text: Sat at my computer desk in a steady stream of daylight, my stomach growled. It was another day in lockdown with no food in the house. "See you in a bit alright?" The shout came from the porch, followed shorty by the slamming front door and crunch of the keyhole. I hope he's quick, I thought as my stomach growled again. "Bloody lockdown. Can't do anything anymore." I text my girlfriend in frustration. "I know it sucks, seeing you this weekend tho <3 <3" I entered the lobby again and matched into a fresh game; anything to distract myself from the relentless boredom while I waited for my flatmate to return with the Subway. It was the middle of the second game when I heard the bathroom door close and the metal latch slide. I lifted up the headphones from my ears, "Yo, you back?" I called through my bedroom door. No answer. "Yo!" I yelled. "James?" Still nothing. I figured he'd probably come back for a quick piss and left again. Ignoring me while in a rush was something he did all the time so I didn't think much of it. I stuck my headphones back in and resumed my game. About half an hour and a few games later, I got the urge to piss; this morning's coffee going through me. I finished my current game and did a desperate walk across the hall to the bathroom. I tried the handle: locked. "James, are you there?" Surely he couldn't still be in there. "JAMES!" I yelled. Still no answer. Just to double check it was actually locked, I twisted the handle again. Yeah, it was. Had he passed out? "JAMES!" I screamed again. I was about to shoulder barge the door when something stopped me; an idea that made me shudder and back away slightly. What if it wasn't James? That would explain the no answering, and the getting home early. I very quietly tiptoed into the kitchen and pulled a knife from the wooden stand, returning a moment later with it out front. Was there really a stranger in the house? I asked myself. What if James is in some kind of medical trouble? Either way, I needed to find out. I pressed my cheek to the wood and tried to listen. When I heard no sound, I kicked the door. Then I leant back for some leg space and kicked it again, as hard as I could. The panels bended and bulged, but breaking down a door was apparently a lot harder than in the movies. Nevertheless, I kept kicking. Something strange stirred up inside of me. I don't know whether it was the boredom, the hunger, lockdown, isolation, the situation, general daily frustration, or something else, but something awakened within me; a sudden bloodlust that was ready for a fight and didn't care about the possible danger. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as my foot smashed into the flimsy wooden panels. I was ready to slice whatever was on the other side of this door into tiny pieces. After many dozen kicks the lock was dangling down from the handle with a two inch opening. I was about to give it the final push, when I hear the front door open and my flatmate's voice calling upstairs, "I'm back!" His voice brought me to my senses and I suddenly turned and ran downstairs, ushering him out. "We need to call the police." I explained. "There's a stranger in the bathroom." "I have something to tell you as well." My flatmate said with a glint in his eye. "Chloe couldn't wait for the weekend so she wanted to surprise you. I knew she was coming down today and I told her to hide in the bathroom. I thought it would be funny." I looked down at the large kitchen knife still in my hand, feeling the weight of my chest as it moved up and down, trying not to imagine what I could have done to my girlfriend had the door been just a little weaker.