As if that’s so easy.
Even if it were real, we’ve only been dating for a little while. What insane person introduces their boyfriend to their parents after a few short weeks?
Since it’s late and the roads are empty, the drive home doesn’t take long.
Putting the car into park, I kill the engine. Grabbing the bag from my passenger seat, I open the door and slide out, only to be greeted by darkness.
My brows furrow as I glance toward the porch, where an automatic light should turn on, only it didn’t.
Did the light bulb burst?
Matthew just installed it recently.
I move toward the house, digging through my bag to find the keys. A part of me expects to see the light turn on when I move closer, but, of course, that’s not the case.
“Found you,” I mutter to myself as I fish out the keys and look up only to come to a sudden stop.
My heart is galloping against my ribcage as I stare at my partially open door. I suck in a breath and hold it as I just stareat the gap, darkness lurking behind it. Did I leave it open by accident when I left earlier? My mind goes back, retracing my steps.
No, I’m almost positive I locked it. I always lock my door. It was something my dad ingrained in me when I moved out—lock the door. Bluebonnet might be a small town, but leaving doors unlocked is asking for trouble.
My ears ring from the wild beat of my heart. The keys are digging into my palm, leaving a burning sensation on my sweaty skin. Soft rustling makes my head snap up. I look around, scanning the area, but there is only darkness illuminated by the light of the crescent moon.
Only darkness.
“Seriously, Jessy. Get a grip,” I chastise myself as I clasp my fingers harder around the keys, welcoming the way the metal bites at my skin.
Maybe I actually left it unlocked. Or maybe the key didn’t work, and the door was left ajar. Hell, maybe some kind of animal entered the house. It wouldn’t be so uncommon since I live close to the woods. This is Bluebonnet Creek, for God’s sake.
I lift my hand and run my shaky fingers through my hair as I will my heart rate to go back to normal.
“It’s just a little bit of darkness, nothing I’m not used to.”
Turning back to the house, I extend my hand and push open the door, or I would, if it didn’t pull open when I reached for the doorknob, tugging me along with it, and I’m suddenly face-to-face with a tall, masked figure.
My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach, time slowing down as we just stare at one another for a few heartbeats.
I open my mouth—but no sound comes out.
Before I can grasp what’s happening, big hands shove against my chest, pushing me back. The force of the impact makes me stumble. My foot hoovers on the edge of the step, making mybody sway as it fights gravity, but there is no stopping the fall. Pain shoots through my body as I slam to the ground. All the air is knocked out of my lungs, dark spots swimming in front of my eyes.
A dark shadow falls over me.
I curl in on myself, my hands covering my head as I fight through the pain. I expect him to punch me. I expect to feel hands on my body, trying to pull me back. I brace myself for an attack. But it doesn’t come.
I peek through the crack between my elbows, expecting to find the shadowy figure looming over me, but there’s nobody there.
I push upright, looking around, wondering if I imagined it, but I haven’t. My front door is still open. My jeans are dirty from falling to the ground, and there is a scrape on my arm from the fall.
Somebody was here.
In my house.
The bile rises in my throat as I try to wrap my mind around it.
Somebody was in my home.
Did they leave, or are they still here? Watching from the darkness surrounding me. I look around, scanning every nook and cranny, every dark corner.
