Pursuit

(Night Time, the next day)

I found myself in the kitchen again. This time making orange chicken. I poured a cup of orange juice, a half of a cup of barbeque sauce, some onion powder and salt and mixed the marmalade with the diced chicken on the stove.

(Pound, Pound, Pound- coming from the front door)

I startle easily, so this blew it out of the park. I sat in the kitchen for a second, visibly seeing the front door and pondered who even could be here at this time. I barely even know anyone.

I slowly walk to the front door and look out of the window, but I don't see anything. I didn't open the door because you're never supposed to do that. When someone opens the door in a scary movie what happens? The killer usually gets them and then they die this "tragic" death. So I sure wasn't opening it up. So i decided to make my way back to the kitchen to finish cooking.

(Bang, Bang, Bang)

What the hell, didn't I just not see anything.

This time it was at the basement door. I could hear something bagering at the door all the way through my kitchen upstairs.

This time I wasn't scared, I was angry. I rushed downstairs to see a girl hollering at the door. I grabbed the broom I left by the stairs the other night and held it like a longsword from the crusades.

I slowly cracked the door and shouted, how are you and what do you want?

The girl replied, "Alexa, help please. He's after me, he fa-fa-fallowed me up here and he's somewhere in the woods watching us".

A brief shiver followed from my spine all the way to my brain. I relapsed and remembered something from not too long ago. The dark forest, the cold air and the whisps of evil haunted me thoughts from when Malcolm was around.

The relapse sunk back in and the hollers from this girl brought me back into reality. The girl started crying and pleading. All of the sudden, I heard a shout from the woods and instinct took over and I yanked this girl right inside.

She hugged me in anguish.

This isn't over, I explained.

I turned off the lights and told her to follow me up stairs. From there, the girl sat on a stool in the kitchen. I turned off a few lights and gazed through the window. I heard this man. But I didn't see him. He could practically be anywhere on the property. Standing around for a few moments I rush to the front door just to make sure it's locked.

I grab my phone out of my pocket and call 911.

"A girl showed up to my house, someone's after her, a man is walking around my property", I blurted out barely having any breath left.

"Maam, what's your address and have you seen this man?", the respondent asked.

"It's 719 Burbank Road. And noo i haven't seen this man", I nervously answered.

*Boo*

"The-the-the man is at the front door!", I shouted.

The grim, dark, slim face implanted through the glass. The man's eyes bulged out of his head like a maddened asylum patient and his teeth, the few that he had drug against the glass; creating this eerie screech.

My phone slipped right out of my hand, the respondent still talked and told us to run and hide.

My motherly instincts kicked in and I grabbed Alexa and hid in one of the huge and quite extensive cabinets in the kitchen. Alexa cowered on the floor, but I stood in front of her. For a moment I looked around and saw something wonky. There was a gap from the backboard of the closet to the floor. Pushing Alexa out of the way I forced my hand through and the board was able to be lifted up. Behind this board was a ladder that would consequently go up to my bedroom. Before I reached the top, I pushed the fake wall cover back down. Both me and Alexa climbed up and actually came behind this long hallway that connected to my closet in my bedroom. From there Alexa sat down in an old chair in the hallway while I peered through the long hallway.

(Creeeeak)

"I think he's down there", Alexa hinted.

I didn't heat any door open, I hope it's just the house settling, I pleaded.

(Arrival of 911)

"Maam there's no traces of anyone still being here, they must have taken off by foot", the officer said concernedly

What about Alexa, what am I supposed to do with her?

"Maam we have no identification on her, we can take her to child services though" .

No, it's okay she can stay the night and then we'll talk more about it in the morning.

As the officers left, I held Alexa and we walked inside.

I led Alexa to the couch, she nervously sat right on the edge.

Who was this man and why was he after you in the woods?, I asked.

"He's my father, mmmmy mom left a few weeks ago and it was just me and him. But, he started drinking again and when he drinks he does bad things. So, I threw his beers away and he was pissed off, not like he usually was; this time it was serious. He started shouting and breaking things by throwing them at the wall, and then he came into my room and he tried getting in bed with me. I ran out of the door and then he ran after me with a knife in his hand. I just ran through the woods and didn't look back. That's pretty much how i got here", she explained.

I looked up and knew she wasn't kidding. I can still see the shiver within her eyes.

You can stay here as long as you want, you don't have to worry about a thing, I said.

Thank you for everything, Alexa quietly exclaimed.

I'll show you where you can sleep tonight.