My Dad’s Worst Nightmare

I’m a 24 year old woman. I’ve always felt safe in my home. When I was 15 my dad had a massive house built. It’s a beautiful house and I’m very grateful, but sometimes I feel like my dad built a house for himself instead of us. It’s awesome, but there are so many weird nooks and crannies, especially in the garage. It would be impossible to find everything.<br><br>My parents left for vacation for the week, and my 17-year old brother was supposed to watch our house. Instead he left to go hang out with his friends. I didn’t care. I had just graduated college with my bachelors degree and was feeling pretty cool. I was also grateful to have the house to myself for a week before moving into my new apartment.<br><br>That night I was hanging out and watching Netflix. I had a massive bottle of wine, and was just drinking it by myself. Around midnight or 1 am, I got really bored and wanted to do something. My parents have always been against drinking and driving, so I figured hey, I’ll just have to drink in the house. I decided to drink in every single room in the house, besides my brother’s.<br><br>I think it was around 6 am that i was walking to a room when I heard a noise. At first I brushed it off, but then I heard it again. I wasn’t really sober enough to think clearly, and I figured I had just locked myself out of my own house. But I checked all of the doors and windows. Everything was locked. I thought it was maybe a raccoon, but then I heard it again. It sounded like someone walking around inside the house. I honestly was so drunk I was just confused. I walked into the kitchen, and that’s when I realized there was definitely someone else in this house.<br><br>On the counter, was almost half an empty gallon of milk. I’m lactose intolerant, and my brother doesn’t drink milk. It was unopened before my parents left. I slowly walked to the fridge, and it was wide open. Tons of food was missing, and I could tell someone had been staying in the house. I was so terrified but I didn’t feel like calling the police. I grabbed the biggest knife I could find, and started searching every room in the house. Every room I checked I called out “hello.” By this time it was close to 8 am, and there was no one. <br><br>I grabbed my car keys and ran to the garage door. I felt so scared. I was lifting up my garage door when suddenly it stopped right in front of me. I was almost crushed to death. A man I had never seen was standing there. He was staring me dead in the eyes. I didn’t have my phone to call the cops so I turned around and ran up the stairs to the nearest room. I locked the door and called 911. I told them my address and to please come immediately.<br><br>I’m not sure what happened next, but I think I passed out from the alcohol. I woke up a few hours later to the sound of police talking. I looked around and realized I was in my brother’s room. I didn’t remember getting there so I thought I might have blacked out. I went to the window, and holy shit there were so many cops. They were everywhere. I was so confused. I slowly lifted up the blinds, and that’s when I saw him. A man was being held in handcuffs by the police. <br><br>I unlocked the door and walked downstairs. There were police all over the house. They told me to calm down and sit on the couch. I did, and a younger woman in uniform came over and sat next to me. She told me that I was safe, and that the guy they caught was the person that I saw. They found him hiding in the bushes in our front yard. They said he didn’t run away, but came right out when he was asked to. He didn’t have a driver’s license or any information on him. But he told them his name, and they were able to find out that he’s been breaking into homes and living there. They said it’s called “house sitting.” He picks random houses, breaks in, and stays there until the owners find him. He’s been arrested many times for this, but continues to do it.<br><br>When they searched the house, they found a lot of my dad’s secret booze collection was gone. This pissed me off so much. Who breaks into someone’s house and just lives there? It freaked me out so much. They asked me if I wanted to press charges, but I really didn’t want to go to court. The police said I didn’t have to. As long as he was arrested and charged, they didn’t care.<br><br>I freaked out for a few days. I kept having random panic attacks. I knew he was probably in jail, but it freaked me out so much that someone could just invade my home like that. My parents came home, and honestly they didn’t care. I told them everything and they were just like “oh well. It’s over now.” It really pissed me off how they reacted.<br><br>I never forgot about this incident and it still gives me chills to this day. I honestly can’t believe he didn’t kill me. He could have easily murdered me in cold blood and taken whatever he wanted. <br><br>So yeah. To the man who house sat my parent’s house, let’s not meet again.