Read this entire #thriller online. He Lies at My Front Door by @_AC_Gregory
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After defending herself against her attacker, Julia thinks she will return to her mundane life full of family drama and work deadlines as a review girl of a local paper. Little does she know that those are the very least of her worries.
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Chapter One
The street crowded with spectators, trying to get a glimpse of the action. They politely pushed each other hoping to see something that could make their lives more interesting. The flashing lights changed the color of everyone's faces to mauve, then strawberry, then mauve again. I watched them out of the corner of my eye, by peering over my shoulder. They look like zombies, I thought. Brainless and bumping into each other.
The spectators talked about me. I had never seen them before in my life, but there they were judging me. They didn't even bother to whisper.
“What happened?” said one just arriving on the scene.
“That woman was attacked going into her house,” said another.
“In this neighborhood? It must have been an ex-boyfriend,” said the first one again.
“I don't know, that woman is strange though. I bet it was drug related,” said a third. “I mean look at how skinny she is.”
I rubbed my temples and then down by face. My head throbbed.
“This is why they need to ban guns,” an older lady chimed in.
“It's not the guns that kill people, it's the people. We should just ban all bad people,” responded a heavyset man.
“Wait, so the man attacked the woman with a gun?”
“No, the woman shot the man. I bet he was just coming to check the cable and she got scared because a black man was at her door, and blam! It happens all the time.”
“Don't be crazy, people just don't go around shooting people they don't know, I bet it was an ex-lover... or oh! Her pimp!”
“Her pimp?”
“Could've been... Look at her boots!”
“I'm not sure...”
“Oh my God, she isn't a prostitute!”
I swiveled around at this exclamation and examined the crowd for the commentator.
“How do you know?” asked a snarky teen.
“Because, that's my sister! Let me through!” The face of a blonde in her twenties emerged from the crowd. It was my sister Stephanie. I felt a moment of relief that only comes from seeing a friendly face when you're in trouble.
Stephanie pushed her way through the crowd sans politeness. The crowd parted ways and then started talking about Stephanie. The voices, however, did not seem to bother her. She ducked under the crime scene tape, and yelled, “let me through! That's my sister!” at a cop standing guard. Then she slowly but determinedly, made her way across the lawn. With every step, her heels sank into the soft ground.
“Julia, Oh my God, are you alright?” Stephanie said. Her eyes panned to the ambulance, the bandage on my head, to the cop, and finally rested back on me.
“Yes, I'm fine,” I said.
“But you're covered in blood!”
“It's alright, it's not mine.”
“Thank God!” Despite the blood, and what looked like a new white peacoat, Stephanie hugged me tight. “I was so worried when they said that you were attacked. I'm so relieved you're okay.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I said. It was hard for me to imagine my sister worried about me, but I sometimes worried about her, so I guess that it was possible.
I patted Stephanie on the back. She released me briefly, looked into my eyes, and then pulled me close again.
“I don't know what we would've done if something happened to you. Jaime and I were so worried.”
When Stephanie released me completely, she asked, “What on earth happened?”
I let out a big sigh. “I'll tell you when we get back to the house,” I said. I glanced at the crowd again. “I just want to get out of here.”
“Okay, I'll speak to the police. It's obvious that it was self-defense!” Stephanie honed in on the nearest officer. “This isn't right what you're doing to my sister. It's so obvious that she was defending herself and her home! You have no case! No case!”
“Whoa, whoa, what's going on here? Who are you?”
“I'm Stephanie Mendez, the sister, and officer, you need to let my sister go! She did nothing wrong. I will have my lawyer here so fa--”
“Ms. Benson is free to go whenever she chooses, but we can't let her into her house till we clear it.”
“Julia, why didn't you say something? I thought you were under arrest.”
“Why do you think I called you? I need a place to stay tonight. Officer, am I free to go?”
“Yes, Ms. Benson we have everything we need from you, are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?”
“No, I'm fine,” I said.
“Just take it easy, okay?” the officer replied with a sympathetic smile. He held his gaze just a little too long, and I blushed tugging the bottom of my miniskirt down.
