Stranger in the House

A simple, ordinary routine. Who knew that someone could be so terrified of something so stupid? My after school routine has turned into the nightmare of my life.1

I lay awake at night, unable to fall asleep. I relive the worst day of my life over and over as I lay alone in the darkness. How could this have happened to me?2

And then I finally fall asleep. And I relive the day again. But this time, it is worse. Much worse. It has happened again but later on in life. And even though I've lived through it before, I am unprepared for some reason. I don't know how to handle it. And this time, the consequences are worse than before.3

That day was the worst day of my life. Nothing could happen to 'out-due' that day. It is impossible.4

Now, you're probably wondering what happened to me that fateful day. What is this simple routine that has me terrified, even after a year? Coming home from school. That's it. Just coming home from school. You may think I'm crazy. Think what you want. I know that I am not crazy. If it happened to you, you'd be in my position.5

Well, what happened? I'm sure all of you are asking that question. Just get to the freaking point, right? Here it is. Although it pains me to relive this moment yet again, I will tell you. Before I start, I will tell you this.  What you are about to read may shock you. You have been warned.6

One year ago, I was the happiest person I could be. Nothing was going wrong in my life. It seemed to be perfect. Nothing bad had ever happened to me and I thought nothing will. I was wrong.7

Every day after school, I walk home. I could ride the bus, but I choose not to. Instead, I walk home from school for about fifteen minutes. One of my best friends lives about half way in between the school and my house. I usually walk with him and another friend to his house and then I walk the rest of the way by myself.8

The walk home was pretty uneventful. I almost got hit by a car but that was normal. There are no sidewalks where I live so everyone almost gets hit everyday. 9

I walked up to the back door and dug my house key from my backpack. I shoved it into the lock and turned it. Pushing the door open, I walked into the house. I flung my backpack off of my shoulder and under the kitchen table. I bent over to untie my shoes. My mom liked the kitchen floor clean and we were supposed to take our shoes off after entering the house. As I untied my green Chucks, I saw something in the reflection of the freshly mopped floor. I looked up to see a set of unknown eyes staring back at me. I heard a gun cock and I screamed. In my surprise, I fell backwards, knocking a glass over. The glass came crashing down, sending chunks of glass everywhere.10

Now, I like to watch a lot of movies. I especially like the action movies where there is a hostage situation. Did you ever notice that in most of those movies, the hostage somehow gets hold of something sharp to cut themselves free? I did. And, being the quick person that I am, decided to try it.11

As I stood back up, I grabbed one of the pieces of glass and stuck it into my back pocket, careful not to cut myself. 12

When I stood back up, I looked back into the eyes of the stranger in my house. He was a tall, strong looking man. I would be no match for this guy. I stared into his piercing eyes. He stared back at me like he was staring into the very depths of my soul. I could not look away.13

He lunged forward and grabbed my arm, dragging me into the next room:  the dining room. He threw me into one of the chairs and, grabbing a roll of duct tape from the table, bound me to the chair. First, he taped around my middle and then he taped my arms. He bound my wrists to the arm rests, my hands sticking straight out from the end. 14

After this, he stepped back and looked at me. "Where is it?" he asked softly. I looked at him like he was crazy. I had no clue what he was talking about.15

"Where is what?" I inquired. What was he talking about?16

"Just tell me where it is," he said, his voice sounding more urgent. "If you cooperate, I will not harm you. If you do not, I will kill you."17

"I don't know," I said. His eyes flared. I could see his frustration. 18

"Do not lie to me!" he bellowed. "I know that you know what I'm talking about!"19

"No I don't!" I yelled back, tears stinging my eyes. "You've got the wrong house!"20

A sharp pain stung my face as the man slapped me. "I will ask you one more time. Where is it?"21

I looked at him for a moment through my cloudy eyes. "I don't know."22

"Fine," he said. "Then we'll do this the hard way." He grabbed a pair of pliers from a pocket in his jacket. With one hand, he held one of mine still. Then, with one quick motion, he tore off the fingernail of my left index finger. I howled in pain as I squirmed in the chair i was tied to.23

"Now," he said softly. "Where is it?"24

Again, I gave him my answer. It was not the answer he was looking for. Now, my middle fingernail was gone. He asked me again. Still, the same answer. Another fingernail.25

After all my fingernails were on the floor lying in a puddle of blood from my dripping fingers, he sighed and stared into my eyes. "You are extremely stubborn. WHERE IS IT!!" 26

I was really crying now. My eyes were swollen and red from crying so much. "I don't know," I continued to tell him. "You've got the wrong house. Please. Please, don't hurt me anymore."27

He looked down and pulled a knife from his coat. He held my hand still as he cut an 'X' into my already bleeding finger tip. He asked me again and I continued to tell him that I didn't know. 28

After each finger was bleeding even more, he slashed the duct tape binding my wrists, setting them free. I held them close to my body as I cried in pain. He went behind me and grabbed both of my arms, pulling them around the back of the chair. He taped them together at the wrists. 29

When he was back in front of me, he stared into my eyes. "Haven't you had enough?" 30

I did not answer. He pulled his arm back and punched me in the face. My head flung to my right and I felt my eye brow split. I continued to beg and plead with him. He would not stop until I told him the answer he needed. And I didn't have it. 31

He continued to hit me in the face. Both of my eyes were swollen. So much that I couldn't see. Somehow, I got the piece of glass out of my back pocket. Trying not to show him what I was doing behind my back, I tried to cut myself free. I cut my hands more than I cut the tape though. I felt the warm blood run down my fingers and hands, and I heard the drops of blood hit the wood floor. 32

As I was doing this, the man moved on from hitting me in the face. He now had his knife back out and he was now cutting my face and my arms with it. I screamed in pain as I tried to cut myself free.33

I hard a faint ripping sound and I realized I could move my arms. I kept my arms behind my back like I was still bound, waiting for the right moment. That was a bad idea. The man was fed up with 'playing games.' He picked up his pistol from the table and pointed it at me.34

What happened next seemed to go by in slow motion. He cocked the gun and pulled the trigger, shooting me in the abdomen. I screamed in pain like I never screamed before. I hung my head down, trying not to pass out.35

Figuring he disabled me, the man placed the gun on the table and then turned around. I looked up and saw him walking into the kitchen. I stood up, grabbed the gun and readied to fire it. I slowly walked, well tried to walk, towards the man. I pulled the trigger as he whipped around.36

He turned around just in time to get his head hollowed out. I have never seen something so disturbing in my life. I screamed and I dropped to the floor, clutching my stomach. I crawled over the the phone and dialed 911. 37

I felt myself passing into darkness as the sirens blared.38

That was one year ago. I was just fifteen years old. This event had changed my life dramatically. I now look at life in a completely different view. I don't take anything for granted. You never know when something like this is going to happen.39

As you can see, I have fully recovered from this event. I was in the hospital for a few weeks, but I am okay now. Luckily, the bullet didn't to too much damage and the doctors were able to 'fix' me with only a few small surgeries.40

Like I said before, I think about this moment all of the time. That day one year ago will haunt my dreams forever. And there is no way to stop that. It is yet another scar that man gave me.41

I never knew that something so simple as coming home from school could be so terrifying. I thought I was safe. I was wrong. Almost dead wrong.42