Title: The Man at the Door (1/?)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Creep factor, insinuation
Disclaimer: I don't own Community, yo
Summary: A seemingly harmless bit of mischief turns into real danger when Annie is targeted by a local creep.
The Man at the Door - Part 1
"Crap, I'm gonna be late," Britta said, realizing the time. She and Annie rarely had an opportunity to hang out one-on-one, so when Troy and Abed had gone out of town for an Inspector Spacetime convention, the women had quickly decided to make up for lost time. Unfortunately, that lost time also coincided with her cat's one year check in after his eye surgery, so she couldn't stay nearly as long as she wanted to.
"Oh," Annie said, a little sadly. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Hang on, I need to pee first!" Britta said, jumping from her spot at the table and bounding to the bathroom.
Britta immediately felt tense when she closed the bathroom door, which was odd considering how much time she spent there (at the Trobed apartment, not specifically in the bathroom). That feeling only intensified as she washed her hands. Britta knew she was occasionally dense and usually said the wrong thing, but if there was one thing she always trusted, it was her instincts. Years of travelling alone through foreign countries had forced her to make use of this skill, and it had come in handy more than once.
As she dried her hands, she started looking around, almost expecting to see a face in the mirror next to hers. It was bizarre how strong this feeling was, the sensation of being watched. Even from the third floor of the building, her stomach did flips as she peered hesitantly out the window. She was relieved, at first, that there wasn't some creep on a ladder, but she knew that was unlikely. She peered down into the parking lot below and that's when she spotted him—a guy standing a few feet away from the building, staring up at her.
She jumped back from the window, flinging herself into the bathroom door. Her heart hammered in her chest and her palms began to sweat. She'd known the moment she walked into the bathroom that something was off. Seeing that man staring up at her, while a shock to the system, was evidence that her hunch was right.
"Britta?" Britta jumped at Annie's voice on the other side of the door. "Are you okay?"
Britta fumbled with the door, desperate to get out of the room and away from his eyes, even though she knew he couldn't see her when she was away from the window.
"What's going on?" Annie asked as Britta clumsily emerged from the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.
"Annie, I don't want to freak you out, but there's a really creepy guy outside," Britta explained, stumbling over her words. Annie's brow furrowed and she started toward the window to see. "Don't go over there!" Britta exclaimed.
"Britta, he's probably just another tenant," she said. "Besides, he's allowed to stand in the parking lot. It's a free country."
"But he wasn't just standing there, Annie. He was staring at me." Annie frowned.
"How so?" Britta rolled her eyes.
"I don't know, Annie, he just was, and it was creepy. I think you should come with me," she said.
"You want me to walk you to your car?" she asked. Britta shook her head.
"No, I think you should leave with me. I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone here." Annie offered a small, encouraging smile to her friend.
"Britta, I'm fine, seriously. If I let the first creepy guy I see scare me out of my apartment, I wouldn't have lasted a day in my old place with Spaghetti outside," she said. Britta looked sceptical. "I'm serious, it'll be fine. You go ahead and I'll watch you from the window, okay?"
"Can you at least call Jeff?" she asked. Annie shook her head.
"No," she said adamantly. "I'm not calling Jeff to come protect me from some random guy in the parking lot. The last thing I want is to give him a reason to think I can't take care of myself."
"Jeff won't think that..."
"Yes he will," she exclaimed. "Please, just... go take your cat to the vet. I'll be fine." Britta sighed.
"Fine. Just promise to call me if anything happens. Or Jeff. Or the police." Annie rolled her eyes and turned Britta toward the door.
"I promise," she said, in a tone that made it clear she would do no such thing. Britta grabbed her purse and took a cursory glance through the peephole before opening the door.
"You're watching me out the window, right?" she asked. Annie offered a small smile and pulled her friend in for a hug.
"I'm watching, and I have my cell phone if you want to have an open line." Britta smiled and pulled out her cell. A moment later, Annie's phone began to ring. She put it up to her ear and smiled at her friend. "Okay, I'm listening. I'll see you later."
Britta hurried out of the building once the door to Annie's apartment had shut. She couldn't shake the feeling that the parking lot guy was going to be a problem. She looked around frantically as she opened the front door, and pulled it closed behind her so no one could get in.
Seeing no one in the parking lot, she broke into a sprint toward her car. Only when she had the door unlocked did she peer up at Annie's window, seeing her friend there smiling back at her.
"You made it!" Annie teased on the phone. Britta rolled her eyes and gave her backseat a good look before she climbed into the car.
"I made it," she joked back, locking her doors. "Lock your doors, okay?" She heard Annie sigh on the other end.
"Don't worry, they're already locked," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see ya." Britta turned off her phone and tucked it back in her coat pocket. She still felt like something was off, despite all evidence to the contrary. She checked her backseat again for good measure, then pulled her phone out once again.
"Hello?" Jeff answered after two rings.
"Jeff, can you do me a favour?" Britta asked. She heard him give an exaggerated sigh on the other end.
"What is it?" Britta peeked back out at the empty parking lot, her stomach still tied in knots.
"Can you go over to Annie's? She's there alone and I saw this super creepy dude staring up at her windows. I just have a really bad feeling about it." There was a moment of silence on the other end.
"What does Annie think?"
"I don't know, she's being difficult. Look, please just do this for me, okay? I have to go and I just don't like her being here by herself."
"She's a big girl, Britta."
"I know that! I just... please, Jeff." She hated being relegated to begging with Jeff, but nothing about this situation sat well with her, and she had no choice but to leave.
"Alright," Jeff said after a moment. "I'm on my way." She let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks Jeff."
"Yeah, yeah," he groaned. She smiled and ended the call, putting her car into gear and pulling out of the parking lot.
