After a short while, the stove looked clean, and she stepped back to admire her handiwork. She threw the sponge down, walking out of the kitchen and collapsing onto the couch with a silent sigh.
She lay there for a split second before leaning forward to grab her laptop, setting it down on her knees and starting up her writing again.
(Sorry this took so long!)
( You're always fine, don't worry! )
Jack, after realizing his lateness, jolted back. "What the heck. Stop getting distracted." He muttered. He grabbed his face, and dragged his hands down his cheeks, in the way that pulls at the eyelids. "I'm going to kill her, sometime. I won't let her writing get published." He said, through clenched teeth. He thought about a way that might put her on edge, just to get her into a paranoid state. It would happen to throw her writing off, or so he thought. He stepped forward, into the clear front of the window-doors.
Focused, Ana noticed nothing. She stayed focused on her computer screen, her expression sliding from joyful to heartbroken in a split second as she recounted the life of her personal favourite creation, a young boy struggling to understand the world and its happenings. She hadn’t moved an inch, save for her lightning-fast fingers.
Jack eyed the person as she seemed to grow more somber. "Dear me, you must be having mood swings. Your writing clearly makes you feel too much." He said. He grew ever confused as to how she didn't notice him. He moved to another angle, to try and see if her eyes noticed more at the side.
In the middle of a chapter, a shadow flicked in the corner of Ana’s eye. She looked up and let her hand hover above the keys. A man was standing there.
She reflexively shut her computer and jumped to her feet, standing still by the couch, staring at him with narrowed, nervous eyes.
Jack smiled, and waved in a creepish manner. "Hey there lil' missy." He said, just before completely vanishing himself. He disappeared to another side of the house, and found another angle to stalk from. "Hehe, I got her good!" He purred, pleasured by her fright.
(Hey sorry, did Jack just use magic? I didn't clarify but if that's the case I'd rather this be a realistic setting…)
( I assume it was more realistic. Like, a quick dash to the side, something like that. I apologize for not clarifying. )
(No that’s fine, I just misunderstood ^^’ )
He disappeared to the side, leaving Ana alone. She stumbled backwards, sat down, before rubbing her eyes. She’d imagined that… right? She’d been alone too long, and got too into her story, and her mind had played a trick on her.
Suddenly, she didn’t want to be alone. Grabbing her laptop, she saved and closed her document and pulled up FaceTime, clicking on the small face in the corner so that her brother’s face appeared on the screen, the familiar vibrating of the machine as it called him sending a weak wave of comfort through her.
( No worries! I do that WAY too much. )
Jack had moved to another window, one with less visibility of Ana's presence. He could tell she'd panicked, somewhat, and he could clearly tell she felt off. He laughed, softly. "I've spooked her, now. She'll be on guard, for a little bit. After she gets comfortable again, I might be able to use you." He spoke the words to himself. He began to think up a plan, getting a simple idea of what he'd do next. For now, however, the place he was at would be where he remained.
He didn't answer. Exhaling in frustration, Ana shook her head, followed by her arms, and squeezed her eyes shut.
She was getting paranoid again. She just needed to calm down— there, she was in her calm mindset— and breathe one, two, three, and again one, two, three…
She opened her eyes, forcing a small smile onto her face. She clicked the icon again.
Jack laughed, and had to suppress the sound of it. "She's so fun! What a game!" He cried, silently as he could manage. He then walked quietly to the girl's front door. He knocked on it, loudly as he could, to cause another form of paranoia. He let further amusement creep in as he rushed behind another wall, as fast as his feet could take him, to make sure that he wasn't caught.
Oblivious to the knocking Ana nearly cried in relief when her brother answered the call.
His face appeared on the screen and Ana started frantically signing, him signing back at her telling her to slow down so he could actually understand her.
He then moved back to the side-view window. Jack watched as Ana signed her words, and how fast she was doing it. He couldn't tell what she was saying, but he could tell that she was tireless in her efforts. 'The face-time thing must have worked'. He thought. He felt his blade grow a little heavier in his pocket. He couldn't wait to kill her, but he knew he had to.
Finally, she calmed down enough to be able to make sense of her hands.
There’s some freaky idiot outside my house with a knife, Georgie, and I don’t know what to do oh my god
His eyes widened and he leaned in closer to the screen.
Are you serious? he signed back. Do you know him?
She shook her head, biting her lip and casting a look around to make sure he wasn’t staring at her.
Jack watched as her signing slowed down a little. 'She must be talking to someone on her screen.' He thought, as a wrinkle formed in between his brows. It always did that when he was frustrated with himself. Why did she have to have someone to talk to? She had looked around, and he hadn't remembered to move. He was honestly just wondering who was on the other side of the screen.
Noticing a shadow by one of the smaller windows Ana focused her eyes down again, onto her brother's worried face.
I can see him, she said. Seriously, what do I do? Police could only get here in about 3 hours, and that's if the phone lines are working well enough for me to call them. I don't even know if anyone around is home.
She suddenly felt extremely vulnerable, like the characters she'd grown up writing.
Her life was suddenly in someone else's hands.
( "She suddenly felt extremely vulnerable, like the characters she'd grown up writing." Me @ my characters oh gosh. )
Jack felt as her hysteria grew, and it made him extremely happy. He dipped below the window, and walked around the house. He might as well observe the things she had lying around the outdoors. He walked around the house, careful to avoid the windows. he noticed how clean the place was, despite her supposed clumsiness. He noticed everything outdoors was left alone, too. He made his way to the front door, to see if he could get inside of the house.
(XD painfully true)
(clumsy me almost wrote "she heard footsteps" oh my gosh)
Her brother was signing back, telling her to call the police anyway and just stall, save as much time as possible, and that if he hadn't come in yet he was too confident to do this quickly.
She nodded, and asked him to stay online. He nodded back.
( I do that so often, I relate to that so much! )
Jack made his way to the door at last! He looked at the locking mechanism, it seemed to have been a simple one inside. He pulled out a little 'stalking kit' that he'd been carrying, and opened it. Different tools appeared inside of it. A bobby pin and a sewing needle stood out prominently, and appeared to have been used many times. "Perfect." He muttered, grabbing the two. They went inside of the door's lock, and he meddled with it for minutes. After a little while, he finally unlocked it, and voila, he snick inside.
(I’m so sorry I disappeared, I’m just kind of struggling right now)
Ana set her laptop on the coffee table and pulled out her phone. She hadn’t spoken out loud in a long while, but figured she’d do her best. She dialled 999 and walked to the kitchen. When her screen lit up with an answer, she held the phone to her mouth.
« There’s an intruder in my house, » she said slowly, her throat itching with the effort of speech. She just hoped the police officer would understand her. « I am deaf. I live at 487 Polly Grove in Ashdown forest and there is a man with a knife in my house. »
She paused, swallowing, then hung up, hoping for all hope that they’d be there soon.