| He came through the door like the wraith he was, a dark cold shadow moving slowly but deliberately across the room. In an overstuffed arm chair pushed against the wall of her small, one bedroom apartment, Sarah sat holding her breath and biting her lower lip. She dared not move a muscle nor make a sound. He came as he had come each time before, a silent, ghostly spirit, appearing to be clothed in a long overcoat and Stetson hat, crossing the room and surveying the surroundings with his hollow eyes. As he had done five times before, he approached the window, pulled the curtain back, appeared to glance outside, then climbed out into the courtyard and disappeared. But, this time something was different.
Never once had this intruder noticed Sarah. Those terrifying, sightless eyes had passed over her as though she was invisible, but this time as he climbed out the window, he turned his head back toward her and actually looked at her, not through her. It seemed to be only for a fleeting moment, but his eyes had changed. They were suddenly light blue and looking directly at her. Sarah felt strangely unafraid as their eyes locked seconds before he vanished.
The first time he came was seven days ago and six months after Sarah had moved from her parents’ home in Fresno to this small apartment in Sacramento. She was thirty-five years old, and had lived her entire life in the same house in the same town, attending the local college, and eventually acquiring a job at the local state office of transportation.
Accepting a promotion in the State Capitol was frightening to Sarah, and her parents were certainly against it. Why she decided to make the change from her quiet, predictable life to one of uncertainty is still unclear to her. But she made the decision to move, choosing a small apartment in a modern, two-story apartment complex in a quiet suburb of the city. Each morning she would board the bus for downtown where after disembarking, she would then enter a huge office building. There she would spend the rest of the day, seemingly locked in a cubicle anonymous and invisible. Her evenings and weekends were spent alone. Not much had changed from her life in Fresno except that she now lived alone instead of with her parents.
Then, he came. That first night he entered the room at ten o’clock, or so she thought. Her horror shrouded her both physically and psychologically. Her scream was a breathless gasp; her legs failed her. Falling to the ground, her warm tea spilling across the carpet, Sarah crawled into a corner, drew her knees to her chin, and wrapped her arms about herself. Trembling with icy fear, she tightly closed her eyes and when she slowly opened them again, he was gone.
A stranger to her new community, Sarah was alone. The police, she believed, would laugh at her. She doubted they would be interested in chasing phantoms, and Sarah had not taken the time to meet her neighbors. She could not even think of calling her parents or anyone else she knew in Fresno. Besides, she told herself as she dabbed the spilled tea with a clean cloth, maybe he was not real. Maybe I was dreaming she told herself.
That night was long and sleepless. When dawn showered light upon the night, Sarah was already dressed for work – a cup of thick black coffee in her hand. Her eyes red and swollen……….
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