Millie noticed a light on in the little house next door as she pulled into the driveway of the townhouse she rented on Philadelphia’s less than affluent West Side. The only good thing about working these late hours was that traffic was not nearly as heavy that late at night. She’d been able to cross the bridge on City Avenue with virtually no hold-ups. Many times she had wished the City of Philadelphia would install better bus and trolley service to its City Avenue corridor to shorten her trip and they definitely needed more park and ride areas. But she had to ask herself, when she worked these late hours what did it really matter? Still it had taken her way in excess of half an hour to get home from Bubba’s and she wondered why the light was still on next door at 3:30 in the morning. She immediately accused herself of being overly paranoid, as Jody would put it, and she had to snicker as she manipulated her large caddy under the far side of the carport. It gave her a longer walk to the front door, but she wanted to accommodate her room mate’s Honda so she parked in the same spot each time to leave plenty of room.
The falling snow was looking more like sleet as Millie turned off the ignition and removed her key groping for the door handle in the darkness of the vehicle. Finally grasping it, she swung the car door open and made her exit, unaware of the dark figure lurking in the shadows behind her. She groaned with fatigue as she turned her body slightly to slam the car door behind her. She was vowing aloud to lose some weight for her New Year’s resolution, when suddenly the dark ominous figure slid barely into view in her peripheral vision. She blinked twice wondering for a fleeting moment if she didn’t just need some rest. Then she heard footsteps behind her and the figure of a large man emerged from out of the shadows into plain sight. He was carrying something in his arms, and Millie’s anxious thoughts were quickly becoming more and more filled with desperation. She knew she could do one of two things; either make a mad dash for the front door adjacent to the carport or retreat back to the car she had just come from. She was midway between both. But the figure was moving too fast to allow her time to unlock and open either door and get safely inside. Plus running to her car door would only send her barreling head-on into his path.
She turned momentarily to glance over her left shoulder as she made a dash over the slippery terrain toward the house. In that fleeting moment the figure was upon her. He hit her at a dead run, rushing her and spinning her around, pushing her backwards so fast she lost her balance. The man’s hand clamped over her mouth and his body pressed tightly up against hers supporting her and walking her backwards at a fast pace. The keychain with the car and house keys on it slipped out of her hand. She had time to let out a small squeaky scream before the back of her head struck the wooden siding of the house behind her. Her head hit with so much force, she felt herself beginning to lose consciousness and everything became a blur. She felt a sharp crushing pain in the back of her head and the man’s full physique literally slide down the length of her body to pick up the keychain she had dropped onto the snowy sleet-covered pavement.
The dark figure glanced cautiously over his left shoulder looking for any unwanted guests. Not seeing anyone, he unlocked the front door and pulled Millie’s almost lethargic body inside. Her shoes had come off in the struggle and once inside the man shoved her roughly backwards so her body landed haphazardly upon the living room sofa. He then stepped casually outside the front door to collect any articles dropped during the pursuit.
Millie’s body lay strewn half on the sofa and half off unable to move as thoughts of her death flooded into her mind unfortunately inundating her few remaining senses.
In Millie’s delusional state, it seemed only seconds before her predator entered the room. He proceeded toward where she lay helplessly upon the sofa. She took that moment to make a feeble attempt to cry out and fend him off with her hands and feet. But the man’s cold leather glove only moved over her mouth yet again and pressed even harder this time forcing her to struggle merely to remain coherent. He did not wear a ski mask and she felt his hot breath upon her face as he struggled with the weight of her body. She gasped for air as his black leather glove restricted her nasal airway as well as her mouth. She felt faintness envelop her body as it was being drug along the floor and up the stairs to where the bedrooms were located.
If only she could get to a phone, but there was no time and no way to get away from him. It was all happening too fast. Millie felt herself go into shock as the man who drug her along like a rag doll with his black glove clamped tightly over her mouth, at last reached the top of the stairs.