She got down on her knees. “Angela. You can’t let him do this, please! I don’t want to die.” Her voice cracked.
Patricia’s expression softened as she felt sorry for the girl. “Hank, let the poor girl stay inside.”
“No. If she’s being chased by her boyfriend, then why don’t I see any sign of him anywhere?” he asked, squinting into the darkness.
With shaky hands, the girl got off of her knees and walked towards Hank. ”You can’t send me out there. I’ll die and that’ll be on your conscience.”
“I’ll sleep fine at night knowing I didn’t put my family’s lives in jeopardy by letting you drag your drama into our home,” he said with a cold tone. “Now get out. I’ll be happy to call the cops for you.”
She walked out of the home with her head low, then closed the door behind her. Hank locked the door, then sat back down on the couch.
“Aren’t you going to call the cops?” Lucy asked, walking out of the hallway and into the living room.
“Nah.” He shook his head.
Lucy looked taken aback by the harshness of her dad’s voice. “Why not?”
“She was lying. I could see it in her crazy eyes,” Hank explained, not taking his eyes off of the TV. “She was probably looking for a place to rob. That’s what they do. They find a way into your home, scope the place out, and then rob you.”
Lucy walked back to her bedroom, leaving her mom and dad in the living room.
“Do you think we should report her to the police?” Patricia questioned.
He shook his head once again. “No, I don’t think they’ll be a problem. They’re probably off trying to fool someone else, not my problem anymore.”
Nothing else was said on the subject, leaving them in silence except for the TV, playing their favorite show Love It or List It.
Lucy walked into her room to see Jessie lying on her bed. “Who was it?”
“It was some girl asking for help. Dad thinks it was some trick to get in our house and later rob us after scoping out the place.” Lucy lay next to Jessie.
“Don’t you think you should call the cops?” she asked, her eyes filled with worry.
“Dad thinks everything will be fine. I believe him,” Lucy assured her.
Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering filled the house. Lucy and Jessie jumped off the bed, staring straight at the door. “I thought you said everything would be fine.” Both girls stood frozen on the spot. Their muscles tensed and fear crawled through their skin.
“Hide and call 911.” Lucy tossed Jessie her phone and walked out of her room. She could feel her heart hammering against her chest and her blood growing cold. She walked down the hallway slowly, scared of what she was going to see once she reached the end of it. All the terrible things she could possible imagine flashed through her mind. She wanted to swallow the terror she felt and be brave, but she couldn’t help but shake with fear as she made her way down the hallway.
She peered into the living room and saw her parents hiding behind the couch. Lucy also saw two figures near the front door—Angela and a man who looked like she picked up from a truck stop. His husky voice gave Lucy chills. “You can check down the hall,” the man said, taking a seat on the couch.
Lucy felt panic rise in her. She looked at her parents for guidance. “Hide,” her dad mouthed to her.
She quickly and quietly made her way to the bathroom, closing the door behind her before Angela could walk down the hallway.
She searched for something to help her defend herself, if she needed to. The shears she used to cut her hair sat on the counter. Lucy grabbed them and hid inside the shower, pulling the shower curtains close.
A few moments later, she could hear the door open. The seconds felt like minutes to her, as if time decided to suddenly slow down. The curtains were yanked open, and Lucy jabbed the shears into Angela’s skin. It went right through Angela’s hand as she tried to block the shears from plunging into her chest. She screamed in pain and blood gushed out of her wound. There was a lot more blood than Lucy had anticipated.
She pushed Angela out of the way and ran down the hall to her bedroom, locking the door behind her. She pushed her desk in front of the door to block it and buy herself more time. Within seconds, someone started pounding on the door.
“We have to leave now,” Lucy said to Jessie, urgency clear in her voice.
Both girls opened the windows, stepped out and took off in the direction of a nearby house. It was at least a hundred feet away, but they ran for it because their life depended on them getting to safety as fast as possible. Grass crunched under their feet as they ran through the yard.
The lights in the neighbor’s house were on, which meant that there were people inside who could help them. This gave Lucy hope so she quickened her pace while Jessie tried hard to catch up behind her.
Meanwhile, the man was finally able to get inside the Lucy’s room only to find out that the girls had escaped. He ran out of the front door and chased after them.
Lucy reached the house first and went to knock on the front door when she noticed it was off the hinges.
Jessie screamed while Lucy stood there speechless when they saw what was behind the door. “Miranda?” Lucy whimpered under her breath. Her neighbor lay dead in a puddle of her own blood, with multiple stab wounds.
The yelling of the man behind them brought her out of her trance. She ran inside the house and pulled the knife out of Miranda, cringing as she did so. “Hide,” she told Jessie, who nodded and did as she was told.
Lucy stood next to the front door entrance, waiting for the man to walk in. “You’ve got no—” he started saying but Lucy cut him off by stabbing him in the neck with the knife she took out of Miranda. He screamed and grabbed the handle of the knife, yanking it out. Blood poured out of his neck and sprayed on Lucy. He pressed his hand on the wound to try to stop the bleeding but it wasn’t enough. Blood still squirted out until his hands became covered in the warm, gooey liquid. Lucy backed away and watched as he came closer and closer to death. His knees buckled and he finally collapsed on the ground with a thud.
Jessie came out of hiding. “Is he dead?”
“I think so.” Lucy kicked him to see if he was still conscious. He didn’t move. “Let’s go.” She grabbed her girlfriend’s hand and they both of them ran back to Lucy’s home.
The feeling of dread went through Lucy as she pushed their front door open. A loud creak