Julia picked up her phone, trying to decide whether she should use the flashlight to make her way down the stairs or just leave it off. After all, if there were someone--or something--waiting for her downstairs, the flashlight would alert him that she was coming. If she left it off, she could be stealthier, and maybe he wouldn’t know she was coming. If she saw him first, she could maybe get away or hide. Or wait for her mother to come home.
Maybe she should wait for her mother to come home.
“You’re such a baby,” she said, clutching her phone. For now, she left the light off. She knew her way down the stairs in the dark, and the flashes of lightning were enough to help her find landmarks along the way.
With another deep breath, she pulled herself to her feet and willed herself to jump away from the bed so that no spindly hands could reach out from beneath and grab her ankles. Of course, nothing happened, and she hurried past the closet and the rocking chair--was it moving?--and made her way out of her bedroom into the hallway.
Their house was a two story, but it wasn’t very big. There were two bedrooms up here, hers and her mom’s, and then downstairs there was a living room, kitchen, a small parlor, and a dining room. The stairs led to the living room where the front door was located. Her mom always pulled into the car port and used the back door. So, there was absolutely no reason why the front door should be unlocked or disturbed in any way. From the top of the stairs, she peered down below, trying to ascertain whether or not it looked as if it had recently been opened; she couldn’t tell.
She approached the top of the stairs. Inhaling deeply, she put her foot down gently on the top step. No creak. After a moment, she slowly picked up her other foot and put it down on the next step. Again, not a sound. Grasping the handrail to steady herself, she repeated the process, one step after the next, pausing each time the lightning and thunder shook her soul, and cautiously made her way down the stairs.
When she reached the landing at the bottom of the stairs, something brushed against her arm. Jumping, she flailed her arms out wildly, catching a branch of her mother’s fichus plant as she did so. Her heart pounding, she pressed her hands to her chest, still grasping her cell phone. “It’s just a plant,” she thought to herself, afraid to say anything out loud now.
It took her a few seconds to regain her composure. Once she had calmed down a bit, she slowly entered the living room. She surveyed the room cautiously. Even with the help of the lightning, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The sofa stood between her and the front door. As she carefully stepped around it, she glanced back over her shoulder. She noticed then that the closet door was slightly ajar, which seemed odd. But as she turned to peer into the dark space about ten feet behind her, she didn’t see anything alarming.
It wasn’t until she returned her attention to the front door that something caught her attention. She wasn’t sure what it was at first. Holding her breath, and feeling her heart stop mid-beat, she slowly took a step forward, squinting in disbelief as she attempted to confirm that what her eyes were seeing was really there. She took another step forward, and then, she was certain. There, in the glass of the front door, she could clearly see a face. But this was no ordinary human face. This was something else entirely. The skin was so pale, it was practically glowing in the dark, the lightning disclosing bloodshot, steel gray eyes. Long stringy black hair framed the ghoulish features, the lips were blood red as well, and though the expression was frozen in a grimace, the teeth were elongated and sharp, the nose wrinkled in a snarl. It was as if someone had propped a Halloween mask outside on her porch. The cell phone slipped from Julia’s trembling hand, and with another crash of thunder, the sudden realization that this face not only was no mask, but that it was not on her porch at all, invaded her very soul, and a ripple of terror swept through her body. Just as she opened her mouth to scream, she saw the creature step fully out of the closet and lurch quickly in her direction, arms outstretched.
As Julia turned to defend herself, the glass in the front door came bursting in, the shards showering down on her. Instinctively, she ducked, covering her head with her arms as she did so. Unsure as to whether or not she was being attacked from both sides, she dropped to the floor, screaming in terror.
It all happened so quickly, it was difficult for her to see, but as she peered at the monster before her through her splayed fingers, she realized it was now engaged in hand-to-hand combat with what appeared to be a beautiful woman dressed all in black. In just a few seconds, the woman had the monster pinned to the floor, and then, as the lightning brightened the room almost to daylight, Julia watched as she grabbed the creature by the head and twisted. With a shriek that jarred every fiber of her being, the monster was decapitated, and before Julia’s eyes, it turned to ashes there on her living room floor, spread all over the carpet.
It was all over in a matter of seconds, and then the woman was looking at her, nothing but kindness in her eyes. Julia was still huddled on the floor, her arms around her knees, rocking and crying. Suddenly, she heard a gentle voice behind her, and even though she was beginning to feel a bit safer, she still jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.