Some would say that a life that was well lived has no regrets.

I would say that a life that was lived well enough has the most regrets.

Some would say that even with all the money in the world, a person could still be unhappy.

I would say that with all the money in the world, I would definitely still be unhappy.

Some would say that a person’s worth is determined not by their success, but by their potential.

I would say that unrealized potential is nothing more than trash, if it stays unrealized.

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In my father’s house, there were five bedrooms and each had its own purpose.

There was one for my father and my mother. It was the one furthest in the back, on the second floor. It had its own veranda and sliding door, as well as its own bathroom. The large king bed easily fit my average height father and my smaller-than-average mother.

There was another bedroom that neighbored by parent’s room. That one was for me. It was the next biggest room, but the difference between first and second sized bedrooms was a bit too much. It was more accurate to say that the master bedroom’s closet was a more fitting comparison to my room. In that case, my room was just a tad bit larger.

And then there were three identical rooms lined up next to mine. Those… were for no one.

Currently, there was only one for me and four for no one. The last person to open my parent’s room had been my uncle, and that had been him searching for my father’s Will and Last Testament. I hadn’t stepped foot in there since before my father had passed, and I still hadn’t. I still kept my own room, but it was currently reflecting what my mindset was. In other words, it was a complete mess.

My bed had a single white sheet on it, and a single pillow. Empty plastic bottles filled the floor in and plastic noodle wrappers covered the small parts of carpet the bottles did not. The curtains were the only item in this room that I had bought for some peace, since they didn’t let any light in at all, a must for people who planned to sleep when the sun was rising.

I slowly sat up in the darkness of my room and reached out to pull a curtain back slightly.

It was still dark. Or rather, there was a small sliver of sunlight on the horizon that I could glimpse if I tried.

It hadn’t been a single hour since begun to sleep but I had woken up nonetheless. It was strange, to say the least. After working the third shift, I usually didn’t wake up until well into the afternoon, and I would have to eventually rise due to the increasing heat of the house, rather than my natural clock. And now, with that schedule ingrained in me, I was still following it just as naturally as I breathed.

But I had woken up and was now more than just sleepily awake. I was alert.

I wasn’t sure why but I felt as if I had been jolted awake by something. As if my body was telling to me get up now or you’d never get up again. Intuition maybe?

I slowly exited my bed and very gingerly stepped on the small bits of carpet that created a path of sorts.

I went towards the closed door and put my hand on the knob. But before I could begin turning the knob, it began to turn on its own.

I felt the knob turn just ever so slightly. And then it stopped. As if who was behind it could tell my own hand was there too. As if they could feel the heat of my hand through the knob.

The knob turned slightly further and then slowly… very slowly… went back into its neutral position. A few quieted steps moved left from my door and I heard the same small turn of a knob and the very quiet creaking of the door to my parents’ room.

I had forgotten to breathe. My hand still nearly enveloped the knob but I had not yet grasped it. A cold bead of sweat ran from ear to my neck.

I wasn’t sure who was in my father’s house, but they were here. Intruding into my family’s home and doing something. Maybe looking for me?

I wiped that thought from my head immediately. If they were looking for me, then this door would have been opened. The only people that knew of me would also know that I slept in this room for as long I lived here. So they weren’t looking for me.

Looking for what? My father’s Will? If it was my Uncle, he would have come in the afternoon, since he knew that was the time I would be awake. There wasn’t a need to sneak around, even moreso now that the Will was most likely in my aunt’s hands rather than mine. Did he not believe me?

If it wasn’t my uncle, then who was here?

An intruder.

Someone who knew people lived here but knew it was empty. They must’ve noticed the lack of cars in the home and even more, a lack of activity. I hadn’t left my room in the last 24 hours. The only thing that I would leave it for would be minor needs but in the last 24 hours, I had hadn’t eaten or drunken anything. I planned to make a trip to the store once I woke up this afternoon, but I was awake now.

I let go of the knob and slowly backed away from the door. Aside from the creak of the door, I had not heard anything else. However, I could still feel their presence here, and I could still tell someone was in the house. If I just waited, they would most likely leave. My door had been skipped for some reason or another, but it seemed that it was no more than a stroke of luck than anything.

I kept all the doors in the house closed. The four other bedrooms were kept closed and the bathrooms were also kept shut. This was to prevent dust and other things from flying into the rooms but also to help insulate the house. The air conditioning unit hadn’t been turned on for almost a decade now, and the system was probably in disrepair. Just the cost of utilities for myself put a dent into the bills I had to pay on the house. And between the mortgage and the hospital, there was no more to put into anything else.

The three jobs I kept were the only things that had been keeping me afloat. The house’s downpayment had been paid by my father and all the future payments were exactly that; future payments. It would make sense for the home to default once he was unfit to work, but I did my best to keep hold of what my father told me was his “dream”. The money had run out very quickly in the beginning but I kept close track on what I needed to do. I worked two jobs to cover the house while the last one was to pay for the treatment. It was good that insurance was working well enough to cover those expenses, but it wasn’t without its disadvantages.

I waited. And waited. And waited.

The door’s knob didn’t turn and I didn’t hear any more footsteps in the house. The creak of my parent’s door didn’t seem to happen again and the footsteps I heard weren’t heard again either.

It was silent.

It wasn’t until I heard birds from my window that I knew it was morning. The curtains were still blocking the light, and the sweat that had been drenching me cold had long since dried.

I slowly got up and took a deep, but quiet breath. Slowly, but surely, I went over to the door and turned the knob. I pulled the door open very slowly and the light began to shine into my room.

I walked out into the hallway and looked for anything, anyone.

And I saw nothing.

The door to my parents room was closed, as well as the ones next to me as well. I looked down the stairs and didn’t see anything out of place. I breathed a sigh of relief and walked down to the last room on the right, the washroom. Although I hadn’t slept a wink, it may have been some kind of nightmare that grabbed me, rather than something in reality. I reached down to open the door and stopped.

It was open.

I looked up and saw an eye. An eye that had been watching, staring at me come down the hallway to this room. A single eye that I knew saw me... see it.

STAB

A knife came out from behind the door. I had seen its owner in the mirror of the washroom and so the knife was driven into me.

I stumbled backward, trying to find the rail of the stairway but I found just air. I fell.

Down and over and tumbled straight to the bottom. I heard a crack and a yelp as my vision spiraled.

My head could see the front door from where I landed and one of my eyes began to see only red. I tried to move but I couldn’t muster the strength.

“Someone help…”

I couldn’t quite hear but I heard someone say something.

“Help please…”

Someone was calling for help.

“Someone, please…”

Wait… I think that’s me.

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End of First Life.