also posted on AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10664319/chapters/23602938
"He has a proclivity to watch young girls dance naked."
Marcia moves to Philadelphia with her family, where she encounters the strange man who lives across the street.
When Marcia’s father told her that he would be moving the family to a completely different state, she was excited, to say the very least. Marcia had spent her whole life living in Shaker Heights, Ohio which had its moments maybe once or twice a year but other than that - it was quiet and bared no interest for Marcia. One would think that if a girl spent her whole life in one place, she would have a decent amount of friends, people that would miss her when she was gone - no, that wasn't the case for Marcia.
The sky was a deep shade of blue/purple except for the bright orange strip that lay across the horizon where the sun was slowly rising. Marcia lazily stared out of the truck window, her eyes almost completely closed. Her father wasn't much of a strict man, he wasn’t one to rule with an iron-fist. However when it came to driving, he was very meticulous. Every trip had to be planned with the utmost precision and perfect execution. Her father was a man who preferred to get the job done quickly and with as little stops or delays as possible. For Marcia and her ten year old brother this meant having to endure the eight hour long drive from Ohio to Pennsylvania, Philadelphia to be precise. Most parents would probably have driven halfway, checked into a room for the night and then carried on in the morning when everyone had been refreshed but her dad wasn't like that. He made exactly one, ten-minute stop, for gas and to stretch legs then it was back on the road as soon as. She rolled her eyes thinking about it.
“Are we almost there?” A yawn garbled the end of her sentence but she was far too tired to repeat it.
“Got about two more hours left baby-girl, be smart like your brother and sleep.” He glanced at his son through the mirror and then over to his daughter.
Her eyes fluttered gently, the low hum of the radio lulled her into a deep sleep.
A knocking sound resonated in Marcia's head, she groaned as she realised that she was being woken up. As she hesitantly opened her eyes, they adjusted to the sudden and harsh daylight, she wished for the night sky to be back again. The pre-sunrise sky, the sky that resembled a Van Gogh painting splattered with calming purple and orange tones. She sighed and sat upright. Her father knocked on the window again as he waved a set of keys around and grinned widely. Marcia's brother, Thomas, was already making his way into the house carrying a box from the U-haul that was attached to the truck. Marcia opened the truck door and jumped out. “I’m afraid Tom has already picked out his room Marsh.”
She had never really thought about the nickname her dad had given her years ago - but after hearing it for the first time in a long time, she realised how pointless it was and if anyone else were to call her that she would laugh. Her dad was the only person that could get away with it. She smiled. “It's fine, as long as it can fit my stuff in there - I'm happy.”
“Moving van got here an hour ago, they've taken your bed up if you want to go and have a look.”
“How long did you let me sleep in the car for?”
“You looked too peaceful to disturb and you were up the whole night.” He shrugged and walked into the house with his daughter.
Philadelphia seemed like a nice place and Marcia hoped that this would be a lot more entertaining than the street she lived on in Ohio.
The first week goes by rather quickly and even though Marcia is excited to explore the new state she calls home, she stays at home for the week to help out and concentrate on where she wants to put everything. Her new room is much bigger than her old one so she enjoys the added freedom and space.
The new week starts at 6:35 in the morning, when Marcia finally gets the strength to pull herself out of bed. Today she was starting her new school which filled her with a mix of anxiety and excitement. She was running back and forth between her wardrobe and the tidy little bathroom that she had to herself. A knock on the door snaps her into reality. Marcia realises that she let time escape from her when Thomas appears in her doorway fully dressed and she stands there in just her underwear and a sweater.
“Dad said hurry up or you won't get a ride to school.”
“I can walk.” She looks on her bed at the choices of skirts and jeans she's put out.
Thomas rolls his eyes and turns on one foot. “She said she can walk! Can we go now?”
Her dad runs up the stairs. “Look at the time, what have you been doing Marsh?”
She shrugs. “I didn't know what to wear.” She pulls on a pair of black leggings.
“Okay well I have to go and I can see that you're still not ready yet.” He points to her hair. “Have a good day, you'll be fine okay?”
“I know.” She smiles. “Thanks dad.”
“Love you Marsh.”
“You too.”
He disappears down the stairs and she carries on with her morning routine.
Almost an hour later, she rushes out of the house with her bag on her back and her iPod in her hand. Marcia sets it to shuffle after putting one earphone in place and shoves it into her pocket. Marcia watches the houses as she struts down the walkway of her new home. A few mothers and fathers are loading cars with children and some are waving them off of doorsteps. A man emerges from the house directly across the street two doors down and stands on his porch. He watches the children walk down the road with their parents and greets them silently with his arms folded across his chest. The man seems to be dressed for work, in a tightly buttoned grey collared shirt and matching trousers but he just stands there outside his house. Marcia hadn't realised that she had stopped walking until the man locked eyes with her. She wanted to look away but there was something about him, she couldn't work out if it was a bad thing or not but the way that he just stood there intrigued her. She mentally shook it off and kept walking, she had to otherwise there would have been no point of making an appearance at her new school. Marcia turned around before she was at the end of the road, only to find that the man was still staring at her.
Making friends was not a problem for Marcia, so the day went by quickly and smoothly for her. The faculty were not even bothered by the fact that she strolled into school an hour and a half late. She was already starting to like Philadelphia. A bell sounded over the school's PA system and she waved goodbye to her new friends, Claire and Casey. The only thing that remotely bothered Marcia was homework and although the faculty didn't bother to scold her for being late, they gave her a few assignments to do, so that she could catch up with the other kids in her classes. She decided that she would need to pick up a textbook or two if she was expected to catch up with work and thought it would be best to visit the library.
