i love you • formula one

29

this chapter includes descriptions that some readers may find distressing throughout. reader discretion is advised!

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read the a/n at the end, too!

first person

~***~

The only light came from the glow of my phone's screen displaying the dialling keypad, and it was enough to see my face's ghost-like reflection in the screen of the computer. Out of instinct, I triple tapped the nine in the lower right corner and hovered my thumb over the bright green dial icon. My mouth suddenly lost all moisture as the fear took over me. I had never been the fondest of the dark, even more so under these circumstances. I was home alone and plunged in a darkness that wasn't my doing. I did not consent to this - what the fuck. A flash of lightning filled the room with a bright, white light for a split second, closely followed by the terrifying boom of thunder that made my entire body shudder with the bass.

At first, the only sound in the suddenly dark room was the sound of my heartbeat. The thumping only got louder and every hair on my body stood on end as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over my head. A distant rattle was only too familiar. Even though it was only a small noise, my heightened senses could pick it up all too easily - that was the distinctive rattle of the front door.

I hadn't realised I had called the emergency number until the soft dials of an awaiting connection filled the quiet space. My shaking hand brought my phone to my ear as my eyes hastily scanned around my nearby area for something that I could use as a weapon if I needed. Sacha still had a couple of his old trophies on display shelves, but I didn't want to ruin them. I know how much they mean to him. My voice trembled as I requested to be redirected to the police, and yet more dial tones followed. The rattling was faint, however still persistent, along with the occasional heavy knock that made me whimper in fear.

The line clicked. "Hello?" I desperately asked, hoping for a rapid response.

A woman answered. "Hello, you are through to the police. What is the address or location of the emergency?"

I hastily gave them the address of the house, town and all, my voice high-pitched as I was on the verge of tears. My stomach was doing flips in my stomach and I felt as if I was going to be physically sick. The operator repeated my address for me to confirm. "Please, you've got to be quick. Someone's trying to break into the house a-and the power cut out. I-I don't think it was an accident and I'm so fucking scared."

"Okay," the operator's calm voice didn't reassure me in the slightest, "can you tell me your name please, miss? We're sending someone out to you now."

"It's Lyra. Lyra Evans." I swallowed the lump in my throat, and let out a shaky exhale. Fuck, I wish Lando were here. "Can you stay on the line with me until they get here?"

"Of course," she said. "Do you know if there are any possible access points into the house that aren't locked?"

"I-I think that everything is locked, bu-" my sentence stopped short as a horrible feeling washed over me like an icy wave. The trembling of my lower lip only aided in it's dropping, leaving my mouth open in horror. I knew for a fact that the front door was locked, as well as all ground floor windows, however when I rushed back in after fetching the washing from the rain, I can't remember fumbling with the lock at all. It's usually something I remember because the new lock is tricky to figure out, which means... "the back door is unlocked."