The knocking at the door

She woke in a cold sweat from a dead sleep at two o’clock in the morning. Her olive skin was slick with sweat and covered head to toe in goosebumps while her mossy green eyes hurriedly searched the darkness of the bedroom for any signs of movement. When she could not see anything, she relaxed back against the pillows, trying to catch her breathe. Both of her hands shook as she pushed her hair back out of her face, and listened to her heartbeat as it slowly began to even out.

She took the time to listen to the sounds around her. Although it was quit, there were a few sounds she could hear. The wind outside the window, and the tree branches scratching on the side of the old farmhouse. In the distance, wolves howled in the forest that lined the edge of the property. But then she froze when she heard the noise that had woken her from her sleep. The knocking at the front door.

She had lived here for the past two years, and not one person had known where she was. Well…no one but her best friend Sam. He had been the only person she had trusted with her location because not only did he bring her the food and supplies she needed each month, but he would never tell anyone where she was. So, the fact that someone was knocking at her door was extremely unnerving.

When she got to the end of the stairs, the person who had been knocking at her door was still there. Slowly creeping closer and closer to the door, she kept the lights off so whoever was out there would not see her. They knocked again but did not make a move to leave. “Grace…” The voice on the other side of the door sent chills down her spine. It had been two years, maybe more since she had heard that voice, and it broke her heart. It was him. After all this time, he had found her.

Her heart beat so loudly in her chest at the thought of seeing him again, but she just could not bring herself to open the door. “Grace, please. I just…” He sighed a deep and utterly hurt sigh. “I just want to talk.” When she did not respond, he took a few anxious steps away from the door. “I’m sorry…” With that, he turned and took the last few steps off the porch. She heard the sound of a car start and then watched headlights drive away.

She could not remember when the last time she had seen him was, but she could still remember the words he had said. “I will NOT be a father.” It had been one of the few reasons she had left behind the world she had known to go on the run. To go into hiding. And he was the person behind all those reasons. He was the reason she had left. All the words he had said. All the things he had done. It had been completely unforgivable.

Taking a few steps back, she sat down on the three bottom steps of the stairs that led to the second floor. She felt her heartbeat slowly rising in her chest, and her breathing became ragged as she struggled to emotionally keep herself together. Tears spilled from her eyes and down her cheeks and she let out a strangled sob. Turning her eyes to the top of the stairs, she could only hope that the little girl asleep at the end of the hall had not been awakened by the sound of the knocking, or the voice behind the door. She was not ready for her to meet the man that had been the reason she was on the run for all this time. The reason for her having gone on the run in the first place. No, she was not ready for her daughter to mt the one person she did not need. Her father.