“Will do, thank you. Okay Steph, let's get out of here,” I said. I dropped the blanket from my shoulders, and I hopped down from the back of the ambulance.
“Where is your jacket? It's freezing!”
“That's a long story,” I said. Stephanie put her arm around me as we walked through the crowd.
“Hurry to the car, I'll blast the heater,” she said.
I have a good sister. I thought She may be a bit psychotic, but she really does care about me. We hurried as fast as we could in our unpractical outfits to her white SUV. As promised, she put the heater on full blast, and we were on our way.
“You can stay in Penny's room tonight, and for as long as you need,” she said. “Penny doesn't like sleeping in her room anyway, so it hardly ever gets used. Oh just one thing, if you wouldn't mind, don't say anything to the kids, we don't want to upset them. I put them to bed before I came, so they wouldn't have to see you like this.” Stephanie pointed a finger from my head to my toe. I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, what makes you think that I would say anything to the kids?” I asked.
“Oh, well, just you know, since your situation...” she responded whispering the last part.
“Ah, I see,” I said turning my gaze out the window. “My situation...” and with that, the sister whom I remembered was back. “Okay, well my situation and I appreciate this, but if I'm a burden, I can go to a hotel and you don't have to worry about my situation. I just need a place for one night.”
“It's fine. Don't worry about it, I told you that you should've gotten a roommate. I never liked that you were living by yourself. I promised mom, when you moved down here, that I'd keep an eye on you. And I feel like I've dropped the ball. So you will stay with us until you feel good again. I mean what are sisters for if not to support each other when one is in need.”
“What indeed,” I said.
We pulled into the driveway of my sister's starter home. It was cute, but a little cramped now since she had three kids.
Stephanie's eldest came to meet us at the door. She stopped suddenly, and her eyes widened, when she saw me.
“Aunt Julia! Aunt Julia! What's that? Are you hurt?” said Donna.
“Aunt Julia is getting ready for Halloween early, don't worry it's just pretend. She's fine,” my sister said. “And Donna, you should be in bed, go back upstairs.”
“But, but I want to stay up with Aunt Julia... Can I try on my costume too?”
“No, Aunt Julia will be staying with us for a while, so you can see her tomorrow. And no, you'll just get the dress all dirty and not want to wear it when the time comes. Now go back to bed, or you're going to be cranky for school tomorrow.”
“Fine,” Donna said. She stomped up the stairs.
“I don't appreciate that attitude Donna,” Stephanie proclaimed up the stairs as she slid her heels off, and replaced them with a pair of slippers. “Come,” she said to me, and I followed her into the kitchen.
“You know I'm really tired...” I said.
“I bet,” Stephanie said. She started up the electric teakettle. Tea seemed to be her way to fix everyone's problems, even her own.
“Here, sit down,” she said. “Now tell me, what happened.”
I hesitated. I took in and let out a deep breath.
“Well there really isn't that much to tell, I mean it could've happened to anyone...”
“Jules...” Stephanie gave me her mother's stare.
“You're not going to let me go to bed till I tell you huh?”
“Of course not!”
“Okay, okay, I had just gotten off work...”
“Off work? I thought you were writing from home?”
“Well I am, but I had to go out to a club premiere in the city.”
“You went to a club premiere? Alone?”
“Well, yes, for my job...”
“So that's where the guy came from, he probably followed you home from there. You're so naive. I can't believe you went to a club you've never been before, alone. I'm a little surprise that nothing worse happened to you.”
“You mean worse than being attacked at my own home, fighting for my life?”
“They slip drugs in people's drinks you know, you were lucky to make it back to your home.”
“Jeez Steph. I'm just going to go to bed.”
“No wait, come back, what happened next?”
I reluctantly resumed my story.
“Okay, so I had just arrived home and I had picked up some groceries on the way for a late dinner, so I had the bags, and I was trying to find my keys in my purse, when I felt a hand cover my mouth...”
“Oh my God...” Stephanie's eyes bulged, “that is so scary... then what happened?”
