It was a dark and stormy night. I took my coffee with me to the den to work on my latest case. It didn't make any sense so I was toying with different ideas of what might have happened.
Around 9 o'clock, someone rang the doorbell. I went to check who was there but no one was at the door. I just assumed I was hearing things and went back to work.
Around midnight, my eyesight was getting poor, so I went to bed. I woke up to the sound of a door opening. I kept my eyes closed, keeping my breathing even, pretending to be asleep. I opened my eyes slightly only to see someone standing over me with a cleaver. He brought the cleaver back ready to strike.
Assessing my surroundings, my closest exit was the window that led onto the roof of my porch. I rolled to the side out of the way, the attacker missing my shoulder by an inch. I threw the window open, kicking the screen out. I ran to the side of the roof and climbed down the ivy that ran up the side of my house. I jumped to the bottom heading around my house to the back.
My clothing soaking wet and my bare feet slipping in the mud, I knocked frantically on the glass sliding door of my neighbor's house. My neighbor Lorelai runs down the stairs looking disheveled. When she sees me she opens the door without a moment's hesitation.
"Brie! What's going on? It's like two AM!" she asks, concerned.
"I don't know. But someone's in my house with a cleaver."
"Are you ok? Are you hurt..." she gasps when she sees my left shoulder. I look down and see my pyjama shirt sleeve torn and covered in blood. I almost fainted when I realized that the blood belonged to me.
Lorelai runs to the kitchen and grabs a towel. She presses it to my shoulder. The doorbell rings.
"Rori, don't answer it," I say, "You need to call the police!"
"It's probably just your other neighbor," she says walking to the door despite my warning, "He probably just heard a commotion."
In the middle of Rori opening the door I could see it, the mysterious figure but this time he was holding a revolver.
"He's armed! GET OUT!" I yelled, running outside.
I ran through the backyard, the grass still wet with rain, only stopping to pick up a sledge hammer that was laying against the shed. I continued running into the forest that ran behind the row of houses, looking behind every few minutes to check that Rori was still following. I stopped in the middle of a clearing. Nearby there was a pile of wood against the bottom of a tree. Lorelai stopped beside me, her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath.
"Do you hear anything?" she whispered as she struggled to breath normally.
I stopped to listen only to hear a gunshot and feel the bullet imbed itself in the back of my calf. I hear myself scream and get ready to run through the pain.
"Here, give me the sledge hammer," Lorelai says reaching for the handle. I gave it to her knowing I wouldn't be able to lift it with one arm.
I turn to run, when she hits the back of my knees and I fall to the ground. My vision goes blurry and I hear another gunshot. The last thing I remember is the sound of a match lighting and the smell of burning gasoline.
