Something warned me you were coming...
"ugh" it had been a long long day, dropping my backpack onto the ground with a satisfying thud I dragged my feet down the hall to the beckoning sofa. As I enter my living room Pumpkin my ginger cat begins to purr and promptly crawls onto my lap as soon as I sit down. "well I guess I cant cook now your comfy, oh what a shame takeaway it is" one hand scratching behind his ear I pull out my phone to order something that'll improve me day dramatically. I drop a text to My boyfriend David complaining about my day before I debate whether to watch TV, play a game, or read my book and decide not to waste the ambiance of the rain pattering outside my window and the ever present purring from pumpkin, I press order on my pizza and pick up my book. I've been reading one of my murder mystery books by Riley Sager, He is a genius! Time flies by before I know it pumpkins jumping off my lap warning me my delivery driver was probably walking up the path. I bookmark my book and slowly get up, making my way to the door I notice Pumpkin has hidden in the spare room instead of running to the door like he usually would. Maybe it was just a false alarm he likes to hide before I leave the flat or want to go to bed which used to be cute and now consists of coming up with new tricks to lure him into the living room. I go to head back to my book but something stops me. I have this small voice in the back of my head telling me something is wrong. I take a deep breath and laugh it off, work really has rattled me. I spent all day managing angry customers after there was some mistake with some pension letters, god knows how such a big mistake went through but it happens. The whole time I just looked out the window repeating the same attempt at an apology. I didn't blame them for being angry but I just couldn't get them to understand that I didn't have anything to do with the letters and nor did it change anything about their pensions. They were perfectly safe and most of them more money then I'd likely ever see. I had some Duchess complain at the audacity of having to wait more then 2 minutes to get through to us. The whole time I felt like I was being watched, I figured it was probably the managers keeping a close eye on everyone but I could have sworn I saw some guy on the street down below just pacing back and forth looking right at me. There's no way he could have seen me 6 floors up even with my bright blue hair but it still felt uneasy. By the end of the day I was drained and spooked. I walked out with one of my friends both ranting about how tomorrow will probably be more of the same and we are not paid enough to deal with this, by then the guy was gone. Enough to have my cat make me feel like something or someone was coming for me... Maybe my murder mystery book isn't helping either. Switching on the TV instead I hear the gravel outside my window and jump, its just my creepy neighbour. Honestly he drives me crazy, he always walks on the gravel outside my window instead of going around on the path and ALWAYS looks into my living room and glares at me. I need to get some of those mottled glass stickers or better blinds so whatever is so interesting about me on my sofa stops being an option for him. During covid is the only time we've spoken and it was because he banged on my door to shout at me about singing in my flat. I just sung louder. Which in hind sight is probably another reason he doesn't speak to me. My thoughts are disrupted by a knocking on my door. finally food, I answer the door and the smell of warm pizza wipes away my day and that spooky feeling lingering at my back. The delivery driver is older than I expected, usually always younger to middle aged guys but maybe this is topping up his retirement. I take the pizza and hand him a tip hoping he's having a better day than I did. Walking back to the beckoning sofa I realise Pumpkin is still hiding. I put my pizza down walking to the spare room when suddenly there's a loud click and all the lights go out. Now Pumpkin hiding makes sense the rain has turned from a drizzle to a storm, lightning flashes as I turn back to my pizza and I have to do a double take. Just as the light flashes through the window I could have sworn it highlighted a silhouette of someone outside my window. I can feel the colour drain from my face as a second crash of lightning confirms my fears. Someone is in my garden, staring at me as I stare at them, I'm frozen to the spot terrified. I'm a woman alone and I have one hell of a right hook but if he has a weapon that wont mean much. "FUCK" Pumpkin is obviously just as freaked out as he digs his claws into my leg climbing up the side of me. I grab him before I can obtain anymore puncture wounds and cradle him like a baby scratching his chest. Clearly its not just me feeling spooked this evening. The lightning crashes again and this time the window is empty. I try to rationalise to myself how it could be the neighbour checking if my powers gone out too or maybe I just imagined it. But surely if I imagined it the figure would have gone after the second strike not the third.
