The Fire

Chapter Three

Present

All I did was stare blankly at the screen for what seemed like hours, but the time was saying only 01:05. It had been two minutes.

Should I tell someone? Who? When? No one would be awake right now. I could afford to wait a few hours. He couldn't get to me now; the doors and windows were locked. Calm down, I said to myself, but I couldn't. The person who had murdered my best friend was messaging me - my mind was a mess.

I paused my thought process for a moment, I thought I could hear something. My mind was turning against me, making up sounds inside my head. But one seemed too real. A repetitive thudding getting louder and louder, coming from beneath me.

Footsteps.

I froze with fear and the sheets of the bed began sticking to my legs. Whoever it was, they were coming up the stairs, and they were near the top.

I recognised the familiar creak the top step made when someone stepped on it, then silence. My breaths were coming out too loud. I tried to stop it, but then I noticed that the breaths didn't match the rise and fall of my chest, so I held my breath, just to check if the breathing was mine. Everything stopped, and there was nothing. It was okay. There was nothing there. It must have been James or my mum going to fetch a drink or something. Until I noticed the heavy breathing again, and the creak of my door as it opened, allowing a stream of light to burst through the hallway. Before I knew it, cold hands were around my neck, draining the life from me.

My body leapt forward at the person on top of me, but my hands only clutched at the air. The person was gone. There was no sign that anyone had been there, and the sight of my locked door told me that it had just been a dream. I sucked in a shaky breath to try and get my ragged breathing under control. I must have dropped off while I was deliberating what to do about the message. My mind wondered if that had all just been a dream too, so I checked my phone, only to be disappointed as my heart sank at the sight of the message from "UNKNOWN".

I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep again, so I chucked the clammy sheets off me and swung my legs out of bed. It was still only 1:20 but I could just watch some useless Netflix show for a few hours before getting up and having an early start to Saturday.

Eight Pretty Little Liars later, the clock showed 07:20, so I had a shower and got dressed. I was meant to be meeting my boyfriend Christian at 10, but I had messaged him saying to expect me earlier. Leah would be so proud.

Once I was dressed in jeans and an oversized grey jumper, I rushed downstairs and grabbed my car keys from the hall table. I ripped off a piece of paper from the notebook that rested on the oak surface and wrote my mum a note letting her know where I'd gone.

A few minutes later, Radio 1 was blasting in my car as I turned onto the motorway towards Christian's house. The music drowned out my thoughts that threatened to think about the message and The Hooded Man. I couldn't let myself. At least not yet. Christian couldn't know about this. He was too caught up in his own worries due to his parent's divorce, he didn't need to start worrying about me.

Christian's house was beautiful, with a beige-wash that covered the bricks walls, and dark window frames which contrasted perfectly. Plus, the house was huge, detached, with six bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and none of them small in any capacity. Chris was rich beyond belief, but all that glamour hid a lifetime of deep-set family issues. He didn't need to start getting involved in mine.

Christian was standing at the front door by the time I'd gotten out of the car, already dressed. Early mornings were not his thing. He'd done this just for me.