Myra hid under her bed. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her breathing, though quiet, was ragged and came in short bursts. She willed the panic away, but the longer she stayed trapped, the harder it was not to burst into tears or run screaming from the room.

It all happened so fast. One minute she was with her roommate, Jeanie, drinking terrible beer that a cute new boy from Delta Chi bought for them, hoping that Greg would stop by their impromptu party. The next minute she’s running into her bedroom to hide from the intruder.

His face was hidden behind a black mask. Myra wasn’t sure how he could even see where he was going, but somehow he moved from room to room with ease. It was as if he knew the layout of their apartment down to where the furniture was placed and how the piles of clutter were stacked. It was impossible, Myra knew, but the thought kept creeping in that this intruder, this man in their safe space, knew everything about them.

Watching him grab Jeanie by her throat and lift her three feet off the ground terrified Myra. She kept picturing the scene, reliving it over and over. She didn’t see what happened after that because she ran. She felt awful leaving her roommate like that, but what was she supposed to do? Wait there and be the next victim? She didn’t have time to grab her phone to call for help; it was charging, plugged into the opposite wall. The one time her cell phone wasn’t attached to her hand is the one time she really needed it.

She had to think. She couldn’t stay under the bed forever. But what was she supposed to do? Myra hadn’t heard Jeanie in a few minutes, which led her to believe her roommate was dead or at least unconscious. She could hear the intruder’s footsteps plodding through the small apartment. Every so often, he gave a guttural laugh as he enjoyed stalking his prey.

Myra suddenly remembered something.

The day before as she was crossing campus to get to her chemistry lab midterm exam, she noticed a large man standing near the edge of the quad. He caught her eye because he was huge compared to every other person who passed him. His shoulders were wide, and his thighs looked as thick as tree trunks. He seemed to stare at her, but from her distance, she couldn’t be sure. She did find it weird that no one appeared to notice him but her.

Once she got into the science building, she forgot about the man. The exam was brutal. For the rest of the day, all she could think about was how terrible she did and how she’d fail the course for the semester, which meant repeating it again in the spring session. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

Now, under the bed, she pictured the man in the quad and mentally compared him to the few seconds she had seen of the intruder in her apartment. Physically they were similar. Could it be him? Did he follow her?

Myra heard Jeanie scream. And then silence.