According to the floor plan she had made for me, her room was in the middle, next to the entrance. I hoped I wouldn’t have to break in but that I could wake her up by tapping the window.
Okay, here goes!
Holding my breath, I raised my hand and knocked quietly on the window. Tap, tap, tap.
CHAPTER8
Intruder
Tyton
Tap, tap, tap.
My eyes opened, and my neck craned as I heard the sound again.
Tap, tap, tap.
What the hell?
A quick glance at the clock told me it was one in the morning. Who the fuck was at our house at this hour?
Getting up from my bed, I walked to my window and looked down at the entrance to the main house. There was no one there. Unlike my parents and Wilma, who lived inside the house, I lived in a converted hayloft in one of the side buildings. It had been one of my demands when I agreed to run the family business with my father. I’d wanted my own space and I loved the cozy feel of this place.
Tap, tap, tap.
Could it be a bird making that sound?
I dismissed the idea since birds weren’t active at this hour. And then I saw a shadow move.
Someone was lurking outside my family’s home and it made my blood boil with protective rage. Was that person trying to warn an intruder that was already inside? Why else would anyone tap at our living room window?
Not caring to put on clothes, I ran down the stairs in my briefs only and chose the back exit. That way I would have a chance to move around the house and sneak up on the man tapping at the window.
The wet grass dampened my long strides as I ran full speed all the way to the opposite corner of the main building. After that I tiptoed forward with slow deliberate movements.
A dark hoodie concealed the face of the man tapping on the window, but the moonlight showed his outline, and the small size of him made me realize that I was dealing with a young boy rather than a man. That didn’t mean I would show mercy.
If this boy was the look-out for a thief inside my family’s home, then he would be sorry I caught him.
I was moving closer like a patient feline predator, and then I heard his voice in a low hoarse whisper.
“Wilma… Wilma, wake up.”
My body stiffened. Was this some lovesick pup who was dreaming of marrying my sister? Relief filled me as I concluded that if he was calling for her, at least he wasn’t trying to warn an intruder.
Not sure if I should admire the bravery of this boy or kill him for his audacity, I watched him a little longer.
“Wilma…”
In a leap, I had my hand over his mouth before he said my sister’s name again. The boy screamed into my hands, but he was already dangling above the ground with his back pressed against my chest.
“Stay quiet or I’ll fucking break your neck.”
My warning made him whimper in fear, but at least he wasn’t screaming any longer. There was no reason to wake up the whole house, so I carried him inside the hay barn, using my elbow to turn on the light and my foot to close the door behind me.
“You’d better tell me what the fuck you’re doing here!” I pushed him hard toward the stack of hay bales and he fell on top of them with a whooshing sound when all the air was knocked from his lungs.
“What do you have to say for yourself, boy?”