The large door swung open before she could extend her arm and her stomach dropped a little. The somewhat creepy man she had encountered that morning, emerged from the dark library with a set of keys in his hand. He made her feel even more uneasy standing so close to her. His left eyebrow was raised and his brows were furrowed, making him look angry and standoffish. The mans cold, icy blue eyes pierced Marcia's delicate, brown ones. “This is closed for today.” His voice was deep and monotonous.
“Oh, okay. W-What time does it open in the morning?”
“Eight.” He spoke and turned around immediately to lock the door.
Marcia scanned the hallway to see if anyone was still around but it was empty. Desolate. She turned on one foot and began to walk towards the exit. Marcia could feel the man watching her as she walked away but she didn't dare to turn around. He could have been the world's nicest man but there was something about his stare, especially up close, that made her uneasy. Marcia plugged a single earphone in and started down the road for the walk home.
When she got there, her father was standing on the front lawn speaking to a woman with shoulder-length, blonde hair. “Hey Marsh! Eva this is my daughter, Marcia this is Eva who lives across the street.”
“Very nice to meet you.” The woman beams. “You just started the school down the road? My daughter Claire should be in your class.”
“I met her today, she's real nice!”
“You should come and say hello again, I live just there!” Eva pointed at the house across the road, one door down which was right beside the creepy maintenance guys house.
“Sure.” Marcia smiles and follows her across the road.
“I was actually talking to your dad about getting someone to help walk the dogs with Claire, we have four of them and she just can't handle it.” Marcia started to daydream, Eva's voice just a drone in the back of her head. Marcia was concentrating on the house next door. She was brought back to reality when Eva knocked the door and her daughter, Claire, answered. “Also I would pay you!”
“That sounds good.” Marcia had no idea what she was agreeing to but she was going to get paid for it.
“Nice to see you again, come in.” Claire smiled.
Eva introduced Marcia to the four family dogs and then left her to hang out upstairs in Claire's room.
Claire hummed along to the song that was on the radio, whilst Marcia watched the busy street from the window ledge. A silver SUV pulled up to the house next door and moments later, the man emerged. “Hey”, she spoke to get Claire's attention. “What are your neighbours like?”
“Well on the right we've got a family of six which can get pretty loud...but we're no better with four dogs, are you kidding me!” She laughed. “Then on the left there's Dennis.”
“Dennis?” Marcia questioned, pressing for more information.
“Dennis Crumb. He's quiet but odd.”
“Odd, how so?”
“He just stares at people sometimes, I've noticed him stare at me before. He never smiles too but you know what makes it even worse?”
“What?”
“Apparently Dennis isn't even his real name and he was supposed to go to jail years ago but he got off because of some mental disorder.”
“A-Are you serious? What's wrong with him?”
“I don't know but one time I was walking the dogs and one of them did their business on his grass, but before I could get a bag out to scoop it up - he freaks out and starts going nuts.”
“Wow.” Nothing like this had ever happened in her old neighbourhood in Ohio, even if that was just a rumour. Everyone in Marcia's old neighbourhood was devastatingly polite and sociable. “What did he do to almost go to jail?”
“I don't know. I just heard my mum talking about it with Mrs. Peters - the woman next door. You know he works at our school? I try to be nice to him but he always scowls at me or just stares. Weird right?”
“Weird.” Marcia mumbled, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Dennis. “Anyway I should go. Dads probably got dinner ready. See you tomorrow?”
“Meet me out here at 8 and we can walk together!” Claire suggests with a smile. Marcia returns it and leaves. She can't help but take a glance at his house before she crosses the road.
At the dinner table, their father presses both of them for information on how their first day went. He also mentions that the two of them should make efforts to get to know everyone in the neighbourhood, just in case. Marcia thinks of Dennis. She questions if her dad knows anything about him but he says that he has not heard anything yet. For a split second, Marcia wonders if Claire had exaggerated her stories but something tells her that she didn't. “I'm gonna head up. Got some work to do and some sleep to catch up on.”
“Love you Marsh, sleep tight.”
She spent hours browsing on her laptop, an hour or so was even spent searching about this mysterious ‘Dennis Crumb’ but nothing turned up and Marcia quickly remembered when Claire had said Dennis wasn't his real name. Marcia was desperate to know more, she wondered what his name really was and why he had to change it - she was curious about the stern-faced man across the road.
Her eyes shot open and she was jolted awake by something, it was almost as if someone at the foot of her bed shook her mattress to bring her to attention. The smallest amount of illumination that crept through the curtains was from the moon and Marcia realised she hadn't even remembered going to sleep, in fact she was still fully clothed except for the absence of shoes. Her bedside clock reads 3:13, the neighbourhood was quiet. Marcia sat up and walked over to her window to sit down and gather her stirring thoughts. She was never one to wake up so suddenly during the night but thought it was down to the fact that she was in completely new surroundings. Marcia gently parted the curtains and looked up at the crescent moon that was slightly hidden behind some clouds. Movement on the corner of her caught her attention, she turned her head to look at Dennis’ house. From what she could see, all of the lights were on and there he was - stood on the front porch once again, but she couldn't think why - there was no one to watch. He was stood at an angle, his body facing Marcia's house as if he had been waiting for her to awaken. It was too dark for her to tell if he was looking directly at her but a feeling in her stomach said that he was. She shook it off and decided to retreat back to her bed. Marcia dreamt of him that night. He was in her bedroom sat at the foot of her bed just watching her sleep.
