“Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep,” sounded the microwave, alerting the girl her popcorn was done. She shuffled into the kitchen, eager for the fresh popcorn,already tasting the butter in her salivating mouth. She was in sweats with her hair in a messy bun. She grabbed a big bowl from the cabinet and took the bag of popcorn from the microwave. After getting a glass of water and dumping her snack in the bowl she returned to the couch and covered up in a blanket.

    Her name was Donna and she was house sitting for a friend who was in Montana for the weekend. She was going to spend the night watching scary movies alone and was excited. She didn’t usually spend her Saturday nights like this, usually she sat home with her cat and did work or went on the internet, but there was no internet here.

    Donna settled in with her first movie. Halfway through she had to stop for a brief bathroom break. Walking back to the couch she walked past a window where she stopped to look outside. She realized for the first time that it was pouring outside. The rain was falling in sheets and bucket fulls. She saw a flash of lightning and heard the booming clap of thunder that followed just a few seconds later. She had been to involved in her horror movie to notice the storm had started.

    Once she finished her movie she turned off the TV. She was kind of spooked now and paranoid. She was sitting on the couch, not wanting to go to bed just yet, when a loud crash of thunder startled Donna. She jumped with a small scream. She was on edge for sure. Another clap of thunder... and a lamp flickered in the house. The lamp was the only light she had on. The power was out now. Donna was now without power and internet and was scared.

    “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she told herself nervously, “It’s time for bed anyway.” She brushed her teeth and got into her friend’s bed where she was sleeping this weekend. She laid there wide awake. She was so alert she could hear every noise. She was sure after a few minutes she could hear tapping on the window. She got up to go look out the window; not being able to stand the suspense anymore.

    “It’s nothing,” She told herself, “It’s going to be a tree branch like in the movies.” she had now approached the window and was trying to turn on the flashlight on her phone, but was nervous and her fingers were shaking. A quick flash of lightning played across the sky and in that split second Donna thought she had seen a figure of a man just outside the window, inches away. She screamed and backed up until she reached the other side of the hall. She finally got the flashlight on and timidly walked over to the window starting to sob. Nothing. There was nothing out there, it was just her imagination. Slowly she walked back to her room and sat in bed. She closed her eyes and cried softly. She heard a creak. Her eyes shot open and she pointed her flashlight at the open closet door. Nothing. She could have sworn the door was closed before she went to bed.She covered her head with the blanket and cried with her eyes squeezed shut. She had never been this scared before.

    Another creak.

    A footstep.

    Another footstep.

    Donna was too scared to look now. She tried to be silent.

    A hand grabbed her ankle.

    A scream.

    The glint of a knife being held by a man dressed in black illuminated by a flash of lightning was the last thing Donna saw.

    No one ever saw Donna again. There were no signs of forced entry on the house, no blood, and all the money and valuables missing. Her friend thought that Donna had stolen everything from her and went to start a new life in Canada.    The only thing was Donna’s friend found a men’s large, black, hoodie in her closet that didn’t belong to her. She had no idea how it got there. It couldn’t have been Donna’s because she locked her closet before she left and it was locked when she returned. She brought the key with her too so it no one had access to it, not that she was trying to hide something or anything.