The phone rang and rang, but I had no intention to answer the demon device. The constant buzz and monotone sound had begun to drive me crazy. Whoever it was or whatever it was wouldn’t leave me alone. There was a single moment of silence, then the sound of shattering glass.
I lived in a small town in North Dakota, a quiet and generous community. I owned a small coffee shop that sat in the middle of town. Each day the same faces showed up, the early birds were the largest crowd. It was rare to ever see somebody new come into the store, but it wasn’t impossible.
One day a man walked into the store, an odd character if you ask me. He walks in and paces around the perimeter, looking at the artwork and pictures on the wall. Though it was strange I still opened up with the usual “Good morning, what can I get you?”. He stared at a picture for a while and then swiftly left the shop. I had no clue what to think of it and the couple customers that were there had thought this was odd too. The day went on as normal, the usuals all showed up and soon it was closing time. I  swept the floors and started wiping the windows down, out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a figure, It looked like the man from before but it was hard to tell. I finished washing the windows and took a glance back to where the figure was, but it was gone. On the way home I swore I had seen a car following every turn I made. My heart began to race as I pulled into my driveway, turning around I looked to see who it was, but the car had vanished.

That night I slept with a gun and the dog at the foot of the bed. When daylight broke I rushed out of the house to get the store open. The night before kept me on my toes as I went through the day. The church bells rang as the clock struck noon, I had my back to the door as I was fixing the cabinet behind the counter. I turned around as the last strike of the bell came, I faced the man. He stood staring down to where I was, The hat he had covered his face just to where I couldnt tell what he looked like. I asked him if I could help him with anything, no response. After a brisk moment of silence, he reached into his pocket and slammed ,what looked to be a picture, onto the counter. He quickly stuffed his hands back into the trench coat pockets and swiftly left.

The square polaroid sat face down, waiting to be picked up. I had no clue what to due, a strange man just came into my store and slammed down a picture, then left. Should I pick it up? The question ran in my head. I let it lay there as I finished cleaning the shop and making orders. After the last customer was gone it was about time to close. The picture still layed face down, just waiting to be picked up. I went and locked the door, and took the picture to my office. I locked my door and sat a pistol on the desk, I didnt want that man to get anywere near me. I sat and stared at the picture for a while, gaining curiosity and fright at the same time. I finally gained the courage to see what the picture was.

Slowly I grabbed the picture, trembling with every move I made. I slide it towards me and contained my fear. The picture was of a girl, she looked to be about 8 or 9. She sat on the porch of a house, picking at a flower. The house looked familiar to me for some reason, and then it hit me. The little girl was me and that house was where I lived when I was little. Chills ran through every vein in my body. How did he get that picture and how did he find me?  I sat in silence as i tried to figure out what just happened. A ringing phone broke the silence and nearly scared me to death. I got up to check and see who it was, but the caller ID said [private] and left no number to recognize. I gathered my things and left the store, I was exhausted. I walked to my car and something just felt strange. There was a feeling that I was being watched. I stayed alert and tried to be aware of my surroundings but there was too much to watch. My eyes darted around and my heart was beating rapidly. I finally got to the car and shambled the keys. I drove as fast as I could to get home. I felt less frantic and my mind was at ease. When I pulled into the driveway something felt off. The feeling of being watched was intense now. I just about ran to my front door out of fear, I  knew who ever it was, was here and waited for me.

I slowly opened my front door, the screech of the hinges broke the silence of the room. It was dark, very dark and quiet, too quiet. I took my phone out to use it as a flashlight. When I looked at it there was 20 missed calls, all from [private]. I knew whoever kept calling, whoever kept showing up at the shop, they were with me right now. I went into my coat closet too try and stay safe from it. The phone rang again, it was [private]. I called the sheriff to try and trace the calls. He told me it would be a few minutes before he could tell me an exact location, so I was put on hold and sat in the closet. He came back and sounded worried, he said “dont move, im on my way”. I was fine with staying in the closet until the sheriff came. As I sat there I became very tired and the pile of clothes was quite comfortable. I tried to not let my guard down but sleep is a force that is difficult to fight off. I closed my eyes and dozed off for a while. I awoke from the sound of crashing, it seemed to be coming from the garage. I came out of the closet to investigate, staying alert and ready to fight whatever it was.

Slowly creeping against the walls I had made it to the hallway that lead to the garage. I took a deep breath as my heart raced. I reached for the knob of the garage door and slowly turned to open it. As the door crept open i could see what looked to be headlights in the garage door. I crouched and tried to stealthily get a closer look. When I got to the car there was a man laying face first into the steering wheel. It was the sheriff, whoever was after me knew that help was coming and got rid of it. I opened the door to see if he was okay, there was no pulse. I looked over the sheriff to see if he had any guns or something to defend myself with, I found his pistol. I grabbed the pistol and ran as fast as I could to the closet, Then the phone rang.

The phone rang and rang, but I had no intention to answer the demon device. The constant buzz and monotone sound had begun to drive me crazy. Whoever it was or whatever it was wouldn’t leave me alone. There was a single moment of silence, then the sound of shattering glass. It was here, whatever it was, it was here now. Shortly after the sound of breaking glass I heard a thud, then footsteps. I sat and waited for the man to come into sight so I could strike first. I became impatient and ran out to fight this thing head on. I ran up the stairs to find where the glass had broken. The plan had been to find him before finds me. I ran through the house and found a broken window in my bedroom. There was blood on the window, but it wasnt like a humans, The substance that dripped from the glass was green. I stood there confused and even more afraid than before. There was a trail from the window out to the hallway from the green liquid. I slowly walked out and whatever it was gave out a bone chilling screech. I turned to see it jump from the ceiling and dig its claws into my back. I tried punching it but it didnt even flinch. I wrestledit off of me and scrambled for the pistol. I grabbed the gun and rolled over to let a shot loose at this thing. I hit it, I actually killed it. The terror was all over, or so she thought. My name is Shmeef, i’m a shape shifting alien who can read minds. When she shot at me I faked my own death to ensure hers. She believed it was all over and that she won, but that was just the beginning.