THE HARBOUR [EDITING]

A Stranger In The House - Edited

AUGUST 19TH 9 PM

Marcella pulls into Bleaker Ave in Flint and parks on the street in front of her brother's modest house she gets out of her car, exhausted from her long drive up from Boulder City. As she approaches the threshold of her brother's house, she notices the blinds are closed and the curtain is drawn. She walks up to the door and tugs on the knob, not bothering to knock. After several attempts-realising it won't budge, she begins to pound furiously on the door.

"Wes!" She shouts, not caring about who might hear her. It's half past nine. In a neighbourhood like this, most residents would be indoors by six-minding their business.

Flint is what Marcella would call the stain of Caper's Bay. Imagine a beautiful port town with perfect streets, perfect stores, and perfect people. Now imagine a pile of shit right in the middle. That's Flint. You could argue every town has that one dangerous part of it, the place with all the rot, one where only the worst people lived.

'Worst' doesn't refer to them being murderers- no, things like that don't happen here. They are the worst in other ways. Ways Marcella would rather not find out. As shitty as it is; Flint- Bleaker Ave specifically is still a step up from where she grew up. And an even bigger step up from where she currently lives.

Because unlike Caper and its shitty little cul-de-sac- Boulder City has more than one shit part of town, and frankly- Marcella has had about enough of all that to last a lifetime, for once, she'd like to be away from the shit. So when her brother called her a few days ago, ranting about how things would be better for them- how she wouldn't have to live in the slumps with druggies and criminals anymore. She'd practically skipped everywhere, overtaken by excitement. But that was three days ago. He hasn't been in contact with her for THREE DAYS, making her nothing but angry.

How could he drop that on her and then just ghost? She is furious! So much so that she supposes she's the scariest thing on the block right now.

"I know you're in there, you shit!" She yells, banging louder. Jesus, where is he? She abandons the front door and jogs to the back of the house. She pushes the door hard, stumbling when it easily swings open. It's unlocked! She thinks to herself.

She steadies herself momentarily before proceeding into the house. "Wes?" She calls in a lower voice. Wes wouldn't leave his door open, she thinks wearily. No one would, it's Flint for fuck's sake, only the rich people in their villas down by the harbour do reckless shit like that.

"Wes, are you in here?" She calls, stepping into the living room. It's then she notices the smell, strong and pungent- she stops in her tracks, she's lived a tough enough life to know exactly what a decomposing body smelt like. She glances around the living room, it's too dark to see anything. She pulls her phone out from the back pocket of her jeans and turns on the flashlight, with trembling hands- she turns it about the room.

It's then she notices the trail of bloody bootprints and follows them into the kitchen, and that's when she sees it-sees him his body slumped up against the island throat slit from ear to ear, eyes bulging out of their sockets in a permanent expression of shock with his pants pulled down to his knees.

"Oh my god!" she cries, running out of the kitchen in a panic. Breathing frantically as her heart pounds in her chest. She's in so much shock that she almost doesn't notice the figure standing in the doorway.

"You shouldn't be here," they say. Immediately she turns and runs towards the kitchen attempting to go out the front door, but the stranger is faster. A strong vice-like grip wraps around her neck- Marcella's instincts kick in and she immediately tries to pry herself free, clawing at the forearm pressing hard against her windpipe.

Panic surges through her, urging her to fight back. With desperate strength- Marcella swings her elbow back, aiming for her attacker's ribs. She hears a grunt of pain, but that only serves to anger her attacker, who tightens their grip around her neck. She tries to scream for help. Instead, nothing but muffled noises leave her mouth.

In a last-ditch attempt to save herself, she swings her legs backwards, aiming for their shins, hoping they'll lose their footing and loosen their hold on her. But her assailant- who is relentless in their attack, does not budge. Marcella's mind begins to race as her vision blurred- she begins to think of what she could've done to prevent this altogether.

Maybe she should've taken some self-defence classes. It would've been practical for someone who'd lived in dangerous places all her life, but Marcella had always relied on her brother for protection. And when he'd moved to Caper- her trusted pepper spray and taser had done the trick. But in her haste to get here. She'd forgotten to pack either, and it wasn't like she could've predicted this turn of events.

As the world around her faded into a terrifying darkness, Marcella's thoughts shifted to her loved ones, hoping they would understand how hard she had fought. "Alice" she whispered before her body went completely limp, hitting the ground with a thud.
The room fell silent, save for distant echoes of her slowing heartbeat.