A loud crash woke me up. Fear clenched my body but I forced myself to stay calm. I looked at my phone. It showed that it was still around 1am at night. Ugh! Can’t I sleep one night without waking up? Without feeling that someone was watching me? I groaned out loud and pressed the heel of my palm into my eyes, hard. I threw back the covers and put a hoodie on top of my shorts and wrinkled t-shirt. The eerieness surrounding the chilly night was already giving me a series of goose bumps.

I cautiously walked towards the kitchen  – which I assumed was the source of the crash. Flattening myself against the wall, I tried to assess any sounds that reached my ears – nothing. I heard nothing but my own breathing. Trusting my aural abilities, I walked into the kitchen. Honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe a cat or something? I stopped in my tracks. My hand went to the knife that was strapped to my thigh. I pulled out the knife. I evaluated the trashed state of my kitchen. It was destroyed. All the glasses and plates lay shattered on the ground. The food was gone and the walls were covered in red. Blood. Every inch of the wall was covered in writing. ‘You’re next’ ‘I’m coming for you’ and ‘You can’t escape me ’ were some of the wonderful phrases that the intruder left me with. I could only come to one conclusion – this was one hungry creep. He took all the food – seriously. 

That was when I realized the meaning of all this. It took my mind a few seconds to fully comprehend the situation at hand. Panic seized my heart. “Damn it! To think I moved in here a week ago. Can’t I live in peace? Far out!” Weighing the damage, I finally registered that all this work would have taken a person at least an half an hour or so. How had I not noticed that someone was in the kitchen for a whole half hour? My circumstances moulded me to become a light sleeper. I should have woken up the moment I heard silent footsteps. This meant I was up against someone very skilful and deceptive. Then finally, finally I realised that someone had done this to me. Someone was after me. Oh no, let me have the pleasure and honour of saying this please, I beg you: again. By the time this thought entered my mind, I was already upstairs in my room packing. I threw all the clothes necessary, a few sanitary items and my toothbrush, hairbrush, shampoo, soap and my special tablets – surviving without these is impossible for me. I quickly double checked my bag for money and my gun then rushed down the stairs.

I walked to the front door but abruptly turned back around facing the house and stood there, staring. I had lived here for just a week but felt an enormous amount of grief leaving it. I took a wad of money and left it for the old landlord. He would not be happy with this new decoration but a bit of money would help old Mr Wan. I took a last look around and turned around. I opened the front door and was about to walk but then noticed a man lying on the doorstep.

 My eyes involuntarily widened. I struggled to keep the bile in that rose up my throat and threatened to come out. The man’s body had been drained of blood. What the f- I cut my own thought off and realised why the poor man’s body had no blood. It was because his blood now painted my kitchen walls. Whoever did this wanted me to know that he was serious and this is not just to scare me off. I hurriedly grabbed the wad of money that I had initially left on the table – ignoring the thoughts of self-reflection orbiting around my selfishness.

I looked at the man once again and grieved for the innocent man’s wasted life and his family. He probably deserved it considering he was not alert enough to survive but I couldn’t ignore the painful clench my heart gave at the sight of the poor man. I was beginning to really like him – he gave me a place to stay, no questions asked.

Suddenly, pure rage and hatred coursed through my body. Rage at injustice in life – he was just an innocent, kind man. I jerked out of my thoughts – there was no time to wallow in self-pity and grief. They were after me again and they have found me. This was just a warning. I am no fool and I realise that they could’ve killed me instead of warning me. No, they were just playing me. They chose the wrong girl to mess with. I didn’t give any further thought as I jumped over the body and kept running to the nearest forest. I didn’t have any family. I had no idea where I would go next but I will figure it out. Like I figured out the last two years of my life. I was fifteen when my family died and have since been chased by their murderers. I have been running when I was fifteen. And, presently, I’m seventeen and I, Park Jiyoung, am still running with one goal in mind: revenge.