The Unexpected Visitor

“Finally, I'm home.”, I sigh to myself as I pull into the driveway.

I turn my car off and grab my purse from the passenger seat. I sluggishly get out and slam my car door. While humming the lyrics to a familiar pop song that played during the drive home, I walk to the front door of the house and prepare the keys in my hand to unlock it. No one is home. Empty, except for my roommate’s dog, Bailey. She greets me as I walk inside and make my way toward the staircase.

“Hey! Anyone here?” I shout for any of my roommates.

I live in a large house with three other people I met on the internet. It was risky, I know. But they're great. Weird but great.

“Hm. I'm sure Brandon is still at work but everyone else must be out.”

I walk up the stairs with Bailey following so close behind me, I almost trip on her. I get to my bedroom and open the door. I turn on the lights, immediately kicking off my shoes and throwing my jacket and purse on the floor next to them. I throw myself on the bed. Bailey also invites herself on my bed to lay next to me.

“Get down. Get off the bed, Bailey!” I shout at her. As much as I love cuddling with Bailey, my bed is not the best place to do that. She sheds so much that I find myself pulling strands of her hair out from my mouth. Gross.

Bailey lays down on the floor like the good dog that she is. I like to leave my room door open for her because it allows her to come and go as she pleases. I turn on the television and tune into a mindless tv show on MTV. It's one of my favorite shows. A bunch of people separate into two teams and roast each other. Sometimes, they play games and whoever wins the most game rounds, wins a champion belt just like the ones you see on those fake wrestling shows. About fifteen minutes have passed. I feel relaxed as I unwind from my long day of work. Then, I notice Bailey gets up and casually walks out of the room. I thought maybe she was tired of me and needed some alone time.

I was completely wrong.

Bailey begins to bark with loud intermittent whining. Her barks don't sound angry or aggressive; more excited and anxious. They echo throughout the second floor landing, over the staircase, all the way down to the first floor of the house.

From my bed, I yell for her to quit making so much noise. “Bailey, stop barking! What's your problem, man!?”. Eventually, the incessant barking stops but she continues to whine. A couple of minutes pass. Bailey excitedly trots back toward me but stops in the middle of the doorway. She stares at me. Ears perked up and her tail wags from side to side as if she is waiting for me to react to whatever it is that has her attention. I'm watching the tv but I notice her in my left peripheral vision, patiently waiting for me to acknowledge her.

“What?”, I say as I turn my head in her direction. She runs out of the room back to the second floor landing. The whining begins again.

Sigh. “Fine.” I get up to see what it is that's bothering Bailey.

I figured maybe one of the roommates came home but I had the tv a little too loud so I didn't hear anyone come home. I stand in the middle of my doorway. I see Bailey standing alert, her eyes peering through the pillars of the staircase banister, giving complete focus to the main double doors on the first floor.

“Bailey.” I say. She doesn't break focus, her tail softly wagging.

I call her name once more.

“Bailey... What's up?”. She still doesn't budge. I begin to walk up to her. She quickly glances at me as I stand on the right side of her. Bailey's gaze returns to the front doors.

“Hello...?”, I yell. All the lights on the first floor are turned off. The only light brightening the foyer is the recessed lighting from the second floor. I stood still for a moment to listen for any sounds of movement. Nothing.

I look at Bailey. She's still staring at the front door. I look at the front door. Still, nothing.

I calmly make my way down the stairs to search the rest of the house.

In a sing songy voice, I say, “Helleewwwww? Anybody herrrr?”

Being silly keeps my nerves from going crazy. Trying to prevent a heart attack, I mentally prepare myself for one of the roommates to jump out from around a corner. Roommate number 4, Fred, is quite the prankster. I assume it would be him that's messing with me.

I turn left, slowly walking into the kitchen where it is the darkest. I turn on the lights. No one is there. I walk through the kitchen into the rec room. I turn on those lights. No one is there. I end up back at the bottom of the stairs in the foyer where I started.

“Hm...”.

I loop around the main floor once again turning off all of the lights again ending at the bottom of the staircase. I look up at Bailey who continues standing in the same spot, peering at the front door. I think to myself maybe I should check outside. By the way, this is the bravest I have ever been because there is no way in hell I am searching an empty house, in the dark, alone. But I live in this house and I'm comfortable with the space so I figured I would be safe.

I unlock the main door and swing it open about half way. Still standing inside, I peak just my head out to see if anyone was waiting there. I look to my right. All I see are a set of plastic lawn chairs and a small plant that looks like it's on its way to plant heaven. I look straight ahead of me. I don't see anyone. Not even down the driveway. Just my car and one of Brandon's cars. Brandon is a auto mechanic and has two cars so that car being parked in the driveway was not something for me to worry about. I step out of the house and walk down the driveway, leaving the main doors open.

