Fear Not the Dark

Fear Not the Dark

        It was almost midnight when Sarah Caldwell arrived home. The house was dark, but she distinctly remembered leaving the hall light on because she knew her husband was not coming home tonight.

        As she stood at the front door, a chill ran through her body. She thought about getting back in her car and driving to her mother’s house like Jim asked her to do, but showing up at midnight would only raise questions she didn't feel like answering. Besides, she was tired and a little drunk from the office party she attended earlier.

        She put the key in the lock to open the door, expecting the alarm to beep, but the door was unlocked. She flipped the light switch on the wall. The green lettering on the alarm panel read ALARM OFF. She thought she had locked the door and set the alarm, but now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe she forgot. She had been so upset after the conversation with her husband before he left for work that morning; it was possible that she did forget.

        “Why do you have to go out of town so much? I hate being in that house at night by myself.” Sarah never liked being alone. She was an only child of wealthy, over-protective parents who coddled her, and she always felt secure. She knew that Jim hated it when she whined and lately he'd been complaining that she was just spoiled and insecure.

        “I’ll only be gone tonight, Sarah. Why do you have to make everything so difficult?” Jim was obviously annoyed. “I want you to stay at your Mother’s tonight. Promise me you will.” She really didn’t want to, but Jim would make a big deal of it if she didn’t.

        “I’ll stay there tonight, but make this the last time,” she yelled to him as he walked out to his car. The late nights at the office were happening more now than when they were first married, and she was becoming suspicious. When she met Jim, they were seniors in college. He was tall and had a pretty-boy face, much prettier than she could ever hope to be. She had always been very plain and shy, but Jim was outgoing and she loved that about him. She never knew what he saw in her. They married as soon as they graduated and moved into a two-story colonial that her parents bought for them as a wedding present. For the first three years of their marriage they were happy, but in the past few months, she began to doubt that he ever loved her.

        I thought for sure I locked the door. I'm sure I set the alarm and turned on the light before I left. She set her purse and keys on the foyer table and turned to walk upstairs, but stopped when she heard a noise. Was that a voice? Panic and anxiety engulfed her. She rushed to the kitchen and pulled out the biggest knife she could find. She walked quietly up each stair, listening for any other sounds. Calm down. It’s probably the wind.

        As she reached the landing at the top of the stairs, she paused. Her hand tightened around the handle of the knife; she listened, but heard nothing. Great, now I'm hearing things. She walked quickly to her bedroom and locked the door. She set the knife on the dresser and changed into her nightgown. Moments later, she heard the noise again, but this time she was sure it was a voice, a woman’s voice.

         She picked up the knife and quietly opened her bedroom door. She paused when she heard the woman’s voice again, then she heard a man’s voice, followed by laughter, coming from the guest bedroom. She clutched the knife close to her chest; her heart was pounding. She was terrified and wanted to run, but she had to know.

        Standing at the double doors of the guest bedroom, her left hand grasped the doorknob. She took a deep breath and slowly turned the knob. Her fingers tightened around the handle of the knife in her right hand as she moved it behind her back. Slowly, she eased the door open a little and looked in. The room was dark, very dark; she waited while her eyes tried to adjust, but she couldn’t see anything. A scent of perfume filled her nostrils and she heard sheets rustling.

        Bastard! That’s why you wanted me out of the house tonight.

        In that instant, all her pent up feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and inadequacy surfaced and exploded in her mind with an anger she couldn’t control. Her fingers gripped the handle of the knife as she pulled it from behind her back and quietly walked to the side of the bed. She pulled the knife from behind her back and raised it above her head. As she thrust the knife downward, his hand pulled the knife from her grip and she yelled.

        At the sound of the screams, the next door neighbor awoke and called 911 advising that she heard a woman scream. Within minutes, the police pulled in the driveway thinking they were responding to a call for a domestic dispute. A male and female were running out of the house, their torn and disheveled clothes covered in blood. They were both wrestled to the ground by the responding officers and handcuffed.

        As the two officers helped them stand up, the officer holding the male took a second look. “Well, look who we’ve got. We’ve been looking for you all day," Officer Kane said, recognizing the male as the prisoner who had escaped that morning. “You won’t be in minimum security this time, Briggs." He looked over at the female being held by the rookie. "And your girlfriend’s in big trouble, too.”

        “Henderson, put them in the cruiser. I'm going to check out the house to see if anyone else is in there,” Kane said as he headed towards the front door. Moments later, Officer Henderson heard Kane yell, “You better call for backup Henderson!"

         Before Henderson could make the call, a white Mercedes pulled in the driveway and a man jumped out. "What happened? What's going on here?"

         "Wait, sir, who are you?" Henderson had blocked Jim as he started for the front door.

         "It's my house. My wife's in there," Jim said as he pulled from the officer's hold.

         Henderson tried to stop him. "Sir, you shouldn't go in there," but Jim was already through the door.

         Henderson locked the two suspects in the cruiser and called in for assistance. Within minutes, the backup arrived and Henderson went up to the bedroom to join Kane. Jim was kneeling by Sarah’s bloody, lifeless body, riddled with stab wounds, and they heard him whisper, "You promised."

Word Count: 1138 (incl. title)

3rd Place in "A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words" Contest in 2007