It was really no big deal, just small talk with a mate.
Isn’t that how a lot of things start? Just meaningless talk that somehow gets turned into bigger things? For me, that’s generally how it went.
Tad and I were at a bar, talking shit, and drowning our sorrows by drinking one too many beers.
We justified it with the fact it was happy hour, pretending we could afford the grog at half price, when in reality, we had both been fired from our jobs a few months back, and hadn’t had luck finding any work since.
The company had called it a redundancy, but the money theyd made out to us in checks hadn’t been worth the paper it was written on, the measly amount was already long gone.
Tad’s wife had left him at the start, couldn’t handle it. Where as my Maise, well she stuck around, picked up extra shifts at the fish and chip shop. But even so, things had been tense, tight. We barely spoke, and I knew if something didn’t change soon, I’d be facing the same, single life.
Tad must’ve sensed my mood, he ordered us both another round, threw a crinkled $5 note on the bar, and leaned in close to me.
“I’ve got an idea that could make us some money. It’s not exactly.. Legal., per say.” tad noticed my raised brows, unbelieving expression.
“But we have gotta face reality, bills are piling up and there’s jack shit we can do about it without a job, man.”
I listened with that drunk stupor, I was aware of what he was saying, but I wasn’t really taking it all in. It was a haze, of stale bar nuts, cigarettee smoke and watery beer.
I felt sick. I made it out the front before I started throwing up. Tad called me a taxi, and put me in it.
The next few days were hell.
I got home, not that I can remember much, but Maise reckoned I woke her up fumbling with my keys.
I was so drunk that I passed out, and slept, in the hallway.
I didn’t know, until the next morning, that the power had been switched off the day before.
Maise left me a note, saying things like she was so sorry, she just couldn’t do this. Me spending my loose change at the pub while she was siting at home in the literal dark, had been her last straw.
When I’d had enough of feeling sorry for myself and sitting in the dark, I went to Tads, and asked him what his grand plan was.
It turned out, Tad had more experience than he’d let on. He had been doing it for a while now, and he’d gotten a pretty good stash.
It made sense, and although I was feeling pretty overwhelmed at the idea of it all, I thought about Maise, about the future without her.
If I could just get one good break.. Things could go back to how they were before. I believed it, truly, wholy.
Tad scrawled an address on a piece of paper, and I folded it up and put it in my pocket, and left.
It was easy.
Too easy. But I wasn’t worried about that, at the time.
The first house was empty, so there wasnt much to do until the first tenant arrived.
I spent most of my time reading the books that had been provided for the guests, and helping myself to the coke that was already stoked in the fridge.
I was napping when I heard a car door slam. I listened to them type in the security code, the voices of a man and a woman discussing what they would be making for dinner.
I stifled a sigh, unhappy about another night here, I had hoped they would be heading out for dinner, but no such luck.
I settled back into my sleeping bag, and closed my eyes, falling asleep to the hum of voices and the sizzle of food.
The sun woke me, and I was surprised to see it was 10am.
I’d slept a good 12 hours, and when I sat up, my back noticed it.
I held in a groan as I stretched my back, and bent to listen for any sounds of movement.
When I was sure it was safe, I descended, and went straight to the bedroom.
The jewelry was elegant, gold and pearls, and I knew it would fetch a pretty Penny. A set of golf clubs caught my eye, as well as a Rolex watch sitting on the sink in the bathroom.
I was out before they were back for lunch.
It went well, for a while.
It went so well, that I was able to get the power turned on, as well as send a bunch of flowers to Maise at work.
She called me after, of course. I knew the flowers would have softened her. She agreed to have dinner on the weekend, told me she was looking forward to seeing me.
Dinner with Maise. Now, that was something worth celebrating.
I’d told myself now that I was even, actually even in front, that I’d stop this risky business and go back to looking for a regular, 9-5 job.
I knew Maise wouldn’t be supportive of my current career choice, and it wasn’t something I could hide from her if we did get back together.
Just one more time, I told myself. I needed to make the date night super special.
I could tell from the click clack of the thin heels, that they were expensive shoes.
They tapped across the tiled floor with a purpose, and in the silence I heard a ripple of indulgent laughter.
A voice of a man and a woman, the sound of wine glasses clinking. Someone had put on a CD, soft classical music drowned out the words they were saying, but I could still make out giggling.
After some time, I heard the music stop, the front door open and close. A few moments later a car sounded, tyre’s screeching on gravel.
As I had suspected, the place was loaded with the crazy stuff the rich travel with. Jewelry, bottles of perfume, coats in mink, alligator skin purses.
I was halfway through searching in the cupboard, when I heard the car door slam.
Immediately I felt my blood run cold. This had never happened before.
I quickly ran back up to my spot, and tried to control my breathing.
It was fine. They had probably just forgotten their credit card, or something.
The front door opened, and I heard the click clack of the heels again. And then I heard something else, a thudding. I couldn’t work out what it was, it was like nothing I’d ever heard before, but for some reason, it gave me an uneasy feeling.
The man and woman were taking in excited and hushed voices, and I heard the giggling again, and then in the silence that followed, I heard the sound of tape being pulled and heavy breathing, a murmur of a cry, that turned into a full blown scream.
It was quickly muffled.
After a moment, a voice said “Please.. Please. I won’t say anything. Please, just let me go.”
The high heeled woman let out that laugh, but now it sounded rancid, distorted.
There was a sound of a grinder being started, and the screaming started all over again, although it was mostly drowned out by the Humm of the electrical tool.
I thought what sort of sick joke is this, surely someone’s pulling my leg? Surely this is a set up, by bloody Tad.
I couldn’t have snuck in to the air bnb of a pair of killers, could I?
But the whimpering, the begging, the laughing.. Well, it hasn’t stopped.
I feel like crying.
I’m in the attic. I can’t get out without them seeing me.. I wanna call the cops.. But I don’t want to be arrested for breaking and entering. Maybe I wasn’t honest earlier, like totally honest about why it wasn’t easy for me to get another job.
I was, in the past, a bit of a career criminal, that’s why Tads idea hadn’t been such a big deal to me, but I had been in trouble previously, and if I got in trouble again.. Well, it’s either face these fuckers, or face a cell myself.
Fuck, what have I gotten myself into?