“He sacrificed his life to save mine… after all I did…” the words echoed around in her head as she tried to hold back a sob. A tear slid down her cheek and dropped onto her pillow. “I wish he was here, now he could tell me it wasn't my fault…” she cried silently. She sniffed, wiping away more tears with the back of her hand, the cold sweat still on her forehead from the nightmare. It was the only thing that kept her awake at night, the image of him laying dead on the ground haunted her for days afterwards.

A soft knock interrupted her thoughts, causing her to quickly pull herself together. A part of her wanted to ignore the noise but another nagging voice told her not to be so mean to whoever it was. She sat up and wiped away the sleep from her eyes and face.

“Come in?” Her tone was harsh as she spoke but there was still something vulnerable about her voice. She cleared her throat before speaking again. “Sorry, who is it?” There was no response, she frowned at the silence. “Hello?” Silence greeted her again so she got out of bed. Her bare feet touched the cold wood floor and she felt her skin tingle slightly. With every step the temperature seemed to drop until goosebumps covered her entire body. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. She looked towards the door and noticed the light under the crack had gone out. She opened the door and peered into the hallway; no one was outside.

The house seemed even colder than before and she could hear a faint ticking coming from the walls. This was odd enough to cause her to move closer. As she reached the living room she heard what sounded like someone knocking. She stood there for a moment trying to make sense of this, she hadn't seen anyone since the day she came home. The sounds continued but she was certain it was just the wind or something similar making them.

She walked over to the window and pulled the curtains open. she nearly fainted with fright, there on the lawn stood a thin scrawny figure with elongated arms and legs, the head bobbed around in the breeze. she quickly curled on the floor with one hand over her mouth as if she was afraid that the creature would be able to hear her breathing. If there was someone outside in the garden then who knocked on her door?

She didn’t want to get up off the floor to check whether the creature was still there. The air suddenly became much heavier, as if there were thousands of people breathing in unison. She squeezed her eyes shut to try and focus on anything other than the weight above her. She let out a shaky breath when she realized her breaths were loud and shallow, but they weren't enough to drown out the sound of footsteps slowly approaching. She knew there was no way she'd be able to escape them.

Her mind went blank at the thought and she began crying uncontrollably. She wished the person would just walk by and leave her alone. The footsteps grew louder, the pressure in her chest became worse.