Arriana's Return

Arianna's Return - chapter 1

Chapter One

Marianna tried ignoring the knocking on the door for a few minutes and hoped it would go away, but it turned into a hard pounding. She sat up in bed and shook her husband.

"Scott! Wake up." Marianna shook her slumbering husband who snored in return. "Come on someone is pounding on the door!" 

"So? Ignore it they'll go away. Go back to sleep," her husband mumbled sleepily.

"They're not going away. Go see who it is!"

"You go. I'm trying to sleep."

"You're going to let your old, frail wife go answer the door at four in the morning? What if it's a deranged, psychotic killer?" Marianna asked half to herself and to her husband.

"Do you honestly think a deranged, psychotic killer would knock on the door first?" Scott grumbled, reluctantly waking up. "And you are not an old frail woman, woman."

"If he's deranged enough he just might," she told him insulted that he thought it was not possible.

"Woman you have officially lost your mind and you're forty. You are not old. If you were seventy I might go but you're not. So you go answer the damn door if you're so worried but I'm telling you it's probably just a bunch of kids," he told her.

"Fine but if it turns out that there is a deranged murderer on the other side and he kills me, I'm haunting you until you die," the upset woman said in a huff as she walked out the bedroom door.

"Well then let's hope he offs us both," Scott whispered loudly hoping not to wake their sleeping daughter.

Shooting him an icy glare she turned the corner and headed toward the stairs, the pounding started once again. She stared down at the big, red front door from the landing of the stairs and took a deep breath.

"Here goes," she said quietly to the dark.

She then proceeded to descend the stairs, taking them two at a time. Reaching the door, she was not sure if she should be upset someone was knocking on the door so early in the morning or concerned that someone may be hurt or worried if it really was a deranged sociopath. As she unbolted the door she took a deep and grabbed the umbrella from the stand.

"What are you going to do with that?" Scott asked his wife startling her as he sat on the bottom of the steps.

"Did you have to do that?" she asked glaring at him trying to get her heart out her throat, "I'm going to beat the killer with it that's what and I thought you were too tired to come down here. Isn't that why I'm being the man and answering the door?" Marianna whispered to her snickering husband.

Sitting there Scott looked at her, "You're going to beat a deranged, psycho killer with a nylon and one-fourth inch thick flimsy metal? Oh no don't bruise the bad man. Anyway, I figured I would come and watch the fight. I could use a good laugh right now."

Marianna reached for the doorknob wishing her husband had just stayed in bed, "Sarcasm is not needed from the peanut gallery."

"Well, I just don't see how Danni's blue ducky umbrella is going to protect you from this killer who is knocking on our door. Which I must say it is awfully polite of him instead of just breaking down the door like any other crazy person."

"Shut up Scott." She shot her husband another icy stare starting to get irritated him.

Taking another deep breath she got the umbrella ready and pulled open the door.

Puzzled she looked around. "Hello? Is anybody there? Scott, nobody is there," Marianna said exasperated.

"I told you to ignore it and they would go away but do you listen to me? Nope. You just had to come downstairs and defend your home with that umbrella. Not even the big one at that. I'm going back to bed," Scott said laughing as he stood; he was wondering how she intended to beat down a maniac.