Under the Cover of Dark

Riley made it back to her flat in record time, after covering for her friend Lisa at the Belladonna Bar she was exhausted. Working at the bar was good money but her boss was strict and although the customers were tolerable, the sheer amount of people that came into the bar was sometimes overwhelming, especially after a double shift.

A blinking red light caught her eye as she walked in, a missed call and voicemail, great, she thought. She really hoped it wasn't her mum who could talk for hours on end, literally. Her plan for a nap would have to wait.

After a press of the button, and an automated voice of when the voicemail was left, the message began to play. Only, there was no voice. The only sounds she could hear was static and some crackling sounds. The message only played for about 10 seconds, so there wasn't something wrong with her her machine.

She read the small screen to see the number, but there wasn't one. Whoever had called had blocked their number. Well, she thought, at least I won't have to call back now. If they really need to talk to me they'll call back tomorrow or something.

With this comforting thought, she pushed the strange message to the back of her mind and went to change out of her uncomfortable work uniform. While changing, Riley thought about the strange message again and what it could mean. It could've just been bad signal, she reasoned, but her gut instinct told her differently. Thinking more about it, she could've sworn she heard something else, not quite words, but not just the static she thought she'd only heard.

Deciding to leave it until tomorrow, she went to bed and fell into a deep slumber. Seemingly moments later, there was the crashing of glass in the kitchen.

Still half asleep, Riley turned her eyes to the digital clock and read the time with her blurry eyes. It was only 1am, 2 hours since she came home from work. Slowly sitting up in her bed, so the old frame wouldn't creak and alert the possible intruder, she thought through the options she had. Her phone was in her jacket pocket, by the front door. Not a likely option, to get to the hallway by her front door, through her kitchen was the only path.

She could climb through her bedroom window, but with her apartment being on the 5th floor the only way down was a rickety fire escape that stopped at the 2nd floor, and it was a long drop. The last option she had was to go to the kitchen, hope that the intruder had moved to a different room, grab a knife, and try to defend herself in the event of a dangerous criminal.

Her mind was made up. Riley got out of her bed as carefully as possible, and crept to her door, avoiding creaks in her wooden floorboards. When she lifted her hand to the handle and saw how much her hand was shaking, she hesitated. What if the burglar was dangerous? What if he had a gun? She could die tonight.

She took a deep breath and steeled her nerves, grasping the door handle. I can do this, she thought, I can be brave. Pulling the door ever so slowly, she peeked around the small gap she had created.

In the dark, she could just about make out the hallway which once led to her kitchen. Now, it lead to something more sinister. Keeping her breaths shallow, Riley crept along the edges of her hallway with her back pressed against the wall until she came to the door of her kitchen. Be brave, be brave, she repeated in her head again and again, like a prayer, hoping she would see the light of day tomorrow.

The door was already open a crack, just enough for her to see through into the kitchen. The large window in the kitchen was her favourite thing about the small apartment, and it was her saving grace. Moonlight streamed through the window and illuminated almost everything in a soft silvery glow, including the tall dark figure in her kitchen and the broken shards of glass on her worktop.