#gutsnsluts

Typical Friday nights for you tended to be quite boring. You would go over to the Anderson’s house, watch their kids while they went out to the country club. You would help the two children with any homework they had, let them do their own thing for an hour or two, and made sure that they ended up in bed. Then you would wait downstairs, finding ways to entertain yourself, for a few hours until Meredith and Wyatt arrived home. It wasn’t your favorite way to spend a Friday but the Andersons paid you well and it was easy money. This Friday in particular felt odd. You went about your normal routine for the first half of the day but as 6PM, the time you were due to be at the Andersons house, rolled around you felt unusually anxious. You tried to shake off the feeling as you waved the couple goodbye but your eyes were drawn to the dark treeline at the end of the yard. Your stomach churned as you turned to go inside the house. The rest of the night went by in an anxious blur for you. You tried to do the usual routine with the kids but your mind was reeling with all the possible things hidden in the dark woods.

The loud ringing of the house phone disturbed you from your light slumber on the couch. Apparently you had dozed off at some point after putting the kids asleep. You blindly reached for the phone as the shrill tone rang out again. 

“Hello?” You muttered, stifling a yawn as you fully sat up. 

“Are you feeling tired?” A deep, raspy voice asked through the speakers. You raised a brow but assumed he heard you fighting off your yawn. 

“A little. Can I help you with something? The Anderson’s aren’t home right now.” As you answered his question you stood up and wandered towards the kitchen. Your eyes were immediately drawn to the ominous dark edge of the yard. 

“Oh, I know. It’s their date night. It’s just you and the kids, isn’t it?” He mused, almost condescending in tone. You felt your blood run cold despite your heart racing inside of your ribcage. You wracked your brain in order to conjure up an explanation as to how this strange man knew the Anderson’s routine. You tried to calm yourself down, figuring it was a family friend or someone close to them. 

“T-They’ll be back soon or you can call back tomorrow.” As you stumbled over your words, you internally cursed yourself for letting silly fears affect you so much... Yet his next word’s confirmed your fears exactly. 

“Why would I do that when I’m already here?” 

You couldn’t breathe as you scanned the yard again. You tried to act confident. “Alright, very funny. Prank calls are juvenile you know.” 

His chilling laughter seemed to rattle you to your core, cold sweat dripping down your forehead. 

“Go ahead and tell yourself that this is a prank call, sweetheart. It’ll make it so much more fun if I catch you off guard.” As he spoke, a loud thud resonated against the side door off of the kitchen. Your heart skipped a beat as a small scream escaped your lips. His sinister chuckle sounded from the phone speakers yet again. 

“What... What do you want? Y-You need to leave or I’m gonna call the police.” You tried, once again, to sound confident but you once again stumbled over your words. 

“You can go ahead and call them, baby. They won’t get here in time...” Time nearly moved in slow motion as you realized that his voice didn’t come from the phone speaker. His presence, right behind you, felt enormous in one instant. 

“Go on, I love a good chase. It gets the heart racing!”