Window Watching

Trigger warning: violence

I had a tough time sleeping that night. After all the stress I endured today it felt like I was losing my mind. It just felt like my mind was foggy. After a long twelve-hour shift on my construction job; while in 101-degree weather, the last thing I needed now was no sleep. My body is tired, but my mind just keeps wandering. After many moments of tossing and turning I got up and go down my old creaky stairs to go to the kitchen for a drink. I grabbed a cup and started to fill my cup up with ice from my refrigerator. I then switched the settings on my fridge and began to fill my cup up with water. I began drinking my water and started to get relief. I looked at the clock on my microwave and the time read 1:09 am.

Sigh

I have to be at work at eight in the morning. My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a loud THUD coming from my kitchen window; which was adjacent from my fridge. I paused and looked around to check my surroundings. Nothing in the house seemed liked it fell over. A couple of moments go by and nothing happens.

I chalk it up as my restless mind playing games on me. I turn away from the window while sipping my cup until another loud THUD came from the window again. I almost choked on my water from shock. The thud was somehow louder than before. It sounded as if something was purposely hitting against my window. I turned around slowly and started crouch walking towards the window. As I approached the window, I paused for a moment. Really only because I am freaked out. My window has a blind over it. I was too much of a coward to pull back the window blind. Until, another loud THUD came from the window. I began to panic. I put my hand on my window blind and took a deep breathe. I tell myself that I need to know what is making that noise this late in the night for peace of mind.

I make a little crack in the window blind just enough for one of my eyes to see. I began looking out into the darkness of the night. Nothing but forest trees slightly waving in the nights breeze. A sigh of relief overcame me and I felt relaxed. I looked at the clock on the microwave again and it was 1:15 am. I came to the realization that it has to be my mind. Working 60 hours a week is starting to take its toll on my mind. While thinking, I heard another loud THUD. Again, from the same window in my kitchen. Maybe it is some kids trying to play a prank. I walked to the window confidently and pulled back the whole blind. What I saw haunts me to this day. As I began falling to the ground from fear, I saw a man that was in his late 30s-40s. He was shirtless with a bloody knife and was holding a dead cat by the nape of its neck. While in shock, the man looked at me and made eye contact. The shocked and horrified look on my face must have brought some sort of joy to the man. As he began to tilt his head ever so slightly and grin widely. The man then used the cat to strike my window.

THUD.

It was the same sound as before. I finally snap myself out of my shock and began to stumble to my feet. Then, the man began screaming like a maniac while slicing a portion of his right peck. He licked the blood from the knife he was holding and started screaming again. I booked it out the kitchen and up the stairs to my bedroom and locked the door.

I began breathing heavily. I frantically tried searching for my cell phone. I tore up my whole bedroom and found nothing. The man continued screaming loudly, but this time it sounds as if the man is going around the perimeter of my home. I remembered my phone is plugged on the charger in my kitchen by the fridge. I put my ear to the door of my bedroom to try to pinpoint where the man is. It still sounded like the man was outdoors. I unlocked my bedroom door and ran down the stairs. I went to the kitchen and saw blood and broken glass everywhere. The man is still screaming but now it sounds clearer. The man is shouting “BLOOD, BLOOD, I WONDER WHAT YOUR BLOOD TASTES LIKE!”, followed by deranged laughing. As I panicked, I spotted my phone and grabbed it. Then, I heard another THUD followed by the sound of glass breaking from the adjacent room by the kitchen. I ran up the stairs to my room and locked my bedroom door.

The screaming sounded closer now. I could tell that this lunatic was in my house. I began to shed tears as I typed the password in my phone. Under so much stress I accidently got locked out of my phone. I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked at my phone closer. The phone screen read “To many password attempts try back in one minute”. I now heard heavy footsteps in the house, followed by glass and other objects being moved around. I put my ear to my bedroom door and I can distinctly tell that the man is in the kitchen. I hear the man open and shut the fridge while laughing to himself. I can hear muffled talking but can’t make out what is being said. I look at my phone and the message disappeared. I began to slowly type my four-digit password in. I pulled-up the phone app and my body froze up.

