Cold and dark is the night with a full moon. No clouds in the night sky, no singing critters outside, no noises inside the house. Silence is everywhere in the house. Darkness is everywhere in the house. Earlier in the day, I saw in the news that there was going to be some power outage within my area by nightfall, so I now walk quietly along a hallway with a lantern at hand. The lantern shortly illuminates the long, dark walls as I turn to a door. I reach for my pocket and grab a keyring that holds all the keys for the doors. I find the key to unlock the door, making it creak as I open it. I walk inside and the lantern now weakly illuminates the room, my study. . .

I look to the left and see the bookshelf that contains the books I have accumulated over the years, as well as the table that holds hordes of paperwork that I have to work on, then I look ahead of me and see my desk and further I see the open window that shows the endless void, the night that grows colder and darker. I look to the right and see the fireplace with stacked firewood. I walk forward and put the lantern on top of the desk, then I open a drawer to reveal a matchbox. . .

After a few seconds and a match, the fireplace now illuminates the room almost; the corners of the room remain in the shadows. I grab a few paperwork, bring them to my desk, then sit down gently on a chair. The cool night air brushes my cheeks while the fireplace keeps me slightly warm. I sigh and start to do the paperwork. . .

Night sits still, the small flame in the lantern dances so, the fireplace crackles at times, my writing hand boredly guiding a pen filing paperwork, and my tired eyes follow the words written. I yawn a bit then, suddenly, the night howls: a strong cold wind breaches the room from the open window; the wind startles me, makes my hair stand, blows my paperwork away, kills the dancing flame in the lantern, then tries to snuff out the bigger flame in the fireplace but fails. I quickly shut the window, muffling the howling night and killing the cool air in my study. . .

My hands brush my hair to fix them, then my nose picks up a burning scent. The paperwork catches on fire, as it lays near the fireplace. I quickly start to step on the paper to stop it from burning, not that it needs saving anymore. It is now crisp and black like charcoal. I frown. I pick up the remains.
“Well, this is great,” I sigh, then I begin to walk to find a trash can.
I meet the trash can under my desk, throwing the paperwork in. “I guess I can call—”
Suddenly, I hear a door shutting violently in the hallway. . .

I feel a shiver in my spine. This is odd, suspicious. I quickly grab the matchbox in the drawer, grab a match, strike it against the matchbox strip, and light my lantern. I open the door quietly and peek through the hallway. My steps echo through the dark atmosphere. I am almost at the end of the hallway when I find a door not closed all the way. . .

This is the door. I open it all the way and let my lantern light the room, my bedroom. Everything seems to be in order: I look to the left to find my closed closet that contains my clothes, then I look ahead of me to find my bed with its black sheets and a nightstand on each side. I look to the right to see my window open– no, that can’t be. . .

I brisk my way to the open window that I know I have shut close earlier in the day. I remember, I remember well. The night blows gently that the curtains seem to float a bit high. I walk towards the nightstand near me and put down the lantern, then I turn to cut the night air in my bedroom. I close the window, lock it, then I turn to pick up my lantern; however, something catches my eye: a black footprint near my bed, then more footprints. I follow it and it ends by the closet. . .

An intruder? A break in? But why in the closet? Should I open it? Thoughts start to form in my mind, and I don’t like it. I suppose that explains the open window. Then what about the door? Did I not close it all the way this morning? The open window must have caused it to close– wait, the intruder! Grab a weapon.
I turn my back on the closet to get anything I could use to defend myself, then I hear a thud. I slowly turn around while I hear the closet start to creak open, slowly and ominously. Then it stops, yet it is not even halfway open. I slowly back away from the closet, still keeping my eyes on the closet, then I slowly peek towards the lantern, and I quickly grab it. I look at the closet again, then I begin to look under my bed to find that thing. I try to reach for it. Where is it? It should be– here. My hand grabs something and I pull it out from under the bed, a bat. I slowly approach the closet with my bat and lantern at hand, then, when I am close enough, I kick the closet open.
“Show yourself!” I yelled at the closet, but nothing. . .

I start poking the inside of my closet with a bat, using it to move away hanging clothes. There was. . . nothing. What caused the thud? Was I hearing things? I check again and nothing, again. Maybe it was a– Suddenly, I hear running behind me. I quickly look behind me, but the running is in the hallway now.
“Hey! I yell. “Come back here!”
I start running to the hallway to catch this intruder. As I run faster, I can feel that they are almost in front of me. Even with a lantern, I still can’t see them ahead. I hear a door abruptly open then close; then they lock the door to my study. . .

“You can’t hide in there!” I start to scramble for the keys.
I unlock the door, open it, then raise my bat in the air and– no one’s in here. I look around to find nothing but the bookshelf, table filled with paperwork, desk, closed window. Am I going crazy? Is this really happening? The fireplace is dying; the fire is getting smaller. I put the bat down on my desk and get the matchbox from the drawer and– whispers. I. Hear. Whispers. I immediately look behind me, then it stops. The fire dies; the room gets dark. My lantern is the only thing keeping the darkness from taking over– whispering. It gets louder. I dare not move from my spot, but I believe they, or rather it. . . is in a corner of the room. It is here, with me. I feel a presence. . .

It is in the darkness, it is the darkness. Is it looking at me right now? Can it move? Can it touch me? Can it hurt me? The lantern dies; darkness is all around me. I immediately run for the door, but it slams shut before I can get out. I rattle the doorknob, pound the door, try to bust it open with my shoulders, anything. The keys! I ransack my pockets, but they aren’t there. The realization hits. They are on the other side. I didn’t take them out!
I can hear something, it, slowly moving. The creepy creaking of the floorboard makes my heart pound, scream. I can feel it; its eyes are piercing my soul. It’s stalking me like a predator ready to pounce at a prey. A tall shadow, a dark entity, is behind me. I can only hear my beating heart, I can only feel a cold chill that makes my spine crawl, I can only see darkness and nothing more. . .

Cold and dark is the night with a full moon. No clouds in the night sky, no singing critters outside, no noises inside the house. Silence is everywhere in the house. Darkness is everywhere in the house. Then a body lays quiet inside the house. . .