My Mind Wasn't Tricking Me

I was sitting at the computer alone on a Saturday night, you'd think the college student I was, that I'd be out drinking and partying but I believed myself to be somewhat of a loner, as I had no friends so that was out of the question. I was surfing the web for anything to do, I played World of Warcraft quite frequently but I felt like changing things up a bit since I'd already spent seven hours that day playing. I remember coming across a television series that I quite enjoyed as a child and I decided to watch a couple episodes of that. I believe it was, Dragon Ball Z but I can't be too sure. Anyway around the fourth episode is when I began to hear some strange noises from outside my window.

You see, I used to live in a first story apartment and I often kept the window open to let some fresh air in, so any noises from outside could be heard loud and clear. I often heard noises of cars passing by and animals scurrying across the grass, but the noises I heard that night were different, like muffled voices. I quickly dismissed this as my mind playing tricks on me and resumed watching my episode, but there was something that bothered me. Even after I started watching the episode again the noises still continued. I thought maybe it was getting a bit late and this may be caused by my lack of sleep, so I exited the page and shut down my computer. I stood up and stretched my legs, I figured that I should at least check to see if something was wrong, so I walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains.

I thought that I could make out the silhouettes of two men standing a few metres away from my window, however it was so dark that it could've been anything so I closed the curtains and shut the window and trudged off to my bedroom. It was a small apartment so it wasn't much of a walk, I flopped down on my matress and closed my eyes when suddenly I heard the opening of nearby doors. I wondered who might be entering the building at that time of night. I was a bit paranoid by then, so I covered myself with my blanket in an attempt to nullify any noises. I started to feel myself slowly drift into a deep slumber when almost out of nowhere I heard the sound of a door slamming, and it came back to me that I forgot to lock the door. I was quivering beneath my blanket, but I reasurred myself that my mind was still just playing tricks on me.

A silence ensued, I sighed in relief. But the sigh was premature as I started to hear the turn of my bedroom doorknob, I hoped to god that I remembered to lock my bedroom door. I heard the knob shake violently, as I layed in bed feeling helpless. I must've drifted off to sleep as the next thing I remember was that it was morning. I thought that it was all just a dream and felt relieved it was all over. I moved back into my parents house three days later, I couldn't shake off the fear I felt that night. Until quite recently I believed it was all just a dream and that my mind was playing tricks on me. However two nights ago I was looking through my father's stacks of old newspapers when I came across an article from two days after the incident. Apparently a woman had been murdered in her apartment that night; Now this wouldn't be noteworthy if it weren't for the fact that this woman was my neighbour from across the hall.

My mind wasn't tricking me...

By: Dazarbalt