Chapter Seven
Ava
I woke up in the middle of the night. My brain was fuzzy with sleep. One of my eyes was half open while the other one was completely shut.
Then a glass shattered.
Its weight echoed across the quietness around the house.
The sound was enough to vanish my sleep in thin air and bring back my senses. All the fuzziness whooshed in thin air as I realised that something was inside my house. Maybe it was a small animal like a racoon or something.
Why did it annoy me at this late night?
I slid from my bed and stood up. If I do not take care of it now then it will irritate me all night long. Plus I needed to see what this little creature broke.
"What in the world?" I grumbled in a groggy voice. And got out of my bed.
My bedroom was on the first floor so I was going to walk into the hallway that led downstairs. I stumbled across the door and clutched the doorknob, but stopped in my tracks. My hand froze on the doorknob when I heard footsteps.
Heavy footsteps.
It was not an animal. There was no way that it was some small creature.
It was a person's footsteps, because they were walking on two legs and not four. The steps sounded way too deliberate.
One of the doors opened on the far side of the corner and the footsteps faded inside it. After that, I heard footsteps again. Those footsteps sounded again as another room's door opened and they faded inside.
All of a sudden, I realised that this person was going in every room one by one. It means that he will enter this room too.
A shiver ran down my spine at that realisation.
My whole body started shaking, as fear creeped up inside me and chilled me to my core. My hands shook as I fumbled in my attempt to lock the door quietly. All of it went straight to the gutter when the lock made a noise when I locked my door. It's sound echoed around in the silence of the night.
I let out a curse silently.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of those footsteps getting louder and louder and realised that those footsteps were coming towards my room.
I backed away from the door, my panic settling in. All of a sudden, I heard they quickened their pace until they were running and suddenly, the doorknob started jiggling.
Madly.
A sob caught in my throat but I clasped my hand on my mouth to stop the sound from coming out. I backed away and hid in the closet of my room.
I did not have a phone, nor did I have anything with me that could be used as a weapon. There was a window that led to the outside but I was paralysed with fear that I knew that my feet would wobble and would give away. My whole body was shivering from fear and sweat coated my forehead.
All of a sudden, the jiggling of the doorknob turned into an aggressive bang. The person outside banged on the door twice and jiggled the knob crazily.
"I know that you are in there bitch! I am going to get you, rape you and fucking throw your body somewhere in the woods. Open up!" A deep, heavy voice of a man shouted.
A boom shook the whole room as he tried to break the door open.
I started crying. I had no doubt that this guy would break the door open if he continued like this.
Suddenly, I felt a kick in my stomach and my body tensed. My whole attention was brought to the person inside my womb, that mattered the most in my life.
My baby.
It was that moment I realised that I was not alone this time. If I did not have the guts to step up to save myself then I HAVE to step up to save my baby. My baby deserved to live.
It was not only about me.
If I did not step up then my baby could die.
This thought gave me the adrenaline boost I needed. However, it brought another worry to me. I cannot jump from the window and risk my baby any harm. But if I did not jump from the window then we would die, certainly.
I swallowed hard at that thought.
So what should I do?
Suddenly, I noticed that while I was thinking all of this, the banging had stopped. There was no more sound. Instead of slowing down my heart rate spiked up at the chilling silence.
I opened the door of the closet slowly and peeked outside. It was all silent.
Did he leave?
I had not noticed when the banging stopped.
I wanted to stay inside the closet for the rest of my life but I couldn't. I had to get out. And so I did.
I took a step outside and stood at one spot for a few seconds. I really, Really, did not want to go on but I had no choice. I took hesitant steps and walked until I reached the door. Cautiously, I placed my ear against the door and listened for any kind of sound. I did that for a whole minute or more.
Still, no moment. Or any sound.
I gathered all my courage and opened the door. No one was in sight. All of a sudden my eyes darted down, towards the figure who was crouched down by the wall and looking up at me with a smirk on his face.
He was white man around 55 years old with black hair, and he seemed Crazy. His face pale, eyes wide and red.
I froze at the sight of him in fear.
He let out a laugh like a maniac and it broke me out of trance.
He leaped out at me like a panther and this time I ran.
I ran like no other. Because this time my life, and more than anything else, my baby's life was on the line.
So I ran.
Pushing everything I have in it.
I ran straight down the hallway, around the corner and down the stairs and right to the main front door. I had not locked it earlier so it must have been open. So I ran for it.
I opened the door and smashed right into something hard. Someone's chest. I glanced up and saw a set of bright green eyes who stared down at me with worry.
I hugged him tightly.
"Jasper, save me."