One night at the Downham Residence

The BMW whired into the garage of Ms. Emma Downham's Mansion. She turned off the engine and sat in the car for a while, hesitant to get into the house. Ms. Downham is a successful criminal lawyer in Birmingham. She is a calm and sophisticated women in her prime; her blonde wavy hair flows through her broad shoulders - hiding her perfectly chistled jaw line, her eyes were in the colour of ocean - blue. She looked ravishing in the black suit that she was wearing. Anyone would envy her smartness, success and allure but lately she has been down in the dumps; tired of the routine life, endless meetings with her clients and hours of argument in the court house. Its been a long time since she had some company at her home. She hardly had a social life - Leave alone dating, all she had were few collegues at her firm. Even having friends was tough with her busy schedule. After baffling with her own thoughts, about the current state of her life and the future, she decided to get in to the house. She ploded into the home with a blurred vision. After all, it was a long and tiring day.

It was an elegant two storey home with minimalist interiors. The walls of the living room was adorned with lots of awards, certificates and there was a trophy at the center - "Excellence in upholding the rule of law", it said and she had hung her graduation picture adjacent to it. The white sofa in the living room was made of premium leather, which went well with the grey walls. At the center was a coffee table with a vase holding vibrant yellow daffodils.

After an exhausting day all she needed was a warm bubble bath so, she turned on some music and grabed a glass of "Amie red "from the kitchen and trudged in to the bath. 

She got into the bath tub and drenched herself into the hot water. The smell of the Lavender essential oil and the soft music calmed her mind. Closing her eyes, she took a sip of wine and gasped. She was startled by a thud that came from her back yard. She ignored the noise assuming it was from her neighbour's home. She took another sip of the wine. 

Suddenly she heard a shattering noise from her living room. She grabbed her bath robe and rushed into the living room. The glass vase on the center table was lying broken on the carpet. She also noticed some muddy foot prints on the carpet. She suspected that some one has breaked in through the back yard. She rushed into her room and grabed the gun from her night stand. She heard clattering noise from her study room where she had all the work related documents and confidential files. She hurried to the study room and was horrified to see some man rummaging through her files. She pointed her gun towards the trespasser and was about to fire the bullet. 

Thud! She heard an ear splitting noise in her head. Another man had hit her from behind and pinned her down to the floor. Her gun had fallen under the study chair. She was not able to identify them as both men were wearing black masks. 

-"Hurry up! Did you get the documents?"The man said to the other guy who was digging through her cupboard. 

Mean while she managed to tackle the man and push him over the wall. He collapsed on the floor. She swiftly reached to the gun that had fallen under the chair. 

She pointed the gun towards the guy and said "I have triggered a silent alarm and the cops will be here any moment now so better hand over the files to me."

-"Not so fast, Ms. Downham. Drop your gun down or I will shoot you." he said pointing his gun towards her and pressed the trigger. 

Suddenly the power went off and the room was completely dark. A gun shot was heard followed by a squeal. The power came back in  a minute, the lights in study room flickered exposing the blood stains in the wall.....

She jolted awake, panting and looked around with terror filled in her eyes and body covered with sweat. She grabbed the glass of wine as she arose from the bath tub- horrified. She was bewildered for few seconds.

"Damn. Its a dream." She muttered with a sigh of little relief.