The idea of Bailey running out of the house came to me but I didn't bother look back to see if she even came down the stairs. The driveway was semi dark. The porch light was bright but not bright enough to reach the entire driveway. I searched the end of the driveway and kept walking until I got halfway down the block. Maybe Bailey had heard another dog or some kind of animal and it made her excited. Whatever it was, it's gone now. Or maybe not.

I still didn't notice anything that could have riled up this dog as bad as it did. I went back into the house, closed and locked the door behind me. I look up and Bailey is STILL in the same spot upstairs; tail softly wagging. I don't know if it was because she sees me or what, but I started to feel uneasy. This behavior is very odd for her. Normally, she will go wherever you go and she gets very excited to go anywhere.

I slowly begin to make my way back up to my bedroom. I stare at Bailey as I get closer to her, her eyes still on the front door. I stop half way up the stairs.

“Bailey!”, I call for her. She doesn't look at me. Not for a second.

I go to stand by her again, looking in her same direction. I listen once again for anything out of the ordinary.

Nothing.

I look down at Bailey, my uneasy feeling begins to grow. I gently nudge the side of her hip with my leg to break her attention on the door. That didn't work. “Okay”, I say in defeat. I had given up. I head to my room and stop in the doorway again to try and get the dog's attention one more time. “Hey! Dog! What is it!? You're freaking me out.” Bailey pays me absolutely no mind and continues staring at the damn door. “Fine. Stay there.” I walk away from her and into my room. I sit on the bed for a second and attempt watch the rest of the show. However, my mind is still on Bailey.

I get up again to see if she had moved at all. She hadn't.

“Bailey, sit... Sit, Bailey.”, I test. She doesn't.

She doesn't even turn her head to look at me. I go up to her to push her butt down to the floor to make her sit. She was quite resistant. Probably because you can't jet out of the house from a sitting position. Bailey was alert and she was ready for whatever it was to... play with her, it seemed like.

“Okay. Nah. We-we're not doing this.”

By this moment I'm officially freaked out. I grab Bailey by her collar. She fights me a bit, struggling to release herself from my grip. I drag her into my bedroom and close the door. Whatever it is that's outside my room can stay out there by its damn self.

ONE HOUR LATER...

Bailey has finally calmed down and is half asleep on the floor. I'm still watching tv. A different show this time. I needed to put on something that was familiar and comforting. Something to help ease this unsettling feeling of occurred.

Suddenly, I heard a commotion. A collection of voices all at once. They grew louder and louder within seconds. Talking and laughing. Are they laughing at me? What is that noise? Where is it coming from? My heart started to race, pounding so hard I thought it was going to pop out of my chest. Bailey, suddenly getting anxious, runs to the door and begins to bark. The roommates and some shared friends had come home from having dinner together. I jump out of my bed and open the door. Sensing my enthusiasm, Bailey quickly runs out of the room and down the stairs to greet everyone. I lean over the stairs' banister.

“Yo, Reina!” Derek yells for me with a smile on his face.

“Where were you guys!?”, I say somewhat angrily but mostly relieved.

“We went to Flannigan's. Why? What happened? Where were you?”.

“Listen, none of you are allowed to leave me in this house, alone, ever again. Got it!?”

“We got it! We got it!”

“Alright… Goodnight.”

“Night, Reina.”

I walk back into my bedroom, close the door and begin to get ready for bed. Now that the roommates are home, I felt safe again. I brush my teeth and wash my face while my heart rate slows back down to normal. I turn off both my bathroom light and bedroom light and crawl into bed. It isn’t cold but I make myself comfortable by curling up in the fetal position underneath my comforter covering my entire body except for my head. After a few minutes, I begin to drift off to sleep. I must’ve been pretty exhausted after all that excitement because this may be the fastest I have ever fallen asleep. I am pretty much half asleep when…

“Reina...”

I pause.

A woman’s voice. She sounds like she’s right next to me. My roommates are all guys so it couldn’t be them. I thought. With my back turned to the door, I am still for a moment just to see if the person I think I heard says my name again. Nothing. I gently turn over to look behind me. No one is there. I bravely get up and check outside my bedroom, just in case. Maybe one of the guys has a girl over and she needed to borrow something from me. I open the door and I saw mostly darkness. Some moonlight shined through the window of the laundry room directly across my bedroom, lighting up the large space just a little. My heart begins to race again.

“That’s creepy. I know I heard a woman’s voice. And she sounded so close, like she was right next to me.” I spoke to myself as I made my way back into the room. I decide to not worry about it and go back to sleep.

After a few minutes…

“Reina...”

My eyes shot open faster than Usain Bolt in a sprint.

I don’t move. I don’t breathe.

Because this time, I realize something I didn’t before.

It doesn’t sound like someone trying to wake me up anymore.

It sounds like someone who’s been waiting for me to finally hear them properly...

There’s an urban legend that if you hear your name whispered to you when no one is there, those who answer are called back home.

Wherever that is.