A story I had to write for my English class

Night Terror

By Elizabeth Scott

            Susan jolted awake, a pit in her stomach. What had woken her? Was that glass breaking? Susan reached for her glasses; all she could think was, did I lock the door? She could hear footsteps and a low grunt. She fumbled in the dark for the phone and dialed 911, but the line was dead. Goose bumps covered Susan’s arms as she stumbled out of bed. Who could possibly be in her house, was it a robber? She ran to the dresser and grabbed her purse dumping it all over the floor. She dropped to her knees searching for her cell phone. Susan could hear shuffling footsteps on the creaky stairs. She had to think of something soon the intruder would be at her door any moment.

She still could not find her cell phone, and then she remembered it was down stairs, charging on the kitchen counter. There was a flash of blue light and the house shuttered with the ear-splitting roar of thunder. Then an even worse sound found its way to Susan’s ears, it was a scratching at the door. She froze in terror, sweat rolled down her neck, she was shivering so badly she could not stand up. Susan gathered all of her courage and shouted, “Is someone there?” there was a low moan but nothing else. She tried again this time yelling so loud her voice cracked, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?” this was met with fists pounding against the door and a growl from the intruder.

Why didn’t they open the door? Susan crawled to the bed and pulled herself up; she had to find a weapon or a place to hide. The door trembled with the force of a body slamming into it. Susan ran to her bathroom and searched for something to defend herself. She could hear the wood giving way, what was she to do? She grabbed a can of hair spray and a pair of scissors an walked in to the bedroom. Hair spray in her left hand and scissors in the right she waited for the door to give way.

Suddenly the banging stopped. Susan strained her ears but all she could hear was the thunder. What was going on? She waited five minutes then ten and still did not hear anything. Susan slowly walked to the door and opened it. There on the floor was a body covered with blood. “What the” whispered Susan as she leaned over to get a better look, it was her neighbor Mr. Walker. Susan reached down to check for a pulse and he lunged at her grabbing her arm.

Susan pulled her arm free of his grasp and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. She snatched her cell off the counter and ran for the door, which was hanging, by a hinge. She ran down the street her bare feet slapping the pavement, rain dripping down her long brown hair. She could see her breath flow out of her mouth in small white clouds. What now?