Darkness began to cover the evening sky and I knew I was only moments away from my nightmares, from the most frightening time. Ever since I was a small child, the night terrified me. Strange creaking noises from a settling house, eerie images my mind would create as I gazed into a dark room, and even the occasional scratch at my windows from the wind blowing branches against the pane. The night frightened me as I felt helpless and trapped in bed fastened down with blankets. This fear would lead to countless nights of restlessness and little sleep. I cannot even remember the last time I had a good night’s rest. As I crawled into my large canopy bed a noise began to rattle from downstairs. My heart began to race, my palms started to sweat, and my body froze in place.
Was this real or another figment of my overactive imagination?
I quickly scurried from my bed and ran to the locked bedroom door pressing my ear against the cold wood. My heart pounded so hard I could not discern the noise’s location. I started to control my breathing to silence my heart and determine the validity of the noise. It has become a nightly ritual to hear, investigate, and over analyze every bump in the night. I wish this paranoia would go away. I just cannot shake the feeling that someone or something is in my house. Pressing my head firmer against the door, I can hear more noises from downstairs. This time, there is no doubt, someone is in my house. The shuffling of shoes, rustling of various kitchen items, and mumbled conversation is becoming more prevalent on the first floor. I am not alone and there is more than one intruder in my house.
How am I going to be able to escape? How can I survive when there is more than one against me?
Questions continue racing through my head as I scan the room for a quick hiding place. I need to stall before my escape, with the hope the intruders will leave before I am discovered. The large walk-in closet adjacent to one side of the bed would be an obvious hiding place for any intruder to check. I must take my chances. I cannot leave through the window, the drop is too far, and I cannot leave through the bedroom door, there is no telling how many I must go up against. Acting quickly, I silently make my way into the large closet. I intended to clean out my closet earlier but was too tired to complete the task, leaving plenty of good hiding places inside. Curling behind a large pile of dirty old clothing, I position the door slightly ajar so I can see just enough into the room. I need to have the element of surprise on my side if it comes down to a confrontation, which I fear is inevitable. Crouching silently behind the stack of clothing and some old storage boxes, I take a few more deep breaths hoping to control my nerves. The effort seemed fruitless given the situation. The interior of the bedroom is still dark, with only the light of the half-moon to provide any light. Just as I start to feel my heart calm, a sudden rattling of the bedroom door revamps my nerves and before I could catch another breath the double doors fly open. The dark silhouette of a person standing in my bedroom door frame sends my heart into another gear. My adrenaline begins to race through my blood at an uncontrollable rate. In a matter of seconds, my head is racing back and forth contemplating my next move.
Fight or flight, where do I go now? Fight or flight, what is my safest option?
Suddenly, the bedroom lights flip on, and the once dark silhouette is now a very distinguishing person. A tall woman with a look of anger and evil scans the bedroom with her dark eyes. Her chest heaves with every bitter breath she inhales. Gripped tightly in her hand, she wields a large kitchen knife prepared to do some severe damage. She is unfamiliar to me. I could tell she has every intent to do me harm, even kill me. Frantic, she begins to flail about the room, knocking over various knick knacks and family heirlooms. She heads over to the bed slicing the knife through the covers atop the bed. My heart races faster as I can clearly see the rage piercing through her eyes. A stranger has broken into my home to kill me, and I do not know why. I live a simple, recluse life and have no known enemies. The large, enraged woman drops to her knees for a quick glance under the bed. She is looking for me. Her purpose has become clear, she wants me dead. The viciousness of her actions takes away the possibility this could be a simple burglary. I anxiously wave my hand around the floor next to me, hoping to find a weapon of any sort. The woman’s eyes quickly turn to the closet door.
Has she spotted me? Can she see me as clearly as I can see her? Do I run or do I try to fight this angry beast?
