Noises in the Dark

A small noise woke Mary up. It was so small she wasn't sure if it
was real or part of a dream. Looking at the clock by her bed she
realized it was only 3:05 a.m. There was no way Charlie would be home
from work yet. She strained to hear it again. She dropped her head back
on the pillow trying to decide if it was worth investigating. Of
course, she could spend the rest of the night in bed jumping at every
little sound. Finally common sense overcame fear. Now should she try
not to make any noise to see what it was or make lots of noise and
scare it away? She compromised on a normal amount of noise as if she
were headed to the bathroom. There it was again. So tiny she couldn't
even describe what it sounded like. The bed creaked as she got up. She
switched on the light to find her bathrobe and slippers. She slipped
the cordless phone into her pocket and headed into the hallway.
The light from her room spilled out into the dark hallway. She flicked
on the light at the top of the stairs. Then walked down the stairs as
normally as she could. Her hands were in her pockets as she tried to
keep them from shaking. The front door was directly in front of her and
didn't look tampered with. The livingroom was right at the bottom of
the stairs. In the light from the hall it looked perfectly normal. Just
off of the livingroom was the kitchen. She flicked light switch on her
left just inside the doorway. Flooding the kitchen with light she was
surprised to see her husbands coat hanging from one of the chairs. His
lunch bucket sat on the table. Breathing a sigh of relief she walked
towards the downstairs bathroom. He must be washing up. The light was
on and the door was slightly ajar. Water dripped. Entering the bathroom
she heard breathing and noticed the shower curtain was pulled closed.
That was odd, he didn't usually take baths. Planning on surprising him
she tiptoed up to the tub. She pulled the curtain back preparing for
him to jump in surprise. His lifeless face confronted her. The blood
dripping into the tub was the only sound. Her mouth opened to scream as
she turned, and ran right into the knife waiting behind her.