“He showed his knife in front of my face and then he held it to my neck.” I exposed a bandage the paramedics gave me where it scraped my skin. Stephanie's face turned white. “Well it startled me and I dropped the groceries... And then he sai--” The kettle began to whistle. Stephanie got up to retrieve it.
“Keep going, I'm listening,” she said.
“Then he said, 'If you do what I say, I won't hurt you.'”
“Wha...what did he want?”
“He told me to open the door... I nodded. I thought I was dead... that he was just going to take me inside... and...”
Stephanie set a hot lopsided mug in front of me. Must be a kid art project, I thought. It was hideous and bumpy. I went to take a sip, but when I clasped my hand around it, the ceramic almost branded my hand.
“And?” Stephanie probed.
“Well, I reached back into my purse to find my keys, but when I pulled them out I sprayed him with the pepper spray key ring you gave me for Christmas last year.”
“So it worked? I knew it would be a good gift. Jaime didn't think so, but I told him that all single women could use some pepper spray.”
“Yeah, well it got him good and really surprised him. He let go of me and rubbed and clawed at his eyes. I tried to unlocked the door and get inside, but then he came at me. I tried to kick him away but he grabbed my leg and I fell. That's when I was able to grab my gun from my bag and then... I shot him.”
I looked down at the ugly mug. The steam warmed my face.
Stephanie grabbed my hand. “Oh my God... oh my God... is he dead?”
“Yeah, the police said that he was wanted for the rape of several women. They said that I did the world a service... that he won't be able to hurt anyone anymore.”
“Thank God! I'm just so grateful that you're okay, and he can't hurt anyone else...”
“Yeah me too...”
“The police said he was a rapist?”
“Yeah...”
“How ironic...”
I pulled my hands away from Stephanie and wrapped them around my tea. The palms of my hands burned for a moment, but then the heat seemed to dissipate. The teabag created green swirls on top of the water.
“I really feel bad about all those times that I was on your case about carrying that gun.”
I looked at my sister, and water started to fill my eyes. “I know that I should feel good about it, but the whole thing just makes me sick. I never thought that I would ever have to use it.”
“Maybe you should just take a hot shower and get some rest.”
“Yeah, you're right.”
“You know where everything is, make yourself at home. I've got to get to bed too, the kids wait for no one. There are some clean clothes on the bed. I hope they fit, I picked out some stretchy things... you're so skinny these days. If I didn't know better, I would think that your anorexic.”
“Thanks?” I said.
“I'll leave the downstairs light on, goodnight.” she said.
“Goodnight,” I said. Finally some peace, I thought.
I collected the towel and the pajamas Stephanie set out for me, and went into the guest shower. There were bath toys and kids clothes scattered around, and what appeared to be almost a whole tube of toothpaste squeezed out on the sink and counter. I stopped and paused for a moment in the mirror. I looked tired and frail, not like someone who just killed a person. I carefully picked the tape of the bandage off my head and neck. I stripped my clothes off and got in the hot shower. The water pelted my body loosening up my muscles. I watched the water, slightly tinted pink, run down the drain and then run clear.
Tears filled my eyes, and I sobbed. The warm water fell into my mouth. I coughed and sputtered. Then I scrubbed my body vigorously with some body wash that came out of a purple fish-shaped bottle. I stop and stared at the bottle and then just started laughing. I took a few more deep breaths and finished shampooing and conditioning.
I felt very clean and relaxed afterwards. When I got out, I stood again for a moment in front of the steamed mirror. I took my hand and rubbed a circular frame in the condensation. I smiled. The mirror now seemed to have a fun house affect, and what I saw staring back at me transformed into something pleasant. My cheeks were ruddy and my breasts were perky. Then, I looked down at the huge scar on my stomach. I touched it, and then quickly wrapped the towel around me.
I glanced down to my bloody, dirty clothes on the colorful duck rug. They resembled a horror scene in the cheerful atmosphere of a carnival, out of place. I gathered up the clothes and took them with me to the bedroom. I hadn't brought a bag with me, so I placed them on the rocking chair and covered them with a few stuffed animals. Stephanie's Christmas pajamas were waiting for me.
