Chapter Four

I stood at the top of a basement door. It almost resembled the basement door of the new home that I just purchased. I could hear two people arguing at the bottom of the stairs. They were just around the corner from the landing, and I was unable to see the people. Why were two men arguing in my basement? The thought crossed my mind. As I stood at the top of the stairs suddenly, a loud shot rang out. It was so loud it seemed to vibrate the kitchen windows where the basement door was located. 

Someone had fired a gun at the bottom of the stairs. After the shot rang out, I could hear heavy footfalls running from the basement and headed for the stairs. I quickly ducked into the closet that was next to the basement door. I could hear the person reaching the top of the steps. When I peeked through the door, the person was already gone. The voices had not sounded familiar to me. 

Was someone dead in my basement? My heart rate began to thunder in my ears. I slowly made my way to the basement. Each step took me closer to what awaited down below. I knew that whatever the scene, it was not going to be pretty. I finally reached the last stairs and turned my body to look around the corner. Just past the washer and dryer that sat at the bottom of the stairs was man lying face down on the cement floor. 

Before I could stop myself, I began to scream. Even with all my past trauma, I was not ready to see a dead body in my home. Nothing could prepare you for that. As I continued to scream, I felt myself waking from the dream that I was currently having. It took a moment until I was aware of my true surroundings. 

I was lying on my couch in the living room of my new home. I sat up quickly. Still clutching my blanket to my chest. I waited for a moment. Worried that I would hear that gun shot once more. When everything around me was quiet, I pulled the blanket for my body and walked in the direction of the basement stairs. 

I needed to see for myself that what was in my dream was not waiting for me downstairs. I reached for the light switch that hung on the wall through the basement door. I looked around the stairs. Nothing was a miss. I took the stairs at the same pace as in my dream. 

When I finally got to the bottom, I was relieved that the cement floor was void of a dead body lying face down with blood coming from underneath the body. I left my breath out slowly and turned on my heel to head back up the stairs.

"Stay." I stilled. Had I just heard something? It was almost so quiet as the wind that whipped outside of the basement window. I looked over my shoulder but saw nothing. It must have been my imagination playing with me so soon after a nightmare. 

I walked up the basement stairs and looked over the clock on the stove. 4am. Great. I was not going to be able to go back to sleep for some time. By the time I would probably end up falling asleep, I would just have to be up once more. I walked over to the coffee maker that sat in the corner of the kitchen and began to brew a cup. 

I stood by the counter, waiting for my coffee, replaying my dream in my head. It had felt so real. How was that possible? I rubbed my eyes a couple of times, trying to get rid of the fog that currently hovered over me. I also thought about the noise downstairs. It had sounded like a voice, but that wasn't possible. No one had been down there with me. 

The coffee maker chimed, letting me know that coffee was ready. I gathered a few things from the fridge and brought them over a long with a cup. Once my coffee was made, I wandered back into the living room and sat back on the couch. I grabbed my phone and began scrolling through boards for the house. 

It did not take long to finish the coffee in my cup. I walked it back into the kitchen. As I did so a large form of a man stood at the sink. His back to me and he stared out into the back yard. A scream was trapped in my throat and my entire body was frozen. 

The man must have heard my entry. He slowly turned around. I was met with the bluest eyes I had ever seen. They had the ability to bore into one’s sole. He took one step towards me, and I suddenly came out of my immobile state. The cup slipped from my fingers. The cup shattered as it met with the linoleum of the kitchen floor. 

I did not wait for the man to react. I did a 180 and ran for the front door. Once I got to the bottom of the front stairs I turned around and looked back at the house. The man was standing in one of the windows of the second floor. It was the master bedroom window that overlooked from the front of the house. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed 911. 

A cops showed up a few minutes later. His lights were off. He pulled up close to the curb and exited his police cruiser. He was a taller man with a medium build. You could tell that he worked out regularly. He had light blonde hair that was combed over to one side. The name on his chest read Allen. 

"Morning Miss. We got a call about an intruder?" He asked and he came to stand in front of me. I pointed to the house and told him what had occurred before he arrived. 

"The man is not in the window now. Let me look around. Please stay out front." I nodded and watched as he walked into my house. It took him 10 minutes until he came back out the front door. No one walked beside him. 

"No one was in there from what I could see. Either they ran off or...." He let his voice trail off. 

"Or it was a ghost?" I finished. I could not believe this town. The office shrugged and handed me a card. It had a case number typed on the front of it along with the officer’s name. 

"If the man returns, please call us. For now, I would make sure that you change the locks. Have a good rest of your day ma'am." The officer walked back to his police car. This was ridiculous. I had at least hoped he would reassure me. Now I felt even more like a looney. 

I tucked the card into my pocket along with my phone and headed back towards the house. I went inside long enough to make sure that everything was locked up and I was ready to go to the hardware store. The cops advised me on new locks and that is exactly what I was going to do.