Granite City; A Manaverse Novel, Book 1

1.03 - Nowhere is Safe

Grandview Apartments
2:36 p.m.
Granite City

"What the heck happened to your door?" Mrs. Barkley yelled at Kyle.

"My dog broke it saving my life." Kyle shrugged, already done with the conversation.

Loretta Barkley was, in Kyle's opinion, what society deemed long ago, a Karen. She was always in everyone's business, a gatekeeper of many things like fun and parties, and an overall bitch. If he would have been alright in dealing with moving, he would have left for that reason alone. He stayed because the rent was cheap. That also meant that service was lacking and dealing with Mrs. Barkley's B.S. was mandatory.

"So you'll pay to replace the door and railing then?" Mrs. Barkley fired off.

"Like how you made me pay for someone else's door when you suspected Gunther had peed on it? Hell no. If that little monster hadn't attacked and had been on a leash like your rules say to, it wouldn't have happened." Kyle said calmly.

He could see Mrs. Barkley's thoughts spinning in her head as she tried to find something she could say to argue back. The longer it took, the redder her face became. Finally, she responded.

"Fine. But I need your help to check on the tenants. Something strange is going on and I need to find out who is around."

Kyle shrugged and put Gunther's leash on him before allowing him to follow them out the door. He didn't want Mrs. Barkley to use that against him and try to make him pay for the damaged property again.

Mrs. Barkley and Kyle went from door to door, knocking and inquiring after the other tenants. They started with Ms. Leavitt as her dog, presumably, was involved in the earlier incident and she lived next door to Kyle. Her door was ajar when they arrived which sent a chill down Kyle's spine.

The sight they ultimately found made Kyle throw up. Apparently, Ms. Leavitt's dog had attacked her before coming after him. Her body was torn to pieces and her entrails decorated the walls.

Kyle tried to use his cell phone to call the police, but all he received was a busy signal.

"Let's continue checking on people." Mrs. Barkley said, looking queasy herself. She closed the door behind them on their way out.

They followed the walkway around before heading down the stairs and doing the rest of the inside apartments. Then they moved to the outside until they had stopped at every apartment. Half of the tenants weren't in. Half of those that were had met a similar fate as Ms. Leavitt, having been torn up by a pet or animal. It was fortunate they didn't run into any of the culprits during their round.

The people who were home and were alive were either unaware of the happenings going on around them or were hiding in their rooms. They all opted to remain in their apartments until help arrived.

One woman, another older tenant, kept shouting like a mad person. "The world ends in twenty-three hours and fifteen minutes! Nowhere is safe!"

It made Kyle suspicious because that matched what the countdown timer read that he could make appear and disappear from his vision. Maybe he wasn't going crazy after all. Or, maybe he was and the woman was part of his delusion? Either way, he wanted more information about what was going on.

"You said your cell phone wouldn't connect to the emergency line, right?" Mrs. Barkley asked, looking sick and scared.

Kyle nodded. "I'll try again." He did just that and hit the "call again" button. The phone actually rang, twice. Then Kyle heard a popping and sizzling sound. When he looked at the touch screen, it had turned off. No amount of prodding or holding the power button got a reaction from the device. He could also smell burnt wires.