The Psychology of Fear

The Fear Continues

As Lisa finished her story Professor Henry asked who would like to go next. Quickly one of the young male students raised his hand. My name is Bryan and I am afraid of being alone. My story is about a girl named Miranda who was left home alone while her parents went out to dinner. As they left their driveway Miranda grabbed the phone to text her boyfriend. He told her he could be over in an hour. As she sat there waiting for him to show up she could hear thunder in the distance. Afraid the power might go out she went and grabbed a flashlight. As she went to sit down she heard a knock at the back door. She went to see who would be at the back door and then the phone rang, thinking it was her boyfriend she quickly answered it. On the other end of the line all she could hear was a heavy breathing sound. She decided to hang up figuring it was a prank call . A minute later the phone rang again. She was hesitant to answer it so she checked her screen to see who it was. She was relieved when her boyfriend's number popped up on the screen. As she answered it she could hear the heavy breathing again and then the words came from the other end, I have your boyfriend outside. Panicked Miranda looked outside to see what the caller meant. Unfortunately, when she looked outside the heavy rain from the storm that was now in full force blocked her view and she could not see much of anything. As she stood there scared to death the lights started to flicker and she was praying that the power would not go out. As Miranda tried to calm down she could hear her phone vibrating which meant she had a text message. She looked at the message on the screen and just as she finished reading it the lights went out. She thought to herself this cannot be happening. How would her boyfriend be in the house with her? The caller had just stated that he was outside. A big rumble of thunder broke her from her thoughts and as it did she could swear she heard the sound of footsteps coming up the basement stairs. She quickly tried to find the flashlight she had laid on the table, but could not seem to find it. She stood there as silently as she could as the footsteps proceeded into the house getting closer and closer to the room she was in. As the caller came into the room he began to speak to her in a whispering but menacing tone. As he was speaking to her the power came back on . When the light hit her caller's face she was in disbelief. It was her boyfriend. As he held a knife in his hand he said, I'm glad your parents are not home. By the way you were wrong you are not going to have fun tonight, but I sure will. As Bryan finished telling his story Professor Henry told the class time was up and they would continue the next day. As the students left for the day they wondered what other fears were in store for them.