Anew

41

Late that evening, Scarlet was in a dead and peaceful sleep when she heard a noise downstairs. Her eyes flew open as she sat up in bed, listening.

Someone was in the house.

She heard a faint shuffle and a creak on the downstairs floor.

Of course something totally freaky would happen while Laura was a million miles away.

Slowly and quietly, Scarlet crept out of bed.

She looked around her room for her cell phone and wanted to groan. She’d left it downstairs on the kitchen table. How was she going to call the police?

Okay, don’t panic.

She heard a second creak on the staircase and realized the intruder was making his way upstairs.

Scarlet panicked.

Should I fight?

Nope.

Should I hide?

Maybe.

Should I run?

Definitely.

Frozen in the darkness of her bedroom, Scarlet formulated a plan to exit her house without tipping off the intruder.

She tiptoed to her cracked bedroom door and peeked into the black hallway. If she could slink out of her room and hide in the hall bathroom at the top of the stairs until the intruder passed by, then she could run downstairs and out the front door, screaming like a crazy person.

Yes. That was a good plan.

She pulled open her bedroom door just wide enough to fit her slim body through.

Creak.

The stranger was higher up on the stairs—she had to hurry.

Slipping through her doorway, Scarlet snuck along the dark hallway wall and into the bathroom. She hid behind the open bathroom door and peeked out between the door hinges, her eyes fixed on the stairs.

Her breath was shaky as she waited in silence.

All the lights were off in the house, making it impossible to see anything clearly. Moonlight spilling in from the windows was the only illumination.

A silhouetted figure appeared at the top of the stairs and paused.

It was a male form—a figure and body type she’d never seen before.

A stranger.

Scarlet began to shake, cursing herself for leaving her phone downstairs.

The figure, whose features were indiscernible in the darkness, cocked his head to the side like he was listening for something.

Scarlet held her breath.

Slowly, he moved down the hallway. When he walked passed the bathroom, Scarlet was sure her pounding heart would give her away.

But it didn’t.

The stranger crept along. Past the bathroom. Past Laura’s room. But stopped at Scarlet’s bedroom, and stood outside her door.

Scarlet wanted to cry.

He thought she was in there.

He thought she was sleeping in her bed. Alone. Vulnerable.

This was more than just an intruder. This was someone after Scarlet personally.

She watched him silently enter her dark bedroom.

Without another thought, Scarlet scooted from behind the bathroom door and tiptoed into the hallway. She wanted to run. She wanted to scream.

But, mostly, she wanted to live.

As quietly as she could, Scarlet turned her back on her bedroom and hurried to the staircase.

She’d just reached the top of the stairs, when a strong, male hand covered her mouth and pulled her back up against a strong body.

I’m going to die.