Later that night, when the house had settled into a restful sleep, Meers remained diligent outside her door, mostly listening to how her breathing would settle, then become sporadic, before settling again. It was usual to hear her wake in the night, panting heavily. She never called out, never spoke, like her vocal cords had been cut.

He listened as he heard a thump, her breathing heavy. She must have knocked something over, probably having just awoken from a nightmare.

Meers waited patiently, like he did every night, for her to call for help. She never did, preferring to ride her fear until morning alone.

“Help me…” It was small. Small enough to be an illusion but after several heartbeats, he heard it again. “Help me.” Small and faint and scared.

“Hey, Ruby.” He knocked on her door before he peeked inside, the little light from the hallway illuminating her room.

Her sheets were off the bed, pooling on the floor in a messy tangle. She wasn’t present on the bed. No, she was the lump on the floor, curled into the smallest ball she could.

She whimpered, pulling at her hair and scraping her scalp with blunt fingers.

Meers rushed to her side, gently touching her shoulder to let her know he was there.

“Ruby? What happened?”

Again, she whimpered the words, “help me,” and he wondered if she was awake at all.

“Here.” He grabbed her comforter, spreading it over her form to cover her. “Let me know what I can do.”

Meers left the door open, so she could see him lay down next to her, prying one of her hands from her head to hold it. She took the gesture for what it was.

After a while of dead silence, Meers faded off into a light sleep, a small snore filling the quiet air. She took comfort in that, resting her head on her free arm and listened to him snore away.

Ruby’s bad feeling persisted, though she did her best to ignore it. That was until she couldn’t any longer.

Meers… That’s what they had called him, right?

“Meers? Meers?” Ruby shook the hand he held, waking him much faster than she had originally anticipated.

“Uh? Shit, sorry.” He groaned as he stretched, sitting up. “Something wrong?”

“Can you…” She nodded her head in the direction of the door.

“Close it?”

He stood, already making his way when she added, “lock it.”

“Okay, locked it.” He jingled the nob to show her before, at her direction, checked the balcony doors. “Secure over here.”

Ruby made her way to her feet, grabbing onto Meers’s outstretched hand for support. He helped her to the bathroom where she closed the door behind her, locking it, but never turning on a light.

“Do you feel safer in there?”

“Yeah…” Her soft reply came right beside the door, where she sat.

“Is it okay if I sit out here?” She didn’t reply, but Meers sat anyway, guarding the door.

A little past four in the morning, Meers tried again, fully knowing she was still awake by the occasional whimper.

“What’s wrong? A bad dream? Do we need to go downstairs? Get a glass of water?”

“No!” Her breathing picked up, her fear at his suggestions evident. “He’s downstairs.”

“Whose downstairs?” She didn’t reply.

A muffled scream came from her when a knock sounded on her bedroom door.

“Meers?” Darz. Here for their nightly shift change.

“It’s only Darz. Can I let him in?” He had to wait several long minutes before she finally said yes.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“Don’t know. She’s freaking out.” In a hushed whisper, Meers retold the events that happened just hours prior. “Maybe with two of us, she’ll feel better.”

Darz followed him to the bathroom door that remained closed and locked.

“Hey, Ruby, it's Darz. Wanna talk about it?” He received no reply. “Okay, do you want to check the house out? See if anybody is downstairs? Meers and I can go with you. We can check every room in the house. Make sure all the doors and windows are secured. Sound good?”

Meers sat beside him in painful silence until they heard the doorknob jingle before the door swung open. They immediately helped her to her feet, Meers lifting her into his arms and carrying her downstairs.

In the kitchen, they got her a glass of water, letting her roll around the ground floor for any signs of the man she referred to. They checked every room they could, each window, and each door. When it looked like nobody had intruded, Ruby let them wheel her back to the kitchen for a snack.

Her eyes darted every so often to the doors that led to the backyard, unsure of the pitch blackness.

“Do you want us to close some of the blinds?” She shook her head. It was better – uncomfortable, but better – to see if someone could be watching.

“Alright,” Darz sat across from her at the table.

Movement behind him caught her eye, but before she could say or do anything, Meers took the seat beside her.

“Only patrols. Just curious.” His words did little until a woman peeked in, wondering if they needed anything. Meers quickly waved her off, reassuring her everything was fine.

“He’s not here.” Meers almost smiled in relief. “He could be outside…” She squeezed her empty juice box at the thought.

“Well…” Darz sat up in his chair, looking to Meers for help. “We could go outside. We’ll be with you and there are the patrols that are out. You’ve checked all the windows and doors.”

“He can get in.”

“We’re here. We will hear him coming.” Meers began to wheel her back towards the stairs. “You need rest.”

“He’s here.” Her voice pleaded with him to see reason.

“We know.” Meers raised a brow at Darz’s sudden change in tactic. “But we need to keep you safe. We have patrols out, doors and windows locked, and right now, the safest place for you to be is in your room. He won’t be able to reach you there.”

Ruby numbly nodded to the logic and allowed them to take her back to her room where they fixed her bed and left her to get comfy. Darz took up a position at the foot of her bed and Meers headed out to “search”.

In reality, he double checked the ground floor for no break in’s, her paranoia spreading to him. Brad would have to know in the morning as would Dr. Smith, so he left a simple sticky-note on the doctor’s desk, giving a summary of the event. Then, he headed home for some overdue rest.

No one mentioned it the next morning, but Smith kept a record of it in her files.