I heard a creak come from the stairwell. I just override my fear and hide under the bed while dialing 911. My phone began to dial. Then, I heard more creaks on the stairs. Moments went by. I felt so scared. Then silence. The operator broke the silence by saying “Hello 911 what’s your emergency”. I began to whisper that I need help; until I hear a loud noise come from one of the upstairs rooms. I continue to explain to the operator the situation at hand. The operator tells me the police should be there in three minutes. I slowly crawl from under the bed and barricade my bedroom door with my cheap Ikea dresser. I pushed the dresser up to the door but it tilted slightly forward and knocked against the door. I then heard loud steps come from down the hall. The footsteps ended right in front of my bedroom door.

Then, silence.

I laid on the ground and slowly crawled on my belly back to my hiding spot under my bed. While making my way to the bed; the silence was broken by a loud almost beastly roar. My chest began to hurt. Loud thunderous bangs started. I finally made it under my bed.

It sounded like the man was throwing himself against the door. He began shouting “I WANT YOUR BLOOD!” “I want it.” I WANT IT!”; while, he kept banging against the door and trying the door knob. I could see clearly from under my bed and I could see about an inch under the doorway. The man was barefoot. I could see my Ikea dresser trying to hold firm but to no avail. The dresser tumbled out from the door. Now, the door was just my last line of defense. The man continued to scream and roar like he was possessed or something.

Siren noises could finally be heard over the man’s screaming. The sirens sounded close. But as quickly as I felt relieved; it was soon met with dismay and dread when the man finally busted through my door. I put my hands over my mouth to try to muffle my breathing. The man starts sniffing around like some sort of animal. It reminded me of a dog sniffing around a tree. The man suddenly stopped sniffing and ran to my bedroom closet. He opens the doors and started throwing all the items out of it. Clothes, shoes, containers etc. The sirens sounded like they were in front of my house. I heard two distinct doors slams.

The man continued screaming “I WANT YOUR BLOOD!”. The man then walked over about five feet to my bed. I could see that he is standing right in front of me. I can’t help but glance at his feet. His feet were dirty and bloody. But, among the dirt and blood I noticed that there were markings on his feet that seemed to be done with a sharp object. The language looked like some ancient text. I pulled my phone out and snap a picture of his feet just in case I died so the police could decipher the markings on his feet. But I had forgot I left the flash on. Once, I snapped the picture; the man saw the flash and dropped to his knees and lowered his head down to look under the bed. We instantly made eye contact and the man grabbed my right forearm and pulled me from under the bed in one swift motion. His grasp was so tight, that my arm went numb. “No way”, I thought. “I weigh around 235 pounds.” I began screaming and the man drew back his knife and plunged it right into my gut. I began to bleed profusely. My body felt cold.

I looked into the man’s eyes as I started to fade in and out of consciousness. Both of the man’s eyes were pitch black. I suddenly heard two sets of footsteps running up the stairs. It was two cops. The cops started issuing orders. The man pulled the knife from my gut and took a half step towards the cops. He was instantly met with a hail of gun shots. The man crumbled to his knees and then falls to his left side facing me. The man reached over and touched my blood-soaked shirt. I saw my blood on his hand as I was struggling to stay conscious. The man moved his now blood-soaked hand to his lips and licked the blood from it. He grinned, and then tried to reach over to me again before letting out a huge sigh and dying on my bedroom floor.

I passed out.

I woke up in the hospital and was immediately met with intense pain in my abdomen. Doctors and cops rush into my room. The doctors tell me that I just came out of surgery due to a six-inch puncture wound to my abdomen. The cops started to question me about what happened at my home. One policemen showed me pictures of the dead man’s body that was in my house. I noticed that there are words written several times all over his chest, back, and arms with the text being no bigger than half-an-inch.

I asked one of the policemen to hand me my phone. He handed it to me and I pulled my photo app up and showed them the picture I took of the weird markings on the man’s feet. The text matched the words that were engraved on the man’s body. One policeman types the phrase in his phone. They are puzzled and I ask them what does it say. In Latin it says “Sanguis est anima vivens”. Roughly translating to “The blood is life”.