Claire awakens to the sound of someone knocking at her bedroom door. “What?” she asks herself quietly before yawning and groggily rubbing at her eyes. She hadn't planned on being awake quite this early, after all, the previous evening was something of a late night for her.
“Claire, dear...” Amanda begins, “I know it's early but you'll have to get up, there's someone here that would like to talk to you. They're waiting in the kitchen.”
“What? Who?” asks Claire as she unenthusiastically lifts the covers from her body and sits up in her bed.
“He's a policeman. He says he's got a few questions he'd like to ask you. I'll tell him you'll be out in a few minutes” replies Amanda before walking off to the kitchen.
Claire's heart rate kicks up and a cold shiver of nervousness passes through her body. “The police?!” she thinks to herself. “Is this about the beds? Were there cameras in the store?! Did someone see me?!” Her mind races. She takes a moment to calm herself down before opening her door and walking out into the hallway.
In the kitchen, seated at the table is a man Claire would guess to be somewhere in his forties. He turns to face her as she comes into his view. “Ah, you're Claire, then. I'm Detective Jensen. Please, have a seat.”
Claire seats herself at the opposite end of the table. “Can I get you two anything? A cup of coffee?” Amanda asks.
“No thanks, Mom. I'm all set.”
“Yes, please. Black is fine” says Jensen. Amanda heads to the counter and he returns his attention to Claire. “I'm sorry to wake you. You're not in any trouble, I'd just like to ask you a few questions regarding your neighbors, Michael and Amy Parker. They and many of their friends have been missing for a few days now. I understand your mother had been away on business, but she tells me you've been home. I'm hoping you can tell me something that might point us in the direction of where to find your neighbors and their friends.
Claire's nervousness dies down and relief washes over her upon the revelation of the detective's visit being about Michael and Amy rather than herself. She's prepared herself for this, she's confident in the plan she's made.
Amanda places a cup of hot coffee down onto the kitchen table in front of Jensen. “Thank you, ma'am.” The detective brings the cup to his face and takes a sip.
“You're welcome.” Amanda smiles and walks away from the table. She works at various tasks in the kitchen while her daughter and the detective talk.
“So, Claire, can you tell me when the last time you saw your neighbors was? And were they alone?”
“Yes. It was the weekend. And they weren't alone. They were having a party, a housewarming party I think they called it.”
“Did you go to the party? How many people were there?”
“No, I didn't go over. I was watching TV in the living room and I looked out the window and saw there was a bunch of cars parked over there. I don't know for sure how many people there were but I saw at least eight plus Michael and Amy.”
“Nothing unusual happened during the party? You didn't hear or see anything out of place?”
“No.”
“What about after the party, what happened? Everyone left?”
“Yeah. One of the people... he had a really big blue truck. He hooked the trailer with Michael's boat on it up to his truck and drove off, everyone else got in their cars and followed him. Last time I talked to Michael was the day before the party. He told me he was having the party so I should expect to see some cars driving by and he mentioned that he was thinking about taking his and Amy's friends out on the water afterward.”
“You're sure about this? This was the last time you saw your neighbors, and you didn't see anyone else go to the house after this?”
“Yes, I'm sure, and no, I didn't notice anyone else go to the house after that, but it's not like I was paying close attention. I didn't know I should have been. Maybe they were home for a little while since then and I was asleep or something so I missed it. I should have been paying attention.” Claire feigns a look of sadness and worry on her face.
“No, no, it's okay. You didn't know there was anything to be looking for, nobody did. You've done great, Claire, you've been a big help. You've given us a good lead, now we know we should be looking for Micheal's boat. But when you last talked to him, did Michael mention where he might take the boat?”
“No, he wasn't specific. All he said was he was thinking about taking it out on the water. I should have asked, now I wish I did.”
“It's okay, it's a... it's a start.” Jensen rises from the table and pushes in his chair. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a card. He extends his arm and hands the paper over to Amanda. “Here, there's my number. Please, don't hesitate to give me a call if you or your daughter remember anything that might help us find your neighbors and their friends, or if you see anyone turn up next door.”
“I do hope everyone is okay” says Amanda. Michael and Amy are such a sweet young couple, they've been the perfect neighbors since they've lived here. I really hope you can find them.”
