Is this a dream?

The knock at her door in the middle of the night jolted Anna up from the bed, as if she had been stung with a needle. Her eyes lurked and roamed through the darkness of her room back to the door, where she just heard a knock.

At first, she thought it was a mere hallucination, but she heard it again and again, making it vivid that someone was actually behind her door.

Fear gripped her as she began to pant silently in the darkness of her room, feeling her heart race erratically. It was very late in the night, and everywhere was dead silent and dark, making the knock more frightening.

Her trembling hand brushed up against the wall beside her bed as she reached for the bulb light switch. She was scared to turn on the light, not knowing if it was the right decision.

The person behind the door might be a killer, a robber, or even burglars who are here to steal and harm her.

The knock came again, and she could feel her cheeks heat up while her eyes burned in tears. No one was with her in the house, and the gate was locked, so it was clear that the person out there must be dangerous and was here for a bad reason. Her stepmother was out for a business trip for months.

Anna was just a 19-year-old girl who had dropped out of high school at her final year because there was no money, after her parents died, leaving her with her wicked stepmother, who seemed to have vowed to be an affliction and a source of misery in her life.

Her hellfire was already on earth, and her stepmother was the devil, who was sent to harrow her heart with pain and feed her with severe torment every day of her life.

Her mother died when she was 17, and her father followed suit when she turned 18 after getting married to another woman. Anna had thought it was another chance to feel the love of a caring mother when her father introduced the new lady he had in his life, whom he planned to marry.

Her father had reassured her that she would enjoy the company of the woman because she was nice and had a soft heart.

Lisa was introduced into her life as the stepmother, and it was all pretense at first. She acted so nice and good that no one would ever believe how ruthless she could be. Her parents were dead and now her life had been a mere- staying in the slum and facing the harsh treatment from her step mother.

Anna let out a deep sigh and glanced at the door again. She thought of ignoring the knock and lying back on her bed, but it didn't seem like the right choice for her. If the person gets enraged over her snub and breaks down the door, it would be a worse situation for her.

With a deep breath and clenched jaw, Anna flicked on the switch quietly, and the entire room brightened up in a snap. She instinctively darted her gaze back at the door.

The knock didn't come again. Everywhere went dead silent, like nothing had happened. The creepy knock at her door stopped as if it were waiting for the light she just turned on.

Her lips clenched in fear as she stared intently at her door, unsure of what to do next.

Anna began to wonder who could be at her door at such a time of the night, knocking desperately but also coming to a stop when she turned on her light.

It was frightening, and she was literally having goosebumps.

The first thought she had was that it was a burglar trying to get in and steal from her, but now that she waited to hear the knock again and couldn't even sense any presence behind the door, it made her heart tug in even greater fear.

Could the house be haunted by ghosts? Or she just had a hallucination in the dark out of hunger and stress?

All these she pondered to herself, tucking her knees to her head and hugging them to herself as she arched her eyebrows, frightened.

Anna glanced at the clock and saw it was past 1 a.m.

Her eyes were still heavy for sleep since she just got to bed late, at around 11 p.m, after returning from her double jobs of a waitress and pizza deliverer, which earn her money to survive from hunger.

"Maybe I was wrong. No one banged at the door." She hissed and was about to switch off the light and lie back when her ears caught a deep grunt right behind her door. This time, she was sure she heard the male voice that just grunted like it was in deep pain.

Her heart began to race, and beads of sweat quickly formed on her forehead. She couldn't understand how someone could be at the door of the house at this time of the night.

Slowly, she left the bed, putting on her slippers as she tied her hair in a ponytail and dressed in her nightgown, before moving to the edge of the bed to pick up her baton.

She doesn't even know if she would be able to use that on someone, and even her grip on it wasn't tight enough to use it in a fight. She was just in a panic about the deep groan behind her door in the middle of the night.

She would have ignored whoever was there and gone back to bed if he hadn't started groaning endlessly, like he was calling out for her. She doesn't really know if it was a trick to draw her out or if the person was truly calling out for help. That was why she had the baton.

