Susan.(Stephen Pearmine) Susan left the building, unsure why they didn't believe her. It was so frustrating. She proceeded to her car, which was parked nearby.

Last night, while trying to sleep, she heard a noise at the entrance to her house. Susan crept out of the bedroom and into the hallway to check if anyone was there. With bated breath, she waited for something to happen. Thankfully nothing did, so after a while, Susan headed back to bed. Maybe it was her imagination playing tricks? Since separating from her husband of seven years, she now lived on her own in a different area, where she didn't really know anyone her age. Some of the elderly neighbours were friendly, like John and Mavis, who liked playing bingo, or Gladys and her husband Geoffrey who sadly suffered from dementia, also Jim and his wife Mary, who spent most of their time on holiday abroad, lucky for some.
Recently, she'd gone to the doctor's and was prescribed tablets for mild anxiety. She'd only been taking them for the last week and was still waiting for them to work.

Susan got into the car, then started the engine for the journey home.

..................

She'd lived in her new place for just under a month and found the whole experience overwhelming. She did the best she could, even though it was hard.

The time was 6.30pm and Susan had just eaten dinner. These days she couldn't be bothered to cook just for one, so a bland microwave meal it was. She took the dirty plate and cutlery into the kitchen. The window near the sink faced the back garden with its tall overgrown bushes, which was something else she'd have to sort out in due course.
Once Susan had washed up and dried, she headed back into the living room. She sat down and put a nearby blanket over her to keep her warm. These days she had to watch her pennies, as she now had to fend for herself. The TV was on and Susan watched it with not much interest as her mind was consumed with other things, like how her husband had been having an affair for the last three years without her knowing about it. It hurt like hell. It was hard to trust anyone after what had happened.
On the coffee table was a bottle of wine that she'd got from the shop earlier.
Why not, Susan thought.
She poured herself a glass, then took a sip. It tasted nice. After the day she'd had, it was well deserved. After finishing it, she put the glass down and within five minutes, Susan was fast asleep.

..................

A noise from outside woke her up. Susan rubbed her eyes, then walked to the window which faced the road to see what it was. A figure was seen as he or she made their way past her house while they kicked the odd bin along the road. Then, with horror, Susan noticed they wore a balaclava so she couldn't see their face. What was the reason for this, unless they were up to no good? Suddenly, the phone rang, which made her jump and caused her to lose her balance as she fell awkwardly against the glass of the window. Nervously, she looked in the direction of where the person had been. No one was there. With relief, she walked hastily to the phone and picked it up.
"Hello, who is this?" she asked, annoyed. By the clock on the wall, it was 10.32pm. Who would ring at this hour?
For a few seconds there was silence, then a voice she recognised said, "We need to talk, Mary." It was her pig of a husband.
"What the hell do you want?" she said, slamming the phone back down.
It then hit her out of the blue. This was the first time he'd contacted her since they'd separated. What did he want?
Because it was getting late, Susan decided to head to bed, knowing she wouldn't get much sleep as she'd spent most of the evening asleep until that scary person from outside had woken her up. She drew the curtains across the window, then headed to her bedroom. Her pig of a husband didn't ring again that night.

.........................

She awoke in a cold sweat. The nightmare she'd just had was awful. The time on the alarm clock was 3.52am. Susan then heard a noise at the front door, like someone was trying to get in. Not again, she thought, as last night a similar thing had happened, and this is why she went to the police.
Susan decided to stay in bed. She knew the entrance was locked, so whoever it was would have to break the door down, and in doing this would disturb her neighbours.
After two minutes, it stopped, much to her relief. Yet again, the silence that followed was disturbed by someone's footsteps making their way around the house.
Who the hell was this, and what did they want?
Suddenly, a light appeared at the window of her room. Thankfully, the curtains covered the window. Her heart raced as she stared at it.
What do you want from me?
Seconds later, the light was turned off and footsteps were heard walking away from the house and down the drive.
Susan needed to know who it was that was terrorising her. She hastily got out of bed and opened the bottom of the curtains to peer out. There was nobody there. Slowly, she began to calm down.
Some minutes later, she returned to her bed.

..........................

While at the shops the next day Susan heard two elderly women talking about an assault that occurred yesterday just down the road from her, it happened about 10pm. Supposedly, the woman said the thug who attacked her was a tall man who wore a balaclava. Then Susan thought back to the strange individual she saw last night around that time, and what followed. She needed to tell the police what she saw, as it might help in capturing this fiend.

The police officer looked at her strangely, then said, "Yes, we are aware of an incident that occurred yesterday evening, and thank you for the information you've given us. Hopefully, it'll be beneficial in our inquiries."
Susan couldn't believe it. "But didn't you hear what I just said? I think this person tried to break into my place late last night. Aren't you going to do anything about this?"
The officer looked bemused. "Maybe you dreamt it. Look, I'm not being nasty, but you're always in here with one thing or another. Look, we'll look into it, I promise. I've got loads to do, so I need to get on, but take care of yourself, okay?"
Susan couldn't believe it. The police were absolutely useless. She left the building furious. Well, if the police won't sort it, then she would, because she'd had enough of feeling threatened in her own home.

...........................

That night, she was prepared. If that b****** came back, then she'd be ready. She wasn't going to live her life in fear anymore. It ends tonight.

A few minutes after midnight, footsteps were heard coming up the drive. Like before, the person tried the handle on the door. Susan hid in the kitchen at the back of the house with the lights off. This person proceeded around the house yet again to her bedroom and shone the light through the curtains. If she wanted this to stop, then she needed to do something about it. She headed to the front door and quietly unlocked it, then stepped outside into the chilly air, knowing how insane this plan was. As quietly as she could, she crept up the side of the house to the front garden, where she saw someone stood at her bedroom window with a torch. They wore a balaclava. From the description the woman had given about her attacker, he looked a lot shorter than that, which meant she had more of a chance of confronting this person. All of a sudden, a rage that had built up inside of her for so long erupted as she ran to the person screaming obscenities and hitting them with her fists until they cowered on the ground, crying. Susan needed to know who this person was and removed the balaclava. Straightaway, she recognised the elderly man as Geoffrey, a friendly neighbour who suffered from dementia. The first thing she did was help him up and tell him everything was going to be fine. Once he'd calmed down, she helped him to his house, which was only 6 doors down. Understandably, his wife was frantic, saying he'd wander off most nights really late wearing his balaclava that their son had bought him one Christmas, as the present meant the world to him since their son had passed. Susan understood and said her goodbyes, relieved that there was nothing to worry about after all.

Once she'd got home, she realised with helping Geoffrey that she hadn't locked the front door. In the hallway, she locked the door, then proceeded into the bedroom, exhausted. With everything that had happened lately, all she needed was a good night's sleep. Susan got undressed, then climbed into her comfy bed. And for the first time in ages, she felt optimistic about the future. While not noticing, the tall figure stood in the doorway, his face hidden by a balaclava.

The End. 

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