Chapter 4 -- Home Alone With
Sofia
Author's note: All characters are 18 years of age and above.
It was a little past ten on a Friday night, and Jin was downstairs playing on his X-Box. It was one of those rare, and almost special, occasions when he had the house to himselfβat least for the most part. His parents were at a party and weren't coming back until after midnight and his older sister, Lucy, had gone out a few hours ago simply saying that she would be back "later". The only other person in the house was their maid, Sofia, whom his parents had left to watch over everything and to make sure that he and his sister behaved themselves.
Sofia had been with them for close to five years now. She was a rather plain looking woman in her mid-thirties, with long dark hair that she usually kept tied back in a simple ponytail, and tanned skin which betrayed her Mexican heritage. Though she had been in the country for a long time now, her English was still poor and she often slipped back into using her native Spanish, something which Jin's mother found to be very irritating. Jin however, liked Sofia, she was always nice to him, and at times like this when his parents were away she let him eat whatever he wanted for dinner and stay up late, much as she had tonight.
Jin put down the controller and yawned, though he hated to admit it, he was tired. It felt like a waste going to bed early on a night like this but he could barely keep his eyes open anymore. Saving his game, he turned off the TV and headed up the stairs to the second floor where his bedroom was.
As he past through the landing on the first floor he heard a strange noise coming from his parent's bedroom. He stood there for a moment, not sure if it was real or if he was imagining it. It was a faint sound that echoed lightly through the dark corridor. It sounded a bit like running water. He wondered if he parents had left a tap open in their bathroom.
The door to his parent's bedroom was closed but slightly ajar, and Jin hesitated before he pushed it open. His parents didn't like anybody going into their bedroom, especially when they were away. They were very private people, which was ironic considering that they rarely ever respected the privacy of their children.
The room was dark, but Jin could see a dim glow of light coming from the wardrobe. The noise was louder as well; it was definitely the sound of running water.
His parents did not occupy the master-bedroom in the house, which had an attached bathroom, but had instead chosen to take the room right next to that since it offered a better view of the neighbouring countryside. They had then remodeled a little and turned the master-bedroom into a walk-in wardrobe with a connecting door into their bedroom. That was where the light was coming from.
It seemed unlikely to Jin that his parents had forgotten about both the light and the water. Could it be Sofia cleaning something? No, he felt sure that she was downstairs in the kitchen watching one of her Spanish soap-operas.