Theo could have sworn he wasn't alone in his apartment that night. There hadn't been any struggling noise neither coming from the front door nor the window, which he had already checked was shuttered before heading to bed. He could have forgotten to lock the door again. Or maybe not. Whichever the reason was, it wouldn't change that someone had trespassed on his flat. 

He already went through a similar situation the previous week but had been so tired that he had assumed that it was just a dream, that he was hallucinating, seeing that nothing was missing in his apartment. There had been no sign of trespassing or anything like that. That's why he decided to attribute it to one more of his delusions. At the time, however, it seemed different. Now he could hear what was happening clearly, Theo was fully conscious.

Far in the distance, almost non-existent, he could hear the hackly sound of furniture being dragged and the rustling of papers. Yet, there was nothing he could do. He was very indeed paralyzed. And it was not as a result of him being plainly and utterly terrified. In fact, in that case, the situation would have been a thousand times better than the hell he was going through. It was beyond him. Theo thought he must have been overly exhausted since he wasn't even able to move a single finger. He had no other choice but to lie down there until the racket coming from the living room stopped. And when it did, an excruciating quietude reigned over the whole place.

After a few seconds of silence had passed, he managed to hear the crackling sound of the floorboards moving closer to where he was and suddenly ending in front of his bedroom's door. His heart was so close to bursting out of his chest that he could feel the pounding sensation all over his body. He was hopelessly restrained in his bed. No matter how much he tried to get up or even scream for help, he was unable to bring himself to do any of those things. It was useless. He was stuck under those covers, hidden from whoever was behind his bedroom door. Theo could only wait for the moment they decided to burst it open and do whatever they've gone there for. Luckily for Theo, the door remained closed. The only sound that kept him from falling deeply into sleep was the gruff and heavy breathing sound that could be heard through the door. Now he was sure, it was too real to be a dream.

Before he knew it, a waiting game had started. Was that person a thief? A kidnapper? He couldn't figure it out. Perhaps they were his brother's acquaintance. Yet there was no way of knowing it since he had never been introduced to any of his friends. If he even had any friends. Theo's brother had always been reluctant to tell him about his life. About his nocturnal getaways. He even kept to himself all the memories he had of his parents. Their parents. Now, he wouldn't ever have the chance to ask him about that. Not since he ran away. Theo didn't even dare call the police to report him missing. He was terrified they might find something he wouldn't want to know. His brother was becoming more and more alienated from his memories. All that he had left behind was a wrinkled, yellowish note that said he'd be back. Theo very much wanted to believe it. But it has been weeks since he last saw him. And his hope of seeing him again grew slimmer every day. 

Many hours went by and although Theo had put a lot of effort into staying awake during the night, his senses began to give in gradually, till he completely lost all consciousness. That night, he dreamed about Ethan.

The next morning he woke up only to see in a daze how his bedroom door had been opened wide.