The third times a charm

Chapter 1

         The wind howled and the thunder roared through Dr.Barkley's office. "Dr.Barkley, Iam leaving to go now before the storm gets really bad." said the office secretary. "See you." Dr.Barkley said barely noticing her presence. The secretary gave a half smile and turned on her heels towards the exit. Three ours later Dr.Barkley shut off his computer and turned the lights out. It was now 3:00am and the storm had really started to pick up. He rolled his neck around from side to side and cracked 3 of his knuckles on his right hand. He pondered over the idea of just spending the night in his office but what would his wife think? He knew what she would say all to well.

Three months ago Dr.Barkley had an affair with his former secretary. His wife had found out on the night of there anniversary. She wanted to leave him but the doctor begged for her to stay with him. Indeed, the wife did but was still not very trusting of him. He knew if he would spend the night in his office his wife would surely think he was in another affair. He sighed, and got up to put his coat on.

In the hallway a light turned on and quickly shut back off. He froze in a second of fear but made his way to the door. He called out "Helen, is that you?" to his secretary. Hoping for a response he waited a second in suspense. No response. He turned around to grab his keys off his desk. In the reflection of his computer he saw the light once again return but quickly shut off. The fear really started to build up in him. He swallowed hard and slowly turned around. "Helen, I’m serious if that’s you please say something.” Once again, no response. He made sure he had everything he needed and left his office.

The light turned on one more time before quickly receding. He breathed hard and licked his dry, cracked lips. "Is that you, Bart?" he called once more in a desperate plea to distinguish his fear. The thunder roared loud and a crack of lightning his the roof top. Dr.Barkley jumped sideways and hit his head against the wall. The lights went out.
Rubbing his head he stammered to regain his balance and stood up straight. It all came clear to him now that the storm was probably making the light flicker. He laughed out loud as he thought how foolish of himself to believe that someone was trying to scare him.

He opened his umbrella and got his keys ready in his hand. The storm was now in its full horror. He raced to his car trying to dodge the puddles for he had brand new leather shoes on. At the car he propped the umbrella on the roof top and fidgeted with the keys. He glanced up at the window and saw a man standing being him. He turned in horror. No one was there. He couldn’t get into his car fast enough. When he finally did the car would not start. He turned the key again and it turned over but nothing happened. 30 seconds later he tried it again and it started.

He quickly backed the car up and raced out of the parking lot. The black ill-paved road was very slippery. His little black sedan barely made it through the pot holes. His heart jumped and he nearly crashed into a tree when he heard his cell phone ring. He felt his hand around in the dark to find the blackberry phone. His hand suddenly touched the smooth surfaced object and he opened it.

"Hel...Hello...” he said into it in a shaking voice.
"Honey, where are you?" replied his wife with an angry tone.
"Oh, honey. I was...uh...I got caught up at the office in work and the power went out. Am on my way home now."
"Do you think for a second, that I’m going to believe that you were "caught up" at the office? Last time you said..."she started to say but was interrupted.
"Honey, I promise you I did nothing but work tonight. Can we talk about this at home? The road is pretty bad and I need to concentrate on the road."
"Oh sure, we can talk about this at home, hats if I don’t throw your stuff out."

The phone line went dead. He shut the phone and threw it on the ground. He knew that divorce would soon be the best option. He punched the steering wheel angrily and his car made a loud sound. As he approached the 1 mile mark to his house the phrase” third time is a charm" came into his head. He rubbed his temples with his right hand and kept his left on the steering wheel. The phone rang again. He rolled his eyes and reached over to get it.

Suddenly he looked up and saw a man standing in the road. He swerved fatly and the car span around. It stopped. He clutched the steering wheel and could barely move he was so afraid. He looked over the steering wheel and out the front window but it was to dark to see. He grabbed his flashlight from his car safety pack and got out. He searched in the 100 yard distance from the car to see if he could find the man. When he couldn’t he got back in his car and started for home again. As he pulled into his driveway he once again reached for his phone. He pulled the car into his outdoor parking space about 100 feet from the house. He got out, locked the car and started for the front door. The lights in his house flickered off and then back on again. He shook his head "you stupid storm". He grinned. He opened his front door.

His wife was sitting on the couch holding an envelope in her right hand a cup of coffee in her other. He reluctantly stepped forward to greet her.
"Hey, um, are the kids in bed?"
She didn’t say a word as she stared blankly out the front window but she nodded her head.

