Chapter 10
It was 10 pm when she left the studio that night. Jude walked out to her car and drove home without incident. She pulled into her driveway and locked the car with the remote as she walked up the drive to the darkened house. She fumbled with her keys and finally was able to get the door opened.
She groped the wall for the light switch and flicked it on, closing the door behind her. Jude entered the kitchen to get a glass of water and noticed the note on the table.
Jude,
I went out with some friends. Be home late. Sadie is out on a date with Simon.
Love,
Mom
Jude sighed and got a glass out of the cupboard and filled the glass to the brim and took a long drink. She heard a creak and she started, almost dropping the class onto the hard wood floor. She set it down on the counter and shook herself mentally. Stop it Jude, you're hearing things. She thought. She heard another noise and she felt the hair on the back of her neck prick with a twinge of fear.
"Hello?" Jude called. "Mom? Sadie?" She felt her heartbeat accelerate with fear. Her skin started to feel clammy and blood pounded in her ears. "God Jude, stop being stupid" she muttered "there's no one here, get a grip." She walked into the living room and collapsed on the couch and flicked on the remote. She sat there a second and then leaped off the couch and onto the chair next to it. She stared at the couch in horror. People have done nasty things on that couch…Jude though and shuddered. She lounged against it and flipped through the channels half-heartedly. She left it on the news and moments later, her eyes felt heavy and her eyes closed almost involuntarily.
CRASH! The noise echoed throughout the house and Jude sprang up from the chair, perfectly alert. She looked around frantically looking for the source of the noise. She heard light cursing coming from upstairs. Jude looked around for a place to hide and dashed into the closet under the stairs and pressed herself up against the wall. She heard footsteps beginning to descend the stairs and she held her breath, as though the simple act of breathing would alert whoever was in the house of her location.
"Ju-ude!" The voice said, and she could tell it was a falsetto male voice. She knew he stepped off of the last step by the way it creaked under his feet.
"Where are you Jude?" The voice asked. Jude stepped cautiously backwards towards the back portion of the closet; trying to get herself out of sight. She sidestepped a couple boxes and other clutter that was stored there. The footsteps grew fainter and she took a deep breath. She took another step back and she knocked a couple of books over from a high piled stack. Jude froze. Please don't hear…she thought.
She looked around, trying to figure out another way out of the closet, but she realized she was trapped. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and it registered no service. She cursed silently and heard the creaking of a door open. Jude knelt down and curled herself up as small as she could get. Don't come back here, don't come back here…Jude pleaded mentally.
She felt a hand touch her and she let out an ear-shattering scream. She shoved past the person, scrambling through the dark closet to get to the light of the living room. The figure behind her stumbled and latched onto her arm. Jude brought it up and elbowed the attacker in the nose.
"Ow! Damn it!" The person yelled. Jude yanked herself free and bolted out of the closet, closing the door behind her.
"Jude!" A familiar voice said. She looked around frantically and the door was forced open. Jude let out a scream of surprise.