Zak Pov:

"And I-" I cut myself off. Did I hear something?

*Creaaak*

"Go on!" Darryl said happily.

"Shh! Didn't you hear that?" I asked while putting a finger to his lips.

"Hear what?" He asked through them.

"That long creak! Didn't you hear it?"

"No?"

We stay silent for a few moments.

It couldn't have been my parents, they had just left with my sister to the store.

*Creak*

I jumped at the noise, even though Darryl didn't seem to hear it.

"You're probably just hearing things," Darryl said calmly while putting my hand down from his face softly.

"I know I'm not," I responded in a whisper. "I don't feel safe here, let's go to my room."

Darryl nodded slowly and followed me upstairs.

We walked up the stairs and into my bedroom. Darryl just looked confused the whole time.

Quickly, I shut and locked my bedroom door behind me and started barricading it quickly.

"What are you doing?!" Darryl asked in a whisper-like voice.

"Eating muffins- what does it look like I'm doing?!" I responded in the same tone.

"But why??" He asked while trying to get my attention off of barricading the door.

"Someone's in the house," I said while stopping to look at him finally.

"Wouldn't it be your family?"

"Why would they be back so early?"

"Maybe they forgot something?"

I looked at him with disappointment.

"I'm not taking my chances," I said and walked over to my window to unlock it, just in case we had to run.

"Fine, it's safer anyway," said Darryl as he walked with me, obviously worried.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll be fine," I said reassuringly.

"I'm just worried about your leg! You're still limping, I can see it!" Darryl said in a panic. I think he had noticed why I was unlocking the window and it made him nervous of me possibly trying to climb out of it, I mean, we are on the second story.

"No no! I'll be fine!"

I lightly hugged him and he immediately hugged back tightly.

"Do you think... maybe it's Fundy?" He asked.

"Let's not talk about that now, yeah?" I said as a way to calm him down. I don't want him to worry himself anymore than he already is.

"Yeah.." he responded as he let go of the hug.

I smiled at him, him returning it shortly after.

That is, until we heard a door knob rattling.

We both immediately stopped smiling and turned our heads to my bedroom door.

The door knob was shaking furiously but since the door was locked it bought us some time.

"What do we do?!" Darryl whispered.

"Out the window- or maybe we could go into my washroom?" I asked, remembering his worry about me leaving through the window.

He nodded and grabbed my wrist, leading me to the washroom.

Just as we were about to close the door behind us, we heard the door open, and get caught on the stuff I had barricaded the door with a couple minutes prior.

Then Darryl closed the door.

We were in the darkness.

Suddenly I blanked and remembered that one time I was locked in Darryl's washroom, all the panic I had endured due to my claustrophobia.

And I didn't feel Darryl's comforting grip on my wrist anymore.

So I frantically tried searching for him, not seeing where I was going.

The noises of things getting knocked over in my bedroom made my panicking even worse.

"Darryl?" I whispered in the darkness as I hadn't found him with all of my searching.

Suddenly I felt an arm being wrapped around my waist from behind, and another arm with the hand covering my mouth.

"Shh."

I blushed furiously, though now probably wasn't the time.

But as he loosened his grip and took his hand off of my mouth I started to calm down quickly. Knowing he was here with me made me feel safe.

Then we heard the bedroom door open fully, the panic soon returning.

Darryl grabbed my hand and led me somewhere I couldn't see.

And then a few seconds later we were in an even smaller place that felt like a cupboard. Which didn't make the claustrophobia better, that's for sure.

And Darryl was sat away from me, so I scooted over so that I could sit with him.

I found him in the darkness and leaned into him, wanting closure. He returned the feeling right after.

I shuddered as I heard a loud bang come from my bedroom, probably the person pushing stuff around.

Darryl wrapped his arms around me and made me feel more secure which made my panicking calm down a bit more.

But then, we heard the washroom door rattle.

Once.

Twice.

And then it opened.

I could see the bright light from my bedroom come in through the now wide open washroom door from where me and Darryl were.

And that's when I noticed that we were in the cupboard underneath my sink, the one where I literally put nothing into.

I turned my head to see Darryl leaned against one of the walls of this tiny cupboard. His legs were spread out and I was between them with his arms wrapped around me.

I told myself not to blush as what was happening probably wasn't the best time.

But ahhh! My crush is holding me in his arms!

Oh my god, focus Zak! You're literally about to die!

I erase out all of the thoughts about Darryl for the time being and focus on being completely still, and completely silent so the person in the washroom, just outside where we are won't hear us.

We heard footsteps.

They walked over to the shower and pulled the curtain, silence after for a few moments.

Then the footsteps started again.

They walked over to a tall tiny closet and opened the doors, silence again.

Luckily for us, we could hear their every move. Probably because of their loud ass shoes.

But that didn't help with the anxiety building up inside me.

Right now I felt two very strong emotions, and both of them made my stomach twist and turn. It feels like butterflies mixed with lightning.

Then I held my breath as the footsteps started in our direction.

This is it.

They're gonna find us.

We're gonna die, aren't we?

_______________________________________

Now that's what I call a sticky situation. 🤪
Have a good day/night, ducklings!

Word count is 1083

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