Footsteps in the Roof

James sat straight up in bed, tuning in to the obvious sound of strides originating from the roof crawlspace over his head. He and his father lived in an old house on the edges of town – their nearest neighbour was a mile away. The strides halted, however James' heart continued beating.

"I heard something in the rooftop the previous evening," James told his father.

"Likely only a rodent," Dad stated, hectically tapping on his telephone.

"It sounded greater than a rodent," James demanded.

The following day, James returned home from school amid his meal break, having neglected to encourage the feline, Shadow, that morning. In any case, when he arrived, he discovered Shadow eating new feline sustenance; her water bowl filled to the overflow.

"Hi! Anybody there!?" James yelled, yet the house was quiet.

A couple of days after the fact, James went after his comic book from the bedside table, yet it was absent. Strange. Father was out, so he couldn't inquire as to whether he had taken it.

Afterward, James opened the ice chest and went after a container of pop.

There were two jars missing from yesterday. James had refilled the ice chest simply the previous evening. Twofold abnormal! Father despised pop.

When he came back to his room, his comic had been returned on the bedside table. Just, the bookmark was on an alternate page and dim fingerprints smirched the pages. He looked in the storage room entryway mirror and felt his hair remain on end – the bring forth to the roof crawlspace was open. Behind him, the entryway clicked close and the bolt abandoned inside the room.

"I've been watching you for some time," a low voice said in his ear.