My friend and I have been hearing strange noises... and it just got worse.

My friend and I have been hearing strange noises for months. At first, it started as nothing more than creaks and groans around the house but it turned into catcalls and full on stalking.<br><br>They have keys to our homes, and we have no idea who they are or why they are doing whatever they are doing.<br><br>At first, we thought it was the landlord-tenant crew doing random checks. But ever since the strange noises have escalated, we are starting to doubt that. <br><br>While our stalking incidents were minor in the grand scheme of things, they were still that - stalking incidents. A woman whistling through our door. A man clearing his throat in the middle of the night.<br><br>But yesterday my friend was literally attacked by a man in our neighborhood.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>My friend and I live in a row of six houses in the middle of London. Three on each side of the street with only a large headstone separating us. That headstone is the point at which we call home, given that we both live in the center house of each side. We would pass each other several times on our way to and from work during the day, or when we were taking our dogs out for their nightly walks.<br><br>With the amount of times we passed each other, it was inevitable that we eventually started talking, and it did not take long for us to become great friends. A little over a year after our friendship started, we found out that our birthdays were only three days apart. We joked that we were twins.<br><br>Sarah.<br><br>I’m not sure why I am referring to her like that, it’s not like she died and I am writing her obituary - and damn, I hope that isn’t the case. But for some reason, that is what keeps coming to mind.<br><br>Sarah.<br><br>Sarah lived on the street in the house across the headstone from mine. We had both moved there a few years ago, as part of a series of government innovations. The government had purchased a number of streets and homes throughout the city and divided them up in various different ways. There was the one we lived on, as well as various other configurations. The government had then set rental prices that were so low, it was almost like they were giving them away for free. A six-bedroom home in zones one and two for a couple hundred dollars per month. It did not feel right.<br><br>I remember talking to my ex about it at the time and her just telling me, “A penny is a penny, even if it isn’t very much.” And in a way, she was right at the time. But she is no longer in my life now, and it makes me wonder what other pennies I could buy with the money I was spending on her.<br><br>I don’t mean to sound like Sarah was a bad neighbor or anything, she just spent a lot of time in my head over the past few months and she continues to dominate my thoughts now that she is… well, whatever she is. In all honesty, I couldn’t call her a close friend. You know, the kind you would call up in the middle of the night to come and bail you out of jail or help you move a dead body. But we were close enough.<br><br>I guess you could say she was more an acquaintance than a friend. We would see each other and talk to each other as friends do. But outside of that, we never saw each other. We never went to the cinema, never went to a restaurant for a meal, never went for a drink. We never did anything together, and not once did either of us ever set foot inside the others homes. We were friends, but only what was necessary.<br><br>Confession time here, but I had a major crush on Sarah. I don’t know how I never noticed it, but she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her eyes were a light brown, the color of milk chocolate, and her hair was dark and flowed around her head like a river that had no end. It was like her hair was a pure black river that ended off at the horizon. She always had a small smile on her face, and I could always picture how angelic her face would look with nothing but the light from a few lamps shining off her cheeks.<br><br>But there was something about her that made me never ask her out. I would like to think that maybe she was taken, but I know that wasn’t the case. I know she was single because every time a man would walk past, I could hear her not so muffled catcalls directed at them. <br><br>Not that I had any room to complain, of course. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on, and we lived directly across the street from each other. It was actually quite funny.<br><br>I would never have asked her out because she just wasn’t my type. I’m not sure how I know that, but I pretty much knew from the moment she started whistling at random men. I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority here, but when I am looking for a long-term relationship, I want someone who is a little bit more, shall we say, reserved. A woman that doesn’t whistle and catcall at random men walking down the street is pretty high up on my list.<br><br>With all this in mind, I always thought I would head home from work, walk past Sarah as she heads home from work, possibly make a few comments about the weather, and maybe invite her over for a cup of tea or a glass of wine or whatever it is that women drink. Maybe I’d get lucky, maybe I wouldn’t. But all I knew was that I would end the night by watching her walk into her house opposite me and dream about her until I fell asleep.<br><br>As I mentioned earlier, Sarah and I lived in a row of houses directly across the headstone from each other. We each lived in the center house of our row, and we never missed seeing each other - if only briefly - as we passed each other during our daily commutes. We’d catch each other with a smile and a thumbs up, possibly exchange a sentence or two, and then head on our way.<br><br>One day as we passed each other, Sarah had a large dog collar around her neck. It was black and had shiny silver spikes along the length of it. Unusual for her, she didn’t have a smile on her face and barely even said a word. When she did, she sounded like a completely different person. She was monotone and emotionless with a tinge of a London accent. I remember her sounding a bit upset and irritable.<br><br>“Like your collar. Quite the statement.”<br><br>She barely even looked at me, and recoiled my entire hand when I reached out to her.<br><br>“Thanks.” Was all she replied. I’m not even sure that was the exact word she used, it was something like that, but she didn’t seem overly enthusiastic about the whole thing. Like she was being forced to wear it.<br><br>Then she walked on.<br><br>Somehow it felt like she had changed overnight. Was it something I had done? Was it something I hadn’t done? I hadn’t even left the house the night before, and I’m sure she would have seen me if I had.<br><br>I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had no idea why she had been so standoffish and cold towards me. I didn’t even know her long enough for us to have that kind of relationship where I knew what was going on in her mind. But we had known each other for long enough that I thought she would never act that way. I’m sure there is some headspace between that, but I don’t know how to explain it.<br><br>Sarah had always been warm towards me, and I towards her. Well, warm as she could be, given her non-reserved displays towards random men. But she had always been accepting of me, and I think we both knew that we were each others closest friends on the street. That much I knew for sure.<br><br>I didn’t want to let this drag on. While it wasn’t the reason that I moved into the neighborhood in the first place, it had become a minor secondary reasoning. For whatever reason, I just felt a little more at ease knowing that there was another person nearby in case anything ever happened.<br><br>And that ease was gone the moment Sarah had barely uttered a word to me. I felt like I had no one.<br><br>I couldn’t let that drag on any longer. I had to know what had caused it. I decided that I was going to invite her over for a drink. Just the two of us. I was going to push the issue, head on.<br><br>I doggy-paddled through the water in my pool as I waited for her shift to end. I swam to the edge and got out, dripping with water as I walked over to the sun bed and sat on it. I had a towel, but I didn’t bother using it. It was like that first few minutes after getting out of a warm bath or something - soothing.<br><br>I was still soaking wet when she left her house about fifteen minutes later. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I stood up and walked towards her, with the water squelching out of my shorts.<br><br>“Well, well, well.” She said as I approached. “Looks like we match.”<br><br>I laughed as she held up her own dog collar, this one red with silver spikes. She smiled as I approached her.<br><br>“Quite the statement!” She exclaimed.<br><br>I smiled back, and we walked away from each other as we had at the end of every day.<br><br>I couldn’t stop thinking about her and what had happened between us. No, scratch that. What hadn’t happened between us. I couldn’t stop thinking about how she had barely uttered a word to me earlier that day, and then completely dismissed it later with a comment that felt hollow.<br><br>Well, maybe I couldn’t stop thinking