An Intruder

I quickly stood up and stumbled forward in a rush trying to gather my belongings.

I was afraid of looking up to double check.

Did I see correctly?

I'm pretty sure there was a man standing at the window?

Very slowly I raised my head and glanced at the window, afraid of confirming my suspicions.

"Nothing!?" I was very baffled.

"I'm sure I saw correctly and there was definitely a figure at that window".

Well, it was mostly for emotional support,

trying to imagine I wasn't as alone as I truly was.

I need to call the police.

After hurriedly pulling my phone out of my pocket the realization dawned on me,

"my phone's dead, shit!".

Tears welled up in my eyes,

my chest felt tight.

Slowly I crept forward,

bent in a very uncomfortable position in order to avoid being visible in front of the window.

'I think I'm going to die tonight!'

the very thought made a shiver run down my spine. I suddenly felt the loneliest I've ever felt.

'If I die today no one would even know' wiping at my eyes I took a deep breath, my body instantly felt cold.

"Ok Eve, you got to be brave now"

I whispered my voice shaking

"you have to go and check upstairs and just in case you aren't hallucinating and there is an actual person up there you will take the biggest knife you can find".

Rummaging around in the boxes I finally found the sharpest and biggest weapon I could find, a kitchen knife.

I held it firmly in my hand,

well as firmly as I could with my hands shaking like leaves on a windy day.

"Okay here we go"

I sighed one last time as I pushed the door open and stormed inside but was too terrified to go up.

Biting my nails,

I nervously looked around me, trying my best to stay alert while I struggled to breathe.

"I know you are hiding up there and I would like to-

" my voice broke as I struggled to breathe "

-to let you know that I have a weapon on me and I'm more than happy to use it!"

My shaky voice along with the sound of my irregular heartbeat seemed to echo in the vast space and reflected my fear very accurately.

Whoever was up there definitely knew I was more than terrified to use any weapon and the way I was pacing around and biting my nails pathetically,

I could almost imagine him challenging me

"come up then" he would say mockingly.

After a few seconds of complete silence,

I took another deep breath and decided to try again.

"I-I want to let you know that I'm calling the police right now" I tried to warn.

'Wait a minute why am I even letting him know'

I frowned questioning my own stupidity.

'What if he is armed or could easily disarm me if he came downstairs now that I threatened him?' alarm bells seemed to ring for the second time in my mind.

"I'm fucking stupid" I smacked myself on the forehead almost stabbing myself with the knife I was holding.

I immediately felt compelled to apologise

'um sir, I would like to apologize for my rudeness just now and happily inform you that I will not use my weapon on you at all, I promise'

I would say but it would be too late because as I would look up he would be standing in front of me a malicious grin on his face and pure evil in his eyes before he would tackle me to the ground,

stabbing me with my own knife.

I snapped back to the reality and realized that I was clutching my torso,

very vividly feeling the sharp biting pain.

Tears welled up in my eyes again, this time I let them fall, my legs wobbling in the process.

I felt every bone in my body shaking.

Quickly I held onto the railing,

holding a hand over my mouth in order to muffle my cries.

Deciding to just wait a while and see what happens I sat down on the couch in front of the giant staircase and kept my eyes on the target or where I assumed he might be, upstairs.

I don't know how long I sat there,

it could've been a few minutes or a few hours,

I lost track of time very quickly as I was hyper focused on every small movement happening around me.

The smallest creaks of the floor beneath my feet or the chirping of the birds outside seemed to jolt me into a standing position and the never-ending anxiousness was quickly eating me.

With my heart in my throat,

I slowly rose into a standing position,

my legs feelings like jelly, barely able to support the weight of my body.

I had made my decision finally,

"I'm going up"

I announced to no one in particular as I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead and cautiously stepped towards the stairs.