Falling for the CEO

Dark clouds covered the night sky, it was about to rain, and the forest was quiet apart from the sound of a man's running feet and heavy breathing. Running was a struggle for him but he couldn't stop, his life was in danger. It scared him.

He chanced a glance over his shoulder and tripped; he found his footing again and continued running. His hair looked disheveled and his clothes were dirty since he fell down so many times and one of his sleeves had a tear.

Keep running, you won't get far. The person chasing the terrified man thought. He suddenly appeared in front of the man, and he let out a yelp, trying to get up and run, but it was too late.

The person chasing him, dressed in a black hoody and trousers with a smiling clown mask was already on him. He pressed a cloth dipped in chloroform on the man's nose and mouth.

He didn't let go until the man was unconscious. He carried him on his back and went back to his car.

I may do this for the one I love, but I also love the chase. He thought, grinning behind his mask.

The chaser drove his car to the remaining distance to his house. He didn't usually 'hunt' near his home, but he thought it was safe enough since he had done so many far away. He was to park his car in his garage, but not before noticing a car parked in front of the house next to his and light inside the house.

The chaser had a new neighbor while he was out hunting. He removed his mask, got out of his car and closed the garage door.

"I'll see if this one stays". He said out loud this time right before taking the victim inside.

Earlier that day, Freya arrived at the house she had bought. The house was in a small town called Community, it had a few houses around it. She wanted a place that was quiet, where there weren't many people and that was just it.

The town looked old-fashioned, and her house looked just as old-fashioned, it was a one story, cream colored with a brown front door and a lawn.

The house next to hers looked like no one lived there; grasses in the lawn were long, and they had the window shutters drawn shut. The other one closer to hers was nicer to look at. They had the lawn trimmed; the house looked welcoming and neat.

"That is Dr. David's home." The saleswoman in her forties, Andrea said.

"Poor thing, his wife died during childbirth. Had to raise the girl all by himself, not to mention she has been sick for two years now. He even stopped going out to work at the hospital after he found out that she was sick." Andrea shook her head in pity. Freya placed her palm over her chest.

"That is terrible. I hope she gets better." Andrea gave her a look that she knew meant the girl wasn't getting any better. Freya thought the doctor was strong to go through all that.

"Oh well, I'll leave you to settle down."

"Alright, thank you." She smiled back at Andrea and watched her walk to her car that was next to Freya's, and drive off. She picked up the last two boxes from the ground and walked to the new house, letting the door slam behind her.

Freya jolted awake from her sleep. What was it that woke her up? An unidentified sound came, like a shout mixed with a whimper and some other sound. That was it. It woke her up. She didn't know where it was coming from, so she dismissed it. Just as she turned on her side and pulled her quilt higher to her shoulders, ready to go back to sleep, it came again.

Freya sat up and listened. It sounded again and her head snapped to the left. She stood and strolled to the window, the one on her left and the one facing Dr. David's house. It came again, then continued for minutes.

Freya only stood there, facing the side of Dr. David's house. The sounds were audible enough for her to hear, but not loud enough for people in other houses to hear since her house and his are closer to each other. The sounds were horrifying.

She didn't know what was happening. She started wondering if he was torturing people in there. But she cleared that thought from her mind.

"No, it can't be. Besides, I just moved in and I'm in no place to judge. It's probably TV, yeah, he's watching a horror movie.'

She walked back to bed, got in and pulled the quilt over herself. She then closed her eyes, trying to block out the frightening noises.