Not Alone.

Chapter3

When did he start organizing things in the kitchen?

How was he even able to move or open these cabinets while being so stressed. He remembered his decision that he was going to start opening those packages the next day.

Ethan rubbed his eyes and tried to remove the remaining drowsiness to focus on remembering the instance to pop in his mind of him moving the boxes.

Just then, multiple series of things happened at the same time.

Light beginning to flicker

On-off On-off On-off

Three times in a period, like a chain reaction.

It looked like the house of experiencing short-circuit activity.

After the flickering incident stopped, the apartment becomes dark.

.

.

But after a moment, the lights came back.

Like those last few minutes of his life didn't even happen, like he didn't feel, out of the body, crazy fear and was not at all scared.

The room.

That god-forsaken room was being weird again.

The said room was the only light source when the electricity of the whole house was being gone.

The light was coming out from the space between the door and the floor. Bright because all the lights in the apartment were gone. Ethan saw it was the exact moment when the room's light switched on by itself.

It was like having a power cut in the whole apartment Except in that room.

Then came the rustling noises like footsteps from inside the room.

Pure terror, terrifying realization struck him that he was NOT ALONE.

.

.

Ethan was sweating bullets. Never in his whole life was he scared as he was then, so baffled that his brain stopped functioning.

When the lights came back, his mind also came back from his hibernation state.

Rustling sounds were still coming.

He had to know who or what was making that noise.

If someone stood very close to the room, they would be able to observe that the bulb was flickering dimly.

He crouched down on the ground near the room's gate and directed his body towards the door of it as close as it was physically possible.

He was trying to peep inside under the small space between the floor and door to catch at-least the glimpse. Of what? he doesn't know but needs to know the answers to all his questions.

He was looking left and right, squinting his eyes to see more Movement, and then suddenly he saw something, something resembling the shape of

The EYES!

The eye-contact was for just a second, but a second was enough time for him to became uncomfortable and extremely creeped out.

It looked were kneeling in front of each other and peeping out of the door at the same time and had eye contact.

He screamed, crawled back hastily on his knees and elbows.

His heart was beating so fast, panicking.

As he falls back, he saw the shadow near the door. It seems like the shadow was moving back from the door.

The sound of someone walking, padding on the floor was heard distinctly.

Adrenaline pumping in his stream made him bolder than he was as he was so angry and scared all at the same time.

And That was just the First Day in this freaking apartment!

The shadow was becoming hard to observe from underneath the door.

Ethan stood up on his wobbly legs and ran towards the door, jerked the door open with force.

"What!" He can't believe it.

The room was empty.

.

.

The room was in the same condition as it was earlier.

Everything was the same except the vibes, which somehow had worsened. Ethan already was not a fan of this area of the house and felt weird about this room any time he entered.

It just intensified. Ethan was feeling awful, like a bad, foul taste in the back of his mouth.

The room felt colder than he remembered feeling before. He felt harsh goosebumps coming on his exposed forearms.

Nothing. No one other there other than himself.

Yet Ethan was not convinced that it was all just made up like he can't be that out of his mind.

But he had no choice left in his hands than to wait and to let go of the situation at that time and wind up everything as it was very late and he also had to go to work early in the morning.

Ethan can't do anything but wait. But he did one thing, the only thing that he could to handle the situation.

He took the light bulb out of the holder.

Just in case if whoever that came back.

He locked the door of the room, that freaking trouble-generating room, and sat on the couch with his baseball bat in his hand to knock out anyone who tried doing that funny business again.

After the set of events, anyone would just run out of there, as far as possible. But not him, he was a stubborn (mostly petty) man.

No one can break him. He will fight and face the issues.

It was three in the night. Ethan can't expect himself to be up the whole night. Still, he should get an award for even trying to do that.

Well, He fell asleep half an hour later. So much for staying and guarding. He falls asleep clutching the baseball bat, cradling it in the fetal position.

.

.

.

She was there.

All the time.

She was there when he was standing in the kitchen.

She was there when he crouched down in front of the door.

Watching while roaming around inside.

She was there when he entered the room.

All the time means All The Time.

Sitting on the rocking chair.

The only thing that he didn't realize, other than her presence, was that the teddy bear was no more on the floor but was on the rocking chair or, to give a more accurate description, in her lap.

She was stroking the teddy, focus on it.

Another stroke of luck as if she was not distracted by it, she might have done a much worse thing than just a little act of flickering light.

Rocking on the chair in darkness was the only constant thing happening in that house.

Ethan being unaware of that fact.

But for not long, the events that will happen in over the month.

It would be more than just a coincidence.

Oh, he was going to be acutely aware of the phenomenon of the rocking chair.

It will become too much for him, so much that he will be fed-up about it.