Reaching inside the drawer, she began rummaging through the collection of silk, cotton, and lace. And after picking through every single pair, the result was the same.
Where the heck did they go?
One more quick search later, she finally blamed it on her still-muddled memory and picked out a different pair. Ro started for her closet, wanting to go ahead and lay out the leggings and sweater she’d picked out for later, when she noticed her closet door was cracked open.
Her steps faltered half-a-second before coming to a complete stop. Like with the locks, her habit of keeping closet doors shut was one that stemmed from childhood. One of those monsters-in-the-closet things she never quite got over.
With that gnawing feeling growing heavier in the pit of her stomach, Ro cautiously made her way across her room to the door in question. Putting her palm against the door’s smooth surface, she put just enough pressure on the painted wood to slowly swing the door all the way open.
The light in the walk-in closet was off, making it impossible to see anything more than shadows. Heart racing wildly inside her chest, she used her free hand to reach for the light switch on her left. Ro held her breath and sent up a quick prayer before flipping it on.
And then…
She released the air she’d been holding in one quick, powerful exhale. “Way to freak yourself out, Ro.”
Moving with rough, frustrated steps, she spent the next few minutes mentally berating herself while also changing her mind about what she wanted to wear. Going with jeans, adifferentsweater, and a pair of brown ankle boots with a slight heel, Ro laid the items neatly on her bed before heading to her jewelry chest to pick out a necklace and some earrings.
She reached for a simple gold chain, deciding it would accent her cream colored cable knit sweater well. And since the pair of diamond earrings that had once belonged to her mother had gold backs and posts, Ro thought they’d be the perfect addition to finish off the understated look.
Pulling out the first of four tiny drawers, she picked up the small white box with “Mom’s” written on top. Ro lifted the lid, expecting to find the heirlooms nestled snuggly on a bed of soft cotton. Instead, she found the box empty.
Oh, the cotton was there, but her earrings? Correction, hermother’searrings? Gone.
What the…
A very real, very strong feeling of unease began settling in. First her door was left unlocked, then the coffee mug was right side up…her panties were missing, and now the one real piece of her mother she’d had left?
Ro spun on around, doing a complete three-sixty turn, her mind whirling and swirling twice as fast as her body.
Was she losing her mind? First she felt like she was being watched, then she gets home and her door’s unlocked…then there was the thing with the coffee mug, her panties, and now…
Mom’s earrings.
One or two of those things could be explained away by coincidental happenstance. But when she put them all together…
Someone’s been here.
No. No one had been here. She’d simply misplaced a couple things, that’s all.
To prove her point, Ro pulled the drawer completely free of the jewelry chest and carried it to her bed. Dumping everything out onto her white down-alternative comforter, it took little effort to see the earrings she was searching for weren’t with the others.
She went back to the chest and pulled out the next drawer. Giving it the same treatment as the first, Ro went through its contents as well. Her heart sank into her feet when she yielded the same results.
Her mother’s earrings weren’t in the second drawer, either. Or the third. Or the fourth. They’d simply vanished.
Just like my underwear.
Jumping up from the mattress, Ro marched shirtless into her bathroom. Going straight for the hamper, she picked up the small wicker-like basket and dumped its contents onto the floor. She then dropped to her hands and knees and began sorting through the few pieces of dirty clothing now splayed on the cool ceramic tile.
Her gut tightened when she realized the missing underwear wasn’t there, either.
What the hell is going?
Knowing there was still one other place to look, she pushed herself up off the floor and went in search of the laundry room. Quite generous for the home’s smaller size, the eight-by-eight room sat just off the kitchen toward the back of the house.
She went straight for the washing machine, which was empty. Next Ro opened the dryer. It wasn’t empty, but when she pulled everything out that was in there, the only items she found were a few towels, washcloths, and her extra set of sheets.
Fear and uncertainty had her putting her back to the nearest wall and sliding down until her rear hit the floor. With trembling hands, Ro reached into her hoodie pocket in search of her phone.