The alarm was not supposed to go off yet.

We both looked at each other, his eyes were just as horror stricken as I imagine mine were as that blaring sound filled the previous silence. Neither of us dared to move for the first few seconds. His demeanor seemed calm as he put a finger to his lips as I started to bite mine. My heart pounded out of my chest as we both listened for movement. I checked my watch, it was 2:30am. We were supposed to have had another half-hour. Suddenly the alarm was cut off. She’s awake. Still looking at me, he put his hand up, encouraging me to stay still and silent while we listened. Why had she set it to an earlier time? In all of the weeks we’d been watching her house, her alarm didn’t sound until 3am and her bedroom light followed a few minutes later. It wasn’t time for her pills, it was too early. They heard her sheets ruffling and she moaned. He looked around at the bathroom closet we were crouched down in, the door was slightly ajar and no lights had been turned on just yet. Quietly he motioned for me to hide behind the hanging clothes, to which I obeyed, and he crept quietly to the door to look through it while staying against the wall. The bedroom light flickered on, then the bathroom. I held my breath. The pounding of my heart was betraying my silence, though only I could hear it, I hope. I quickly covered my mouth to keep from screaming when the bang of the toilet seat nearly threw me out of my skin. My elbow had hit the wall when I’d jumped. He looked at me with an angry look.

“Baby?” The old woman called.

Her cat. Luckily she hadn’t paid much attention to them earlier. The silence felt like an eternity until the woman finally sat down and we heard nothing but the trickling of pee to the toilet water. Ew! The woman sighed and we heard her finish up and get up. There was a clattering sound like pills in a bottle. I froze as the light from the bathroom started to illuminate the closet more and the creak of the door opening, she was staring right at me. The old lady’s brows furrowed and she turned on the closet light. My heart fell into my stomach, but I stayed frozen. She squinted and started to walk towards me. Confused, I stayed still and silent when she’d stopped short inches from my shoes. She flipped through the clothing above me and I realized, she didn’t have her glasses on. It was very likely that I was too blurry for her to have noticed. She didn’t see me at all, or else thought I was something else, I was in all black. I looked over at him and shock enveloped his entire face and he smiled. We might actually be able to pull this off after all. She pulled down a dress and turned around. For a second, she stood still, squinting down at him now. His smile quickly wiped from his face as he went white.

“hmmm.” She said, she held her hand out towards him as if to try to pick up whatever she thought she was looking at. Thinking quickly, I looked inside of the black backpack I’d been clutching in my fists and I grabbed the duct tape and threw it out of the closet and it hit the bathroom’s inner wall with a bang. She jumped, her hand had been an inch from his face and she nearly smacked it when she’d brought it back up in her scare.

“What was that?” She shrieked. “Baby? Was that you?”

”Baby?” She’d called again and she walked out of the closet towards the bathroom and bedroom.

He mouthed the words, ‘thank you’ towards me and I nodded. Maybe he’ll kiss me later for that one. The woman stopped looking for the cat and began to dress into the clothing she was still holding. Knowing she’d be putting her glasses on soon, then she’d definitely see us, we turned off the closet light, she hadn’t seen. We crawled out and I grabbed the duct tape that had rolled into the bedroom, we’d waited until her back was turned and we snuck under the bed and lay still. Once she was dressed, she went back to the bathroom to turn off the light, her glasses were on now and she stared at the closet.

“did I turn that off?” She said allowed. She turned the closet light back on and scanned the areas we’d been preciously occupying.

“hmmm. Woman, you’re seeing things.” She said to herself. She turned off all of the lights as she walked out of each room and went downstairs.

”where is she going at three in the morning?” I whispered to him.

”I don’t know, but hush and let’s get this done and get out of here.” He whispered back.

We quietly ran back to the closet and once again began searching for the safe. We needed that big rock we’d seen her with a few weeks earlier, get it, sell it, and start a brand new life.

”Well, well, well.” We both froze. Slowly we turned and there she was, staring right at us.

Sydnie

@SmobearJ

Texas

Sydnie has not written a story.