House of Fallen Trees Read Online Free Page A

at all? Had it actually happened? That distant, cracking voice on the other end of the line, repeating the phrase she was looking at right now? Had that episode been real?
   Bing .
   The same five words again. And then again.
    Bing. Bing. Bing .
   Rapid fire, the message kept repeating, over and over until she was sure she would scream. She bared her teeth at the laptop. “Stop it,” she cried. “Stop it!”
   And then it stopped.
   She didn’t dare blink, didn’t dare breathe. Frozen and staring, everything else forgotten in that moment. There was only her and the computer. After nearly a full minute had passed, she slowly moved her hand towards the laptop, intending to slam it shut when it bleated at her again.
   The message again, abbreviated this time, coming faster than she thought possible. Could anyone type that fast?
    TWOMEN.
   TWOMEN.
   TWOMENTWOMENTWOMENTWOMENTWOMENTWOMENTWOMEN .
   Over and over and over. Filling up the entirety of the message box. The computer’s beeping became a constant drone and then, finally, she found the strength to reach out and slam the thing closed.
   The beeping stopped abruptly, casting her into complete silence, the candle flame still the only source of light in the room.
   She released her pent up breath in a long slow whoosh that tasted bitter on her tongue.
   Sometime later—maybe five minutes, maybe sixty—she stood, picked up the candle with its excited, happy flame and left the room, leaving the laptop behind, as well as the wine.
   She didn’t feel like drinking anymore. Or walking in the crisp night air. She didn’t know what she wanted now, if anything, except to sleep. She was suddenly very tired. Exhausted, really. And her head was beginning to hurt with the first twangs of a hangover.
   She had to sleep, though she had no intention of sleeping in that bedroom tonight. The couch would do just fine. She would sleep and then when she woke up, she would be clear-headed enough to figure out just what the hell was going on. Maybe figure out who was playing such an evil trick on her and why.
   But, sleep first. Sleep was her friend, almost a lover, and now she needed to mate with it, become one and just disappear for a time.
   Disappearing sounded perfect right now.

 
    CHAPTER FOUR

     
    It wasn’t until the next afternoon that it occurred to her she should perhaps call the police and tell them she was being harassed. It seemed like a good idea for exactly fifteen seconds and then the reality of it slammed home. The cops wouldn’t do shit. They never did. Even if someone was physically threatening her, they probably wouldn’t do anything about it. She had no faith in the system, which was only in place to protect the guilty and punish the innocent. No faith in cops, most of whom only became cops in order to bully people and make themselves feel superior.
   Karen was on her own but she didn’t think she was completely helpless. She didn’t have to take this harassment. She could try to figure out what was going on, try and make it stop, find out who was behind it and why.
   The more she thought about it though, the more she drew a blank. She could think of absolutely no one who would want to pull this kind of prank, couldn’t even think of a single motive for such a thing.
   Frustrated, she called and left a message for her parents saying a work thing had come up—a deadline for a short story—and she wouldn’t be able to make the birthday gathering after all.
   She was relieved she didn’t have to talk to her mother in person. The woman would almost certainly have sensed the lie and pressured Karen to come clean and then proceed to guilt her into attending the birthday dinner, whether she wanted to or not.
   That done, she went into her kitchen to brew coffee and took a mug of it into her office with her so she could do Internet searches on her