"Do you ever get the feeling someone is watching you?" Shannon asked Myrtle one blustery day in February. "Sometimes I feel like I'm not alone, and I don't mean Ralph either," she said. Myrtle eyed the rather fat orange tabby sitting on Shannon's lap and smiled.
"I think it is normal for you to feel uncomfortable," Myrtle reassured her. "You've been through such an ordeal." Shannon stared at the homework in front of her. For some reason studying history, even the history of Salem, Massachusetts wasn't interesting. Usually history was one of Shannon's favorite subjects. Lately though she was having trouble concentrating. It was as if someone was trying to get to her in her thoughts and dreams. She was sure she had seen someone lurking around the house when she took the garbage out at night. It's probably only my imagination, she thought.
"Why do you think someone is watching you?" Myrtle asked with concern in her voice. "Well, I think I saw something, I mean, someone," Shannon said. "Who?" Myrtle asked. "I'm not really sure, they were walking towards me down the street and then they crossed the street and went the other way," Shannon replied. "I know people are avoiding me but that seemed odd. And then there was the person just standing across the street the other night," she added. "What person, the Bradley's teenage boy? He's a little odd but I don't think he's a peeping tom," Myrtle said. "No, not Alan Bradley, someone else," Shannon said getting agitated. "Well, I can't read your mind, can I?" Myrtle said sounding irritated and got up to make herself a cup of coffee. Sometimes Shannon could be so difficult, she thought. Just once she wished that Shannon could get to the point instead of taking the slow boat to China as a way to explain something.
The official investigation of the O'Reilly fire had ended a few days ago when the fire inspectors said there had been a faulty propane tank hose, which was leaking the gas. Investigators assumed that Brendan opened the basement door and this had created a spark that ignited the propane. Unfortunately, Victoria and Shannon had entered the house just moments before the explosion had occurred. Victoria hadn't had a chance since she had been heading toward the explosion and Brendan was at the center of the explosion. Their bodies had never been recovered as they had been consumed in the high temperature of the fire. Shannon had only been able to hold a private wake and a small service to commemorate her parent's lives. The only remaining question was why had the electricity gone out in the house in the first place. Myrtle had her doubts, but the investigators had closed the book on the incident.
