Charlie woke up. It was still dark. She reached for the lamp on the nightstand beside her bed. Flipping the switch did nothing. Either the power was out or a breaker was thrown, she thought. She glanced at her phone. Low battery, but close enough to morning that it would throw off her sleep schedule if she went back to bed.

Sighing, Charlie threw off the covers and put her feet to the floor. She shuffled around a bit looking for her slippers. She found them and slipped into them. Her low light vision was just enough to make out the door and so she started towards it.

Charlie stopped. She glanced around. There was a presence with her but she couldn’t see, let alone figure out where it was. All she knew was that she was not alone. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up a bit and she got goosebumps on her arms. Whatever it was, she felt like it was watching her movements. However, it made no move. For now, at least. Charlie felt that it would eventually make a move. But, being in darkness, Charlie couldn’t react to it.

Charlie swallowed and took her brave pills. She needed to go find out what happened to the power, unseen presence or otherwise.

She proceeded to the door and opened it to the hallway. Charlie checked it out both ways. Almost pitch black. She knew her way around the house but the lack of light unsettled her.

Charlie stepped out into the murk. She took a left, feeling along the wall for support. She tried to be careful and not hit the cabinet along this wall but to no avail.

“Oof.”

She studded her toe on the wood. At least the cabinet was still there. It also gave her some bearings. She felt the presence slip out into the hallway behind her. It did not make a sound but she knew it was out here with her, shadowing her initial movement.

Charlie pushed forward, continuing to the wall for positional aid. She came across the next bedroom’s door, and a hallway light switch. Its light didn’t work.

A lightning bolt crossed the window behind her at the end of the hallway. Charlie turned and caught a glimpse of ... something, on the floor slowly moving. It was moving perpendicular to the hallway. But it was something. The light went away before she could comprehend more than a shadowy blob for a description. It was far enough away to not bother her for now.

It also still hadn’t made a sound.

Then the thunder clapped and rumbled the house. Charlie did not hear any rain so she deduced it was just a dry thunderstorm, probably a few miles away from the house.

Charlie turned her back to the presence and continued on down the hallway. She lived alone but slept in one of the two smaller bedrooms. Her parents would have occupied the larger one. They were long gone from her life.

One step at a time. The presence was still behind her, stalking her movements. She knew it was still there. It didn’t want to approach her. At least for now. The goosebumps were more like permanent bumps.

She heard a noise. It was scratching. The presence was scratching at the wall. What a terrifying sound to hear in the dark. From the sounds of it, it had some claws. What if it wants to use those claws on her? Charlie would be dead meat.