The Man in the House

Richard and Bea were relaxing on the couch, full of takeout Chinese food as they were lazily laying on the couch, watching a True Crime documentary. Richard was not a fan of disturbing shit like this, but he forced himself to watch, as a sort of educational purpose. He was the man of the relationship after all, and he wanted to keep Bea safe, and it was up to him to learn the different ways of keeping his girl safe. 

It was the couple’s decision to live out in the middle of nowhere, the kind of nowhere where your neighbors all lived about fifteen minutes away from each other. Even though Richard was against this at first, there was ways of keeping everything grounded and protected in your own home. 

Always make sure the doors were locked in your home. (Safe space).

Keep several weapons in handy in case someone was to break in. (Not comfortable with guns, but hopefully a switchblade or hammer will do?)

Learn self-defense. (Do online classes count?)

Set up a whole camera system that is located outside of the house, including inside. (Richard set this up on his phone too, so that he can keep an eye on things 24/7, making it easier for him to avoid checking the camera system set up in their bedroom. It cost a pretty penny, but it was definitely worth it!)

Richard was currently checking the camera system on his phone, as Bea was enraptured and horrified by the description of how two women’s bodies were found. Richard conveyed disgust as they showed the man behind the murders. He didn’t look like a monster, and that was what made these crimes so much worse. He looked like someone that had a normal 9–5 regular job, going home to either feed a dog or cat that loved him, completely oblivious to the monster taking care of them. 

That showed these animals love. 

But he chose to treat humans like they were objects, no moment of love embedded in his bones. 

Richard suppressed a shudder as Bea wrapped her arm around Richard’s head, offering comfort. 

“You alright, babe?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“You are checking out our property again, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Bea smiled. 

“You know you don’t need to check all the time. No psycho would dare to break in our house in the middle of the neighborhood.”

Richard lifted up two fingers with his free hand. 

“One. We live in the countryside, where our so-called neighbors are all a long way from each other. And two, these true crime documentaries say the opposite.”

“These cases unfortunately happened back in the day, babe. You know, when technology wasn’t the greatest, and it was easier to commit crimes like this. It’s scary to imagine that people really weren’t safe back in those days…”

Richard patted Bea on the head, placing a kiss against her blonde hair. 

“I would have kept you safe.”

Bea slapped his arm playfully. 

“I know you would have. No one would ever mess with a dude who works out, though.”

Richard showed off his biceps. Bea covered her mouth to keep from giggling. 

A ding from the camera system came from Richard’s phone. He took a quick peek, thinking it was going to be a squirrel or a raccoon, the norm pretty much, but he was taken aback from the man standing at their doorway. 

“The fuck?”

“What is it?”

“There is someone on our doorstep.”

“It’s fucking 1 in the morning. Why is he here?”

“I don’t -’’

The man pounded on the door. The couple looked over at the front door, both of them attempting to keep their cool in front of the other. Their hearts were beating rapidly, but neither of them realized that they had automatically reached for each other’s hands, craving a sort of comfort.

“Excuse me? Can you please help me? Someone robbed me, I lost my wallet. Please. They took my phone too. Is anyone there? Hello?”

Richard squinted at the camera feed on his phone, realizing that the man’s clothes looked uneven, like he was roughed up. 

“Should we call 911?,” Bea whispered.

“This guy is either telling the truth…or it could be a set up.” Richard whispered back. 

The man put his hands in his hair, then rubbed his hands against his face. It was your typical behavior of a worried and disheveled man, but Richard refused to open the door for this guy. It just didn’t seem right. 

The couple both watched the camera on the phone, the documentary now completely forgotten in the background. The man stood there on the doorstep for a while, before suddenly running off. Bea let out a sigh of relief, but there was guilt in her eyes. 

“Babe, I think we should call 911. To be on the safe side. You know, in case this guy was actually needing some kind of help…”

“Alright. I will. Last thing I need is that I get the rest of our neighbors killed or something.”

“Rich. I don’t think it’s cool to joke about that. What if this guy really needed help, and we just ignored him? Come on, he obviously knew someone was home. We had the fucking TV on!”

“I know that we came off heartless just now babe, but there is always that what if. What if he was actually dangerous? I would have never forgiven myself if I let him in.”

Bea opened her mouth to speak, but decided to give up, as Rich made his phone call to 911. He was told the cops would arrive in about 23 minutes, and Bea shot Richard a look. Richard tried not to feel guilty about how long the cops would take to arrive, but hopefully the man was going to be alright. He didn’t see any sort of serious wounds on him through the camera, so maybe they would be able to help this stranger. 

Bea and Richard both went to bed, suddenly feeling tired and wanting to call it a night. There was an uncomfortable tension between them, as they finished up in the bathroom, getting ready for bed. Normally Richard would enjoy watching Bea changing into pajamas in front of him, but for once, he avoided checking out the free strip tease. 

Bea got into bed, taking out her phone to scroll through. Richard took a quick look at the camera system, but nothing was out of the ordinary. The man did not come back. 

Richard purposely spent a long time going through the monitors, before joining Bea in bed. She shut off her phone, put her phone on the dresser next to the bed, and rolled away from Richard. 

Richard did not say a word. He deserved this reaction, but it was a good sacrifice, to keep his girl safe. 

Richard lied in bed, staring up at the ceiling until his eyelids began to droop. He felt Bea’s hand hold his, caressing it lightly. 

Richard smiled, knowing that he was now forgiven. 

They could never stay mad at each other. 

Richard and Bea both dropped dead, both far tired than they thought. A ping came from Richard’s phone again, but he did not hear it. The man was back, and he was standing on the doorstep once again. He lifted up his hand. The front door opened on its own. 

The man entered the house. 

He computer monitor showed the man walk through the house. The man was now covered in blood. His face and mouth had most of it. His hair was a tattered mess, his dyed purple hair now a dark reddish shade. His clothes were dirty in more ways than one, and he left bloody footprints in his wake. 

He made his way upstairs, to the bedroom. The man made sure to be quiet, so as not to wake the couple. 

He sniffed at the air, his face now fully revealed when he entered the bedroom. 

He was once deemed to be classically handsome, the kind of man that would have been considered a player in his youth. Now he was none of those things. Meat clung to his teeth when he grinned down at the couple. He had murdered several neighbors on the way over to this house. The others were stupid to let him in. This one actually took precaution, but even if they had defended themselves against him, they would have failed. 

Not even a gun would have been able to put him down, because he was no longer a man. 

His stomach rumbled. The woman in bed shifted slightly but did not wake. 

The man smiled. He would begin with the man’s face, who was facing up. He liked to hear the woman’s screams. She would be his prey, and he would have enough time before the cops showed up. 

He tiptoed over to the man in bed, leaned over to lap at his face, mimicking a dog happy to see it’s owner. The man’s eyes moved, but like the woman, he did not wake. 

The man smiled. He opened his mouth wide, preparing to eat. 

These two would not be the last. 

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn