler, a Peeping Tom, a–a stalker.”

“A Peeping Tom? Hell, Adam, I haven’t heard of any of them since—”

“This isn’t small talk, Vince,” Adam interrupted. “Have you seen anyone around my house or on the street? You seen anything suspicious around here? Anything at all?”

Vince was caught off guard by Adam’s aggressiveness. He had always known his neighbor to be kind and welcoming. He looked at him with an expression that said something along the lines of: Who is this guy?

“I didn’t see or hear any ‘prowlers’ around your house, bud,” Vince said. “Matter of fact, your shouting and hollering is all I heard all day. How are you two doing over there, Amber?”

From the porch, Amber looked down, rubbed her forehead, and said, “We’re fine, Vince. We’re just… Adam’s a little… agitated about this whole situation.”

“I think we all are. We just gotta remember—”

“Vince, you need to check around your house,” Adam interrupted. “Check inside your house, too, okay?”

“Uhh, yeah… sure.”

“I’m serious. There’s a dangerous—”

Mid-sentence, Amber stepped between Adam and the partition. Adam didn’t even hear her coming.

Amber waved at Vince, smiled, and said, “Everything’s fine. I’m sorry if we bothered you.”

“It’s no bother at all,” Vince responded.

As Amber pushed him back to the porch, Adam shouted, “Check around your house! And you call me if you hear anything! Vince, you call me, okay?!”

Vince nodded and raised his hand at him, lips wrinkled like a tilde. He was concerned about the Miller family, but he didn’t feel comfortable involving himself in their situation without an invitation. Amber managed to get Adam back into the house. She kicked the door closed behind her.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Adam said quickly. “I need to warn the others. We all need to—”

“Be quiet,” Amber said, tears stinging her eyes.

“You don’t understand! We’re in danger!”

Riley took her fingers out of her mouth, drool hanging from her fingertips, and she bawled.

“Stop it. Please stop,” Amber pleaded.

Adam shouted, “At least lock the damn door! Do something!”

“ Be quiet! ” Amber screamed at the top of her lungs.

The house became quiet in an instant. Adam clenched his jaw and breathed deeply through his nose. Riley stopped crying. She had never heard her mother yell before. For a moment, she didn’t recognize her parents. After a few seconds of silence, she sucked on her fingers and whined.

Trembling with anger and fear, Amber stuttered, “Wha–What’s gotten into you, Adam? You’re screaming a–about… prowlers? Women coming after you? Guns? You have a gun now? Because that’s news to me. So, what is this about? The serial killer?”