The woman’s movements were quick as she bolted towards me and sprung open the closet door. I could feel terror consume my nerves as I could clearly see the wrath pulsate through every muscle in her body. Any thought of running had been eliminated when the woman blocked my only exit from my safety. Fighting was my only option, and my fingertips made a welcoming discovery fumbling around the closet floor. My hands embraced a hammer resting against the closet wall. I do not remember the reason I needed a hammer in the closet, but this was not the time to go through an inventory check list, I had to act quickly. The woman raced to the back of the closet slashing the large knife back and forth. I could see she was out of control mad and had given me my best opportunity for a surprise attack. Her back was facing me as she slashed blindly at the back of the closet. I quickly sprung to my feet with the hammer raised high in the air and gripped tightly in the palm of my hand. Feeling the blood rage throughout my body, I smash the hammer head against the woman’s skull. I could feel the skull bone crumble against the weight of the hammer as the woman dropped to the floor.
Blood splattered throughout the closet like an exploding balloon. The woman twitched faced down on the closet floor, as the blood began to ooze from her skull and saturate the carpet beneath her. She had no time to react or counter my attack. I was safe, for now. I could hear someone racing up the stairs, feet rapidly pounding against the floor. Someone else was coming and coming fast. The heavy footsteps rapidly pounded towards my bedroom. I bolted from the closet as a large man burst into the room holding the fire poker I normally keep above the mantel. Still shaking from my previous attack, I managed to catch the side of the man’s head before he could strike me with the fire poker. The head of the hammer snapped off, taking more stress than it could manage. The man’s body came crashing down with his momentum smashing his body against my bedroom wall. Blood curdling howls bellowed up from my first floor.
There are still more, I must escape. I am still trapped.
I quickly slam and lock the bedroom door. There was not going to be much time as the locks on the door would only hold them for a little while. A low growl came from the direction the man violently fell. Spinning around, I could see him moving onto his hands and knees. He was still alive and making another move, I could not hesitate, or he might gain the upper hand. The fire poker had landed on my bed, giving me another prime opportunity to take advantage of the situation. After a quick step, I snatched the fire poker and smashed the bottom of my foot in the midsection of the man’s back. The wind burst from his mouth as I kept him pinned against my bedroom floor. My entire body was shaking from the adrenaline overload. All my childhood nightmares were coming true. Years of sleepless nights from fear of the dark have now come to fruition. I was not going to let them win. This time I had the upper hand. Rapid pounding and hostile cursing erupted from the other side of my bedroom door. The body beneath my feet was regaining strength, slowly trying to make it back to his hands and knees.
No time to think, just fight! I need to put this nightmare down.
I cupped the end of the fire poker with one hand and gripped the handle tight with the other. I had to move fast or else I would be on the receiving end of this man’s rage. Pressing the sharp end of the poker against the base of the man’s skull, I slowly pressed the cold metallic poker deep into the man’s head. Particles of skull bone began to crackle against the weight of the poker, as blood began to gush from the back of his head. Making sure the man had no chance of getting back to his feet. I pressed the poker with my body weight sending the poker through the man’s skull and bursting out the other end. After a couple of quick twitches, the man’s body lay limp. The sound of something striking the handle of my bedroom door quickly moved my attention back to the other intruders. I was not sure how many more there were out there. I knew if I could get a clear enough path to my front door, I could escape this horror. A loud crack came from the front door as the other maniac had broken the door lock. The element of surprise had worked well for me up to this point, so I quickly moved to one side of the door. It was another male, tall, lanky, and steaming with venom. I could feel the heat of his hate explode in the room as he burst open the bedroom door. Before he had a chance to glance over the room, I shoved the fire poker through the side of his head with so much force it came blasting out the other side. Blood spray painted from the side of the man’s head as he dropped to the floor like a wet bag of sand. The moment had come to make a run to the front door. I could not see or hear anyone else in the house. I still could not take the chance of moving toward the door without a weapon.
Move fast, there is no time to hesitate.
