The Creep

It was a typical Saturday afternoon for sixteen-year-old, Dana Lebowitz . She scrolled Netflix for an hour and called over her bestie, Jennifer Colrain. They went outside and played basketball. A neighbor watched them over his fence, well, not a neighbor, a man standing in a neighbor's yard. He had dark shaggy hair and red eyes. He had several teeth broken off at the gumline.

He popped his head over the fence and asked the girls if they wanted to take a ride with him to the store. ''No,'' Jennifer said. ''We don't know you.''

The man looked at Jennifer for a minute, almost as if he really had to concentrate on her words to fully comprehend what she was saying. ''Do you want to pet my dragon?'' The man said.

''Are you fucking serious right now?'' Jennifer said. ''Go away, dude.''

''I'll kick your fucking head in,'' the man said. ''Don't swear in front of my dragon.'' The man vanished from sight.

''What was that guy's problem?'' Dana said.

''He's a total tweaker,'' Jennifer said. ''Just ignore his ass.''

''That was creepy,'' Dana said. ''Do you think he was on drugs? His eyes were super red.''

''Probably,'' Jennifer said. ''He smelled like bourbon and cat piss.'' They headed to a nearby park and headed home afterward. Dana and Jennifer headed to her room to listen to her record player. Dana's mouth dropped. Her unicorn poster had been ripped off the wall. Her blanket was shredded and there was piss all over her carpet and someone had ejaculated all over her pillow.

Someone had smeared feces all over the wall and written, ''Fuck you, bitch.''

Heavy breathing could be heard coming from the closet. Jennifer noticed an eyeball staring at them from within the closet. ''Oh shit,'' Jennifer said. ''There's someone in your fucking closet.''

Dana noticed the eyeball, too. The man from earlier, naked and flaccid, cum droplets spraying off his member as he ran burst out of the closet. He wielded a steak knife. Dana and Jennifer ran into Dana's mom's room. Dana dialed 911 and told them everything. The door rattled and shook as the man kicked and head-butted the door.

''We called the cops, asshole,'' Jennifer said.

All fell silent for a moment or two. The man started carving a message on the door. Dana and Jennifer searched all around the room for any kind of weapon. Dana grabbed the lamp off her mom's nightstand. ''It's better than nothing. Police sirens could be heard and we heard the cops enter the premises. An officer knocked on the bedroom door. ''Hello,'' this is officer Herlihy. Come on out.''

Dana opened the door and saw a tall, mustachioed man. Dana hugged the man, without thinking. ''Thank God you arrived,'' Dana mumbled.

''Did you catch him?'' Jennifer said.

''Yep,'' Officer Herlihy said. ''He's on his way downtown right now. I'd like to ask you girls some questions downtown.''

''Where's your parents?'' Officer Herlihy asked.

''My mom's working late,'' Dana said. ''She's a waitress at the golden fleece.''

''She'll be notified,'' Officer Herlihy said. ''Come with me, girls.''

Dana and Jennifer followed him and they spent the next couple hours at the police station. Dana had a nightmare that the creep escaped. She woke up in a cold sweat. She saw it was still dark outside. She tiptoed to the bathroom, trying not to wake her mom up. She used the bathroom and came back to bed and laid down.

She shut her eyes and prayed she would not see those broken teeth or red eyes waiting for her when she went to sleep, almost certain that she would definitely fall right back into a nightmare.