𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ~𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚

"Hey", he whispered as he placed a hand on her arm. He roused her from her sleep, her eyes slowly opened.

"Hey", she whispered back as she rubbed her eyes and glanced around the dark living room. "I guess I must've dozed off".

"It's alright", he said as he sat down on the couch beside her, she was still lying down, a blanket covering her body.

"You're always welcome here", he kissed her on the lips. "You know that".

She smiled back. "What time is it anyways?" She asked as she looked around for an object that could answer her question.

He rifled through his pocket and took out his phone, he promptly switched it on. "About... two am".

"Two? That's really late, where were you anyways?"

"Out, just listening to some music in my car". He sounded a bit suspicious as he ran a hand through his hair and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Until two am?" She asked, a hint of disbelief in her tone.

"Yeah, until two am", he confirmed with a slight edge in his tone.

She exhaled slowly and readjusted her position on the couch. Her long straight hair covered a section of her face and he lovingly placed it back into place. "Thanks".

"Don't mention it".

"Are you going to bed?"

"Uhh, yeah, probably".

"Maybe I should head back then", she moved to stand up but he gently pulled her back towards the couch to sit on his lap. She swatted his chest but he began to laugh. She finally gave up and placed her head on his chest. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat was soothing, comforting. She inhaled his scent and closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep once more. She placed a tiny kiss on his cheek and sighed happily. He smiled back and relaxed on the couch, he slowly closed his eyes as well and everything faded to black.

~

The phone ringing woke them both up from a pleasant slumber. She groaned and detached herself from him. She crawled tiredly on the ground in search of the noisemaker. He groaned and rapidly rubbed his eyes. He glanced at the windows, even though the curtains were drawn, it was still pretty dark outside.

"Where's that damn phone?" She asked aggressively as she stood up to her full height. The living room was still very much dark and she could barely see anything. She switched on a tiny lamp and retreated to the coat rack. She rifled through her jacket pocket and took out her phone, it was not the noisemaker. She was now fully awake; her eyebrows were knitted in confusion. She went back into the living room. "It's not mine", she clarified as she placed her hands on her hips. "Where's yours?" She asked in return.

He patted the couch and extracted his phone from behind a pillow, the phone was dark, the battery was dead, probably has been for a while now.

"What the hell?" She muttered as the phone continued to ring. He got up and they both listened carefully, their eyes both shot up to the ceiling as they realized where the sound was coming from. "Billy", she whispered as they both heard a creak. "I think there's someone upstairs". She grabbed his arm and stood behind him. He slowly walked to the staircase but then glanced back.

"Get a knife".

She left his side; she rapidly and noiselessly retrieved a big sharp knife from the drawer. She returned and handed it to him, he clutched it in his hand tightly. They advanced forward in unison, careful not to make a sound. The staircase was dark as was the entirety of the second floor. He placed a hand on the banister to guide himself, she did the same as well but her right hand remained on his arm. When they reached the top, they both glanced around, trying to determine where the phone was. Their ears finally closed in on the location of the sound, it was coming from Billy's bedroom at the end of the hall. He glanced back to look at her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Maybe you should stay back". His eyes were pleading with her, he did not want her to get hurt, especially since he really had no idea what was going on.