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** AJ **

“Brian!” I hissed. “Brian!”

I pulled the blanket up to my chin and waited to see if Brian would respond. He was sleeping on his side with his back towards me, his arms wrapped tightly around a pillow. It was clear that he hadn’t heard me because his deep, steady breathing continued even as the noise sounded again.

I shrank back into the mattress and forced my eyes shut. The rustling sounded like it was coming from outside, like someone was snooping around right beneath the window. I tried to convince myself that I had imagined it, that there was nothing to worry about. After all, the situation was ridiculous. I was a grown man, and I had absolutely no business being afraid of the dark.

Colourful shapes were swimming across the inside of my eyelids, and they began to move faster as I pressed my eyes together. I licked my lips and curled my fingers around the edge of the blanket. My attempt at thinking happy thoughts clearly wasn’t working. All I could picture was a huge, scary man crashing through the window wielding a very large, very sharp knife.

The noise sounded again, louder this time. It was footsteps. I was sure of it. There was someone outside, creeping around in the yard.

“Brian!” I called his name again. “Brian!”

This time he woke up. Abandoning his grip on the pillow, he rolled over so that he was facing the small nightstand that separated the two beds. He let out an unintelligible grunt and slid his right arm underneath his other pillow.

“I heard a noise.” I announced; willing with all my might that he wouldn’t fall back asleep. “Outside.”

Brian cracked his eyes open and grunted again. “Wind.”

“No!” I was now fully awake and, admittedly, starting to freak out. The rustling sound happened again, and I propped myself up on my elbows to get a better look at Brian’s face. “Did you hear that? It’s not just the wind!”

Brian’s unfocused eyes met my own in the darkness. It was clear that he had heard it too. “What is that?”

“It sounds like someone walking around.” I insisted. “What are we going to do?”

“Do?” Brian was now sitting up and kicking himself out of the blankets. “We’re not going to DO anything. We’re going to call the police!”

I glanced quickly at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s five o’clock in the morning.”

“So?” Brian swung his feet to the floor. Even in the dark, I could see his bewildered expression. “The police work twenty-four hours a day. I don’t think they’re going to mind if we call them early in the morning.”

“Wait!” I scrambled to untangle myself from my own blankets and grabbed for Brian’s arm in the darkness; stopping him before he could rise from his bed. “It sounds like there’s someone in the backyard. The landline is in the kitchen. If you go walking out into the kitchen to get the phone, whoever is creeping around will see you.”

Brian’s arm muscles tensed under my fingers. “Well, what are we going to do then?”

I hesitated, my fingers digging into Brian’s forearm. I didn’t really know what to suggest. As I waited for my brain to sort itself out, the noises from outside grew even louder. Someone was definitely in the backyard; footsteps thudded on the ground and a series of muffled noises followed. My eyes once again locked with Brian’s just as a shadow passed by the window.

“Shit!” I tightened my grip on Brian’s arm. “You’re right; we have to call the cops!”

“We have to get to the phone.” Brian’s voice was shaking. “We’ll just have to sneak into the kitchen.” He stood up from the bed, making sure to duck down so that his movement couldn’t be seen through the window.

I released my hold on Brian’s arm and followed his lead as he crept towards the door. “Should we wake the others?”

Brian shook his head as he slowly opened the door. “It will take too long, and we’ll make too much noise.”

I swallowed hard. Brian made a good point, but I liked the idea of five against one a hell of a lot better than the idea of two against one. The hallway was even darker than the bedroom and my heart skipped a beat with ever single creak of the floor. The two of us were moving painfully slowly, our backs sliding along the wall as we shuffled down the hallway towards the open-concept portion of the house.

“Now what?” I whispered. We had reached the end of the hallway, and we were standing shoulder to shoulder with our backs still pressed against the wall. The phone was on the counter at the far end of the kitchen, closest to the sliding glass door.

“We can crouch down and run to the family room.” Brian whispered back. “If we drop down behind the side of the couch we won’t be visible from the door.”

