Fabulous Spec-Fic Smackdown

Light

(Author's note: my entry for @LayethTheSmackDown - The Fabulous Spec-Fic Smackdown 2024 - Qualifying Round.
Using the picture above as the prompt, write a speculative fiction short story.
Word count around 440 words depending how you measure it!)

Julia awoke to a room blazing with orange light. Every item on her dresser was as visible as if the sun were shining in her bedroom. Tongues of tangerine light danced in the mirror.

Fire! She flung back the bedclothes and leapt to her feet ready to flee, when she realised there was no heat, no smoke, no smell.

What the-?

There was no fire, but... Where was the light coming from? Was someone playing a trick?

She stared wildly around the room, but could see no lamps or devices that might be projecting. The globe in the ceiling was dark.

Maybe there was something wrong with her eyes. She blinked rapidly but nothing changed. Everything was still orange.

Then she heard a noise, coming from the living room. Someone was out there. Someone who had no business being in her flat in the middle of the night. Surely, they must have heard the noise she'd made jumping out of bed, but if so, it hadn't scared them off.

Heart pounding, she slipped her gun out from the dresser and glided silently toward the bedroom door. Standing to one side, she eased the door open a fraction. She hoped the orange light glowing forth would cause the intruder to make their escape. Either that, or bring them closer to investigate.

She held her gun ready and waited.

But oddly enough, it sounded as if the intruder was still rummaging through the drawers in her desk. Oblivious to the fact that their presence was known. She glanced at the mirror for confirmation. The reflection showed a figure, all in black, busy in front of the desk.

Hands occupied and their back presenting a broad target, Julia knew she wouldn't have a better opportunity. She flung the door open and stepped forward, gun raised.

"Hands up! Or I shoot!"

The figure spun around as quick as a cobra striking. They held a gun in their left hand.

Julia just had time to think, how stupid it had been to stand with the light behind her, before she realised the intruder was hesitating, their head swivelling, for all the world as if they were searching for her. As if they couldn't see her.

"I'm armed! Drop the gun now or I fire!"

Instead of dropping the gun, the intruder swung it toward her voice.

Julia pivoted to the right and returned fire, just as a bullet slammed into the wall beside her. The intruder collapsed.

And the orange light disappeared.

Huh, thought Julia, as she went to investigate. Grandma Raven always said I had something special inside me.