I was set up to watch some movies on a summer Texas evening, if you’ve read at all about what’s going on around here it has been very hot. I had read about the blackouts, but you kind of never think it’s going to happen to you. And, well, it happened to me. It was about 10 pm and all the lights were off, the air-conditioner was off, and my plans for a restful evening of movie watching had to be put on hold. God damn it.
I got a beer from the fridge, knowing it would only be cold for so much longer, and cracked it open. I sighed and took a drink as my eyes adjusted to the dark. I walked over to grab some candles and a flashlight. As I was lighting the candles, I saw a figure walk by my window. A man about six feet tall, just striding past my window. Odd.
At first, I didn’t pay much attention, people walk around the neighborhood all the time, it wasn’t THAT late in the evening, and it wasn’t totally out of the question for someone to be out. Then he shined a flashlight through my window. the light swept the room around me revealing my living room and my kitchen to this strange man. Okay, that was weird, but again, I tried to ignore it. At this point, though I could feel a sense of dread creeping up my neck, something wasn’t right with this situation.
As a measure of caution, I went around to each door of my house and made sure it was locked, then I checked the windows, and made sure they were locked too. I was locking the latch on the last window, and then I saw his face, he was a man in his late thirties, with a graying scruff, and steely eyes. He started pounding at the window, and I screamed, leaped back, and ran into my living room. I had to call the police.
I got to my phone while this strange man was still banging furiously at my window. BANG. BANG. BANG. The dial tone took forever. Oh come the fuck on, pick up, please pick up. I don’t know if it was the heat or my fear, but I was sweating profusely.
“Hello, nine one one, what’s your emergency?”
“There’s this man outside my house, he’s banging on my windows, and shining a light through my window!”
“We’ll be there in about twenty minutes, lock all your doors, and then stay where you are”
Fuck, 20 minutes, that’s what I got for trying to live in a quiet neighborhood I guess. So, I sat there gripping my beer, waiting as I was told, and the flashlight shined through the window. Then I heard the man screaming and banging on the window, his face contorted, staring at me. What the fuck was wrong with this guy? BANG! BANG! BANG! again, and that light. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t think it would be any use running to another end of the house, he would just be there, my house wasn’t very big anyway. So, I lived through it, through his banging, and screaming, and his horrible, horrible face. I’ll admit, I started to cry, tears rolling down my cheeks, mucous gathering around my nostrils, how much longer did I have before he just broke into my house? How long did it take for someone to murder a person, surely not any longer than the time it would take for the police to get here. Maybe he would be gone by then, and he’d be on the run to torment some new victim. terrifying, simply terrifying.
I noticed he was screaming something, I couldn’t make it out, I didn’t think it mattered anyway, I didn’t want to know what disgusting things this creep was yelling at me. Probably telling me about how he’s going to tear apart my flesh, or how my ass would taste after he put it in his giant deep fryer. I don’t know, I don’t know what crazy people try to do. I’m a normal god damn person.
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
Fuck, I hated this guy.
I saw the sirens, finally. Thank God. The man was still banging on my window when they arrested him, and I went to answer the door.
“Holy fuck!” the police officer screamed, pushed me aside, and started shooting into my house in one fluid movement. I was crumpled on the floor, confused while the police officer stared into my living room. I turned around and I understood everything. There was a terrible creature, about eight feet wide, with long spindly legs, at least thirty eyes, and horrible, sharp fangs, lying there, twitching on my floor. That man who had scared me so was banging on my windows, and flashing his light to keep that creature away from me.
I’m lucky to be alive, and I’m thinking about moving to a new neighborhood, and maybe a new state.