So this is only my second-ever scary fic type deal, but I kinda dig the horror/suspense genre, so I'm gonna keep goin' with it and see how it goes..? -E

Her legs hurt. Her feet were throbbing. Her back ached. Her head was pounding.

But at long last, Natasha finally got to go home after a nightmare-ish day of work.

"You work tomorrow?" One of her coworkers asked as Nat was walking to the door.

"Unfortunately," she sighed before giving her coworker a small smirk. "Good luck with the rest of the night."

"Yeah, yeah," the other woman rolled her eyes and smiled. "See you tomorrow!" They had been freakishly busy at their store all day, a large majority of their customers being either extremely difficult, extremely old and unable to hear a damn thing, or extremely rude. One man even went so far as to tell Natasha she should be fired for not being able to fix his problem quickly enough to satisfy him.

She moaned softly in relief as she sat down in her car and gently massaged her temples, attempting to numb the pain at least a little bit. At least now she got to go home and see her darling husband Clint, who was probably passed out on the couch with the tv still on, anyways. A small smile appeared on her face as she thought about curling up next to him on the couch; him waking up for a moment, groggy, but still awake enough for a smile and to gently kiss her forehead before dozing off again. Their 8 year-old daughter, Lucy, would be asleep in her room, her small night light shining dimly through her bedroom.

Pulling onto the highway, she turned on the radio, stifling a yawn behind her hand.

"-What folks are referring to as-" Bored, she glanced at the dial and started flipping through the back up at the road she inhaled sharply and slammed on the breaks, nearly hitting the person that had just cut her off.

"Fuck!"

"-killer is very dangerous," the man on the radio paused. "We here at the station would like to remind you keep your children indoors and lock your doors at night." This time changing the station without taking her eyes off the road, she finally settled on a classical station.

After about twenty minutes, she finally turned into her driveway and parked her car. She glanced at the house and sighed softly.

"He's asleep," she mused to herself quietly as she turned the engine off. As her hand reached for the car door, she froze, her breath catching in her throat.

The front door of the house was open. 'He probably just forgot to close it all the way,' she thought hopefully, her heart continuing to drop. 'He's fine.' Slowly and quietly, she opened the car door, clutching her keys tightly in her hand, not taking her eyes off the front door. 'They're fine. It's late. They're just sleeping, and Clint forgot to shut the door. They're fine.' she repeated over and over to herself.

Natasha glanced at her phone for a moment to check when the last text from Clint was sent.

[7:58 pm, Birdboy] Sorry your day's been shit. At least you've got a loving husband to come home to later tonight ;)

She looked at the current time. 11:16 pm. It had been a little over three hours. Something could have happened. Swallowing dryly, Nat lowered her phone, turning her attention back to the house as she slowly shut the car door. It had been years since their days at SHIELD, and she knew Clint could handle himself. But still, the front door was open, and all the lights in the house were off, so there was still the small touch of doubt as she made her way to the house.

(Me: quick what's a good name for a serial killer. Like. The _ killer.
Friend: Fuck
Me: Fuck killer.
Friend: yyyyyyeeeeeaaaahhhhh
Me: I hope you realize I'm going to have to use that now.)