I just started working full-time as a professor at the University in the next town over a few months ago and I truly love my job, my students are all wonderful and very hard working people so to me, work does not really feel like work at all.
Another new professor has just joined today, he is taking over for the elderly Chemistry teacher in the class room next to mine who unfortunately had just lost his wife and could not work for a while. It is only polite for me to introduce myself.
I approach his classroom, knocking softly on the door and open it.
“Hello?” I mumble as i step inside.
I see him standing at the window, looking out into the courtyard. He is very handsome, about 6ft tall, dark hair, a little muscular and has an outdated fashion sense, he kind of dresses like he should have been born 30 years earlier.
“Hello there, how can I help you?” he looks at me with a glowing smile on his face.
“Hello, My name is Blake” I say, “I teach Biology, I thought I would come and introduce myself” - he takes a while to respond and is just kind of staring at me with that same wide beaming smile, it is a little unnerving but he seems to be kind.
“Hello Blake, my name is David”, he pauses, “It is so lovely to finally meet you”
What does he mean by “finally”? - I brush it off.
I can’t tell if it is a little creepy or if he’s just genuinely a really happy person but either way, I am kind of feeling a little awkward but i ignore it and smile back. We continue some small talk, say goodbye and I head back to my class to begin my lessons.
-
The day comes to an end I pack my things up and dismiss the final class. I notice David is kind of just, hanging out by my class room door watching me and I assume he is waiting for me to leave and tell him I have a few things to do and that he should probably go home, he smiles at me and nods and without saying a word, I watch him walk to his car from my classroom window, he drives a beautiful classic Mercedes, I have only ever seen a car like that once before but that was a few years ago, they must be rare.
I make a few stops on my way to the car park to speak to students who have questions and whom I need to return marked coursework to, I say goodbye to my colleagues and I walk into the carpark, get my car and head home.
As I turn the corner into my street I notice the same classic Mercedes I saw David getting into, sitting in the driveway across my home.. “David?” I said out-loud to myself, almost in complete shock, I suddenly feel uneasy..
I am unsure if I am mistaken but that house has not been for sale since I moved to this town… I could swear there was an older couple living there? Although I never really saw them myself, I know I had never seen that classic Merc sitting in the driveway across from mine before.. I pull up to my house and jump out the car. I consider going over to see if it really is him but decide not to, I am just going to head inside. I will speak to him tomorrow.
-
I make dinner and sit on the sofa, I spend my evening just scrolling through TikTok, my students always make little references to trending videos and make fun of me because I do not understand what they are talking about so they convinced me to download it, I think it is a little silly but I understand why they love this app so much, some people on here are really funny.
The night gets late and I hear a knock on my window. I pretty much jump out of my skin.
I get up and walk over to my window to peek through the curtain, there is no one there.. maybe it was just a cat or something? I brush it off and go to sit back down but the second I sit down on the sofa, I hear it again, but this time it was heavier.. I think I am going to ignore it.. or at least I try, but every knock that I ignore follows with another and it just grows louder and louder, I can’t focus on anything at this point and I am kind of shitting myself.
I gather some courage and sneak over to the window again, very carefully peering through the curtains, I can’t see anything.. The streetlights light up the road at night, I would be able to see if there was anything out there. I kind of start to panic a little and lock all of my windows and doors and decide to go to bed.
I try my best to fall asleep but i am getting an overwhelming feeling that I am being watched.
-
I didn’t get much sleep at all last night, the knocking creeped me out enough to keep me up most of the night and I think my paranoia got the better of me. I manage to eventually drag myself out of bed, take a hot shower and grab a coffee on my way out the door. I get in my car and drive to the University where David is sitting in his vehicle staring at the front entrance. I park up and give him a polite wave to gesture that he gets out of his car and to come inside.
He hesitates but pulls himself out of his car, he looks up at me with that big, glowing smile again and walks towards me, it is starting to make me uncomfortable now, i know it has only been one day and i may be overreacting but I am starting to get a strange feeling about this guy.
I thin I am a little thrown off since seeing his car in my neighbours driveway yesterday..”Hey David, I swear I saw your car parked across from my house yesterday?” I say nervously,”When did you move there? I didn’t even notice it was up for sale..”
David’s smile disappears instantly.”My grandparents own the house, they are away for a while and said I can live at their home until I find a place of my own” he says with a strange blank stare and what could possibly be the most monotone and almost uncanny valley voice i’d ever heard, it almost feels like he is looking through me..
“Oh, right. That is kind of them.” I reply. I mention that we really should head in before we are late to our own classes and we turn to start to walk together, as we arrive at the front door, David stops in his tracks.
“Hey - I am sorry about last night. My brother is in town, he is a little bit strange, he told me you have a beautiful house though, I would love to come over and see it sometime” - My blood ran cold and I become a little angry.
“Your brother was banging on my windows all night?! Please tell him not to do that again! It scared the life out of me! If he does it again I will call the police.”
David just stares at me, seemingly almost like he is insulted that I am upset.
“I know I sound like a bit of a bitch but that was terrifying and I don’t want it to happen again”David says nothing, still staring at me with the same insulted expression on his face..something does not feel right at all. I feel kind of bad for yelling at David about his brother and usually I can stand my ground, but when David looked at me the way he did, i almost felt like i was in danger.
“I am sorry, I will talk to him.” he mumbles under his breath and pushes past me..He did not speak to me for the rest of the day..
-
The late night draws near and I am sitting at home, I really hope David spoke to his brother.. I feel awful about the way i spoke to him before but at the same time I don’t, I was truly terrified. The house was silent, I don’t want to put the TV on or watch TikToks but i decide to read instead so i can keep an ear out for anything just incase.. It is getting late and I haven’t heard anything all night so i decide i should go to bed.
As i make my way up the stairs, i hear the knocking on my window again.
I know it is David’s brother now so i am a little less scared than i was last night but I have to scare him into leaving me alone.. David will be upset but I am absolutely terrified.. I decide to grab my Airsoft handgun from my bedside table and sit in my room. The knocking continues to grow louder and louder. I have had enough, I grab my phone and dial the police.
I sit at the bottom of the stairs and wait. 10 minutes pass and the police arrive. The loud knocking only stopped when I hear the sirens nearby. I leave my phone and my Airsoft gun on my bed and go meet the cops at my front door, as i open the front door and greet the police, I see a man standing in a window of the second floor of the house across the street.
I feel a pit in my stomach, It’s David, he is smiling at me with a big, wide glowing smile.I tell the police to come inside and lock my door.
The police interview me, I tell them everything about the knocking, my new neighbour and his brother.. they stick around my place for two hours or so before heading over to speak to David. I have only known the guy for two days and i have already called the authorities on his relative, I feel like an asshole but him and his brother are really starting to scare me.
Another hour or so passes, the police come back and say they will keep a patrol car around the area for the next few days incase it happens again, but they can’t do much since apparently David’s brother had fled the area when they showed up at my house. They don’t tell me much about the conversation they had with David because I am far too tired to stay up any longer, I thank them and they leave.
I feel a little bit better, i mean, i feel bad for how much of a bitch David must think I am but at least I feel safer for now. It is really late and I have to face him again tomorrow at work, i don’t know what i am going to say to him if i say anything at all but i’ll worry about it in the morning..
I take myself back upstairs and close my bedroom door, i curl up in bed absolutely exhausted and ready to fall asleep when i hear the breeze coming from and open window..I don’t remember opening my window? I sit up to go and close it..
A loud knock comes from inside my closet. I knew i felt like i was being watched last night..