Fateful Encounter

Control

Mom and Dad always said, "...don't open up the door to strangers...," but in a life or death situation like this, I threw both rules and logic aside to save myself. There was something off about this guy and the power that he radiated through the door was tangible. I decided that if this guy was level headed enough, I could try to deescalate this situation, but that also meant carrying through with my promise. And so, I decided that I was going to unlock the door.

CLICK

After unlocking the door, I stepped back from it. I wasn't going to open it, he was. I needed to put distance between myself and him and luckily, that pushed me closer to the direction of my kitchen. I don't know what I had that was his. I didn't even know who he was and for him to claim that I had something of his was wildly absurd, but I was never going to know unless I opened up the door, right?

I waited in fearful and nervous anticipation for what felt like an eternity until I saw the handle of the door turning. With my breath now caught in my throat, I watched the door swing open and the figure dressed in all black, now stepped through the door way and into the entry way of my house. I took in everything about him. Tall, a lean build, tanned skin, sharp facial features, a lethal persona, ice cold blue eyes devoid of emotion, tattoos on both forearms, black hair...gorgeous...

'Wait gorgeous!? Stop it Jessica!' I internally scolded myself.

As I assessed the guy standing right before me, a smirk rose to his lips. My eyes suddenly shot up to his and I just stared. When they say a persons' eyes are a window to their soul, they weren't kidding. Cold, blue eyes stared back at me with anticipation and what I could briefly see as intrigue quickly changed to annoyance. Most people would look away, but I stared at him head on, waiting for him to make his move.

"Where is it?" he asked coldly.

A little stunned, I quickly tried to get my thoughts together, "Uhh...what?"

"Don't play stupid, you took something of mine that night and I want it back," he stated crossing his arms while rolling his eyes.

'Something of his? That ni- Oh shit!' It finally hit me, 'Was he here for that feather? But why?' I questioned. I didn't explicitly know that it was the feather he wanted, but I thought that I'd attempt to get the answer out of him by wasting time. And it was time that I desperately needed to understand who I was dealing with and how capable they were to potentially getting what they want, even if it meant killing me.

"And what if I don't want to give it back?" I stated defensively while also crossing my arms to match his, "Ever heard of finders-keepers-losers-weepers?"

I didn't expect my answer to sound childish, but after it left my mouth, I could tell it was based on the aggravated look he was now giving me. With his eyebrows now furrowed and a lethal look in his eyes, he took a step towards me. This prompted me to a step back, but I ended up backing myself up into the credenza. Panic surged through me and I know it showed on my face because the smile that he now displayed was sinister in nature.

'Shit...I need to get myself out of here.' I desperately thought as I looked around for a potential escape. The closest I was to an out was the hallway that led to the garage. If I ran into the garage, I would have to quickly get the garage door open and book it down the street to put distance between myself and him. There was also the side door that led to the fence gate...Either way, the garage was not going to work. The amount of time it would take me to open up doors and get through them was greater than the amount of time it would take me to escape.

'The kitchen!' I suddenly thought. I knew that going into the kitchen was the best option in this moment. There were potential weapons in there and it would give me some sense of courage to fight my way out of this situation. As soon as I shifted my eyes back to him, I could sense he knew what my next move was. In that split instant, he leaped towards me and I ran to the kitchen. I grabbed the pair of scissors that were sitting on kitchen table and made my way to the island so I was facing the archway to the kitchen.

Following suit, the mysterious guy came stalking in with aggravated anger plastered all over his face. His eyes then landed on the pair of scissors that were violently clutched within my grip. "Ha...that's not going to work on me sweetie. And you will regret holding that up to me," he stated cynically. He was now on the other end of the island and I felt like the mouse in this Cat-and-Mouse game we were soon about to play.

Suddenly, he darted to his left and I ran to my left just before he got a hold of my long-sleeved shirt. We both stopped to take a look at one another, looking for clues that would give us an indication of each other's next plan of action. I could tell he was getting a kick out of this because amusement along with anger sparked within his eyes. I could also tell he wasn't giving it his all like I was. I could see the plan he was formulating play out over his features. He wanted to tire me out. He wanted me to tire out and corner me that way he could have his way with me and get the answers he was so desperately needing. But I wasn't going to give it to him. I needed to be smarter and quicker than him. I needed the upper hand in this situation to take back control.

'I just need him to move to his left again so I can be closer to the entrance of the kitchen...,' I thought. I didn't dare look at my escape route for the fear of letting him know what my plan was so I just stared at him dead in the eyes, "Who are you and what is your name?" I asked with wavering confidence.

"Give me what I want and I'll answer your questions."

"NO," I boldly said, "You'll probably kill me once you get what you came here for."

"Hmm, I wasn't planning on it, but now that you mention it...," he said with a smile on his face.

'Shit...' I thought.

As I was about to ask one last question, he finally darted to his left and that gave me the opportunity to book it out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I didn't dare look back to see if he was chasing me because I could hear his shoes violently tapping against the tiled floor as he made his pursuit. With a laser focus, I made a bee-line to my room and slammed the door shut. I immediately fell to the foot of the bed and grabbed the poster container that housed the feather.

'If it's the feather he wants...it's feather he's going to get, but on my terms.' I confidently thought.

The moment the mysterious guy barged into my room, all anger had drained from his face once he saw me. I was standing before him, on the other side of the bed, holding the pair of scissors up to the feather. The anger that he was displaying moments ago was replaced with panic and shock. I knew that I had gained the upper hand in this situation and it was time to take back control.