It was Halloween night, and just like every other year my parents went out, and my older brother was at college, so I was stuck handing out the candy. I was supposed to go out with my friends but I got sick. It was 5:12 so I went downstairs so I could be near the door.

I walked over to the couch and pulled a warm, fuzzy grey blanket over the top of me. I sat there waiting for the doorbell to ring but all I could hear was the breeze smacking the leaves on the tree and hitting the window next to me. It sounded like nails scraping across a chalkboard sometimes, but you get used to it.

The doorbell rang, I grabbed the bowl of candy and walked to the door. 2 little kids in farm costumes stood there and said, “Trick or treat!” in a small little voice. I gave them each 2 pieces of candy, closed the door and went back to the couch. The doorbell rang at least 20 more times. We always get a lot of trick or treaters because we live in a big neighborhood. When I ran out of candy I turned off the front porch light so no one else would come up. It was 8:46 so I didn’t think anyone else was going to come. I then went back to the couch and turned on a Halloween movie.

About 5 minutes later the doorbell rang and I ignored it. But then it rang about a minute later again, so I got up, walked to the door and as I was opening it I started to say, “Sorry we ran out of….” but then I stopped myself in my tracks when I realized that no one was there. I walked out the door and looked around, but I didn’t see anyone, so I shut the door and locked it. I sat back down on the couch and started to watch the movie again and fell asleep.

All the sudden I jolted and woke up. I had heard a loud noise but it wasn’t the tree outside. This was a different noise. As I walked out of the living room and towards the front door. I saw the door and stopped, I started to shake. The door was wide open. I ran over to the door and as I did I stepped over leaves. I swore to myself that I had locked it. I looked over at the clock and it said 9:56. I knew my parents weren’t home yet, it was too early. I suddenly heard my door slam shut upstairs. I closed the front door softly so no one could hear me. I locked it.

I then started to walk upstairs and once I got to the top I slowly turned to look down the hallway. The light was on, but it usually is. I slowly walked down the hallway passing my parents room, the bathroom, my dad's precious baseball bats that were signed by some really famous people. I am pretty sure he loved them more then he loved me. I kept walked and then paused before I came to my room. The door was cracked open and most of the time it was closed. I thought to myself, I should really call my parents or 911, but if no one hears then they will think I am losing my mind. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I put my palm on the door and pushed it hard. It swung open and I stood in the doorway. I quickly took a step forward and flipped the light switch. My room looked the same as I left it.

I just stood there and then suddenly I felt a cool breeze come over my shoulders. I felt my eyes open wide and I stood there frozen. I tried to move but I felt like my feet were glued to the ground. All of the sudden I could feel someone touching my shoulder but very lightly. My brain was spinning a million miles an hour. I didn’t know what to do. Then I remembered that karate class I took when I was 5, I was never really good and didn’t remember much. But I did remember how to defend myself. I held my right arm at my waist and with all my might, I jabbed my elbow right into there stomach. I heard them grunt and I turned around. His head was facing downward and I stared. He was wearing dark black glossy shoes that looked bulky, dark black pants, and a thin coat that was also black. I could see he was wearing a hat of some type but I couldn’t see his face. Suddenly his body started to rise up and he stood in front of me. I looked at him and stared right into his eyes. He had green eyes that looked muggy, kind of like a swamp. I didn’t think this is how I should die, but I didn’t know what he was here for. I wrapped my leg around his and pushed my ankle into the back of his knee. Which made his fall to the ground. I quickly started to run down the hall and down the steps.

I ran over to the phone and grabbed it. I then ran into the bathroom and locked the door. I dialed 9-1-1 and held the phone up to my face but all I heard was silence. I tried again 9-1-1 and heard nothing. This can’t be happening, I never need the phone and now when I do it decides not to work. I didn’t have my phone on me either. It was still on the couch. I had to get to the couch to get the phone. I slowly unlocked the door and opened it just a bit. I could see his back facing me. He was in the kitchen and I needed to get to the kitchen to get to where my phone was.

I saw the light reflection off of something in his hand. It was shiny and silver. I couldn’t really see what it was but I knew it was bad. I thought that if I go out there I could die, but if I stay in here and lose track of where he is, I could also die. I kept the door open and he started to walk out of the kitchen and towards the living room.

I didn’t understand why this was happening to me. Tears started to drip down my face and I couldn’t hold them back. I was so scared. People always talk about these things and how scary they are but it doesn’t matter to you until you are the one stuck in the situation. The fact that no one knew what was going on right now was scary. I started to lean back and forgot that I was leaning on the door.

SQUEAK!! I could feel the blood draining from my face. I got up and heard footsteps. He was coming. I ran out of the bathroom and started to head up the steps. He came out of the kitchen and started to chase me. I ran down the hallway and didn’t know where to go, I wouldn’t be safe in any of the rooms, because I had no way out of them. I got to the end of the hallway and turned around he was standing there.

I screamed, “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME.” He started to creep closer. I looked at the wall and saw the baseball bats in the shiny glass case. I was about to break the glass and grab one but then I remembered the time my brother had bumped into one of them and it fell on the floor and my dad saw it happen. He was banned from being near them. That’s why they had glass around them now. But then I remembered that this was a life or death situation. I jammed my elbow into the glass and it went everywhere. I grabbed the bat that was signed by Babe Ruth and started to pull it. It wasn’t moving. I didn’t know why though, but what I did know is that I was about to die because he was about 5 feet away from me now. I pulled harder and harder and finally, it broke loose and I swung it and it smashed into his head. He tumbled over and I ran down the steps and out the door.

I ran as fast as I could and over to my neighbors, I stood at the doorstep and rung the doorbell. I didn’t know what time it was so they could be asleep. I rang it again and again and again, but no one was coming but then a light turned on towards the back of the house. I was still crying but I was so happy. I heard footsteps and turned around. It was him, I tried to push away but he grabbed me and pulled me into the bushes next to the door. The door opened and I tried to scream but then realized his hand was over my mouth. I screamed as loud as I could but I knew no one could hear me. Mrs. Frank stood at the edge of the door and said,

“Hello? Sorry, we aren’t giving out candy anymore.” She must have had a watch on because she paused and then mumbled to herself,

“ It’s 10:34 I don’t think anyone is handing out candy still.” 10:34, my parents are gonna be home soon. I started to feel something cold touch my neck, it was sharp. The lights turned off in the house so it was pitch black. I thought he was going to kill me. I was trying to think of something to do but a bat doesn’t compare to a knife. A car started to come down the street and into our driveway, it wasn’t my parents we didn’t have a car that looked like that. I didn’t know who it was but he was then distracted. I jabbed my elbow into him and the hand with the knife jolted forward. I started running back to the house and as I was running I realized that the only thing I remembered from karate was the only thing keeping me alive right now. I didn’t want to go to the car because I didn’t know if the person was with him or not. But suddenly someone stepped out of the car and started to come around the corner of the car. They turned and we made eye contact. I gasped. Everything went black.