The poker was still jammed in the side of my recent attacker’s head. I pressed my foot against the side of his head and gently removed the poker from his temple. A slight sucking sound protruded from the new hole in the man’s head as I dislodged the poker. Blood spurted from the man’s listless body. I took a couple of steps from my bedroom of blood and took a quick assessment of the situation. There was a clear path to the front door, so I nervously bolted toward the top of the stairs. As I made the turn to head down my staircase, a blunt object struck the side of my arm. Knocked of balance, I tumbled down the stairs hitting my head against the marble entry way floor. The room was spinning. Objects around me were blurry and difficult to make out. I could see another tall dark figure slowly make its way down the stairs.
There was another intruder. An entire mob attacked me, reminiscent of the Manson Family murders.
Every light was on in the house, but I was unable to get the blurry vision from my head. The dark figure continued to make its way toward me, and I knew it would only be a matter of seconds before the figure would be directly over me. I started to crawl toward the front door, hoping I could make my way from this nightmare. The cold marble floor began to feel wet as did the side of my head. I pressed my hand against the damp side of my head to discover a gaping wound had opened when I struck the floor. Only inches from the front door, I reached up to grab the doorknob and escape my hell. As my hand reached the doorknob, another blow from the blunt object cracked against my rib cage. I could feel several rib bones burst inside me. My body collapsed as I made every effort to catch a breath. Paralyzed with fear and unable to muster any more fight, I propped myself against the entryway wall ready to meet my fate. I did all I could to fight the nightmare that broke into my home and destroyed my sanctuary. Evil finally won and had gotten the best of me. After years of mentally fighting the bumps in the night, I became a physical victim to those same bumps. Blood continued to saturate the side of my head and then cascade to the marble floor.
Marble floor? When did I get a marble floor?
My visions slowly started to remove the fuzziness from the objects around me. I was able to make out the figure that attacked me. Before me stood a young teenage man, waving an aluminum baseball bat above my head. I clenched my eyes as I tried to make out his face, a face that was slowly becoming familiar. Gazing up at the young man, his image quickly awoke something deep in my mind. His face was awfully familiar, as it was scattered throughout the house in picture frames. I looked over at a large, framed picture hanging from the staircase. The young man standing before me was in the picture, along with the other people who had attacked him earlier. They were in all the pictures inside the house, their house. My nightmare had come to life, again. Reality began to take a terrible shift inside my head as I started to remember the events of the night from breaking into an empty home to going to bed in a complete stranger’s room. I wish I could look at this young man and convince him the entire event was an accident, but it was not. This was not the first time my nightmare had played out to such a gruesome finish. It was, however, the first time a resident of the home had taken me down. Normally, reality left me with a house full of corpses and an endless splattering of their blood covering the walls. I looked up at the young man’s tear-stained face, knowing he could finally put an end to my night terrors.
“Kill me,” I hissed at the young man, prepared to enter a world of endless night.
“I’m not going to give you the satisfaction,” the young man snapped back as he slowly turned and walked away. “Death would be too easy.” Red and blue lights began to quickly spin throughout the room and within minutes the room was filled with strangers yelling at me from every angle. Handcuffs were tightly cinched against my wrists as two men pulled me up from the floor. Darkness began to engulf the room as I started to lose consciousness. My body went limp, and I could hear faint yelling from all around me. The voices soon dissipated, putting me back into the darkness, back into my fear and back into my nightmare.
Was this real or another figment of my overactive imagination?
How am I going to be able to escape? How can I survive when there is more than one against me?
Fight or flight, where do I go now? Fight or flight, what is my safest option?
***
A strange noise awoke me from my slumber. Someone was outside my house, trying to get me. I needed to hide and quick. It would only be moments before these strangers would be at my bedside. Voices from every angle of my house rattled my brain, I needed to escape. I had sprung from my bed to look for an escape from my intruders. There was no place to run as thick metal bars blocked my escape. I could hear heavy breathing behind me. The intruder was already in my house, he had been sleeping in the bed above mine. I quickly grabbed my toothbrush and jammed it deep in the man’s throat. Voices continued to scream all around me.
Fight or flight, where do I go now? Fight or flight, what are my options?
Tags: Strangers, bump-in-the-night, darkness, terror, violent
