Fiery Trap

Chapter Sixteen: Sirenum

Rachel needed more information than this. She wanted to know why she was stalking her all this time. She wanted to know if she was the one that killed her best friend. Rachel wanted to know why she pinpointed her to make her life miserable. She called the officer, but it went straight to voicemail. She sighed and made a mental note to call him tomorrow.

Inside her apartment, Rachel tried her best to finish all her school tasks. She talked to Josie for a while on the phone, not mentioning anything about Alyssa. After their small talk and a bit of television viewing, Rachel called it a night and headed to her bedroom.

She placed her glasses on the bed stand and set her alarm to wake up in time for class before she squirmed under her blanket and laid her head on the pillow. She faced the window, staring through the lace curtain and into the smoky clouds. She was sure it would rain tonight, no doubt about it. She swept all her thoughts away, shifting her head against the softness of the pillow. Within three minutes, before she closed her eyelids, she caught the first few raindrops spluttering against the window.

She slowly opened her eyes. The clock faced her; a luminous 2:35 a.m. flashed back at her. She wondered why she woke up. The raindrops tap-tap-tapped against the wet windowpane . She turned her head and saw it was pouring heavily. As she was about to close her eyes, she caught something, or rather someone. A human silhouette slowly drew toward her window in the vicious rain. Rachel wasn't sure if she was seeing right. Maybe the rain mixed with something dark from a distance and formed a human shape on her window. It wasn't unusual for such things to happen. To be certain of this, Rachel stretched her right arm toward the bed stand, fishing for her glasses. There wasn't anything on the window, no shadow, no silhouette. It was as if it never existed. She sleepily removed her glasses and placed them back on the table. She hated herself for making things up.

She pulled her blanket close to her chin and gushed out a faint yawn—a dull crash sounded over the throbbing rain. It seemed like it came from the parlor. Rachel wasn't sure and she was too sleepy to check it out. The rain is playing tricks on my eyes and ears, Rachel thought. She shifted her face away from the window. Her room was somewhat dark, calmly quiet except for the rain outside. Rachel's eyelids were half closed when she heard low... footsteps. She wasn't sure whether she imagined it. Without warning, a raucous thunderclap shook the entire room, making her flinch in fright. It caught her off guard as all first thunderclaps usually do.

She yawned and shut her eyes, but a small creak sounded. Rachel was sure this time it wasn't from the rain and no thunderclap sounded to cover the noise. It seemed it was coming from her bedroom door. Rachel idly shifted her eyes in that direction. Her eyes grew wide as she witnessed the doorknob twisting; someone was twisting her doorknob from the other side. Who could be inside her apartment at this hour? In seconds, whoever it was was about to enter Rachel's room. She froze in terror, feeling helpless. Someone had just broken into her apartment. Her eyes shifted from the doorknob to the restroom and back to the doorknob. She needed to get to her restroom and hit the Sirenum beside the medicine cabinet.

Rachel wasn't sure if she could make it in time. Regardless, she didn't think twice as she jetted up from her bed. She sprinted like her legs were on fire. Her time was limited. She hurried, panting. Her bare feet stomped against the carpeted floor. Her eyes flittered to the now ajar door. Although she wasn't wearing her glasses, she saw the person wore a burlap mask from the neck up. He now dashed toward her, realizing she was aware of his presence. Rachel was halfway there. From the corner of her eyes she noticed the sickle, the sharp, pointy tip of the weapon approaching her. She screamed, never slowing her pace, while the weapon slid down her upper-left shoulder to her elbow. Blood trickled out, a tense panic oozed, but Rachel managed to make it to the restroom. The burlap wearer didn't get a grip on her. In a split second, Rachel slammed the center button of the Sirenum by the medicine cabinet. The most notorious sound she ever heard emitted the room. It blasted like a hundred fire alarms encircled her. Rachel fell to her knee, clamping her ears in pain. Now, she crawled to the drawer while the noise screamed louder and louder. She finally was able to grab her headphones and place them over her ears. She composed herself, feeling a bit dizzy from the noises, waiting for the ringing in her ears to die down.