Call The Cops

"We'll be there in a minute sir. Hold the line please." The 911 operator says.

You were terrified. You knew the cops will probably take some time to arrive, but you couldn't act on your own. The man was dangerous. You were now outside. You were the only one home, standing in front of your empty house, staring at your neighbor's with a worried look. It wasn't long before you hear sirens in the distance, and not long after that before a squadron of armed cops was standing at the woman's front door.

But to your surprise after 2 sets of knocks and a threat to burst in, the door opens. And to your even greater surprise, it isn't the murderer at the door, rather the woman; safe and sound.

"Can I help you officers?" The woman asks with a sly smile on her face. Her hair was messy and her clothes unkempt, but she seemed to be perfectly safe and sound.

"Hello there ma'am." The cop says in slight confusion. "We received reports that you were attacked by a strange man in your yard. May we come in?"

"Yes of course." She says. "But there was no man here officer." You could swear you saw the slightest glinse of fright in her eyes when they mentioned the attack. And the officer seems to have noticed it too.

"Ma'am, is this man threatening you?" He asks bluntly. "Be assured, we have the tools to protect you if that's the case. You need not be afraid."

"No no!" She says apologetically. "It's nothing like that. It's fine, there was no man inside here. You are free to come in."

The cops search her house for over an hour, yet there's nothing to be found. Like magic, the man is just gone. And the woman, who you swore you saw collapse on the ground, completely denies that accusation, or that there was any man in her home at all. And since there are no signs of break in, or any evidence that any other person was in the house besides her, the cops believe her retelling. But you don't you know what you saw, and throughout the entire conversation with the officers something seemed off about her. These thoughts kept disturbing you as you went back home for dinner. You told your family what you saw, but they just dismissed it like the cops did. Frustrated, you go to bed, the thoughts of the event not leaving your head for a second.

***

Your next few days goes on as usual. You have some college classes each morning, and the rest of the days you spend at home. The strange events of that afternoon are still omn your mind. You could swear you saw a man there, but every piece of evidence went against you.

At first you are sure of your position. You know what you saw. There was a man there. But as the days went by, you start to doubt yourself. If a man really had attacked her, why would she lie? She seemed to be completely alright, still going to work as usual and acting non the different. And the police really have found no evidence of any man ever being in the house. Maybe you were imagining it? You were slowly starting to expect that reality, until one Thursday afternoon.

You were again alone home, but in his absence, your dad left you with the task of watering the lawn. You were outside, looking at the empty suburban street in drowsiness, when something caught your attention in the corner of your eye. Your neighbor's windows were tinted, so you had no idea about the innards of her house, but this time she accidentally left a sliver open. And through that small peek inside her house, you saw what confirmed all your suspicions. The same man, inside, standing there with his shirt off. You drop the hose on the floor in shock, rubbing your eyes, but they weren't deceiving you. The man really was there, walking about.

But in a second, your freight and confusion grow even deeper. Once more the man lifts the body of the woman into sight, but this time you finally saw it for what it is. This was no body; instead, the man was holding the hollowed out skin of the woman in front of him, and you watched in horror as he slipped it on. In an instant, the image of the shirtless man before yoy was replaced entirely by that of your topless neighbor, and there was no sign to indicate anything was wrong. He looked exactly like her; from the facial features down to her height; somehow this 6 foot middle aged man managed to fit inside her tiny petite shell.

You stood there frozen in shock. Did he just *become* the woman?! You stare at the house in shock for another minute, before suddenly the door opens, and your unsuspecting neighbor steps out. She locks her door, and smiles warmly at you, not realizing what you had just saw, as she enters her car and drives off.

You are left there in absolute terror. You were right, something was off about the woman. It sounded absolutely crazy... but it seems that the man has somehow replaced her... You had to tell someone, but to who? You couldn't go with this to the police, they would think you're a lunatic. So would your family most likely. You could directly confront the man (woman?) about this, but that could be potentially dangerous... You are about to give up when you realize something. The window is still open.