Moonlight

You glance at your watch. It's well after ten, and your parents still aren't home. They left sometime in the afternoon. They mentioned something about a meeting, about friends, but what do you care? The most important thing is that they left you the whole house. Yes, you're the owner of the whole house now! Could anything be more wonderful?

Your first thought: invite your friends over and throw a party! But no, you rejected it the moment it hit you. You ARE ALONE! You're happy about it and you won't let anyone, especially your friends, spoil this moment. You can do whatever you want. And that's exactly what you did. You did whatever you wanted.

So why this anxiety? Surely you're not worried about your parents? Maybe it's late, but they're adults! ...what if someone attacked them? Or kidnapped them?

Actually, why are you so afraid? You've always wanted that... oh, right. But now the whole house is your responsibility, you have to earn money... but you don't want to go to work.

No, you're right, that's impossible. It's just your imagination playing tricks on you. Yes, there's nothing to worry about.

Suddenly, lost in thought, you hear the door lock grating. Curious, you leave the room. "Who could it be?" you think. But why aren't you satisfied with the answer that it's your parents? You cautiously go downstairs and glance at the front door. It's locked. You notice that not a single light bulb is on on the entire floor. You've become accustomed to the darkness; the moonlight streaming in through the windows is enough for you. So you don't waste time searching for the light switch; you head straight for the living room.

And so, one by one, you check all the rooms. You notice a common feature: no one's there! So who was it that entered the house? You feel a shiver run through you. Suddenly, you hear the grating of a key again, and moments later, the creaking of a door. This door never creaked! "What's wrong?" you think, but the question remains unanswered.

"What the hell is going on here!" you exclaim at the top of your voice. And as if in response, you see the outline of a figure in front of you, a few meters away, beginning to move towards the stairs. It climbs up, but it doesn't seem to touch the steps at all. It's as if it's gliding through thin air. It's constantly facing you. In a situation like this, it would be best to faint, but fear has completely paralyzed you. You want to ask, you have so many questions, but you can't say a single one.

The figure appears to be a young girl, not very tall, with long, dark hair. You see her pull a knife from under her clothes. Its blade gleamed subtly in the moonlight. This seemed to jolt you awake. You break into a run. You have only one thought in your mind: finding your father's shotgun. Fortunately, you know where to look for it. You open the glove compartment, and a man flies out! You recoil instinctively. Sweating, you look at the body. You kneel. You want to check for a pulse, but you immediately realize it's completely cold. You're almost afraid to turn it over, to look at its face, to recognize its identity. You carefully walk around it, reach your right hand into the glove compartment, and pull out your gun. Ammunition lies nearby. You load a few rounds into the magazine... yes, yes, into the magazine. This always surprised you: a shotgun with a magazine. Your father was fond of the latest advancements in civilization. A semi-automatic shotgun—heavy, but oh so effective!

You slowly back away from the spot. You guess the girl's already gone on the stairs. You set off on a hunt...

Suddenly, you hear footsteps behind you. You quickly turn around, aiming the shotgun. You realize the man from the closet is standing two meters away! You pull the trigger and watch as the body, thrown by the force of the recoil, lands against the wall, twisting unnaturally on impact, and lands on the floor. The body is lacerated with pellets, but there's not a drop of blood anywhere. You quickly back away from the spot. You burst into the hall, running up the stairs. Something grabs your leg! It pulls you down hard! You lose your gun. You look down, but there's no one there. You jump to your feet, bend down, grab the shotgun, and when you straighten up...

you feel something strange. Her face is three centimeters from yours. You look deep into her eyes. They're black, their depths seemingly endless. You know that in such a situation, anyone would have fired a shotgun long ago, but her face...

Hers is so innocent, so... sweet. Her long, straightened hair only adds to her charm. And now you stand there, gripped by two emotions. You're terrified, yet captivated. Suddenly, a thought flashes through your mind: "She incapacitated me. If it weren't for that, she would already be lying in pieces on the wall, ceiling, and floor..." The gun feels exceptionally heavy. You can't bear it anymore, you drop it. You hear it rolling down the stairs. You look into the girl's eyes again. They remain expressionless. Suddenly, you feel a cold object touch your stomach, then a painful stab below your ribs. You fall to your knees, tumbling down the stairs.

Darkness. Darkness all around. No sign of the girl, the gun, the knife, the house... no sign of anything! There's only you and nothing else...

Have you died? Perhaps...