My pity party is only just getting started when I go to lay back onto my pillow and sulk into the tub of half-melted ice cream, but as I attempt to forget about my horrendous night, my small apartment drowns into complete, utter darkness.
The TV cuts off, taking Khal Drogo away with it as the light above my bed shuts off. “WHAT THE EVER-LOVING FUCK?” I groan, more than ready to throw a goddamn tantrum, even if it means waking my neighbors in the surrounding apartments.
How is one person so fucking unlucky? What did I do to deserve this bullshit?
Feeling blindly for the bedside table, I shove the melting ice cream back onto it. A long sigh slips out as my head falls into my hands, feeling the weight of the world resting on my shoulders. Even though my landlord is usually on the ball with paying the utility bills, I can imagine he’s seething over what I owe him. Shutting the power off must be his fucked-up way of telling me to go to hell.
I stifle a cry as I fumble through the dark bed to find my panties and once I’ve got them pulled into place, I rip the blanket off me and scramble around my bedside table for an old scrunchie. After twisting my light brown hair up into a messy bun and failing to find my slippers, I grab the tub of ice cream and trudge out into the hallway.
I’m too fucking tired for this. I’d do anything to be able to just close my eyes and forget that my life is as shitty as they come, but here I am, stuck in this horrendous downfall. Taking my phone in my other hand, I light up the screen and use it to see my way as I get out of bed and wander back to the kitchen, determined to double-check if my neighbors have power or if it really is just me.
A cool burst of air fans my face as I shove the tub of ice cream back into the freezer with a scoff. Not sure if it’s going to do much good without power, but a girl can only hope.
Trudging through the dark apartment, I make my way to the front door and undo the three bolts before pulling it open and peering out into the hallway. It’s pitch-black, except for the small flashlight at the opposite end coming from Mrs. Brown’s small apartment. “Are you alright, Shayne?” she asks in that old, croaky voice usually reserved for the elderly.
“I’m okay,” I call back. “Do you need anything? Have you got some candles?”
“All I need is a nice strapping young man to make me feel like a woman again.”
“You and me both,” I mutter under my breath before giving her a wide smile. “If you need me, just knock on the door.”
“Thank you, dear. Now go off to sleep. I’m sure the power will be back up and running by morning.”
She closes her door and the light from her flashlight disappears, leaving the hallway in complete darkness again. I press the home button on my phone, lighting it up again as I close my door and bolt it. I double-check all three bolts until I’m certain that my small home is safe and start trudging back to my room.
The light on my phone keeps going out and I have to repeatedly press the button to see where I’m going. I’m not one to sleep in complete silence and darkness. I’ve always slept with the TV on to drown out the noise of the loud city outside my window, but tonight I’m just going to have to bear it.
As I make my way down the short hallway, movement in the soft light catches my attention. My head flicks up to find a shadowy, hooded figure stepping out of my bedroom. I suck in a gasp, my eyes going wide as my heart begins to race.
I stare for a moment, certain that my mind is playing tricks on me in the darkness. I blink three times, trying to make the dark shadow disappear, but when a sickening laughter fills the small hallway, I turn on my fucking heels and make a goddamn run for it.
This is no fucking mind-trick. Someone is in my apartment.
A loud piercing cry tears from my throat as I reach the top of my hallway and look back over my shoulder to find the large, hooded figure slowly making his way toward me, stalking me as though he has all night to catch me.
I break out of the hallway and aim the light from my phone straight at my front door, knowing that I somehow have to get all three of the locks undone before the hooded man gets to me, but there’s no fucking chance.