“As do I” replies Jensen. “Thank you for your time, ladies. Remember, call me if you see or remember anything, anything at all.” The detective walks through the house and exits through the front door. He gets into his car and drives off.
Amanda turns to Claire as the sound of Jensen driving away grows fainter and fainter. “WOW, I really hope they turn up soon. I'm sure there will be a lot of people out looking for them.” But no rescue party is going to find the missing people. Unbeknownst to Amanda, Michael, Amy, their friends, and even their boat are safe and sound, held captive in her very attic. “I'm going to finish getting ready for the day. Are you going back to sleep for a while, dear?”
“No, I guess I might as well stay up now. I'll go take a shower.”
Later in the day, Claire returns to the kitchen. Her mother stands at the counter, preparing some sort of meal. Claire walks through the room on her way towards the refrigerator. She reaches her destination and pulls the door open.
“Would you like some lunch?” asks her mother.
“No, I'm not too hungry yet. I'm just gonna have a little snack for now.” Claire grabs a couple slices of ham and salami. Afterward, she seals the fridge shut once more and takes a bite from one of the snacks.
“So, what are you doing today? Going back up to the spider motel, dear?”
Claire laughs, knowing her mother is talking about the attic. “Yeah. Actually, I've seen tons of them up there lately. I swear, last time I went up there was like ten bugs on the floor.”
“Eww!” says Amanda, shivering at the thought of the bugs. You know I don't want to hear about creepy critters living in my home. I hope you got rid of them.”
“Oh, come on, Mom. They're just little buggies. You shouldn't be so afraid of them, you know they can't hurt you.”
“HEY, some of them can! Some of them have little stingers and… pinchers and… and teeth, even!
Claire laughs. “Teeth? Yeah, whatever Mom. You know you’re like… thousands of times bigger than them. They should be the ones afraid of you, not the other way around.”
“I’m sorry, dear. I know they’re teeny tiny and most of them are harmless, but I can’t help it, they just freak me out. Especially when I’m not expecting to see them. And THAT is why I stay out of the attic. One could pop out of anywhere at me up there.”
“Well I'm going up for a little bit. I'll be back down later for some lunch.”
“Okay, have fun!”
Claire climbs the attic stairs carrying the remaining slices of meat from the fridge. Her bare feet slap at the wood floor below as she enters the attic and walks deeper into the room. She looks down and to her surprise, the group of tiny people is gathered at the shrunken picnic table. She had expected them to still be asleep inside the shoebox.
“Good morning, little people!” she says cheerfully as she smiles down at the men and women below her before kneeling down in front of them. “I bet you all slept well in those comfy beds I got for you!”
Nobody at the table is willing to give her the satisfaction of admitting that the beds were actually extremely comfortable and provided them with a great night's rest.
“What's that?” asks Michael, inquiring about what Claire holds in her hand.
“Lunch” answers Claire. She begins shredding tiny pieces from one of the slices of meat and lets them drop down onto the surface of the picnic table. “This one is salami.” Next she repeats the process with another slice. “And this one's ham.”
The group watches as the massive young beauty takes a whole slice of ham which is of an immense proportion compared to them and places the entire thing into her mouth. “Mmmmm” she says after chewing and swallowing her snack. “Eat up. I'm afraid we won't be able to have too much fun together the next few days. My visits up here are going to have to be short.”
“Why?” asks a curious Michael. “We heard voices downstairs, were you talking to someone? Does it have to do with that?”
“Awww, you're so smart, little man. So smart and so cute! Yeah, my mother's home for a few days so I can't stay up here and talk to my tiny guests all the time like I want to.” Claire pouts. “That would seem suspicious, right?”
“Amanda's home?!”
Claire giggles. “Yes. But don't be too excited. Remember what I told you when I first brought you up here. You know she's not going to come up here. She thinks this place is riddled with bugs. If she saw you little people, you'd give her the creeps. She wouldn't go anywhere near you.” Claire laughs. “Anyways, eat your lunch, little ones.”
Claire stands up and smiles sweetly down onto the group at the picnic table. “I'll be back tonight with something for supper. And I should change your water too. Have fun, little ones!” she says before walking away and heading back down the stairs.