Then I heard something outside, I thought that it must have been Nate coming back. Maybe he did feel something? Maybe he was going to jump into that shower with me after all. But the longer I waited, the more I started to get worried that it wasn’t Nate at all.
What if someone else was in the house? What if Stephano’s people were just waiting for me to be alone so they could kill me? I started to sweat as I thought of all the possibilities of what could be going on.
“Nate?” I said as I opened the shower curtain slightly.
But there was no response. I waited, expecting that Nate would at least open the door a little bit and let me know why he had come back. But with continued silence, I figured he had just forgotten something and then took off again.
I closed my eyes as I ran the soap over my body. My thoughts were almost exclusively on Nate. I hadn’t stopped thinking about him much in the last few days. I was feeling great and had more energy than I remembered having in a very long time. Working out each day was the perfect adrenaline boost, and Nate had been teaching me about the importance of protein in my diet when I was working out.
He had told me that protein was more important than any other food, and if I only ate one thing in a day, I had to make sure it was protein. The good news was that I had been eating plenty over the last few days. All the running left me famished and I ate at least three big meals each day, some days I even snuck in a fourth meal late at night.
I did feel the anxiety over Nate leaving, though. But after our little practice fight on the floor of his workout building, I felt much more confident in my skills. I no longer felt like I had to go stay with Jordan the entire time Nate was gone; perhaps I could go over there a few days but then spend more time at the cabin. Besides, I had worked so hard on planting my garden, and I didn’t want everything to wither and die.
There was another distinct noise, in the living room, and this time I was out of the shower and looked outside. Nate’s car wasn’t there. But neither were any other cars. My mind started to race as I tried to figure out what could be going on. If Stephano had sent someone to watch the cabin, they could have waited for Nate to leave then broken into the house.
I got dressed and listened closely at the door as I tried to wait for any clue to who was in the house. I was in the bathroom attached to my bedroom, but I didn’t know if anyone had gotten into the room yet. My heart raced as I leaned down to the ground and tried to look out under the door to see if the intruder had gotten to my room yet.
There didn’t appear to be anyone in there, so I slowly opened the door and made my way into my room. I looked around frantically for a bat or something that I could use to attack the intruder, but there wasn’t much around. I finally took the lampshade off of the lamp and held onto the metal base as the only weapon I had available to me.
My heart felt like it was going to pound right out of my chest as I listened at the bedroom door to see if I could hear any more noises.
Then again I heard it. It sounded like something had dropped or hit the wall in the living room. Whoever had broken into the house was probably searching, looking for me. Well, I wasn’t about to wait for them to get me. I was going to surprise them. I was going to attack them before they could attack me.
Slowly, I opened the bedroom door and walked into the hallway. My courage level was about as high as it could be until I hear the loudest crashing noise I had heard yet. Quickly, I turned and ran into Nate’s room. I shut the door behind me and crawled into the back of the closet. I grabbed all the clothes I could find and piled them on top of me in the hopes that the intruder wouldn’t find me if he looked into the closet, then I waited.
My heart pounded as I tried to listen for the intruder. I waited for him or them to make their way to the back bedroom. I held my breath and then let it out. I tried to calm my breathing, but I couldn’t seem to catch my breath at all. In my hand I still held the metal lamp base and I had it positioned next to me and ready to beat the intruder as soon as he opened the door and tried to attack me. If the metal lamp didn’t work to subdue him, I was ready to wrap my arms around his throat and strangle him to death if I had to.
It seemed like forever before I heard another noise. The closet was surprisingly noise resistant or the intruders were being very quiet as they made their way through the house. But then I heard the unmistakable sound of a car pulling into the driveway area in front of the house.
Maybe the intruders had been waiting for their back up to arrive. Maybe that was why they hadn’t come to the back of the house to try and find me yet. I braced myself for the worst as I gripped the lamp base tightly in my fingers.
My breathing grew faster as the anticipation grew. I didn’t know what to expect next, but I was going to be prepared. Even as afraid as I was, I knew that I couldn’t freak out yet. I couldn’t just start running and screaming if I wanted to be able to get out of the situation alive; no, I had to follow my gut.
“Ana!” I heard a voice scream. “Ana!”
It sounded like Nate, but I couldn’t be sure. Was he fighting with the intruders? Was he calling for me to help him? I couldn’t tell, but then I thought that maybe it was a trap. Perhaps the intruders had a hold of him and were forcing him to yell to me so I would come out of hiding.
No.
I wouldn’t leave my spot. They would have to find me if they were going to kill me, and even then I was going to put up one hell of a fight! I might not have been as strong as I once was, but I was strong enough to
put up a really good fight. I was going to make sure whoever was coming to hurt me was going to really pay for whatever it was they wanted to do.
There was a power inside of me, and although I couldn’t harness it all, I did feel its energy as I started to plan how I would attack my soon-to-be killer when he opened the door.
I wasn’t a victim anymore. I was strong and willing to kill a man if I had to. The only way I was going to be taken was if I was shot dead. Only a gun could stop me, otherwise I was going to scratch, hit, kick, and strangle my way free from any person who opened that closet door and tried to take me.
“Ana, are you in here?” I heard Nate say.
It sounded like the man was in the bedroom now and I prepared to fight whoever was with him and forcing him to call my name. They weren’t going to trick me. I knew better than to think that Nate was out there all alone. I prepared for a fight!
“Ana, if you’re in here you need to tell me. I’m going out of my mind.”
I couldn’t bring myself to talk. Something in his voice sounded pained, and for a moment I thought he might have been alone outside of the closet door. But it could have just been a trick that the attackers were using.
No, I had to stay quiet to protect myself. Nate had been teaching me all sorts of ways of protecting myself and one of them was not to be stupid. I had to think about everything that was going on and trust my gut when it came to leaving that closet or staying in there. My gut was telling me to stay right where I was, and when the person opened the door, I was going to clobber them with everything I could get my hands on.
I wouldn’t say a word. I wouldn’t give in to the tricks they were using. I stayed curled up in the closet under a pile of clothes and holding onto the metal lamp. I closed my eyes so I could listen to the footsteps more and be prepared when they got to the closet.