Protect This by Cami Checketts

Author:Cami Checketts [Checketts, Cami]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cami Checketts

Chapter Six

Natasha heard a soft thud like a door closing. She snapped awake and glanced around. The alarm clock read 2:27 a.m. What had awakened her? She looked to Marissa’s bed before remembering her roommate had gone home for the weekend and was driving back in time for her classes later this morning. Footsteps thudded up the stairs, like someone was trying to be quiet but failing.

A panic rose in her chest she hadn’t felt since she’d hidden from her mother’s boyfriends as a child and teenager. She grabbed her cell phone off the dresser and hit 911 before searching for a hiding spot. Underneath her bed was too obvious. She scurried to the closet, for the first time grateful that Marissa was a slob. Diving underneath Marissa’s pile of dirty laundry, she squirmed to the very back, pulling clothes over her and pushing the phone to her ear.

“911. What’s your emergency?”

“Please help,” she whispered, “Someone’s breaking into my apartment.” She didn’t wait for a response but slid the phone out of the closet. It thudded against the opposite wall and she prayed the police really could track a cell phone like she’d heard. She didn’t dare keep it with her in case the dispatcher’s voice gave away her hiding spot. She pulled the closet door back and covered herself up with clothes.

The door to her room creaked open and she froze. Was any part of her exposed? She gasped for air while at the same time trying to hold her breath so the intruder wouldn’t find her. The door softly shut.

“Natasha?” a male voice whispered hoarsely. “I know you’re in here.”

She heard the covers being ripped off both beds then footsteps coming closer to the closet.

“You can’t hide from me.” The voice was scratchy and oddly high for a man. She wished she could recognize it.

Natasha closed her eyes and prayed like she’d never prayed. Sweat trickled down her back. Her nose twitched from the scent of Marissa’s workout clothes. Please don’t sneeze, please don’t sneeze. Every muscle in her body clenched as the closet door swung open and a flashlight tried to penetrate the clothes she hid behind.

No, no, no. Terror squeezed her. Whoever this man was, he was going to find her and he was going to hurt her. She knew it as well as she knew that Marissa needed to wash her laundry. Seconds ticked by. Natasha held her breath until she thought she would explode. She pinched her eyes shut. Deep breathing came closer and closer.

A tinny voice from behind the man suddenly screeched, “Please respond. We have your location and officers are en route.”

The light wobbled and then disappeared. Her door opened and the footsteps retreated down the hall.

Natasha waited until she heard the front door close before pushing out of the clothes and running for the phone. “Thank you. You saved me!”

She proceeded to tell the dispatcher about the intruder as she waited for the police to arrive. Her heart thumped out of control as she wondered who in the world had been in her room and why.

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