AncilChapter 5: The Invite
Two black boots strolled into the room and I saw the lingering tip of a baseball bat hanging down. My anxiety began to kick in again. I hated my anxiety disorder and its knack for popping up at the worst possible times. I have had anxiety issues since I was a little kid; a time when panic attacks, heart palpitations, cold sweating, short breaths, and shakiness scared me to death. I had gotten used to it over the years but there were certain times and situations when it just drove me nuts; situations like the one I had found myself in at Kate’s house with the unknown baseball bat-wielding assailant who was strolling into the room I hid in. I tried to keep the sound of my breathing down but I was so short on breath and gasping for oxygen that I just couldn’t. I placed my hand over my mouth hoping to silence my breathing but it didn’t work.
The footsteps were moving about the room slowly with each step tugging on my heartstrings even more. The floor in front of me was soaked with sweat and I was shaking like a Chihuahua. The bed then jerked down as whoever was in the room threw themselves onto it. The bed got a bit lower as the unknown person carelessly lay on top of it.
As the fear and anxiety flooded my body, my mind wandered to episode 11 of The Walking Dead, Season 4. In that episode, Rick Grimes found himself trapped under a mattress in a house that got overrun by Joe and his pals. Things seemed hopeless for Rick but his incredible ability to think on his feet allowed him to escape the house with his life. He even managed to kill a couple of Joe’s pals with his bare hands without alerting the others.
But I was not Rick Grimes and if I tried that I would have been beaten to a pulp. So, I decided to just remain under the bed until it was safe which turned out to be about an hour. The person in the room was asleep for basically the whole time but my very natural anxiety wouldn’t allow me to try to make a run for it.
Kate eventually came into the room and chased the man off the bed. It turned out the man on the bed wasn’t Kate’s father. His voice was a dead giveaway. Disgruntled, the man mumbled something and then strolled out of the room behind Kate. After about ten minutes, Kate came back into the room, slowly closing the door behind her as if she was still expecting someone to be there. All I saw was her cute little feet and the bottom of the pajama pants that she wore. She bent down below the bed greeting me with a smile then asked, “You okay there big guy?”
“What was that all about?” I asked as I shuffled along the floor from below the bed.
“Nothing to worry about. One of my father’s friends just came to check on me since he’s in jail and all.”
“And Sam?”
“She came looking for you among other things. But I told her that you weren’t here.”
“Good.” I got up from under the bed and stretched. My back had a slight ache.
“So what are you going to do?” Kate asked
“About what?” My back was aching even more now.
“About my father. You still haven’t filed a complaint against him and it’s only a matter of time before you are called to testify in the court of law.”