“What are we going to do when we get there?” I worried.

Brian’s suggestion seemed doable, but I was still a bit wary. The edge of the couch was visible from where we were standing. It was only a few feet away, but we would have to cross directly in front of one half of the sliding glass door in order to make it to the family room.

“From there we can move to behind the island in the kitchen.” Brian pointed out. “We’re going to have to do this in stages.”

I wordlessly nodded my agreement, glancing quickly back down the hallway as I did. The rest of the house was silent; Kevin, Howie, and Nick were still blissfully unaware of the situation. When I returned my gaze to Brian, he was staring back at me with a mixture of determination and fear. I opened my mouth to offer to go first, but stopped when I heard the unmistakeable thud of footsteps on the deck.

Brian and I immediately froze; our plan forgotten. The footsteps were getting louder, which meant that they were most likely getting closer to the house. I sucked in my breath and attempted to get my heart rate under control. I was well aware of the fact that my erratic breathing was becoming noticeably loud, and I definitely didn’t want to be the one responsible for getting us caught.

“They’re on the deck.” Brian hissed; panic permeating every syllable.

As soon as the words were out of Brian’s mouth, the back door moved slightly in its frame. I held my breath as I listened to someone fumble with the sliding door; jiggling it back and forth to try and get it to open. Was this it? Was I going to die hiding in a dark hallway with Brian in my boxers?

“We have to make it to the front door.” I let out the breath that I had been holding in one big rush. “It’s our only shot.”

Brian looked at me in horror as the noises from the backdoor continued. “What about the others? We can’t just leave them here!”

“We’ll run across the street and come back with Joey and Tony.” I was making up the plan as I went along. “They’ll call the police for us.”

“Okay.” Brian conceded, although he still didn’t look overly convinced. “Who’s going to go first?”

“I will.” I stared Brian in the face as I pushed myself away from the wall. “Promise that you’re right behind me?”

Brian nodded solemnly. “I promise that I’ll be right behind you.”

Knowing that if I hesitated any longer I would chicken out, I forced myself to step away from the sanctity of the wall and to take off towards the front door. My bare feet slapped against the tile floor as I gained momentum, my eyes locked on the door. I was so focused on my target that I didn’t see him until it was too late. I hadn’t even made it ten feet when the figure seemingly emerged out of thin air and tackled me to the ground.

I went down hard as a pair of thick, muscular arms wrapped around my torso. The man rammed his elbow into my stomach as the two of us hit the tiles; effectively knocking the wind out of me. I gasped for air, my lungs burning as I realized in terror that I was being overpowered. The man was leaning over me, pinning my arms at my sides, and quickly eliminating my ability to fight back. I thrashed about beneath him; desperation setting in as it became readily apparent that I was fighting a losing battle.

Thank God that Brian had stayed true to his promise. My vision was blurring from the lack of oxygen, but I still saw Brian’s arm wrap around my attacker’s neck. The man let out a gasp and both of his hands immediately let go of my arms and flew upwards; his fingers clawing frantically at his neck as he attempted to wedge them in-between Brian’s arm and his throat. I saw Brian’s face as he tightened his grip and pulled the man off of me, the two of them falling to the floor with a sickening thud. I didn’t think I would ever be able to forget the way that Brian looked at that moment; completely indomitable and unlike himself.

I staggered to my feet, my lungs protesting the exertion as they struggled to acquire an adequate supply of oxygen. Brian and the man were still wrestling on the floor. The man had finally managed to lodge his hand in-between Brian’s arm and his neck, but he was still choking wildly as he worked to regain the upper hand. Ignoring the pain in my chest, I threw myself into the scuffle; planting myself on top of the man’s chest and reaching for his arms. Brian crawled out from underneath the attacker’s girth, almost reluctantly letting go of the man’s neck as he manoeuvred himself into position to help me subdue his upper body. The man was bigger than both of us put together, and I found myself praying that Brian and I would be able to hold him down until one of the others came to our rescue.