1 CHAPTER 1 - The Beginning

The day is getting dark already when Katherine returns home and ensures she locks the door behind her again. She paces the door, wringing her hands, peering out the window, and rechecking every potential insecure opening. She fidgetingly moves in and prepares what to eat. The police are aware of her situation and they patrol round the neighborhood.

Suddenly, a knock sounds on the door. She never expects a visitor, not even at this time of the night and at this moment in her life but she summons courage and moves slowly to the door to check who it might be and discovers it's the house agent who just came around to check up on her. After a little while, he leaves and she goes to bed.

In the dead of the night, everywhere is dark and Katherine is fast asleep but suddenly wakes up at a shocking sound from the sitting room downstairs. She gets up and moves out of the room tiptoeing to check what it could be. The closer she gets, the louder the sound is becoming. "What or who could it be?" She thinks being terrified.

As she gets to the edge of the stairs, the sound stops but she notices a motion on the lower floor. Her breathing stops. A light in one of the rooms in the down floor flicks on and off. The curtains sway.

She couldn't move anymore being already at the last step of the stairs. She just stands there trembling, turning back and forth in a slow pace. Then, she abruptly notices a shadow close to the door that leads to where she is standing.

"A stranger in my house, could it be the person stalking me all this while?" She asks herself while still shivering.

As she decides to take a few steps back up the stairs, her wristwatch makes a sound which alerts the stranger in the house of her position. She notices a swift movement of the shadow and hurriedly runs upstairs to pick her phone so she could place a call through to the cops.

Terrifyingly, she hears heavy footsteps approaching her door and runs to lock it but it is too late as the stranger already holds the door. They drag it as he pushes from outside while she tries to close from inside. The force is more than she can handle, so she falls on the floor as he vehemently pushes the door. Then, he walks in and grabs her, covering her mouth so she finds it difficult to scream.

"You can never run away from me. You belong to me. You are mine and no one else's. How could you sleep with another man, a married man? And now, you are pregnant for him." He says as Katherine struggles to break free from him and moves towards the stairs. "I mean he doesn't like you like I do. He is married. He doesn't want to leave his wife. So, stay still or I will have to make you." He adds as he rushes at her and holds her ferociously.

Katherine struggles and almost has her way down the stairs but being overwhelmed with rage, the man throws a punch at her so hard that she falls from the force of it, off the edge of the staircase and straight down the stairs she rolls uncontrollably, having her head hitting the ground with a dull thud and her neck broken. She twitches for a moment while bleeding and then becomes motionless.