House Sitting

House sitting

Kathy sits up in the bed listening to the noises of the night.  Something flies into the window; she jumps off the bed with a fright.  Breathing hard she searches for her flashlight.  “Where are you?”  She cannot find it, and begins to panic as she hears another thump on the window.  She screams as the thunder roars and all the lights outside goes off. 

“It’s probably just the weather that tripped the lights.”  She tries to convince herself as she makes her way down the stairs to find the flashlight.  In the dark she can’t see a thing and walks through the room feeling the walls.  Walking straight her hand reaches a bump on the wall.  She stops and turns left trying to see what she is feeling, just then the lightning strikes and the whole house lights up. 

Standing in front of her is a man all dressed in black and his face is covered.  She lifts her hand and starts to scream as she runs away.  Reaching the front door another person opens it and stands in her way of getting out.  She turns around, but there is no escape for her, she is trapped.  Crying she sees the figure of the big man walking closer and closer to her.  She feels the person behind her touch her arm.  The man lifts his hand and just as she closes her eyes they start to laugh. 

The lights go on and the people around her take off their masks. 

“What the hell?”  As she watches them laugh at her she feels stupid and then the anger starts to run through her.  “Why did you do this to me?  Sam I know this was your idée, but why did you have to drag Andy into this?”  They walk to sit down.  Andy sees the shock in her friend’s eyes and sits next to her.  “Sweetie, it was just a joke, you know with Halloween coming and everything.”  She breaks their eye contact and tells them to leave. 

They next morning Kathy wakes up exhausted.  She hears someone knocking on the door and without any excitement she goes to open it.  In front of her she sees Andy smiling at her.  “You alone?”  Andy nods her head and Kathy invites her in.  “Listen I just wanted to say sorry for last night.  It was a stupid prank.”  She refuses to look her in the eye.  “It does not matter; I have to get to work.”  She stands up and walks out. 

She walks to the room where she is staying until the owner’s returns.  Everything is dark and she pulls the curtains open.  Looking outside she sees the kids running in the street with their costumes on.  She shakes her head and walk to the kitchen.  After dinner she takes a long hot shower and goes to bed.

Suddenly she wakes up from a noise coming from the front door.  Not noticing that all the lights are off she walks to the door thinking that it is her friends again. 

The door is wide open, but no one is there.  She looks around and can see nothing.  The wind coming from outside is cold and it sends a chill down her spine.  As she closes the door and turns around she hears something in the room where she is sleeping.  “Guys it is not funny.  You got me last night.  Leave me alone I am tired.”  She walks towards the noise knowing it is not the smartest of things to do.  Her footsteps creek on the wooden floor as the wind howls and pushes a tree branch against a window.  As she hears a thump she jumps around, her heart pounding hard she shakes. 

There is nothing in her room, but the window is wide open and her bed is made.  “Guys you can come out now.”  She turns around and sees a figure standing in the doorway.  She screams and closes her eyes for a second.  Opening her eyes the figure is gone.  She reaches for her phone and sees it is no longer on the night stand next to the bed. 

From the kitchen she hears her phone ring.  She rushes to it and see the caller is Andy.  “Are you guys trying to prank me again, because it is really scaring me this time.”  Andy is silent then speaks.  “The reason why I’m calling is to ask you if you want to come to the warehouse, it is off the hook.” 

Kathy feels someone breathing behind her.  She turns around, but sees no one.  “So what you are saying is this time I am in real trouble?”  The window in the living room breaks and even Andy hears it.  “Oh shit, we are on our way.  Sit tight.” 

Kathy puts her phone in her pocket and walks to the living room.  “What do you want from me?”  She shouts, but gets no reply.  The living room is empty, the glass is scattered everywhere.  Trying not to step on any of it with her bare feet she walks to the window to see if she sees anything outside.  Looking into the darkness she sees nothing, the cold wind blows in and she gets a chill down her spine again.  She turns around.  “What do you want from me?”  Again she shouts, but no one says anything.  Getting the idée that the coast is clear she walks back to the room. 

As she walks into the room just through the door someone grabs her from behind and places a hand on her mouth so that she cannot scream.  The man holding her whispers into her hear.  “Did you hear about the boy who cried wolf?”  With that the front door opens, Sam and Andy running in, screaming.  “Kathy where are you?”  Calling out to her three times they walk through every room.  Finally entering the bedroom they turn and see the man holding her.  “What do you want with her?  Let her go she doesn’t live here.” 

Sam tries to reason with him while Andy calls the police just outside the room.  The man turns his head.  “They won’t be here in time.”  His voice is dark and rugged scaring all three of them.  “Why are you saying that?”  Andy asks with panic in her voice.  The man does not answer them as he steps forward with Kathy in front of him.  He stops at the side of the bed, breaks her neck and lays her down gently on the left side.  Andy starts to cry as she watches everything from outside the room.  Sam runs to him and tackles him to the ground.  The man gets up and smashes Sam’s head on the ground, spilling blood everywhere.  He looks at the blood then at Andy. 

“Now see what you’ve made me do.  You messed up my stage; it was supposed to be clean.”  As he says the last part Andy hears the anger rise in his voice.  She turns and starts to run, heading out the door she turns around and sees the man right behind her. 

He grabs her and throws her into the house.  She lands on the broken glass with a huge thump.  Crying she lies on the ground watching the man walk towards her.  He kneels beside her and whispers into her ear. 

“Did you hear about the boy who cried wolf?”  She shakes her head and looks into his dark angry eyes, with that he breaks her neck.  He feels the bone crack in his big strong hands.  He stands up, drags her to the room and places her next to Kathy.  Smiling he watches their lifeless bodies.