The Intruder
1090 Words
The Intruder
The bedroom door handle turned slowly.
Naomi’s heartbeat stopped.
She looked at Jaxon.
He was already out of bed.
Without making a sound, he picked up the heavy lamp from the bedside table.
His eyes never left the door.
Naomi instinctively reached for her phone.
Her fingers shook so badly she almost dropped it.
The handle turned again.
Click.
Click.
Someone was trying to get inside.
Jaxon motioned for her to stay behind him.
She nodded.
The room was silent except for the sound of their breathing.
Then…
The knocking started.
Three slow knocks.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Neither of them moved.
Another three knocks followed.
Louder this time.
Naomi whispered, “Should we call Arthur?”
Jaxon nodded without taking his eyes off the door.
She dialed Arthur’s number.
The call connected immediately.
“Sir?”
Arthur answered.
“Someone is trying to get into Jaxon’s room.”
“What?”
“The door.”
“The handle keeps moving.”
Arthur’s voice became sharp.
“Stay inside.”
“I’m on my way.”
The line went dead.
Another knock echoed through the room.
This time a voice followed.
“Jaxon?”
It was William.
Naomi frowned.
Jaxon didn’t move.
His grandfather never came upstairs this late.
Especially after the doctor’s warning.
“Jaxon.”
The voice came again.
“I know you’re awake.”
Naomi looked at him.
“It sounds like your grandfather.”
“It does.”
“But Grandpa would never come here alone.”
The handle turned again.
More aggressively.
Then…
Silence.
Five long seconds passed.
Suddenly, the bedroom door swung open.
Jaxon raised the lamp.
Arthur rushed inside with four security guards.
“We’re clear.”
Jaxon lowered the lamp.
“That wasn’t you?”
Arthur frowned.
“No.”
“I just unlocked the door.”
Naomi looked toward the hallway.
“But someone was knocking.”
Arthur’s face hardened.
“There was no one outside.”
A cold chill ran down Naomi’s spine.
“What?”
“We searched the entire hallway.”
“No one was here.”
Jaxon walked into the corridor.
Two guards stood at opposite ends.
Neither had seen anyone.
Arthur turned toward one of them.
“Did anyone approach this room?”
“No, sir.”
“Not even Mr. William?”
“No.”
Naomi felt the blood drain from her face.
“But…”
“We heard his voice.”
Arthur slowly looked at Jaxon.
“Both of you?”
Jaxon nodded.
“It sounded exactly like Grandpa.”
Arthur became very still.
“Then we have another problem.”
Naomi frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Arthur hesitated.
“Someone can imitate his voice.”
Rachel arrived less than fifteen minutes later.
She listened carefully as Naomi described everything.
“The knocking.”
“The voice.”
“The silence.”
When Naomi finished, Rachel folded her notebook.
“This wasn’t random.”
“No?”
She shook her head.
“The intruder wanted one thing.”
“What?”
“To make you open the door.”
Naomi shivered.
“If we had…”
Rachel looked directly at her.
“We might be having a very different conversation.”
Jaxon clenched his fists.
“They’re getting closer.”
Arthur nodded.
“They’re becoming more confident.”
Rachel turned to Jaxon.
“I need to speak with you privately.”
They stepped into the hallway.
Naomi remained inside the bedroom.
The door stayed slightly open.
She couldn’t hear everything.
Only fragments.
“…inside information…”
“…staff list…”
“…someone helping them…”
Her stomach tightened.
Someone inside the estate?
That couldn’t be true.
Arthur had worked for the Hayes family for years.
The housekeepers seemed kind.
The security guards were everywhere.
Who could it be?
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.
Naomi jumped.
“It’s me.”
Jaxon’s voice.
She hurried to open the door.
He stepped inside.
“What did Detective Morgan say?”
He sighed.
“She believes the intruder has help.”
“From inside the mansion?”
“Possibly.”
Naomi sat on the edge of the bed.
“So we can’t trust anyone.”
“We can trust Arthur.”
“And Grandpa.”
She nodded.
“What about the staff?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
Silence settled between them.
Then Naomi remembered something.
“Jaxon.”
“What?”
“The voice.”
He looked at her.
“There was something strange about it.”
“What do you mean?”
She closed her eyes, replaying the sound.
“It sounded like your grandfather…”
“…but he never called you ‘Jaxon.’”
His expression changed instantly.
“What?”
“He called you Jaxon.”
“So?”
“You told me your grandfather always calls you ‘my boy.’”
Jaxon froze.
She was right.
William had never once called him by his name.
Not once.
Rachel was still standing in the hallway when Jaxon rushed outside.
“I know how they knew.”
She looked at him.
“The voice.”
“It wasn’t Grandpa.”
“They copied his voice…”
“…but they didn’t know how he actually speaks to me.”
Rachel’s eyes widened.
“That’s our first mistake from the intruder.”
Arthur immediately spoke into his radio.
“Search every inch of this estate.”
“No one leaves.”
“No one enters.”
The mansion erupted into activity.
Security guards searched every hallway.
Every storage room.
Every guest suite.
Every inch of the gardens.
An hour later…
Nothing.
Not a single trace.
Rachel looked frustrated.
“It’s like he vanished.”
Arthur suddenly received a message through his earpiece.
He frowned.
“What?”
His expression darkened.
He looked at Jaxon.
“We found something.”
“What is it?”
Arthur swallowed.
“In the security control room.”
Everyone hurried downstairs.
The room was in chaos.
Computer monitors flickered.
Wires had been cut.
One of the guards pointed toward the largest screen.
“Sir…”
A video began playing automatically.
It showed live footage from earlier that evening.
Naomi watched herself entering Jaxon’s bedroom.
Then the image froze.
Slowly, a sentence appeared across the screen in bright red letters.
YOU CAN PROTECT HER TODAY.
Another sentence followed.
YOU WON’T PROTECT HER FOREVER.
The screen suddenly went black.
Every light inside the security room shut off at once.
Darkness swallowed the mansion.
Then, somewhere upstairs…
A woman screamed.
- Writer
