The man strode forward through the bushes, as he passed he brushed aside the leaves and felt the soft squelch of mud under his boots. As he reached the path the gravel crunched, and ground as the stones gnashed together. Catching a stone from the new red brick wall it shattered into fragments. The light from the street lamp glinted off his watch which he quickly covered up, stopping on his way to scratch his thick, dark, grainy stubble; he made his way to the house.
The last rays of light had fallen and now the dark had completely covered the ground. The eeriness crept in, and like some unsure sign, it made itself known but not visible. There was something there, and she could feel it. She walked to the front door looking left, then looking right as she took each step, and with every glance she expected to see something she did not want to. Her keys jostled and echoed in the high ceiling hallway and with her slightly quivering hands she found it hard to place the key in the lock, but just as the lock had turned she thought she heard someone, she peered through the glass, quickly unlocked the door and stepped outside.
The man slid smoothly around the corner, just avoiding the woman. Crouching behind the wall he could only hear her and he could hear her coming closer. She was very light on her feet and made very little noise but all the same the security light came on and from her tall shadow, her could see her head scanning around the area. Pressed with his back hard up against the wall he heard her slow breathing, as he caught glimpse of her feet, his heart beat quickened and it felt as if it was blaring inside him, he told himself to keep calm, because he knew there was no way he could let her see him.
She stood just in front of the corner and with a quick glance; she confirmed that no one was there. The large shadows from the house covered most of the ground and the tree’s shadows danced and flickered in the fresh wind, even the trees themselves felt as if they each had a face; with the leaves and branches shaping themselves into people, as if they were somehow watching, and waiting. As she walked closer toward the trees she could still see the faces; suddenly an agonising terror shivered and spun around inside her and hurriedly without looking back she ran into the house.
Now that the man was inside, he felt able to do his job. Seeing the fuse box as he entered through the back door he crudely turned off the electricity and with a sudden electrical hiss, the house fell dark. He made his way up the narrow wooden staircase, reaching the landing he turned right, and opened the door to her bedroom.
The woman opened the front door and slammed it hard behind her. Once she had caught her breath, she realised. The house was completely dark. She tried the light switch. Nothing. The only light was coming through the slightly frosted panes at the side of the door and as the condensation caught the moon light it made it feel very dark, and cramped indeed. She took a step forward, only to hear another pair of feet moving with her own. She carefully crept into the living room and crouched low behind the sofa. The luxury white leather sofa being but a barrier, to the sound of feet which were now making their way to the stairs. Her photos of family and friends of little use to her as the staircase squealed and creaked under the man’s weight. And the slow hollow sound of the grandfather clock, so different to that of just a half hour before. And so with the everything and the nothing that surrounded her, she waited…
I got a A-/B+ for this.
