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Before I can decide, the handle on my door turns, and I sit frozen in fear as it opens and a shadowed figure walks in. He’s covered in black clothing, giving me no indication of his identity. I’m screaming at my body to move or do something, but it just sits there frozen in a state of shock and complete and utter fear.
“Wh... what are you doing here?” I choke out.
“Consequences must be learned, and, unfortunately, you’re a casualty.” His voice is nonchalant as if we’re friends having a normal chat.
“Who are you?” I whisper, still frozen on my bed, my fist gripping the sheets as if they’re going to help keep me safe.
He ignores my question and stalks toward the bed. I scurry back away from him, my body finally finding its fight. My heartbeat is erratic as I frantically scan my room for something to use as a weapon. I jump off the side of my bed before he gets too close, my hand knocking my lamp off the nightstand.
The intruder freezes where he’s standing and cocks his head to the side, almost questioning my attempt to get away from him. I blindly reach for the lamp on the ground, trying to keep my eyes on him the entire time.
He slowly moves back around the bed, a predator stalking his prey. My breathing is rapid, and I clench the stand of the lamp in my hands even harder, working to get my mind to focus.
“You can’t run from me,” he says as he stalks even closer to me. My body tenses, preparing for the fight of my life. I hope with everything in me to make it out of this alive. His shadowy shape suddenly lunges at me, and I swing the lamp in my hand.
It whiffs through the air as he dodges my attempt and lunges forward again. I can’t get the lamp back up before he grabs my arm, wrestling my weapon from me. Everything inside me fights against him. My arms, legs, and entire body writhes against his hold on me.
An explosion of pain shoots through my abdomen as he lands a punch to my side. Another hard hit pummels me in the same place, forcing me to cry out. If he didn’t have a death grip on my body, I’d be on the ground, unable to move with the pain shooting through me.
“You shouldn’t have fought me,” he whispers in my ear, and a shiver of fear slides down my spine.
Despite the pain, I keep trying to get out of his hold, and a growl rumbles out of his mouth as I fight him. Suddenly, he lets go, causing me to fall to the ground. The lamp comes down hard on my head, the blow causing my skull to feel as if it’s shattered into a million pieces.
I crumple further into the ground, agony radiating through my entire body, immobilizing any possibility of fighting again. My eyes close in defeat, and I’m helpless as he scoops my body off of the ground.
I’m placed back onto my mattress and something cold is wrapped around my wrist. My eyes flicker open at the odd sensation, and I realize he’s handcuffed me to the bed. I wiggle my hand around in an attempt to free myself but the metal cuff just clanks against the metal headboard.
“What are you going to do?” Fear and anger make my voice waver as I watch him walk from one side of my bed to the other. He grabs my other arm and cuffs it to my headboard as well.
My eyes track him as he backs away from my bed. He stands there watching me for a minute and I just wait for him to get on with whatever he has planned.
I’ve never felt so vulnerable in my life. He’s now able to do whatever he wants to me and I’ll have no way of fighting him off.
“Just do it already,” I say through my clenched teeth. He’s pissing me off just standing there.
He looks back at my face for a moment longer and then turns around and walks out of the room.
I take a deep breath, trying to calm my heart rate. If I can keep the panic down, maybe I can get out of this alive. I use every ounce of focus I have to listen for any movement, waiting for him to come back.
I can hear him shuffling around downstairs. I wish I could see what he’s doing. The unknowns are about to send me into a panic spiral, and I need to keep my wits about me.
I look out my open bedroom door, waiting for him to come back. The room is still dark, and all I see are shadows. I can hear him coming down the hallway. There’s something else too, but I can’t quite place the sound. It sounds like something sloshing, but my panicked brain isn’t able to make sense of the noise.
I watch him come into the doorway. He’s got something in his hands but I can’t see what it is. He just stands there watching me and then places the object in his hands onto the floor in the doorway.
He turns and walks back down the hallway and I’m alone again in the dark. The smell of gasoline finally permeates my panicked brain, although I’m still not able to piece together the entire picture.
After a few minutes of random shuffling noises, I hear a door open and then close. Finally, all I can hear is a popping noise.
I continue staring at the doorway, waiting for him to come back when light starts coming down the hallway. It’s not like a regular light turning on, it’s more of a soft glow growing brighter the closer it gets.
Then I see the red and orange flames, and it finally clicks as to what’s happening. The light of the fire highlights the object on the floor. A red gas can sits idly by as the fire grows closer.
I pull on my restraints, hoping to pull them off of the headboard, but they just rattle against the metal, pinching my wrists as I pull. Panic has taken over my entire body as I continue trying to break free of the cuffs.
Suddenly, a loud boom echoes through the room, and everything goes black.
