House Taken Over

The narrator hears noises in the house and believes that "they" are taking over.

I'll always have a clear memory of it because it happened so simply and without fuss. Irene was knitting in her bedroom, it was eight at night, and I suddenly decided to put the water up for mate. I went down the corridor as far as the oak door, which was ajar, then turned into the hall toward the kitchen, when I heard something in the library or the dining room. The sound came through muted and indistinct, a chair being knocked over onto the carpet or the muffled buzzing of a conversation. At the same time, or a second later, I heard it at the end of the passage which led from those two rooms toward the door. I hurled myself against the door before it was too late and shut it, leaned on it with the weight of my body; luckily, the key was on our side; moreover, I ran the great bolt into place, just to be safe.

I went down to the kitchen, heated the kettle, and when I got back with the tray of mate, I told Irene: "I had to shut the door to the passage. They’ve taken over the back part."

She let her knitting fall and looked at me with her tired, serious eyes. "You're sure?" I nodded. "In that case," she said, picking up her knitting again, "we'll have to live on this side."