Psycho exercise

For my creative writing homework, we were supposed to write a frightening scene. Not sure I'm happy with this result.

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Rich shouldn’t be home yet. I massaged the shampoo into my hair, waiting for him to come tell me he was back. Nothing happened, though I could swear I heard something scrape against the wall. I turned the water off, standing a moment to listen. The house was silent. I stepped out onto the bathmat and wrapped a towel around me. Opening the door, I peered down the hall.

“Hey, Rich.”

Nothing. I couldn’t see into the kitchen from here. As I stepped out into the hall, I called out again.

“Hey, Rich, is that you?”

A thin bent shadow darted across the wall. That wasn’t Rich. Something was in the kitchen.

I froze paralyzed. I took a step backwards, never moving my eyes from where I had seen the shadow.

It appeared around the corner. The figure was black as if clothed in a robe. It leaned against the wall, fingers scraping as it moved. Its wide staring eyes filled my vision. The scream would not escape my throat. I threw myself into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I tried three times before I could get my trembling fingers to lock the door. I pressed my body up against the wall. I could feel sobs welling in my throat, and behind my eyes.

The scraping came closer, and closer, and closer. Then silence. I tried to hold my breath.

The doorknob rattled.