Chapter 7

7: After a few more moments of hesitation, Mina took a deep breath and stepped onto the porch.  Well, so far so good.  The screen door was ajar and she could see that behind it the door was wide open.  She squinted, but it was too dark to see anything inside the house. 
  "Who's there?" came a chillingly strange voice from within the darkness.  Mina jumped and immediately there came a coldness that made her rub her arms in the middle of an Arizona summer.  She had goose bumps.  Everything in her wanted to just turn around and get back into her car, but she knew she would probably not be given another chance like this to finally write something that thousands of people were going to read.  This was it.  Sink or swim she couldn't spend the rest of her life as a copy editor.
  "Hello?  My name is Mina Renard.  I'm a reporter from the Marble Cliffs Today."  She waited for a response.  The moment went on as torturous seconds ticked by without a sound.  She could smell cedar shavings and something else. Something like ammonia and wet newspapers.  As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness she could see something that looked like a large box covered with a white bed sheet.  Even though everything inside her screamed for her not to, she pulled open the screen door and stepped inside.  She at least knew that someone was home from the voice she had heard.
  She still couldn't see very well, but she felt something crawl across her foot.  Mina let out a little yelp of surprise and moved backwards into the dark, not stopping until she had bumped into the sheet-covered box.  It was not what she had thought it was, but she was still mystified as to what it might be.  Not being able to let go of her curiosity, she grasped the corner of the sheet and began to lift it to see what was hidden underneath.  She was about to get a glimpse when there came a sudden sound at the front door.
  Mina quickly dropped the sheet and ducked into the nearest doorway to find a place to hide.  By this time, her eyes had adjusted enough so that she could see that it was apparently a bedroom and she saw a closet to her right so she got in and quietly closed the door.  From inside the crushing darkness she could hear heavy footsteps moving about the house.  She heard a muffled voice but could not make out any of the words.  Suddenly she felt that coldness again.  Immediately after, the strange voice she'd heard earlier called out, "She's in the closet!"  Instant ice formed in her veins as she knew she had no way to escape.  Time just plain stopped.  So did her breathing.  Her eyes were squeezed shut as she heard the closet door open.  A rough hand took her by the wrist and pulled her out of the closet.

Chapter 6

6: Mina was given the assignment to find out more about that detective who, she remembered from the news the night before, had a talking parrot.  She had a brand new seemingly mutual respect for the senior editor.  "Thanks for this chance, Mr. Abbot.  I'm still in shock."
  "Well, as you know, Marble Cliffs Today has always tried to emphasize clarity, directness and understandability in all its news stories.  A lot of these young writers today just churn out articles like a damn conveyor belt with only profit in mind.  I'm always looking for someone who won't sacrifice quality for speed.  This detective, Kenn Varson, has gotten a little attention because people claim that his talking parrot helps him solve his cases. Most of my writers would play this up and sensationalize it to make an easy buck.  I don't want our paper to turn into a trashy tabloid with no self-respect.  What I'd like is for you to go talk to him and see if you can get the straight dope from him."
  "Keep it grounded in reality.  No problem, sir.  But what if he really believes that his parrot helps him?"
  "Then interview the parrot," he chuckled.  "I'm sure you'll do just fine.  Don't worry about a thing."
  After that short conversation, Mina was off on her first journalistic endeavor.  She drove over to the address that she was given where she would be able to find Kenn Varson so that she could interview him.  She jotted down a few questions on a piece of paper, but otherwise had no real idea what she was going to do.  "Oh, really?  Magic parrot, huh?  Do you think maybe he can figure out whatever happened to my dignity?  Oh, it died a cruel and agonizing death when I got the desk next to Jeffrey the Annoyer?  Thanks, Mr. Parrot."  She sighed as she got out of her car.
  It was a small one-story house in a working-class neighborhood.  The paint job was cracked but not yet chipped or peeling.  At some time in the distant past, there had been a pathetic attempt to grow grass in the front yard, but all that remained were small dead patches of brown fire hazards.  A lousy excuse for a porch stood in front of the house with two steps leading up to the front door.
  "He's going to see you," came a voice from behind Mina which startled her out of her thoughts.  She turned to see a little boy wearing a red and white striped shirt on a bicycle standing in the middle of the road.
  "What?" was all she could manage to get out.
  "That house," said the boy, pointing.  "He's going to see you."
  "The what?  The house is going to see me?"
  "No, HE is going to see you."  The little boy rode off down the road and rounded a corner leaving Mina all alone and suddenly feeling an eerie sense of vulnerability.  She felt as if she was being watched.