Disclaimer: Names have been changed in order to protect those mentioned. The following story is a chilling, true tale of what recently happened to my close friend two weeks ago.
Last Saturday, I received a text from my close friend with the words: “A man was in Serena’s closet last night and the detectives have been here all morning looking into it.”
Those words sounded like a joke, my mind racing through the possibilities of what could have happened. “Was it a drunk guy finding a safe hideout from cops to avoid an arrest? Was it a guy she knew who was playing a mild joke on her?”
But the truth in the story is something that makes my stomach churn and has me looking over my shoulder a little more than usual lately.
After a long night, Serena and Natasha arrived at their apartment to get some rest. Serena going through her normal routine of removing her makeup in the bathroom, changing in her room from her “going out” clothes to her pajamas and finally, going to the kitchen to cook a nighttime meal.
From the side of her eye, she caught a quick movement shift in her room, and disregarded it, assuming it was one of the two cats just messing around.
Serena was wrong.
She finished her meal, put away the dishes and headed off to her room. Comfortable in her bed, she realized the fan was off and arose because she can’t sleep without the ceiling fan on above her. Her closet directly next to the door of her room and the light switch, she clicked it on, and a man calmly walked out of her closet.
“Ah!” Serena shrieked loud enough for her roommate to hear. Slowly walking out of the room, the assailant had a creepy half smile and paused for a second in the kitchen, turning to look at Serena and then walked out the door.
Serena’s roommate chased him down the hall questioning him, “Dude, what the f*ck? What the hell were you doing in her closet? What the hell?” The assailant didn’t reply, just walked through the hall and into the night.
Flash forward to the next day. Detectives made their arrest and put a name to the assailant. For discretion purposes and in hopes not to give the predator a reason to strike again, I will not supply his name, but rather call him Mr. Whiskers. He attained this name in a similarly creepy way of his demeanor because the night he broke into Serena’s apartment, the two lovely and protective cats Serena and her roommates own were meowing and standing in front of Serena’s closet, almost as a warning to Serena.
As her roommate describes it, “The cats were acting weird all night. They kept going into Serena’s room and staring at the closet, meowing.”
According to surveillance cameras and police reports, the man was waiting in Serena’s closet for not one, not two, but three hours. That’s right. He sat there and waited for her return while also holding hostage her precious kitten.
So, what’s his incentive, motive? Mr. Whiskers lives catty-corner to Serena’s apartment, one floor above, giving him full access from his window to hers. When detained by police, he mentioned how “they open their window sometimes and look outside,” and even told his own mother that he “knew” Serena and that she had waved him over.
Now, from what we have inferred is that one can attain a familiarity to someone by watching them for days, weeks, months, and we have come to the conclusion he must have been watching Serena since move-in day, waiting for the perfect time to strike.
Serena is blonde, beautiful, a sorority girl, outgoing and a badass. Clearly, this has come as a shock to her but hasn’t rattled her daily life or given her trauma. She is just a strong as she has always been. Although something she will never forget is, “When he walked out of the closet, and I screamed so loud it woke up the neighbors, he didn’t even flinch, didn’t blink. I’ll never forget the way he looked at me _ a cold, evil, lifeless stare.” Chills rose all over my body when she said this.
Mr. Whiskers has now been evicted from the building where he lived and watched Serena from, yet his roommate resides.
Why am I telling you this story? Because this man is clearly sick and needs help or to be locked up. Because the negative impact he has already made in people’s individual lives and the potential of hurting or scaring the next girl. What if Serena’s roommate wasn’t there? What if he didn’t just walk away? The “what ifs” constantly rattle my brain, yet I’m extremely thankful Serena is OK.
The problem is, the next girl may not be as lucky.
