Random Short Stories

1 - Under The Rug

A/N: This is from a short story book I have discontinued, but why not include it here? :) This was made last year, as well as the one in the next chapter... so it may not be as good as my other books. I hope you still enjoy it. // updated with the edited version 11/4/22

Prompt: Two weeks passed and it happened again.

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     On November 13, 2007 on a Friday night, Amelia had woken up to the sound of her neighbor banging something on the floor and yelling things she couldn't yet comprehend as to her just waking. She groaned, looking over at her nightstand to see what time it was. It was 1:34 A.M. She got up from her bed, heading to her parents room to ask if they knew what was going on.

     "Mother, father," she said. "The neighbor can't stop making a ruckus, and I can't sleep. Do you know why they are being so loud at 1 in the morning?" She didn't get a response for a few minutes.

     Just as she was about to head back to bed, her mother grunted, "What's all the ruckus?"

     "All I know is that I woke up to the neighbor hitting something on the ground and yelling stuff. Should we go check?" her father was waking up now due to the neighbor's obnoxious banging and yelling, along with Amelia and her mother talking.

     He rubbed his eyes, making an annoyed face. He checked the time on the clock next to their bed. "Why are you guys up at 1 in the morning, and why is the neighbor being so loud?" he questioned.

     "That's what we're trying to figure out. I just woke up to him banging something on the floor and yelling. I'm not sure what he's doing, but Ami thinks we should go check." Amelia's mother said, also annoyed by the neighbor. After a few minutes of deciding whether or not to go, the banging and yelling stopped. They all decided on just going back to sleep, and once Amelia's head hit her pillow, she was fast asleep.

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     A few days later, she awoke to her neighbor banging something on the ground and yelling again. This time it was 4:28 A.M. and she had school in 2 hours, so she was quite annoyed; if her neighbor didn't stop, she might not be able to fall back asleep. She headed to her parents room again to tell them, although to her surprise they were already awake. Amelia was a bit confused on why they didn't just file a noise complaint, but she didn't mention it. They all decided that this time, they'd knock on the door. So they got up and walked out of the house, heading down the hall to room 13, where their neighbor stayed.

     "Hello? Are you alright, Sir?" Amelia asked, knocking. They waited a few minutes before knocking again with the silent response they had. As she went to knock on the door again, they heard their neighbor screaming as if someone had cut him, along with a growl of some sort of animal and a thump of something or someone falling onto the hard floor. She hesitated to knock now, looking at her parents. They were all shocked at what they had just heard. They decided the best thing they could do was call the emergency services, since it sounded like he had just gotten severely injured. Maybe they could finally figure out what all the ruckus he kept making was...

     After they had arrived, an officer opened the door with a spare key the front desk had given them. Once the door was open enough for Amelia and her parents to see just what had happened, she froze. She didn't expect to see what was in front of them. Her neighbor was lying on the floor, seeming to be passed out or unconscious, with the bottom half of his leg ripped off the rest of his body. Who; or what; could've done that? The neighbor was in his 50s or 60s, living in his apartment alone. He didn't seem to have any enemies. He was fairly kind to his neighbors in the apartment, so who would've done such a thing? Then, she looked at the floor. There was a big crack in it, although it was quite dark in there. She swore she could see something... Something with big red eyes that looked inhuman. She ended up going back to her apartment with her parents, unable to fall asleep again due to what she had just witnessed.