For some reason the telescreen in the living-room was in an unusual position. The moment I walked into the room I felt the silky touch of the cold breeze. The curtains moved in the wind and the window was wide open. But why? Me and my roommate never leave the windows open when we go outside. Something strange must have happened but I did not know what it was…

It was 6 p.m. and my roommate, Paige, and I were getting ready to go to a Christmas party. It was December so dusk was falling earlier. Everything was decorated in the Christmas spirit, there were colorful lights on the people’s houses, Christmas trees stood in every family’s yard, little snowflakes were falling from the sky and turning that view into a beautiful fairy-tale. All that we were used to see in the Christmas movies was now a reality. Paige had a flight for her hometown the other day, and mine was the day after, but that night we were about to have fun at some college guy’s house party.

We locked the apartment and went down the corridor to take the elevator. The building was a new tall block of flats, full of young people at our age who were studying at the same university as us. There were loads of people – I knew most of them, but there were some strangers (friends of friends, I suppose).

We went to the party and had so much fun. We got to know some new people and met so many old friends. Midnight passed and Paige said to me “I am going home… I want to get some sleep before my early flight.” She hugged me and whispered in my ear “Watch out! There is a strange guy who has been looking at you the whole night. Please, be careful and ask a friend to walk you home later.” I thought it was not that serious and told her “Don’t worry! I will be fine. Text me when you get home.” She smiled at me, turned around and got lost in the crowd. I was confused for a moment and looked around to see if someone was really looking at me in a strange way, but a friend of mine asked me something and I completely forgot about the warnings Paige had given me.

It was three hours since Paige had left but I still did not receive a text message from her. I felt like a terrible friend for not checking if she had got home safely. I called her but there was no answer, so I thought “Maybe she is sleeping.” Anyway, I decided it was time I went home and took a taxi to my place. However, the moment I entered, I was petrified with fear.

Something unusual had happened while I was out. I went to Paige’s room to check if she was sleeping. She was not there. The bathroom door was wide open, with lights turned off, so she was not there either. But where was she? I walked into the kitchen and what I saw there, was something extremely horrifying. I was shocked, I started shouting and crying. My tears fell like Niagara Falls. It was my best friend… lying dead on the kitchen floor of our apartment. There was ruby-red blood all around her.

The police came, she was pronounced dead, and the policeman tried to explain what had happened. Luckily, there was a security camera overlooking our window. We saw everything – a young man getting into our home through the window with the purpose of stealing something. But a few minutes later Paige got back home, and he killed her, so that he could get away with it.

It was him. The boy from the party. The boy from who she wanted to protect me.