Unsettling Tales

The Window

I took a sip from my warm coffee mug and placed it besides the book on the table. I hadn't read in a while. My life was getting overloaded with work. I hadn't felt at peace in years after all that had happened. I shifted in my sofa and glanced at the fireplace. The flames were consuming the firewood that I had cut this morning. The way it looked, I thought it would be a nice clear day. A good weekend for me. Away from my work. I wasn't expecting it to snow this bad.

The air inside my room was warm and relaxing. The white walls reflected the yellowish-orange firelight. I felt myself slowly easing off, releasing the tension in my muscles. My eyelids felt heavy, I was struggling to keep them open to watch the window besides the fireplace. It was dark outside, and pretty snowy. Slowly, in this calming space, I gradually drifted off to sleep. I don't know how much time had passed by, but I was awoken by a loud sound.

I opened my eyes in pure shock as I heard the sound. I was immediately pulled away from the relaxing space that just a while back enveloped me. My vision was blurry and my brain was throbbing inside my skull. It pained a lot. I checked the window. Squinting and refocusing my vision at it, to see if by some chance I could see someone looking inside.

No one.

I was confused.

I don't exactly know what I was expecting. Maybe I was expecting to see kids playing with a ball. Or a bird that bumped into the pane. It happened once in a while. But no. The window just showed me the cold white snow, out in the dark woods. Had I experienced one of those jerks you get when you're about to go to sleep? I wondered. I wasn't really sure if I had actually heard a sound or whether it was just my brain trying to fall asleep.

I glanced at the round glass face of the wall clock.

4 O'clock.

The stupid clock was stuck again. The fire was out with just a dim glowing red of the burnt firewood. The room was dark now. The air felt damp and cooler. There was a strange smell in the air. I tried to relax. But before I could, the same sound surrounded the room once again.

I heard it again, I am not imagining it, I realized. A sound that was all too familiar to miss. It was the sound of something falling. Like a metallic tool or a kitchenware. Is there a cat in the kitchen? Or rats maybe?

I pushed myself out of the sofa, my brain still throbbing. I almost spilled the coffee on the table. With my partially blurry vision I started walking towards the direction the sound came from.

The kitchen.

Both cats and rats weren't a surprise for me, they were the only visitors I had. They would slide inside from the tiny holes in the corner of the house or some missing plank. They'd create some mess in the kitchen. Then they'd leave. But I didn't mind, I could use some presence of life apart from me, to keep me company.

As I neared the kitchen door, I heard muffled voices. I turned to see if there was someone in the living room.

No one.

I couldn't see the window now, but I didn't care to go back. As I turned back to the kitchen door, I realized that the voices were coming from inside. I felt a chill run down the back of my neck. My head started to throb faster. My heart began to pound hard. I could feel the pounding in my throat.

At the back of my mind, I knew what was happening. But I didn't want to think about it consciously.

Before I was aware, I had started to walk away from the door, preparing to run upstairs to my bedroom. I didn't want to make any sound, but I also didn't want to get caught by whatever was there in the kitchen before I could make my escape.