Really? I thought as I pulled on the pajamas, but after I had them on, I felt comforted. I turned off the light, and a star nightlight twinkled on.
The spectators talked about me. I had never seen them before in my life, but there they were judging me. They didn't even bother to whisper.
“What happened?” said one just arriving on the scene.
“That woman was attacked going into her house,” said another.
“In this neighborhood? It must have been an ex-boyfriend,” said the first one again.
“I don't know, that woman is strange though. I bet it was drug related,” said a third. “I mean look at how skinny she is.”
I rubbed my temples and then down by face. My head throbbed.
“This is why they need to ban guns,” an older lady chimed in.
“It's not the guns that kill people, it's the people. We should just ban all bad people,” responded a heavyset man.
“Wait, so the man attacked the woman with a gun?”
“No, the woman shot the man. I bet he was just coming to check the cable and she got scared because a black man was at her door, and blam! It happens all the time.”
“Don't be crazy, people just don't go around shooting people they don't know, I bet it was an ex-lover... or oh! Her pimp!”
“Her pimp?”
“Could've been... Look at her boots!”
“I'm not sure...”
“Oh my God, she isn't a prostitute!”
I swiveled around at this exclamation and examined the crowd for the commentator.
“How do you know?” asked a snarky teen.
“Because, that's my sister! Let me through!” The face of a blonde in her twenties emerged from the crowd. It was my sister Stephanie. I felt a moment of relief that only comes from seeing a friendly face when you're in trouble.
Stephanie pushed her way through the crowd sans politeness. The crowd parted ways and then started talking about Stephanie. The voices, however, did not seem to bother her. She ducked under the crime scene tape, and yelled, “let me through! That's my sister!” at a cop standing guard. Then she slowly but determinedly, made her way across the lawn. With every step, her heels sank into the soft ground.
“Julia, Oh my God, are you alright?” Stephanie said. Her eyes panned to the ambulance, the bandage on my head, to the cop, and finally rested back on me.
“Yes, I'm fine,” I said.
“But you're covered in blood!”
“It's alright, it's not mine.”
“Thank God!” Despite the blood, and what looked like a new white peacoat, Stephanie hugged me tight. “I was so worried when they said that you were attacked. I'm so relieved you're okay.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I said. It was hard for me to imagine my sister worried about me, but I sometimes worried about her, so I guess that it was possible.
I patted Stephanie on the back. She released me briefly, looked into my eyes, and then pulled me close again.
“I don't know what we would've done if something happened to you. Jaime and I were so worried.”
When Stephanie released me completely, she asked, “What on earth happened?”
I let out a big sigh. “I'll tell you when we get back to the house,” I said. I glanced at the crowd again. “I just want to get out of here.”
“Okay, I'll speak to the police. It's obvious that it was self-defense!” Stephanie honed in on the nearest officer. “This isn't right what you're doing to my sister. It's so obvious that she was defending herself and her home! You have no case! No case!”
“Whoa, whoa, what's going on here? Who are you?”
“I'm Stephanie Mendez, the sister, and officer, you need to let my sister go! She did nothing wrong. I will have my lawyer here so fa--”
“Ms. Benson is free to go whenever she chooses, but we can't let her into her house till we clear it.”
“Julia, why didn't you say something? I thought you were under arrest.”
“Why do you think I called you? I need a place to stay tonight. Officer, am I free to go?”
“Yes, Ms. Benson we have everything we need from you, are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?”
“No, I'm fine,” I said.
“Just take it easy, okay?” the officer replied with a sympathetic smile. He held his gaze just a little too long, and I blushed tugging the bottom of my miniskirt down.
“Will do, thank you. Okay Steph, let's get out of here,” I said. I dropped the blanket from my shoulders, and I hopped down from the back of the ambulance.
“Where is your jacket? It's freezing!”
“That's a long story,” I said. Stephanie put her arm around me as we walked through the crowd.
“Hurry to the car, I'll blast the heater,” she said.
I have a good sister. I thought She may be a bit psychotic, but she really does care about me. We hurried as fast as we could in our unpractical outfits to her white SUV. As promised, she put the heater on full blast, and we were on our way.
