Exactly What You Expect

Exactly What You Expect

The shattering of glass breaks me from my trance like state. My eyes go wide, my hair sticking up on the back of my neck. 

I quickly mute the TV, and I’m surprised to see I’ve almost made it through an entire season of a show without even realizing it. I mean, what else is Netflix good for other than to be background noise while I play on my phone aimlessly for hours? 

The house is dark, so I make it a point to ensure I turn on the light into the room I’m going into. Is it logical for a twenty-eight year old to be afraid of the dark? Most likely, no. Am I afraid of the dark anyway? Yep. Living out in the country made it even harder to ease my fear. Though it was very unlikely anybody would stumble upon my little house on the countryside, I still didn’t let my guard up. I wasn’t like those small town folk who trusted their own and never locked their doors. Nowadays, you just never knew. 

I make my way slowly out of the living room and turn on the light in the dining area. It’s the same room, gotta love open concept! But in the corner there’s still darkness; I need to fully see everything in the room. 

Onion meows softly as I lay eyes on her. She’s sitting in the corner, looking unimpressed, with a shattered glass next to her. There’s liquid on the floor, presumably the water I didn’t finish from dinner. I let out the breath I don’t realize I’m holding. See? I panicked for no reason; there’s always a logical solution. 

“It’s just the cat, Jess... relax” I tell myself. Picking up the cat away from the broken glass, she wastes no time in scurrying away from me. Why did I think getting a cat was a good idea? Should have been a dog. 

Turning on the next light in the kitchen, I spot the broom and dustpan along with paper towel so I’m able to appropriately clean up the mess Onion has made. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking. Onion? You named your cat Onion? It wasn’t originally my idea, if I’m being honest. But once it was suggested it just kind of stuck, and I decided against changing it. 

I clean up Onion’s mess in no time, being careful to not cut myself on the shards of glass. Now I can finally return to the TV show I wasn’t really watching. As I’m walking back to the living room, turning out each light as I do so, I hear something else. 

“What the...?” I voice my thoughts aloud. One quick look in the living room tells me it’s not Onion this time. She’s looking at me, again with that unimpressed, evil look, but she’s very much still. I hear it again; it almost sounds like a scratching sound. I gulp, grabbing my phone to use as a flashlight. The sound appeared to be coming from upstairs, where nobody should be. I lived alone; just me and my cat, Onion. What could be making a scratching sound? I quietly and carefully made my way up the stairs, making sure not to make a sound. As soon as I reach the top I turn on the lights; the sound is a little louder now. 

With one more scratch I can safely assume it’s coming from my bedroom. I don’t know what to expect so I grab the object closest to me from the table in the hall. With a glance I almost want to laugh at myself; your glasses case? Really? That’s your big go to move? Oh, hey there person who I don’t know, what the heck are you doing in my- BAM! Right upside the head with my glasses case. The sound starts up again, so I just accept my fate and hold up my glasses case in one hand, and my phone with the flashlight in the other. Realizing I do have a bit of light, I turn off the flashlight feature and stick my phone into my back pocket. I’m thankful I hadn’t changed into my pjs yet; I mean where would I put my phone then? More scratching. Priorities, Jess! I think to myself, finally gaining the nerve to swing open my bedroom door. 

Breathing heavily, I take a look around the room. Of course it’s looming in darkness, the light of the hall not quite reaching certain dark spots around the room. My bed is still made from this morning, by some miracle I did actually make it, and upon first glance nothing looks out of place. The scratching comes once more and I gasp, dropping my only weapon, and freezing me in fear. I can’t find it in me to move from the spot just outside the room, regardless of how much I shouted at myself internally. Jess! You’re being silly! If someone was here to kill you, you’d be dead! And surely no robber would make such a noise to draw attention to themselves! Moreover, why is that where your mind goes when you hear a noise? It could be something so simple and logical! 

Finally I’m able to convince my legs to move, and I walk slowly into the bedroom. It’s mostly dark, and I don’t think to turn on the light right away. I turn to the window, and that’s when I see it. I hear it, too. The scratching sound of tree branches against my window. I sigh in relief; see? It was something completely logical! I walk to the window and look outside; there is a slight breeze, which is causing the branch to scratch up against the window, making the sound that had been terrifying me for the last minute or so. 

“See, Jess? Everything is fine” I scold myself, walking out of the bedroom and closing the door. I pick up my glasses case and set it back where I found it, before I begin to make my way downstairs. 

Now, back to my normally scheduled programming. My heart still feels like it’s beating way too fast, the adrenaline still rushing through me from the past few moments. Before I make my way back to my perch, I opt to head back out to the kitchen to grab myself a drink of water. In all of this excitement I felt parched; and thanks to Onion, I now had to grab a new glass. 

Turning on the tap, before reaching for a glass I put my hands up the running water and splash a little bit on my face. Calm down, Jess. Everything is absolutely fine, see? I wipe my face with the dish towel before I finally grab the cup, fill up the glass, and head back out into the living room. 

I flop back down on the couch, Onion jumping up beside me. I grab my phone from my back pocket and go back to scrolling through various social media feeds. I had forgotten to unmute the TV, and that’s why I hear it. 

I hear a faint humming sound, and at first I’m not quite sure where it’s coming from. But it’s a continuous humming sound; one I don’t recognize. 

“You’re freaking out for no reason, right Onion?” I turn to my cat, who is more interested in licking herself than having a conversation with me. Fine. 

I get up off the couch again, and wonder where on earth the sound is coming from. I start to walk upstairs when the noise gets softer; not upstairs. Back to the kitchen, I turn on the light again, but still, the noise gets no louder. It’s then I realize that it’s coming from the one place I don’t want it to; the basement. 

Did I want to go down to the basement? Absolutely not. Was I forcing myself to? You bet. I decide to leave all the lights on this time, just in case. Slowly, I open the door to the basement and peer down, and of course I’m greeted with total and complete darkness. 

I bring out my phone to use it as a flashlight once more. Technology is great, isn’t it? What would he ever do without it? 

I decide to rip the bandaid off this time. I don’t take my time, I quickly run down the stairs, instantly regretting the decision when the humming is the loudest I’ve heard it. I’m unsure how to describe it; what on earth could it be? 

Turning on the one light the basement has, I put away my phone once more. I look around the room, trying to note anything unusual or strange. Was there someone in the house? My heartbeat began to increase once more. I had no weapon this time; not that my glasses case was going to help me any. 

Looking in the darkest part of the basement, in the shadow it dawned on me. 

“Jess, there’s seriously something wrong with you” I mumble, beginning to trudge my way back upstairs. 

The noise I heard? It was just the water pump. Typically during the day, the normal noises of the day were loud enough to drown out its sound, which is why I didn’t recognize it. With my senses heightened because of the window and Onion shattering the glass, it caused me to be a little on edge. 

Sometimes, things were exactly what they seemed. Sometimes, I thought to myself as I made my way back to the couch, the most logical thing was the correct thing. Things weren’t always creepy; sometimes, they are exactly what you’d expect.