The Terror Next Door (Based on a True Story)

25)Sneak Attack

Later that night once everyone was fast asleep, a soft whimper woke Sophia. Napoleon was right beside her, using his wet nose to gently touch her forehead. The dog whimpered again. Sophia sighed. Sleeping on her grandmother's uncomfortable couch bed wasn't ideal. It took her awhile to finally fall asleep every night. Even though this was a minor wake up, it meant Sophia would have trouble falling asleep for a while. Glancing at her cell phone, it was nearly two in the morning. "Don't tell me, you want to go outside?" rasped Sophia bitterly. She hated having to look for her shoes and jacket this late. By the time she did that and took Napoleon outside for ten minutes, she would be wide awake. No part of her would be able to fall back asleep.
Napoleon provided another soft whimper, a low and throaty sound. Although she couldn't see him, she could tell his big brown eyes were watching her intently. This wasn't his usual behavior to go outside. Typically, the large dog was loud, giving a mighty bark as he waited patiently by the front door. That's what he did at home and at Grandma Diana's house. "Do you want water?" asked Sophia, slowly pulling herself up from the couch. Napoleon touched her pajama clad knee with his nose, again looking up at her. Sophia frowned. Her knee suddenly felt wet. Using two fingers to gently touch the moisture, Sophia found the substance sticky.
It was dark in the living room. Nearly pitch black. The only light that was visible at night was the small overhead light that Alex kept on as she slept. But the light wasn't on tonight. Sophia could hear Alex snoring softly, but her light wasn't on, making it impossible to see in the dark.