“You can stay in Penny's room tonight, and for as long as you need,” she said. “Penny doesn't like sleeping in her room anyway, so it hardly ever gets used. Oh just one thing, if you wouldn't mind, don't say anything to the kids, we don't want to upset them. I put them to bed before I came, so they wouldn't have to see you like this.” Stephanie pointed a finger from my head to my toe. I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, what makes you think that I would say anything to the kids?” I asked.
“Oh, well, just you know, since your situation...” she responded whispering the last part.
“Ah, I see,” I said turning my gaze out the window. “My situation...” and with that, the sister whom I remembered was back. “Okay, well my situation and I appreciate this, but if I'm a burden, I can go to a hotel and you don't have to worry about my situation. I just need a place for one night.”
“It's fine. Don't worry about it, I told you that you should've gotten a roommate. I never liked that you were living by yourself. I promised mom, when you moved down here, that I'd keep an eye on you. And I feel like I've dropped the ball. So you will stay with us until you feel good again. I mean what are sisters for if not to support each other when one is in need.”
“What indeed,” I said.
We pulled into the driveway of my sister's starter home. It was cute, but a little cramped now since she had three kids.
Stephanie's eldest came to meet us at the door. She stopped suddenly, and her eyes widened, when she saw me.
“Aunt Julia! Aunt Julia! What's that? Are you hurt?” said Donna.
“Aunt Julia is getting ready for Halloween early, don't worry it's just pretend. She's fine,” my sister said. “And Donna, you should be in bed, go back upstairs.”
“But, but I want to stay up with Aunt Julia... Can I try on my costume too?”
“No, Aunt Julia will be staying with us for a while, so you can see her tomorrow. And no, you'll just get the dress all dirty and not want to wear it when the time comes. Now go back to bed, or you're going to be cranky for school tomorrow.”
“Fine,” Donna said. She stomped up the stairs.
“I don't appreciate that attitude Donna,” Stephanie proclaimed up the stairs as she slid her heels off, and replaced them with a pair of slippers. “Come,” she said to me, and I followed her into the kitchen.
“You know I'm really tired...” I said.
“I bet,” Stephanie said. She started up the electric teakettle. Tea seemed to be her way to fix everyone's problems, even her own.
“Here, sit down,” she said. “Now tell me, what happened.”
I hesitated. I took in and let out a deep breath.
“Well there really isn't that much to tell, I mean it could've happened to anyone...”
“Jules...” Stephanie gave me her mother's stare.
“You're not going to let me go to bed till I tell you huh?”
“Of course not!”
“Okay, okay, I had just gotten off work...”
“Off work? I thought you were writing from home?”
“Well I am, but I had to go out to a club premiere in the city.”
“You went to a club premiere? Alone?”
“Well, yes, for my job...”
“So that's where the guy came from, he probably followed you home from there. You're so naive. I can't believe you went to a club you've never been before, alone. I'm a little surprise that nothing worse happened to you.”
“You mean worse than being attacked at my own home, fighting for my life?”
“They slip drugs in people's drinks you know, you were lucky to make it back to your home.”
“Jeez Steph. I'm just going to go to bed.”
“No wait, come back, what happened next?”
I reluctantly resumed my story.
“Okay, so I had just arrived home and I had picked up some groceries on the way for a late dinner, so I had the bags, and I was trying to find my keys in my purse, when I felt a hand cover my mouth...”
“Oh my God...” Stephanie's eyes bulged, “that is so scary... then what happened?”
“He showed his knife in front of my face and then he held it to my neck.” I exposed a bandage the paramedics gave me where it scraped my skin. Stephanie's face turned white. “Well it startled me and I dropped the groceries... And then he sai--” The kettle began to whistle. Stephanie got up to retrieve it.
“Keep going, I'm listening,” she said.
“Then he said, 'If you do what I say, I won't hurt you.'”
“Wha...what did he want?”
“He told me to open the door... I nodded. I thought I was dead... that he was just going to take me inside... and...”
