I was 16 years old. I lived with my parents and my little brother, age 8 at the time, in one of the more safe and quiet places in the country. We lived in a three floor house with 7 more identical ones on the block. That day, my parents went out for a walk leaving me and my young brother home alone, which wasn’t unusual. I wasn’t allowed access to my phone whenever I want, with my parents not allowing me to. I didn’t have my phone back then.
It was 10 pm, when I was watching TV that I heard the doorbell ring. I didn’t know who would be there as seldom that it ever happens. I went downstairs and out into the narrow corridor that led to the garage, and faced the front door. I didn’t have any means of knowing who was out the door but to ask “Who was there?”. No response. I called a couple more times and nothing happened. I assumed that it could be my neighbors’ kid, who brings us some fruits and vegetables from their farm, or a homemade meal. They do that about once every 1-2 months. So I opened the heavy metal door, only to be met by a woman who covered her face with a black veil and a black robe, which was the traditional clothing for women in the area. She was surprised to see me visually, I couldn’t identify who she was, nor expect her age.
I asked “What do you want?” , she hesitantly responded “Are your parents at home?”. Foolishness from me to respond “No.” without knowing who she was. She then asked if I could give them their numbers so that she would contact them, or she will give me her number for my parents to contact. I told her that I would bring a paper and a pen for her to write her number, where I made a very big mistake. I left the metal door open. I was regretting it as I was going back into the house, thinking of the worst case scenarios that could happen. I brought the pen and paper as quickly as I could, and cautiously went back to the metal door scanning all around me. Thankfully there was nobody who entered the garage. I opened the door and fully exited the garage. As I handed the pen and paper, two identical hatchback cars fled the road, two cars that I couldn’t see before apparently hiding behind other parked cars in front of the houses. The woman started screaming “No, No, wait”. My heart jumped to my throat as I was frozen standing there.
She picked up her phone and called somebody, asking for her own number. She wrote down the number and her family name all the while I was standing there shocked and motionless. She handed over the paper, and I took it without bothering to ask who those people were. I locked the metal door and placed the paper on the table. Those people inside those cars could have probably taken me out. They could have hid around the corner connecting the corridor and the garage. They could have kidnapped me, killed me or robbed the house, or did similar to my brother. Especially if they were expecting him to open the door.
I waited for my parents with no means of communicating with them till they come back. I told them the story excluding the part where the two cars fled the scene. I don’t know why. I may have thought they will get too worried for our own good. They told me that it could have been a robbery, and I shouldn’t have opened the door. About the phone number, they decided not to call it. I don’t know why and I didn’t ask.
I hoped it would end there. But no. The next day my parents were gone too. The doorbell rang at a similar hour. I went to the garage and asked who was there, no response. So I just said it again very loudly. The same voice of that woman responded, “are your parents home?” . Foolishness from me again, I said no, not knowing who was there, but this time, the door was locked. Moments of silence were broken with the sound of her footsteps leaving away, and I returned home. I didn’t tell my parents about it. Had I opened the door it could have ended differently know that they knew who to expect.