Coughing was what woke me up. I heard it coming from the room next to mine. But I knew it was just my stepdad, he was an ex smoker. I shook my head and tried to fall back asleep. I heard the coughing again, but it was louder than before. It sounded like it came from right outside my bedroom door. I adjusted myself in my bed and called out his name. There was no response. I rolled my eyes and tried to go back to sleep, again. But that didn't last long. A few seconds later he was banging on my bedroom door. I climbed out of my bed and went over to my door and opened it, to see no one standing on the other side of it. I called out my step-dad's name a few times, but nothing. I closed my door and went back to my bed. I looked out the window, even though it was dark out I could still see that my stepdad's car wasn't in the parking spot. That made the hair on the back of my neck stand up as goosebumps started crawling all over my body.
The phone started ringing, which made me slightly jump. I saw that it was my mom's work number calling. I answered it, but instead of hearing my mom's voice I heard a low, raspy cough. "Emma, was that you?" My mom asked, "Are you sick?" My body froze. I tried to speak but nothing came out. My mom called my name out a few more times, and I still couldn't gather my words. I didn't want to hang up the phone, because there was someone or something in my house. After a few seconds, the phone got disconnected. I looked at it to see that it was dead. The only other phone in my house was in the basement. And I did not dare to go down there.
