Warning- Contains mature content.


The room was quiet... And cold. Judith's first reaction was to clutch her arm as a wave of fresh goosebumps pricked her skin.


The curtains were drawn closed, allowing little light into the room; nothing appeared out of place to how she had left it previously.


"What was it, Flops?" Judith asked the inanimate rabbit on the side table. She pulled the penguin blanket tighter around herself.


She checked behind the curtains and was relieved to find the windows firmly shut. There was no where to hide in that room.

Judith was not sure if it brought comfort or not knowing that the noise was not from a human.


Upon further examination, Judith could not find a single item out of place. Nothing except for the wine bottle now in the bin.

"That's not my bin," Judith inspected the grey woven basket in-between the door and side table.


There was a plastic bag inside and the bottle that she had left on the side next to Flops and the glass- Where is my glass? Judith thought nervously as she scanned the room.


She bent down and checked under the bed, "Please don't be broken." Nothing.


Judith frantically searched the floor and around by the boxes. Nothing.


"Where the bloody hell," her whisper contained a slight hiss.


She forgot about the wicker bin for the time being and cursed herself for being so scared over nothing.


Her heart still pounded with anxious nerves as she left the room; closing the door, she fell against it and breathed heavily in relief.


Judith stomped back down the stairs still wrapped in the blanket and threw herself back onto the sofa.


Well that was underwhelming if not a relief, she thought with disappointment. Not that she wanted anyone to be in her bedroom but to find nothing at all... Boring.


She did however, curse herself for not thinking to bring the iPad down with her. It would have been a good opportunity to start looking for a TV.


Her mind wanted to relax then but another sound grasped her attention. Judith jumped to her feet as the clinking sound of glass echoed through her ears.


"What now?" She grimaced and cautiously made for the kitchen, towards the sound. She really was not in the mood to find whatever it was waiting for her.


The kitchen was empty, not a single sign of anyone having been there recently. Even the coffee ring she was sure she left behind had been wiped clean.


A soft tap brought her focus to the sink, what lay inside shocked her. Gently rolling back and forth was her 25th birthday wine glass, the object she knew she definitely left by the bed.


"How did you get there?" She forced herself to ask. There was no logical reason as to why her glass should be rolling about in the sink.


Judith reached for the glass but halted at the sound of metal beginning to twist. The handle to the hot tap began turning on its own accord.


Water began spitting out of the nozzle before floiWng into a steady stream into the sink.


Judith gasped loudly and without further hesitation, she turned off the tap, picked up the glass and placed it roughly on the side before running back to the living room and pulling the blanket even tighter around herself.


What's going on, what's going on? She repeated to herself over and over again.


A full ten minutes went by before her heart stopped racing. She cautiously approached the kitchen and glared at the sink area.


All was motionless and quiet. The glass appeared to be staring at her, the 'My' in My Beautiful Daughter was central with her eyeline and seemed to stand out but Judith could not figure out why.


Judith boiled the kettle ready for a fresh cup of coffee and returned to the living room. She needed to calm herself if she was going to sort herself and the house out.

***


Nothing else really happened that day; well, nothing that Judith had noticed. She spent the entire day unpacking boxes and placing the furniture she did keep into their new permanent homes.


She certainly had not noticed that she had closed the wardrobe door three times that opened when she was not looking.


The only thing she found odd was when her favourite cocktail dress had appeared on the floor near the wardrobe and not in it.


There were cleaning supplies left in the hallway that had been conveniently placed under the stairs. Judith has assumed she done it herself and simply had not remembered.


The day soon drew to an end, Judith was pleased with her unpacking efforts and had almost completely forgotten about the incident in the kitchen.


Her biggest achievement she felt was having a new TV ordered for the front room. She could not wait to get back into her Netflix shows as soon as possible.


She climbed into bed at around ten and switched on the iPad to browse her socials. Her phone data was becoming a worry, the WiFi was not due to be fitted for another two days.


Her eyes felt heavy fairly quickly and she knew sleep would come quick. She did not fight it and put the iPad down just ten minutes after switching it on.


Sleep had taken over just six minutes later. It did not take long to fall into a deep sleep and she would not awaken to any noise...


Or touch...


A coldness filled the room. Unbeknownst to Judith an aura passed over her sleeping body. She pulled the duvet closer to herself for warmth.


An unseen presence pushed down gently on the duvet and it slowly lowered away from Judith. She asserted very little resistance in her slumbering state.


The duvet was pulled down low enough so only her legs were covered. Judith felt the cold and turned on her side to curl up into a ball.


Soft pressure was placed on her forearm. Judith's face squinted but it did not disturb her peace.


The pressure rose up her arm like someone was gently stroking it. After a few moments the pressured touch rose to her shoulder and massaged her neck and back.


Judith let out a soft moan in response to the massage. The pressure lightly pulled on her shoulder, encouraging her to roll onto her back and she did so.


The unseen force began kneading at her shoulder again and down her collar bone over her pyjama top. It stopped moving at her breasts and began to knead harder on the soft tissue.


Two minutes passed in this position and the invisible hands began moving southward again down her stomach and stroking the shape of her slim hips.


When the pressured touches reached her waist it tugged at the hem of her pyjamas and began lifting the top up, exposing her stomach.


Suddenly Judith's consciousness was aware of something happening and she stirred in her sleep.


The prodding continued on her hips and the gentle rubbing on the flatness of her stomach as her top continued to slide slowly upwards.


This did eventually startle Judith, her eyes opened and she was quickly aware of someone touching her skin. She jolted upwards and reached for the lamp.


She frantically searched left and right but saw nobody. "Hello," she said nervously.


No reply, the room was silent. It remained silent until Judith muttered, "Just a dream, just a strange dream."


She fell back to sleep, although a little less easier than before.


***