Dark Night

It was a dark and stormy night, and the wind was howling outside. The rain beat against the windows of my small apartment, and I sat huddled on my couch, wrapped in a blanket. I was alone, and I couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled over me.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I hesitated for a moment, wondering who could possibly be out in such terrible weather. But then I got up and went to answer it.

When I opened the door, I was greeted by a young woman, drenched from head to toe. She looked up at me with pleading eyes, and I could see the fear etched on her face.

"Please, can I come in?" she asked.

I didn't know what to do. I had never seen this woman before, and I was alone in my apartment on a dark and stormy night. But something in her voice made me feel like I had to help her.

"Of course," I said, stepping aside to let her in.

She came inside, and I could see that she was shivering. I hurried to get her a towel, and I offered her a hot cup of tea. She accepted gratefully, and we sat down together on the couch.

As she sipped her tea, she told me her story. Her name was Sarah, and she had been out for a walk when the storm had hit. She had taken shelter in a nearby park, but then she had heard footsteps approaching. She had turned to see a man coming towards her, and she had panicked.

"He was wearing a hoodie, and I couldn't see his face," she said. "He started coming towards me, and I just ran. I ran as fast as I could."

She had managed to escape, but she had no idea where she was or how to get home. That was when she had seen my apartment building, and she had knocked on my door.

I listened to her story, and I felt a pang of sympathy for her. I could only imagine how terrified she must have been out there in the storm, alone and with a stranger approaching her.

"You're safe here," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You can stay the night if you want."

She looked up at me, and I could see the gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you," she said softly.

I got up to get her a spare blanket, and as I walked towards the closet, I heard a noise. It was a faint sound, but it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I turned around to see Sarah standing in the middle of the room, looking around nervously.

"What's wrong?" I asked, my heart starting to race.

"I don't know," she said. "I just feel like... like we're not alone."

I didn't know what to say. I couldn't hear anything, but the feeling of unease that I had been feeling all night suddenly intensified. I tried to shrug it off, telling myself that it was just the storm playing tricks on us.

But then I heard it again. This time, it was louder, and there was no mistaking it. It was a sound like scraping, coming from somewhere outside the apartment.

Sarah looked at me, her eyes wide with fear. "What is that?"

"I don't know," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "But I'm going to go check it out."

I grabbed a flashlight from the closet and made my way towards the door. Sarah followed close behind me, and we stepped out into the hallway.

The scraping sound was louder now, and it seemed to be coming from the stairwell. We crept towards it, the