A shrill shriek and the sound of breaking glass woke Alice. She looked around the room dazed and confused, the sleepy fog in her mind refusing to clear. The movie was no longer playing, and the TV showed only a paused title screen offering suggestions for the next film to play. Alice turned to Jess to ask what the source of the noise had been but found only an empty seat beside her.

“Jess?!” she called out, alarmed. Unconsciously, her hand grasped for the blanket, knuckles locking white when her fingers reached the reassuring touch of wool.

She was about to call out again, having had no reply when Jess stormed into the room wielding a large breadknife. She was pale as a ghost, eyes wide and panicked as she looked past Alice towards the window. No view was available, they had closed the curtains before the movie had begun to play.

“Jess. What the fuck is going on?” Alice asked in a distressed tone. She considered arming herself, but the only weighty object in the room was the table lamp beside her. The light it cast was currently more useful than the hefty weight it would provide as a club.

Jess was currently poking her head behind the curtain, peering out into the night. In a conspiratorial tone she hissed, “I saw him outside.”

Alice rose to her feet, still clutching at the blanket as it slid from her knees and piled around her feet loosely. “Who?”

Retracting her head from the window, Jess warily glanced around the room and through the door she had left open behind her. They stood, frozen and in silence, listening for the sounds of an intruder. Thankfully, the house also remained silent.

Jess’s shoulders lost some of their hardness and she seemed to relax a little. “I caught him staring through the kitchen window when I went to get a glass of water. Damn near gave me a heart attack.”

The same couldn’t be said for Alice. The news that a potential intruder could still be outside her home only fuelled her anxiety further, especially given how aggressive he had acted before with an audience present.

“What do we do?” asked Alice in a choked voice, “What if he gets in?”

“Where’s your phone?” asked Jess, searching the shelves, “I left mine in the kitchen.”

Alice jumped up into action, scurrying towards the TV unit where she had left it. She was relieved to find that there was still plenty of battery life left and she handed it over to Jess after unlocking it. Jess took no time to quickly dial the emergency services. While she was asking for the police, Alice had a worrying thought.

“I’m going to make sure the windows upstairs are locked,” she said, gently taking hold of Jess’s arm to make sure she had her attention. Jess nodded her response as she continued listening to the operator on the call.

Once at the doorway out of the room, Alice peered suspiciously around. The house was dark upstairs and a light from the kitchen could still be seen. Jess must have switched on a lamp rather than the main lights, Alice surmised. That’s probably how she saw his face outside the window, she realised. The thought that simply turning on a different switch would have left them unaware of his presence sent an uncomfortable shiver down her spine.

She paused at the bottom of the stairs before heading up them, feeling exposed and unprotected. After a momentary pause, she opted to grab a nearby vase. It wouldn’t do much damage, but at least it would leave a greater dent than her bare fists would. With great trepidation, she made her way slowly up the stairs, trying her best to avoid making noise. Silently, she cursed herself for her lack of observation as it felt as though she was hitting each creaking step on her way up.

After a cursory glance around at the top of the stairs, she scuttled into the bathroom. She felt more like a mouse than some suave secret agent as she kept herself hunkered down, hoping to stay out of sight. She snaked up the wall, keeping herself to the side of the window before carefully reaching over to make sure it was locked. The frosted glass made it impossible to see outside but she didn’t wish to make it obvious what she was doing.

Confident that the bathroom was no longer an easy entrance, she made her way across to the bedroom, anxious about the fact that the door was closed and therefore potentially hiding a threat beyond it. She laid her hand on the door handle, patiently listening for any hint of movement in the darkness beyond. Downstairs, she could hear Jess giving her address to the operator on the phone.

She took a deep, shuddering breath before easing the door open slowly. Light from the streetlamps shone dimly through the window, casting a plethora of elongated shadows across the floor. Alice timidly peered around, taking great care in evaluating spaces in which someone would be able to hide. She took no chances, making sure to check areas in which a child may struggle to stay hidden, let alone a fully grown male. The door was left open behind her, both allowing her an escape route as well as being able to listen for any worrying changes downstairs.

She held the vase aloft, ready to bring down on any hidden assailant as cupboard doors were thrown open. When no hidden marauder emerged, her attention turned to the window. She ducked down and made her way toward it in an awkward squatting position. With her thighs screaming at the uncomfortable position, she gingerly peeped out of the window at the street beyond. Nothing seemed out of place and so she took the opportunity to check the window itself; thankfully, this too was locked.

Content that upstairs was as secure as she could make it, Alice returned downstairs to the living room to re-join Jess. Jess was agreeing with whatever was being said on the phone. She gave a forced smile when her eyes met Alice’s and silently mouthed “they’ll be here soon.” Then, to whoever was on the other end of the line, Jess said, “My friend is back. Hold on.”

She lowered the phone for a second so that she could speak to Alice more easily. “She wants to know if all the doors and windows are locked,” she stated calmly and quietly. Her eyes betrayed her worry though.

“Everything’s locked,” Alice assured her.

“We need to stay inside until the police get here,” Jess told her. Alice nodded her affirmation. She had no intention of wandering around outside like some damsel in distress.

They huddled together quietly as minutes slowly ticked by. The operator stayed on the call with them throughout, which Alice was very grateful for. Eventually, they were informed that officers were present outside. Alice hurried to the window and pulled back the curtain to see that there was indeed a patrol car outside. The siren was off, but the lights were flashing brightly across the street. Some of the neighbours had already been disturbed and she could see nervous faces peeking out from behind curtains of their own.

Two officers could be seen stepping out from the vehicle. The first was a man, the second was a woman, though Alice struggled to make out any other details. The woman raised a radio to her face and spoke into it, the words lost in the darkness.

“They’re here,” Alice said over her shoulder. She remained stationary at the window, watching the officers outside. Part of her was relieved by their arrival, but equally, their presence somehow confirmed the apparent danger that they had both been in. Tears that held been previously held in check began to well up. A nudge to her shoulder made her jump in fright, she hadn’t sensed Jess’s approach.

“Don’t worry,” Jess comforted her, “I’ll go talk to them. You just stay put in here.”

Alice watched from her post as Jess left the room. The sound of the front door being unlocked felt unnaturally loud in the silence of the house. One of the officers, the woman, could be seen approaching the front door through the window. She gave Alice a small wave which Alice returned with a tight smile. She was unable to hear most of the exchange between Jess and the Officer so she made her way to the hall, peering around the doorway like a child in her own home.

Jess had crossed her arms angrily, clearly unimpressed by the officer’s words. “She shouldn’t feel like she’s in danger in her own front garden.”