Hell Himself

Apartment 657.

It was late at night, and I had just arrived at New York from a 6 hour flight. My car was left at home in Florida, so the only way I could arrive at my apartment was by walking.

It had only been a few hours since I got here, and it was ram packed with people. I cut through the bombardment of people through alleyways and lanes, getting myself out of the crowd, all while holding and pulling my suitcase and bags along with me.

My phone was in my hands, directions set on the screen to find my apartment. I was lost, and the directions were confusing me. I tried again, searching '657 Bollington st' into the locate bar once more.

"Come on, just work!" I muttered under my breath, stopping in my tracks in the middle of an alleyway tapping my foot impatiently, leaning up against the cold wall behind me. I set all my bags down, and let my suitcase go for a moment.

I was getting irritated, and I ended up propping my suitcase against the wall, sitting on it as I waited for the directions to load up on my screen.

While I waited, I swung my feet off of my suitcase gently and looked around me. I saw people walking down streets through the gaps at the ends of the alleyway, lights and cars scattered across every road in sight. This city was 𝘣𝘪𝘨. Very big.

"God, how am I gonna find my way through these damn people..." I was irritated and tired.

Finally, my phone actually worked. I saw the directions pop up on the screen again, and this time, they weren't confusing me. They didn't say things like 'turn a right on belldrove lane and a right nearest to the A47', they said things like 'take a left at the next turn and head straight'.

I picked up my bags, hopped off of my suitcase, and walked.

With my phone in one hand and the other pulling my suitcase, along with holding my bags, it was hard to get through the large crowd. I kept walking, sliding past people, and looking at the directions.

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Sooner or later, I heard the directions finally say,'Your destination is on your right.'. I turned my head, seeing the apartment blocks. A sigh of relief left my lips, and I trotted inside without a thought or hesitation.

The bell on the door rang as I entered the lobby, pulling my bags inside and stuffing my phone into my pocket.

My eyes trailed around the small room, settling on a tall looking man with short, messy red hair and green eyes at the front desk, presumably the receptionist.

He turned to me, a smile tugging on his lips. "Hello! How can I help you?"

"Uhm, hi. I'm... Ameri Salazine," I paused, looking down at his arm, which had a huge purple scar across it. It looked like he had been mauled by a lion or something. "I paid for an apartment here, uh, apartment 657?"

"Ah, yes, let me grab that key for you, Ameri." He walked through the small door just behind the front desk, disappearing over the threshold with a click to the door.

He reappeared moments later, holding a metal key with a plastic key chain on it, reading '657' on it.

"Here we are. Have a good night, Miss Salazine!" He exclaimed, handing me the key.

"Yeah, thanks. Thank you. You too." I smiled, taking the key and turning to the elevator just in the right-hand corner of the lobby.

I stepped inside of the elevator, placing my bags on top of my suitcase and lifting my hand towards the buttons, watching the doors close. I pressed the 'level 4' button, hearing a ding go off as the lift started going up.

The lift stopped, and the doors opened again. I was met with a long, dimly lit hallway. There were doors all along the corridor, and I could tell it was busy in here. I walked out of the elevator, scanning the hall for my apartment.

"654... 655... 656," I mumbled to numbers under my breath, stopping at mine. "Ah-hah. 657."

I brought the key to the lock, unlocking the door and swinging it open. It was dark inside, and it was fairly warm. I walked in, turning the light on and placing my bags down.

"Finally!" I say happily, unzipping my suitcase and beginning to unpack before I went to sleep.

I put my clothes in piles, taking them one pile at a time into the closet down the hall in my room. I should've just unpacked my things inside of my bedroom.

It took nearly an hour to get all of that done, and now I had unpacked everything. I was just about to get dressed for bed until I felt my stomach growl. I was so invested and concentrated on actually getting here today that I forgot to eat.

"Damn... I guess I could go to the store?" I sighed, throwing on a heavy jacket and zipping it up. I put the hood over my head, grabbed my purse and left the room, and was sure to lock it.

I left the apartment building, being back outside in the cold weather. I walked down the now empty streets, hearing nothing but quiet drops of water from drains and distant cars speeding in nearby roads.

While I was walking down the street, I saw a tall man with black and white cornrows leaning against a polished black ferrari, smoking a cigarette. I looked at him, feeling his gaze meeting mine. His dark brown eyes glistened in the moonlight, and I could see a slight sickness in them. I twitched my head away, looking down and continuing to walk to the store.

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I arrived at the store, entering the lit up building and walking down the aisles. It was a small shop, so there wasn't much there. I grabbed a packet of crackers, bringing them to the checkout and putting them down.

"Is that all for tonight?" The cashier asked me, and she looked exhausted.

"Yeah, that's all." I tucked my hair behind my ears, paying for the crackers.

I thanked her, walking out of the store with the crackers in my hand. I stopped and sat on a short wall, lifting one leg up and bringing it to my chest with my other leg dangling down. I began to eat my crackers, taking one bite of them and instantly regretting purchasing them. They were disgusting.

I shook my head 'no' at them, putting them in a trash can that was near me. I slid off of the wall, beginning to walk quickly back to my apartment. It was beginning to rain, and I didn't fancy getting wet.

I walked and walked, passing by the same man I saw earlier, but now he had another three men with him. One with long black braids, who looked exactly like him, one with short blonde hair and another with long brown hair.
I looked away and walked quicker back to the apartment building. I wasn't a social person.

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I got back to my apartment, and I was now in my room, getting dressed into my pyjamas. I sighed heavily to myself, plopping down onto my bed with my legs crossed. My phone was in my hand, and I was currently scrolling through it to pass the time and make me bore myself to sleepiness.

Then, my mind thought back to those men I had laid eyes on earlier. They had a cold look in their eyes that just reminded me of a large predator lurking around in search for a weak prey.

The way that the taller guy glared at me earlier on sent a tsunami of chills and alarm down my spine. It almost made me feel unsafe.

"Stop it, Ameri, you're being stupid." I scolded myself, shaking myself out of my daze and putting my phone down on the bedside table. I rolled into my bed, laying under my warm blankets and closing my eyes. Though, I couldn't stop thinking about that cold glare.

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