Annie's heart hammered in her chest as she watched Britta drive away from the building. She'd built up a bit of a tolerance to creeps after living above Dildopolis for two years, but she'd never seen Britta so worked up. Britta was supposed to be the calm, take no prisoners type. It was rare for anything to fluster her, let alone scare her so much.
She took some time to survey the parking lot before turning back to her door and re-checking the already locked locks. She silently cursed Britta for freaking her out like that. She was almost positive that there was nothing to be afraid of, and yet she couldn't stop her hands from trembling.
Opting to try and drown out her nerves, she turned on the TV to a comedy with a laugh track and turned it up much louder than need-be. She sunk back into Abed's chair and curled herself into a ball, trying to pay close attention to the actions on screen.
A few minutes later, she heard something that sent a chill straight through her. There was a steady scraping on her door that sounded like someone was running their fingernails over it. She tried to ignore it, but after about a minute, it became clear that whoever it was, wasn't going away.
She momentarily thought it had to be Britta playing some kind of mean prank on her. There was no reason to be afraid.
She repeated that phrase to herself as she slowly, quietly crept toward the door. She swallowed hard, standing about a foot back from it, psyching herself up to look out the peephole. She half expected to see some creepy dude's face staring back at her, and half expected to see Britta standing there giggling to herself.
She steadied her breathing, trying to be as quiet as possible as she approached the door. Suddenly, the scraping stopped. Whoever was out there knew she was there. She squeezed her eyes shut, suddenly very nervous to look out the peephole.
You are a grown woman, and you can take care of yourself, she thought to herself. She repeated the phrase again in her head. And again. And once more, before finally taking the last step forward and nervously peering out the peephole.
Nothing.
She breathed out, and then looked again.
Still nothing.
She peered around the area that she could see: nothing, nothing, nothing.
She had almost convinced herself that she was cracking up when she spotted something, and jumped back from the door, hand over her mouth so as not to shriek out loud. Whoever was out there was hiding against the wall next to her door, she could just barely see the sleeve of his coat. She felt tears spring to her eyes unbidden, and a sense of full-body terror overtake her.
Why the hell hadn't she left with Britta what she had the chance?
Swiftly, Annie raced over to the kitchen and grabbed a knife, and her phone.
And then the sounds from her door started up again, this time with steady taps and occasional jiggles of the doorknob. She let out a muffled sob as she quickly dialed Jeff's number.
It rang five times before going to voicemail.
"Crap!" Annie whispered to herself. She tried the number again as the noises continued, each jiggle of the doorknob sending a rush of panic through her system. Again, no answer. She sunk down into the corner of her kitchen, clutching a knife in one hand and her phone in the other as the incessant tapping and jiggling continued.
She nearly jumped a mile high as her phone vibrated in her hand.
"Hello?" she whispered shakily into the receiver.
"Annie? Are you okay?" she let out a breath as Jeff's voice came over the line.
"Jeff, there's some guy standing outside my apartment screwing with me. He's freaking me out," she cried in a hushed tone.
"Annie, I'm standing at the front door of your building now. I need you to buzz me in," Jeff said in a calming voice. Annie slowly peeked out from her hiding spot, peering over at the buzzer, next to the door.
"What are you going to do?" she asked, taking a tentative step out from her hiding spot.
"I don't know, I'll figure it out when I get up there." She swallowed hard and forced her body to move forward. As she reached the door, she stepped forward once again to peer out the peephole.
This time, a man stared back at her, a crooked smile on his thin lips, his brown eyes glinting with mischief. Annie gasped and jumped away. She pounded down on the buzzer, desperate to no longer be alone
She heard the man on the other side of the door chuckle, low and menacing. Then, with a final twist of the doorknob, he ran away.
"I think he's leaving," Annie said shakily into her phone. She nervously peered out the peephole again and sighed when she saw nothing.
"I'll be up in a sec. Keep your door locked until I'm there."
Annie stood by the door, clinging still to her phone and knife as the seconds ticked by. She silently cursed the six flights of stairs for keeping Jeff.
She gasped out loud when a knock came at the door. She peeked outside just to be sure before rapidly undoing the locks and pulling the door open. She tugged Jeff inside before slamming and relocking the door as quickly as she could.
"Annie," Jeff said, watching her. She turned to him, her whole body shaking, and she let the phone and knife clatter to the floor as she crossed over into his waiting arms.
"How did you know?" Annie asked, unbidden tears falling from her eyes and into his jacket. Jeff held her tightly.
"Britta called. Are you okay?" he asked. Annie shook her head, holding him tighter. For all of the weirdos and creeps over at Dildopolis, none of them had ever freaked her out as much as this guy.
"I didn't know what to do," she said shakily. "I'm supposed to be able to handle this kind of thing. I'm supposed to be an adult." Jeff sighed.
"Annie, even adults need to be protected," he assured her, running a hand through her hair. She sighed and relaxed into him for the first time.
"I should have left with Britta," she said quietly. Jeff pulled away slightly and held her out at arms' length.
"How do you feel about leaving with me?" he asked. Annie nodded quickly.
"Just let me pack a bag."
This story was inspired by a MEAN prank that my sister's husband played on us a few months ago. The whole standing outside the door making little noises, hiding when you go to check thing... yeah, he did that when it was just the two of us and her 3 year old son, at 11 p.m. Needless to say, we weren't amused.
I'm also incorporating in the next part something inspired by this super creepy guy in my hometown. He's called the 'Sleep Stalker' and he sneaks into women's apartments at night and watches them sleep, touches their hair, etc... yeah, he's gross and terrifying. Anyway, it won't be that specifically, just inspired by his ickyness.