If it was the former, then the weapon might do a little to help her fight back.

Her stepmother isn't someone she can call on the phone for help.

Lisa had given her a phone and warned her never to call her for any reason. The phone was only to be used if Lisa had any messages for her.

With her baton set up for a strike, she tiptoed towards the door, her bright blue eyes wide open as the rush of adrenaline rushed through her veins.

"Who are you? And what are you looking for at my door?" She finally spoke up after gathering enough courage, but there was no response to her question. A minute later, she heard the voice again.

"Is someone...in...there...? Please...take me in before they find me..." The embodied, deep voice sounded behind the door, laced with fright.

The baton dropped from her grasp as she sprinted to the door, quickly unlocking it and opening it wide, allowing the light in her room to radiate on the muscular, blonde-haired young man sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall right beside her door.

He was panting, and the moment he realized the door had been opened for him, he sighed in relief and raised his head, turning his gaze in her direction.

Their eyes met, and it felt like magic to Anna as she froze with her jaw dropping and unable to move as her eyes stuck on him.

Anna felt her heart stop instantly, right inside her chest, before it began to race hard. She couldn't believe her eyes, as it all felt like a dream. She had seen this man before. She had crushed hard on him and drooled over how handsome and wealthy he was, but it had all been in a magazine, and seeing the figure in front of her made all those pictures in magazine look ugly.

He was drop dead gorgeous and charming with his messy blonde hair, giving him the bad boy look.

His sexy amber brown eyes were hypnotic, and as they peered into her eyes, it felt like they were capturing her soul and drowning her into their depths.

Anna was lost, and it all seemed like the world had come to an end with everything vanishing right in front of her eyes, leaving just herself and the man in front of her door.

If the man had ever had wings, she could swear he was one of the fallen angels. Everything about him was perfect and seductive. He was dressed in a black singlet and khaki pants, revealing a full sleeve tattoo on his left hand and another that ran up to the side of his neck. It was a broken heart tattoo.

On his left wrist was a pure gold watch, and the necklace he was wearing was also a pure stone diamond that glinted in the light in her room. Even his messy brown hair looked so well cared for and made him so hot as it scattered over his forehead.

He had dreamy eyes, and as he looked at her, Anna lost her senses and felt her brain go blank. His aura and essence were magical in every way.

Something about the young man made her heart clench like the love-at-first sight stories she'd always heard. But that couldn't be with a man she knew was out of her league. Now, how did he get to her doorstep?

"Why are you just staring at me without helping. Are you letting me in or not?" The young man finally spoke out in a frustrating voice, and Anna flinched at how his voice sounded. It was smooth and deep in a pleasing way, also revealing his gleaming white teeth as he talked.

He stood to his feet, revealing his 6'1 athletic stature, leaving Anna gasping in admiration as she looked up at him with her 5'2 figure.

"How did you get here? I've seen your face in magazines and on TV, and I know you are a billionaire. How...." Anna stuttered, peeping around to see if she could find her answer.

"Some wicked boys are after me. I've been running for long...I'm exhausted and can't even talk properly.." he breathed, and his eyes fluttered as he leaned against the wall tiredly, panting silently.

Anna began to hear voices and distant footsteps lurking over the fence around the house, and that was when it became clear that the man in front of her was not lying.

His life was really in danger.

"Are they the...."

"Yes..." He responded even before she could finish asking.

"Come in before they find you out here!" She whispered in a frightening tone.

"Help me to walk; I am totally weak here," he grumbled with slouching shoulders, and Anna carefully led him into the room with his arm across her shoulder, while she shakily wrapped her arm around his waist. Her heart was racing, and she could hear herself panting for breath against her wishes. The feelings were weird but heartwarming.

Strangely, her dream was just coming true. The man she could only wish to see one day clung to her body, his intoxicating cologne taking over her mind.

"If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up." she mused.