Stephanie set a hot lopsided mug in front of me. Must be a kid art project, I thought. It was hideous and bumpy. I went to take a sip, but when I clasped my hand around it, the ceramic almost branded my hand.
“And?” Stephanie probed.
“Well, I reached back into my purse to find my keys, but when I pulled them out I sprayed him with the pepper spray key ring you gave me for Christmas last year.”
“So it worked? I knew it would be a good gift. Jaime didn't think so, but I told him that all single women could use some pepper spray.”
“Yeah, well it got him good and really surprised him. He let go of me and rubbed and clawed at his eyes. I tried to unlocked the door and get inside, but then he came at me. I tried to kick him away but he grabbed my leg and I fell. That's when I was able to grab my gun from my bag and then... I shot him.”
I looked down at the ugly mug. The steam warmed my face.
Stephanie grabbed my hand. “Oh my God... oh my God... is he dead?”
“Yeah, the police said that he was wanted for the rape of several women. They said that I did the world a service... that he won't be able to hurt anyone anymore.”
“Thank God! I'm just so grateful that you're okay, and he can't hurt anyone else...”
“Yeah me too...”
“The police said he was a rapist?”
“Yeah...”
“How ironic...”
I pulled my hands away from Stephanie and wrapped them around my tea. The palms of my hands burned for a moment, but then the heat seemed to dissipate. The teabag created green swirls on top of the water.
“I really feel bad about all those times that I was on your case about carrying that gun.”
I looked at my sister, and water started to fill my eyes. “I know that I should feel good about it, but the whole thing just makes me sick. I never thought that I would ever have to use it.”
“Maybe you should just take a hot shower and get some rest.”
“Yeah, you're right.”
“You know where everything is, make yourself at home. I've got to get to bed too, the kids wait for no one. There are some clean clothes on the bed. I hope they fit, I picked out some stretchy things... you're so skinny these days. If I didn't know better, I would think that your anorexic.”
“Thanks?” I said.
“I'll leave the downstairs light on, goodnight.” she said.
“Goodnight,” I said. Finally some peace, I thought.
I collected the towel and the pajamas Stephanie set out for me, and went into the guest shower. There were bath toys and kids clothes scattered around, and what appeared to be almost a whole tube of toothpaste squeezed out on the sink and counter. I stopped and paused for a moment in the mirror. I looked tired and frail, not like someone who just killed a person. I carefully picked the tape of the bandage off my head and neck. I stripped my clothes off and got in the hot shower. The water pelted my body loosening up my muscles. I watched the water, slightly tinted pink, run down the drain and then run clear.
Tears filled my eyes, and I sobbed. The warm water fell into my mouth. I coughed and sputtered. Then I scrubbed my body vigorously with some body wash that came out of a purple fish-shaped bottle. I stop and stared at the bottle and then just started laughing. I took a few more deep breaths and finished shampooing and conditioning.
I felt very clean and relaxed afterwards. When I got out, I stood again for a moment in front of the steamed mirror. I took my hand and rubbed a circular frame in the condensation. I smiled. The mirror now seemed to have a fun house affect, and what I saw staring back at me transformed into something pleasant. My cheeks were ruddy and my breasts were perky. Then, I looked down at the huge scar on my stomach. I touched it, and then quickly wrapped the towel around me.
I glanced down to my bloody, dirty clothes on the colorful duck rug. They resembled a horror scene in the cheerful atmosphere of a carnival, out of place. I gathered up the clothes and took them with me to the bedroom. I hadn't brought a bag with me, so I placed them on the rocking chair and covered them with a few stuffed animals. Stephanie's Christmas pajamas were waiting for me.
Really? I thought as I pulled on the pajamas, but after I had them on, I felt comforted. I turned off the light, and a star nightlight twinkled on.
A.C. Gregory
I am a Writer, Editor, and Traveler, who is currently residing in Roatan, Honduras. When I'm not updating Juke Pop Serials, I can be found teaching English at a local school or spending time at the beach. Don't forget to follow me/tweet me on Twitter!
"Good friends, good books, and a
sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life"
~Mark Twain
Thank you for all of your support.
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