There was a young woman who bought an old manor. She was straight out of college, and having little money, she could only afford a cheap, run-down house. It would need some work since half of it was falling apart, but she would deal with that later. For now, she just needed a place close to her job.

The first night that she moved in, however, she began to worry. She didn’t have any neighbors, and she was all alone, except for her dog. The girl was starting to think that maybe she should have just found an apartment. At least that way she would be surrounded by dozens of people, and she would feel a little safer. All of the apartments, however, did not allow dogs, and she refused to give the dog up. It was all she really had.

When she finally fell asleep, it was around midnight. The house was dark since the only source of light shone from one lamp in her room. All was silent, except for a faint noise that sounded like the whining from an animal outside. It continued to grow louder, however, and eventually she woke up. At first, she thought it was her dog, but the noise sounded too far away. To rid herself of these thoughts, she put her hand under the bed, where her dog had fallen asleep. It licked her hand, and she felt a little better until her hand brushed past smooth skin. She knew that her dog was too furry to have any smooth skin. After counting to three, she bolted out of the house and ran to her car.

When she reached her car, she realized that she had left her purse, which held her phone and keys, inside. Not knowing what else to do, she decided that she would have to go back in. She knew her purse was right by the front door, and that it would be easy to get to. The girl ran back inside and grabbed her purse off the table. To her amazement, she made it safely back to her car. She turned on her car and left the house.

After about fifteen minutes of driving, she looked down and realized that her car was almost on empty. She was about ready to cry when to her disbelief, she saw a sign that said there was a gas station one mile away. She pulled into the nearly abandoned gas station and had a male attendant fill it up. While he was doing this, she decided to call the police and have them check out the house. When she looked into her purse, however, she realized it was not in her bag. A tap on her window made her look up.

“It’s about filled, but I noticed that there was some smoke coming from the front of your car. Perhaps you should come out and have a look at it,” the employee told her. He made a strange face at her, causing her to become even more nervous than she already was. She watched as he went to the front of the car and opened the hood.

The girl frantically searched for her phone again. She finally saw it under the passenger seat and picked it up just as it began to ring.

“Hello, who is this?” she asked. There was a long pause and some heavy breathing on the other end. Finally the person spoke.

“Have you checked the children?” a low, raspy voice asked.

“What children? I don’t have any children,” the girl answered. There was another long pause as the caller took this in.

“Never mind. Wrong number,” the voice replied. The line went dead. She began to dial the police to tell them of this strange call and of the possible intruder in the house. Her phone made a beeping noise, and she realized her battery was low. Just when the police picked up the other line, her phone went dead. She stared in disbelief at it, and looked up to see the gas attendant by her door again.

“I really think you should have a look at this,” he told her. He made some more strange expressions at her and went back to the hood.

She slowly stepped out of the car, hoping that the attendant was telling the truth. As soon as she got out, he put his hand over her mouth and pulled her in the store. She tried fighting away from his grip, but he was twice her size and his grip was too strong. In a last effort, she bit his hand and he finally let go.

“I’m sorry, but I saw a man hiding in your backseat. I’ve called the police already, so they should be here any minute,” the attendant told her.

When the police arrived, there was no one in the backseat. They searched everywhere, but they couldn’t find him. As for the call, the cell phone was gone so they couldn’t trace it. She believes the man in the backseat stole it when she left the car. The police checked her house, but there was no evidence of an invader although they did find the unharmed dog trapped in the basement. The police tested her for drugs because they believed she was just hallucinating. When her drug test came up negative, they signed her off as crazy. She was forced to move away and only returned to the house once to get her dog.