"Honey, now I honestly swear on my life that I had work to do and I did not do anything with anyone. I love you and I changed. Please forgive me for being late...”

No response.

"What’s wrong, answer me!” he angrily said.

Her eyes shifted to him and then to the envelope. He raised his eyebrows and walked towards her. He took the envelope from her frozen hands. He sat down on an opposite sitting couch and opened it. Inside were a photo, newspaper article, and police report. He looked up at her and she just stared at him. He investigated the items some more.

First, the photo. He cringed at the site of a man lying dead on the ground. The man was sliced open with three marks on his side. He quickly dropped the photo. Next he turned to the newspaper article. Headline said "Doctor Dies from Three lacerations on his side". His eyes widened and he sat the envelope and papers down. The picture was of him, and the article was about him. He picked them back up and ripped it into pieces.

"Where did you get these from?" he said with disbelief.

"They, uh...a man just came by and handed them to me. He didn’t say anything but that these would show the truth." a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Well, I’m going to go get new security systems installed tomorrow. I can not believe some physco would have the nerve to come to my house and make these false papers and a photo. “He said pacing about the room.

She grinned and shook her head "You do that honey, I’m going to bed. You come?”

"Yea, in a minute. I’m going to go lock up and double check things around here."

She got up and left for the upstairs. He went around to all the windows, locked them and closed the curtains. The front door was already locked. He heard three quick bangs on the front door as he was leaving to go upstairs. He grabbed the phone and his hand gun from the kitchen and went upstairs. His wife was already soundly asleep. Once again the three bangs came but not from the front door but from the back door. He dialed the police but got no signal.

After awhile, the noise had stopped. He crawled into his bed next to his wife. At about 5:00am he awoke to the sound of three bangs on his bedroom door. He turned to his wife but she wasn’t there...

The pounding abruptly stopped just at fast as it started. The blackness surrounded him like a black veil. He could not see anything in the room but a crack of light under his wooden bedroom door. His hands trembled as he searched under his bed for the small pocket knife. It wasn’t there though. He swallowed hard. He found the phone on his night stand and tried to dial the police again but still there was no signal. There was suddenly a strange thumping sound coming from the hall outside the door. It lasted for about 5 minutes. It got louder and then softer. Finally it also had stopped.

Dr.Barkley laid there for an hour frozen in fear and darkness before he stumbled for the light switch. It was now around 6:30 am. He had to leave for work in a half hour. He quietly opened his bedroom door. The sun had already risen so it was easier for him to make his way around the house. He approached his son's bedroom door. He collected himself for he was scared to see what was behind the door. He opened it. He looked all around the room and his son was nowhere to be found. He suddenly became overwhelmed with panic. He frantically ran to the opposite side of the hall where his daughter’s room was. Once again, no one was there.

He searched the whole house up and down for 20 minutes and still no one. He finally got a phone signal and dialed the local police. Thoughts raced through his mind about the previous night. From the storm, to the letter, to the knocking. He felt as if he was in a Stephen King Horror movie that he just couldn’t get out of. There was knocking at the door. He froze once again in terror until he heard the detective's voice "Dr. Barkley, are you in there?”. Barkley composed himself again and opened the door. He invited the detective and his team of criminal investigators in to his house. As the investigators searched the house, took fingerprints, and collected fibers Barkley talked to the detective. He told him every detail of the night he could remember and all the strange oddities. The detective listened intently and quickly scribbled down notes.

"Well, Dr. Barkley. It seems as if someone has abducted your wife and children. Do you have any known enemies?”

"No, I loved my wife and children and all my patients liked me as there Doctor. I haven’t had anyone complain or anything to me or the office." Dr. Barkley let out a big breath of air and handed the detective the envelope.

The detective opened it and examined the envelope and its contents. After a few more questions the team left. Dr. Barkley didn’t know what to do with his self. He paced through the living room and fidgeted with his hands. Suddenly he thought about how the person would have got in. He had locked all the doors and windows before he went to bed. He ran to the front door and checked it. The lock was still in tact. He went to every single window and door in the house and checked them. There was no apparent way the intruder could have gotten in. A chill went down his spine as he realized the intruder must have already been in the house.

END OF CHAPTER 1. Chapter 2 will be continued at a later time.