Jude stared, startled, as she turned her head to look into the shadiness of the room behind her. She bit her lip and slipped off the couch, clutching her blanket firmly around herself and edging closer to the woodstove, though staying off the raised hearth so as not to bump into it accidentally and burn herself. While the stove gave the room some light, it did not quite reach the half furthest away from it and she could not see beyond the very back of the couch. "W-w-who's there?" She stammered in fright.<br/><br/>She had recognized the sound right away. That old creakyness that she'd had to be careful of when playing hide and seek. When she was little enough, she'd open the door of the clock and hide inside with the pendulum, but she hadn't fit in there in so many years. It had been one of her favorite spots.<br/><br/>Heart pounding in her ears, Jude picked up the poker from beside the stove and held it up, sure that whoever was there fooling around with the clock, would see her with it. If it was just one of her parents, they would have said something when they entered the room so as not to startle her, knowing she was as skittish as a deer lately. "D-d-don't you dare c-c-come any closer! I'll sc-scream."