through the lobby.
"Evening, Miss Kerimov."
He nods and smiles at me and I give a small smile in return before stepping on to the elevator.
My phone goes off, signaling that I have a new text message as I'm riding up to my floor, but I ignore it for the moment. I kind of feel like ordering Thai takeout, despite the fact that I ate it last night and that particular meal didn't have such great memories for me. Or, it kind of did, but it didn't end quite as well as it began.
When I step off of the elevator, I see Elyse's red mane disappearing into her apartment. I wait a minute before getting completely out of the car; the doors try to close twice, and then I breathe a sigh of relief that I missed her. I am going to dinner at her place next week, but that doesn't mean I have to chat with her all the time. It would be too much.
I turn the key in the lock and that feeling of unease starts to prick it's way back into my skin. First my arms develop gooseflesh, and then the chill starts to caress the back of my neck. There is something not right here. A sane person would not go inside, I think, but this is just me being ridiculous. No one has a key to my place other than the landlord, who spends the entire summer in Italy, so he's not even in the country right now. Nor has he ever violated my privacy by dropping in unannounced. There's no one here.
Just to double check, I go through the apartment to each room and glance in to make sure.
Not a soul.
I walk my paranoid ass into my office and start looking for the takeout menu to the Thai place. I've almost located it when I hear a creaking noise, and then the distinct sound of a door handle being turned. The only place in this condo that makes a sound like that is the guest bathroom right across from this spare room. Chills breaking out across my body again, I very quietly walk to the door of this room, grabbing the three foot tall pillar candle off of it's base as I go. I think better of it and take the base instead; it is much heavier.
Then the front door closes and I know for sure that is the sound I heard because that door is very heavy and it slams if you let go of it, but if you don't it has a loud clicking noise as it sets in place. I hear the click. I rush out of the spare bedroom and no longer terrified, I run to the entrance and out into the hall.
There is no one there.
Impossible, I know I heard someone. Both elevators are resting on the first floor and there is no way they had time to get that far, nor could they have reached the stairwell without me seeing them first.
No. No. No.
I won't start questioning my sanity, not this time. I'm sure my ears didn't deceive me. I am not crazy.
I am not crazy.
I run back to my apartment and slam the door shut behind me. I feel frantic; sweat pours down over my forehead and into my eyes making them sting. A feeling of complete helplessness shudders through me and I cave; giving in to the doubt and shame of the people who were supposed to love me. The things they said I did, the things they told me I made up; I let myself believe it. It crushes me with the memory of a locked door and a room with white walls and no windows.
A knock on the door brings me back to myself and as quickly as I lost control, I regain it. A look through the peep hole and I breathe a sigh of releif so big the air could last me for an entire month. I open the door and fling myself into the arms of a very surprised Brady.
"Paige, what's going on? Are you okay?"
Not trusting my voice, I simply nod against his chest and I practically wilt like a tattered doll as he hugs me a little tighter and walks us both into the foyer.
I breathe in his scent once more before I pull away and step back.
"Not that I mind, Paige, but what just happened? And don't say nothing because you are the most resistant of any girl I have ever met and you're flushed and sweaty. You look like you saw a ghost."
I shake my head. "Can we please just not talk about it? I just, I'm
"Evening, Miss Kerimov."
He nods and smiles at me and I give a small smile in return before stepping on to the elevator.
My phone goes off, signaling that I have a new text message as I'm riding up to my floor, but I ignore it for the moment. I kind of feel like ordering Thai takeout, despite the fact that I ate it last night and that particular meal didn't have such great memories for me. Or, it kind of did, but it didn't end quite as well as it began.
When I step off of the elevator, I see Elyse's red mane disappearing into her apartment. I wait a minute before getting completely out of the car; the doors try to close twice, and then I breathe a sigh of relief that I missed her. I am going to dinner at her place next week, but that doesn't mean I have to chat with her all the time. It would be too much.
I turn the key in the lock and that feeling of unease starts to prick it's way back into my skin. First my arms develop gooseflesh, and then the chill starts to caress the back of my neck. There is something not right here. A sane person would not go inside, I think, but this is just me being ridiculous. No one has a key to my place other than the landlord, who spends the entire summer in Italy, so he's not even in the country right now. Nor has he ever violated my privacy by dropping in unannounced. There's no one here.
Just to double check, I go through the apartment to each room and glance in to make sure.
Not a soul.
I walk my paranoid ass into my office and start looking for the takeout menu to the Thai place. I've almost located it when I hear a creaking noise, and then the distinct sound of a door handle being turned. The only place in this condo that makes a sound like that is the guest bathroom right across from this spare room. Chills breaking out across my body again, I very quietly walk to the door of this room, grabbing the three foot tall pillar candle off of it's base as I go. I think better of it and take the base instead; it is much heavier.
Then the front door closes and I know for sure that is the sound I heard because that door is very heavy and it slams if you let go of it, but if you don't it has a loud clicking noise as it sets in place. I hear the click. I rush out of the spare bedroom and no longer terrified, I run to the entrance and out into the hall.
There is no one there.
Impossible, I know I heard someone. Both elevators are resting on the first floor and there is no way they had time to get that far, nor could they have reached the stairwell without me seeing them first.
No. No. No.
I won't start questioning my sanity, not this time. I'm sure my ears didn't deceive me. I am not crazy.
I am not crazy.
I run back to my apartment and slam the door shut behind me. I feel frantic; sweat pours down over my forehead and into my eyes making them sting. A feeling of complete helplessness shudders through me and I cave; giving in to the doubt and shame of the people who were supposed to love me. The things they said I did, the things they told me I made up; I let myself believe it. It crushes me with the memory of a locked door and a room with white walls and no windows.
A knock on the door brings me back to myself and as quickly as I lost control, I regain it. A look through the peep hole and I breathe a sigh of releif so big the air could last me for an entire month. I open the door and fling myself into the arms of a very surprised Brady.
"Paige, what's going on? Are you okay?"
Not trusting my voice, I simply nod against his chest and I practically wilt like a tattered doll as he hugs me a little tighter and walks us both into the foyer.
I breathe in his scent once more before I pull away and step back.
"Not that I mind, Paige, but what just happened? And don't say nothing because you are the most resistant of any girl I have ever met and you're flushed and sweaty. You look like you saw a ghost."
I shake my head. "Can we please just not talk about it? I just, I'm
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