Part two - What happened after dark

We were standing in the living room, surrounded by wall art that almost felt like it was watching us. In front of me hung a large old map. I noticed Ukraine wasn’t on it, so I started a conversation to break the ice a little. He began talking about the collection he started as a young adult.

As he talked, he kept touching himself — yes, his privates. The first time, I ignored it, thinking maybe he was just old or uncomfortable. But then he did it again, this time while looking directly at me. I glanced at my friend and asked if she wanted to go check out our room. Meanwhile, the old man turned around and excused himself.

We waited to make sure we knew where to go. When he came back, he insisted we go upstairs ahead of him. He kept saying I should go first, so I made sure to stand behind my friend, who was wearing leggings — partly to protect her. As we walked up the stairs, I caught him looking at us instead of at the steps. That’s when I really put my guard up.

There were two bedrooms, and I refused to be alone. One of the rooms had a door that was locked but led nowhere. From the outside, it was just a wall — not deep enough to be a closet. The other room had a connecting door that led to their side of the house. We agreed we’d sleep in the same bedroom, just in case.

We took turns taking showers and made sure to guard the door. While my friend was in the shower, I suddenly heard her say, “Hello?” I came closer and asked what was wrong. She said she saw someone standing there. I told her no one was in the bathroom, but I could tell she was shaken.

When it was my turn, I went in and tried to calm myself. As the water dripped down my face, my eyes closed, I felt uneasy — like someone was there. I hurried through my shower, threw on my pajamas, and joined her in the room.

When we turned off the lights and went to bed, I pushed the chairs against the door to make sure no one could get in. My brain wouldn’t stop running through escape plans. One of them — and I know, it sounds wild — was that if the man walked into our room and started doing something weird, I’d break the oil lamp and set the room on fire while my friend escaped with the baby.

Right when I was finally about to fall asleep, I heard it — weird music playing somewhere in the house…