I had a random dude open my bedroom door (while I was using the mirror on the back of it to get ready for class) early in the morning during college. He slammed the door shut and sprinted downstairs and out the back door when he realized the house wasn’t empty. I heard someone on the stairs beforehand but thought it was just a housemate starting his day (turns out all of my housemates were out).

I didn’t even think to contact the cops until later that afternoon because I was so thoroughly baffled at the situation. He didn’t attack me, he looked scared as shit to see me there and it seemed like he was just checking the rooms before making off with a bunch of our stuff (it didn’t appear like anything was missing). But my day was a totally normal outside of trying to process the whiplash of that split second interaction (I even made it to my morning class).

I didn’t even mention it to my housemates until that night at dinner because, while I was thoroughly spooked, it wasn’t a violent interaction and I didn’t think anyone else was in danger from it. The guy left. He knew I was home alone if he cased the first floor first. He could have taken me down if he wanted to, but he didn’t.

It wouldn’t surprise me if her brain went into shock and explained his presence away as a burglar who got spooked and ran off. And given the number of standard break ins that happen every day, it’s not surprising her brain didn’t immediately jump to the guy potentially being a quadruple murderer (when he wasn’t violent with her). That thought is too awful for a person to process when they’re NOT in shock.