Later that day, I found out where Ashlee was living, and it was apparently the house across from mine.

I was on my knees on the couch in the living room and had a good view of Ashlee. I was not spying on her or anything. I just wanted to see what the inside of her home looked like and who was living with her.

To make my parents and brother throw suspicion off me, I pretended to wash and dry all the windows in the living room. Okay, it is hard to pretend to clean anything when you have the tools and are actually getting the work done.

But for once in my life, I did not mind the cleaning. As long as I could see Ashlee, then it was not a problem. Plus, I started before my parents or brother told me to make the windows sparkle, so maybe Mom and Dad would allow me to leave the house for an hour or so tomorrow.

Regardless, I would be spending time with Ashlee.

It was not until I got to the final window that things inside her house began getting weird.

Ashlee was in the kitchen and chopping up a couple of carrots. No one else was in there with her, and I was afraid that she was alone.

No, no, no, Brandon. Let us not get ahead of ourselves. Ashlee is probably alone because her mom and dad both work and are out for now.

Her being alone was the least of my worries.

The lights in her kitchen flickered on and off. Dark. Light. Dark. Light.

As I suspected, Ashlee stopped cutting the second carrot and wandered around the kitchen, trying to figure out why the lights had flickered.

I was washing the window when I noticed an object out of place. Something red and pale.

Was it another person? Like her mom or dad?

Desperately wanting to see, I finished washing the window and quickly dried it. I peered through it - and was shocked.

He...he was not there before.

It was far from being human. It was a wooden puppet. He was sitting on top of the counter and slouching. His wooden head was tilted to the side, and it seemed that he was staring. Staring at me.

I instantly moved away from the window, and my heart was beating hard. Ashlee had no idea that puppet was there because her back was turned.

Why did I suddenly have a bad feeling about him?

I heard a loud knock and realized that Brendan was standing in the doorway. He had knocked on the side of the doorway to grab my attention.

"Idiot brother," he called me. Mom and Dad let him call me an idiot. "When will you be through with the windows?" He began jumping up and down like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "You need to make me dinner! I am hungry! Wah!"

Oh, how I desired to call him all the bad words that exist. But of course, I cannot. One, because the writer is against using curse words. And two, if I call him anything bad, I would get grounded.

Not wanting to be punished or for him to tell on me, I held in my frustration and calmly reassured him that I would fix a quick and delicious meal.

"You had better! And it had better be the hardest recipe. I want you to fail and Mom and Dad ground you again."

"Fine. Be that way," I said. "See if I care."

Brendan stuck out his tongue and left. I clenched both of my hands into fists and slammed the cloth onto the floor.

I hate him!

I remembered Ashlee and peered through the window again. I had to hold in my screams so Brendan would not hear me.

The puppet was now on Ashlee! He had his wooden arms around her neck and his wooden hands covering her mouth. And it was obvious that this was no show because Ashlee was struggling to get the dummy off her. At one moment, I saw her eyes. The fear in her eyes.

I needed to save her! I did not care if I did not cook my brother's dinner. I did not care if I was grounded for the rest of my life.

A soul was in danger, and I had to help.

I dropped the bottle of water and dashed out. Out of the living room. Out of my house. And to Ashlee's home.

I reached the front door and tried the doorknob. Dang it! Locked.

A wave of fear washed over me. I began slamming my body into the door. After ten attempts, I broke the lock, and the door swung open. I scrambled into the house.

"Ashlee! It is me! Ashlee!"

I rushed to the kitchen and expected to find what I had witnessed. No. Ashlee was not in trouble. She was not struggling with the puppet. Heck, there was no puppet in the kitchen!

Had I just had a wild imagination? No. That is not me!

Ashlee was fine. She had finished cutting both carrots and put the pieces in a bowl.

"Ashlee?"

She was startled and spun around. When she saw that it was me, she relaxed.

"Brandon. What are you doing here? I thought that you were a robber. Unless...you are one."

I was embarrassed by the intrusion and rubbed the back of my neck. "This is awkward," I said.

She pulled open a top drawer and picked up a fork. "Did you need something? Or are you here for some carrots?" She motioned to her bowl of carrot pieces.

As much as I wanted to tell what I saw - or what I thought that I saw - I did not want her to consider me a crazy person. I apologized for intruding and showed myself out.

But man. Things would have ended differently if I just confessed to her what I saw.