The Mysterious Visitor

It was finally Friday. Rosa's parents left to get new furniture from Vermont. There was a sale. Obviously. They wouldn't be back till Sunday. Rosa was ready to be home alone in her new house. 4 pm: She returns home; parents gone. Her keys clink on the marble dining table. She slowly makes her way to her room. Her bed is still tangled from her nightmare last night. She lets out a big sigh. 'ughhhh'. Rosa opens her curtains to let in sunlight. It was too early for it to be dark at this time of the day. 'The lights don't budge' she remembers her father saying when flipping the switch actively. She swiftly grabs her sweats and phone and enters the bathroom. After freshening up, she makes her way back downstairs to make a grilled cheese sandwich. The speakers connect and she plays some Drake. The butter pops in the pan. The cheese oozes out. She smiles. She scoops her sandwich out into a plate. She sits comfortably on her old torn leather couch in the living room. She didn't mind it since she grew up with it. Her parents had the problem, 'it's just too old now'. The doorbell rings. Rosa stops the music, stays still and stares carefully at the security camera that came with the house. 'How is nobody there?' she questions herself. Another ring. Her heart beats quicker and quicker as she walks slowly to the door. Step by step, the tension increases, she makes it to the door. Carefully, she squeaks the door open only to see, no one was there. She gasps in relief. She takes a step back and closes the door. She calls her mom to tell her what just happened. Voicemail. 'Of course,' she sighs and walks up the stairs to her room. She drops her phone on the bed and opens her laptop and passes her time slowly by watching YouTube. 7 pm. 'mama is calling' appears on her screen. She picks up to see her mom worried.
'what's wrong mom' she says.
'I saw you gave me a missed call. Are you OK?' her worried voice sends chills down Rosa's spine.
'Mom I'm OK, someone rang the doorbell, but no one was there, that's all.'
'Oh. Ok. ok. She's ok James. Rosa stay safe ok, call me whenever you need something'
'Ok mom'
'Alright bye, honey.'
'Bye mom'.

Minutes later, the sound of the doorbell ringing startles Rosa. Without thinking, she reaches for her phone. No battery. The doorbell ring was followed by another and another. Her eyes widen. Her hands shake as the rings become shorter and shorter, overlapping each other. She runs downstairs to the security camera, no one is there. Tears fill her eyes. She slowly walks to the door. The ringing continues. She finally reaches for the doorknob where the ringing suddenly stops. A shadow is shown clearly on the curtained window of the door. The clear outline of a man's body frightens Rosa. His shadow is very well-defined as if this was the man's real body. She notices in his right hand, there is a knife. She takes a step back and takes deep breaths. She pushes herself to open the door. Fear trembles her body as she turns the knob of the door, the doors hinges squeak as it opens and to her surprise, no one is there. Her eyes flash as a car passes by. She stares into the open night air. Her heart still racing, she closes the door. She takes a step back and locks the door and runs to the home phone and calls her mom. No answer. With anger, she punches 911 into the phone's dial. One ring. Two rings. Nothing. The phone isn't working. Her eyes widen with fear. She puts down the phone and tries to think. 'What do I do?' She repeats over and over. She runs upstairs into her room. She locks the door behind her and closes the curtains of her window. She charges her phone to 5% and immediately calls 911 from there. '911 what's your emergency'.

25 minutes later. Two officers enter the house promptly. Still shaking, Rosa doesn't leave their sight. Officer Riley searches outside the house with his torch lighting up the darkness. Officer Hudson roams the inside, looking everywhere. Rosa gives them space and stays put on her leather couch in the living room, scrolling through Instagram to distract herself. Officer Riley walks up to her. 'I didn't find any trace of anyone or thing outside. You said you have a security camera, right?'. 'Yeah, I do, I checked them both times when the doorbell rang and no one was there.', Rosa says. Officer Riley shakes his head in disbelief. 'Hudson. Get over here. She didn't see anyone in the camera.' Rosa stares at both officers waiting for their conclusion. Officer Hudson reaches for his walkie talkie and says '10-39 I repeat 10-39'. 'What does that mean?!' Rosa exclaims. 'False alarm, kid' Officer Riley replies. A panicked expression floods Rosa's face as she repeatedly looks at each officer's face to see if this was a joke.
'I'm not safe here.' She says. 'please help me, I'm not crazy!'
'We never said you were. You were alone. You were just scared, and your imagination got the best of you. We checked everywhere, there isn't a man in sight' Officer Riley explains.
'Make sure to call your parents and tell them we came' Officer Hudson adds.

Rosa looks down in despair. She knows what happened was real. Tears fill her eyes. She blinks constantly to stop them from escaping her, but it doesn't work. The two officers eye each other to leave. They make their way towards the door, ignoring Rosa. Officer Riley sits on the bench next to the door to tie his laces. Officer Hudson rolls his eyes. 'They're new. I don't want to ruin them' Officer Riley explains himself. Officer Hudson sighs and shakes his head as he turns the doorknob. The room drowns in silence as he opens the door swiftly, but a loud clank disrupts the silence. Confused, officer Hudson closes the door and examines the corner of the door, astonishment covers his face. His eyes widen as if he's seen a ghost. He turns to look at Rosa, covering the view of his discovery. 'What's wrong?' Rosa says, with a twist in her throat. She peers around desperately to find out what just happened. Officer Hudson gulps. 'Riley', he gestures his hand to come. Hudson kneels down, picks up the mysterious object and stands back up, holding a butcher knife. Officer Riley's expression becomes blank. He stares at the knife, then the door, then Rosa. 'It was placed there', Hudson says as he points to the corner. Clearing his throat, he says 'R- Rosa, the man's shadow you saw on the window' He pauses staring at the bare floor, as if to calm himself, 'He wasn't outside your door'. He glances at Officer Riley, then Rosa. 'He was standing here with you.'