I was laying on the floor on my back, staring up at the ceiling. Soon after the lights had turned back on, my phone had went off. It scared me so much that I jumped and yelped. My foot ended up, of all places, landing right on the flashlight I had dropped a minute ago. It rolled, I lost my balance and fell flat on my back. Which was were I was right now.
Letting out a groan, I fished my phone from my pocket and flipped it open, the familiar name facing me. Sitting up, I opened the message and read it: Oh, wow, that sux. You ok now?
It took me a minute to decide how to reply. Lie and say everything was fine, or admit I was probably losing what little piece of my mind I had left. Finally, I sent one back: Kinda, but I thnk Im losin my mind. The lites wnt out and I thot I saw sum1 in my room.
Getting back up to my feet, I glanced around the empty room. Nothing, or nobody, was anywhere. It looked the same it had before. Not a single thing out of place. The only difference was that every light in the house was on, instead of just the ones I had turned on. "Guess I better go turn them off," I said to myself, picking up the flashlight and placing it back in the drawer.
I paused when I heard a crunch and felt something under my foot. Letting out a sigh, I stepped back and looked down at the carpet. Sure enough, there laid my cookie, now in pieces. Of course, stupid me had kept the cookie in my hand when I held the flashlight instead of sitting it down on my dresser with the bottle of water.
Deciding to clean it up later, I headed out my door and down the stairs, pulling my phone from my pocket. Truthfully, talking to Xavier made me feel safer, but what I really wanted was to call him. Somehow, I knew hearing his voice would help calm me down even more, and make everything seem harmless. What I read surprised me a bit: Wat!? N ur alone? Im comin over.
My heart skipped a beat, then quickly sped up. Sure, him coming over would be nice. Having someone else in the house with me, that I knew and wasn't afraid of, would make everything a lot better. But there was no way my parents would go for it. Then again, they didn't have to know...
It took a little bit to think of what exactly to respond with. Tell him yes and deal with everything later, or tell him no, argue with him and worry about someone being in the house when I was here alone. The first sounded a lot better, so I sent him my address. Not even a minute later he sent me one back saying he was on his way.
By now I had finished turning off all the lights that needed to be off. Walking back over to the door, I flipped on the outside light and peered out the window. Nothing seemed out of place, no creepy person walking down the street, no.....
My eyes grew wide and I spun around when I heard something in the kitchen. I could hear the sound of my heart beating a thousand miles and hour in my ear, adrenaline once again pumping into my veins.
Everything was quiet, then I heard it again. It sounded like someone messing with the dishes in the cabinet. Then, as I watched the doorway, I saw a shadow. Slowly, it grew bigger and bigger. Just when it was about to pop around the corner, I turned, unlocked the door, yanked it open and ran outside, diving into my car and slamming the door behind me.
Trying to find my keys, I kept glancing at the front door, knowing it would come out at any minute. What I didn't understand was I had just walked through the whole house and there wasn't anyone there. Nothing was so much as moved an inch. So, how had it gotten inside the house without me knowing?
Finally, I found them, but not before I saw headlights pull in behind me. My first thought was Xavier, then my parents, or maybe the accomplices of whoever was inside my house right now.
Sliding down into the seat to keep out of sight, I watched the car behind me from my side mirror. When the lights turned off and the door opened, I could see who it was and let out a sigh of relief. Opening my door, I stepped out and saw the confused look on Xavier's face, who then glanced at the open front door. "Riley, you ok?" he asked, walking towards me.
I nodded, and that's when everything hit me. My body shook and any rational thinking I had left went out the window. Xavier had just gotten close enough, and I knew he had to be surprised when I buried my face into his chest, clutching his shirt with both hands. It was the only thing my mind could think to do at the time, thought it'd be a very embarrassing moment in the future.
Instead of backing away or asking a question, Xavier put one arm around my back, the other over my shoulder with his hand resting on my head. "It's ok, Riley. Nothing's going to happen. I promise."
His voice was calming, and slowly the shaking began to lessen, the tears starting to lighten up. I'm not sure how long we stood there, my face buried in his chest with his arms around me, my tears soaking the front of his shirt and the sound of my crying filling the still air around us. Finally, I pulled my face away, wiping the remaining tears with my hand and taking a step back, Xavier letting his arms drop back to his sides. "Sorry," I apologized, my voice still a little crackly and my throat sore from crying.
All Xavier did was smile back at me, which made me smile in return. "Don't worry about it. After what you just went through it's not surprise," he replied, his eyes wandering back to the house.
My own blue eyes slowly followed him, watching the front door. Nothing had emerged from it that I knew of, and I doubt Xavier would have just let us stand here if something had. "Riley, why don't you sit in my car and keep the doors locked. I'm gonna go look around. I'll be back in a couple minutes," he said sternly, and my smile faded. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
The last thing I wanted to do was let him go in there, especially by himself. Neither one of us had any idea of what was inside, or if it was dangerous. For all we knew whatever it was could be out for blood. "But, what if something's in there? What if," I stopped when he pulled me into a hug, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on the top of my head.
"I told you, everything will be fine. I promise. And I never break a promise to anyone, especially you," he said after a few moments before letting go and stepping back, a smile on his face.
All I could do was stand there and watch at he walked towards the house to the door and disappeared inside. Pulling my attention away from it, I walked over and sat down in his car, locking the doors like he had told me. The whole time my eyes stayed focused on the door, hoping he'd walk out perfectly fine at any second.
