An unfamiliar thumping sound woke Stephanie. She rolled over and realized it was well past noon, not surprising since she hadn"t fallen asleep until almost six this morning. She lay still for a minute trying to figure out what that sound was. Thump, thump. It sounded like it was coming from the front of the house. Curious, she got up and went to investigate. Steph made it into the living room without hearing the sound again. Then something scratched against the door. Startled, Steph turned to frown at the door, wondering for a second if something was going to come through it. The sound stopped, but she remained frozen for several seconds, waiting to see if something else was going to happen.
Silence.
She moved again, going to a window and peeking out the gap in the drapes. Steph couldn"t