Not being able to find her cell phone to use her flashlight app, Sophia wandered over to where she knew Alex was sleeping on the other couch. There was a lamp sitting in the small desk besides Alex's feet. Sophia blindly used her hands to guide herself, fishing around for the light switch. Only, it didn't go on once Sophia clicked it. She flicked it back and forth a few times, annoyed no light was flicking on. Mumbling grumpily under her breath, Sophia looked to see if there was another way to turn the light on only to find something strange. She gasped as she accidently touched a hot light bulb. "What the hell..." Sophia mumbled. Her eyes were having trouble adjusting to the dark, but she was certain the hot lightbulb had been intentionally screwed out of the lamp. Alex had gotten herself a battery powered lightbulb lamp. She was now afraid of the dark after her near-death encounter. In Alex's mind, this battery powered bulb could last longer than a regular lamp. It didn't make sense to her, but Sophia wasn't going to argue the point with her sometimes harebrained sister.
Napoleon gave a shudder and touched Sophia with his nose again. His behavior wasn't normal. Typically, the dog would go to Alex, Joe, or Colin to be taken out during the day. It was abnormal for him to seek Sophia out specifically. Then again, Alex was a notoriously sound sleeper. She most likely wouldn't hear the dog if it started barking right beside her. Reaching down to give him a reassuring pat on the side, Sophia stiffened. That was when she noticed there was an object sticking out of her dogs' side. Her hands slowly pat what felt like a knife.
A nice display of something warm was issuing from where the object was stuck. Sudden footsteps alerted Sophia that they were not along in the large and dark living room. She could make out a silhouette of someone on the other side of the room through the entry way. A scream became locked in Sophia's throat as an ugly growl started erupting from Napoleon. She could feel his burly body step in front of her and where the sleeping Alex lay. He was blocking them from whomever was in the room. The darkness of the living room was blinding; making it impossible to see the individual Napoleon was looking at. But Sophia knew someone was there. Instinct told her as much. The dogs'ugly growl grew until he started loudly barking. His barks echoed throughout the room.
That was when more noise could be heard. People that were fast asleep on Grandma Diana's second floor started to wake. People were moving to the stairs; Mrs. Summers was complaining that the lights weren't working. But it was another noise that Sophia could hear that had her full attention. The sound of someone running through the kitchen and out the door was suddenly heard. The sudden noise of the dog barking and the people waking startled the intruder enough to run.
There were so many horrible realizations that started coming at Sophia full speed an hour later that it was impossible trying to get ahold of every one of them. It was discovered by the Summers family that not only had someone broken a basement window and gotten into the house, they shut off the main breaker for the entire house's power in the basement. The intruder then went upstairs and intentionally undid the bulb on Alex's battery-operated lamp. Somewhere during that, Napoleon must have found the intruder.
When Mr. Summers had finally gotten the power turned back on from the basement, he found the broken basement window. Upstairs, there was a worse scene. Sophia started screaming once the power came on. Her hands were covered in wet blood. Napoleon had been stabbed to the side with a large knife. Blood was around the room, on her hands, on her pajama bottoms where the dog had been nudging her with his nose. Mrs. Summers urged Sophia and the rest of her crying children not to remove the knife otherwise more damage could be done. The police were then called, meanwhile Colin and Mr. Summers had carried Napoleon to the car to the twenty-four-hour emergency animal clinic that was in Chicago.
It had been an hour and Sophia had yet to hear from her dad or brother regarding her Napoleon. There were so many thoughts Sophia was trying to comprehend, but the most important one was thinking of the stabbed dog.
"You didn't actually see anyone?" asked the young officer who had responded to the call. He held no emotion on his young chubby face, he held a notepad and pen in his hands. His partner was currently questioning Mrs. Summers. The rest of the kids were still frightened, all upstairs and under the care of Grandma Diana.
"Someone broke in, cut the power, and stabbed my dog," muttered Sophia tiredly. She couldn't remove her eyes from the now-caking blood on her hands. The memory of Napoleon nudging her awake was now burning in her mind. He was willing to give his life to protect the family.
"But you didn't actually see anyone?" Although Sophia knew the cop was only trying to thoroughly fill out his report, his questions were annoying.
"Was it the bad-guy cutting the power and leaving us in total darkness that gave that away?" snarled Alex. She looked ridiculous. Her dark hair was wild and untamed; her bandage turban needed another changing. Her dark eyes held heavy circles under them. Alex had yet to be questioned.
"I'm sorry," said Mrs. Summers apologetically. "This has been a very traumatizing night-"
"Instead of questioning us, get over to the Bradshaw residence and arrest that psychopath!" demanded Alex hotly. She ignored her mother's death glare to continue.
"You cops have been useless! My sister was nearly killed by this guy, he murdered our cat, nearly killed us by tampering with my car, and now he was going to stab one of us while we slept!"
"We don't know anything yet," tried the officer weakly before Alex suddenly shot up from the couch.
"DON'T KNOW ANYTHING?! WE HAVE A PREVIOUSLY FILED POLICE REPORT!" she bellowed. "Blake Bradshaw has been harassing my sister for months! Do you hear me?! Months!" Alex flapped her arms wildly. "What the hell, does he need to have 'I DID IT' tattooed on his forehead to get you people to remove your heads from your own asses?!"
While Mrs. Summers tried to calm Alex, the young officer looked uncomfortable. Another individual soon entered the room. It was another cop, an older one that looked to hold more authority than the young cop or his partner. He was dressed in an officer's uniform. He wore salt and pepper gray hair and a bitter demeanor. Sophia could hear her father and brother who just walked back into the house.
"Napoleon's going to be alright," Mr. Summers said tiredly.
Mrs. Summers breathed a heavy sigh of relief as Sophia's eyes welled with tears. "The vet found blood on Napoleon's muzzle," Colin explained hastily as the young officer confided with the older one. "They're pretty sure he bit the person who broke in."
"We found blood by the door in which the suspect fled," explained the older officer to everyone. Judging by the not surprised looks on Colin and Mr. Summers faces, Sophia could tell they had already been briefed on the matter.
"What happens now?" demanded Alex, ignoring the looks her parents threw her.
"We have enough evidence to bring in the Bradshaw boy for questioning," explained the cop.
***