Third Story Window

The rain poured down with loud pitter-patters on a poorly kept and deserted apartment building along a dead-end street. Dark curtains concealed the untidy rooms filled with broken bottles and empty bags strewn throughout all of the rooms. All except one: the room on the third floor Kasey was locked in.

The mysterious man had taken her a week ago when she was alone on the park bridge where she usually liked to watch the sunset every evening. The man had taken her for his own personal reasons, for a certain...project, he needed her for. He had to make sure she was exactly right in order for his conspiracy to fall into place; not too many relations, not too popular at school, not in any extra curricular activities, not too young. He figured the girl of fifteen was old enough not to be as missed or felt sorry for as much as say an eight year old. He had already designed the plan of precisely when, where, and how to abduct her months before she was knocked out, thrown into the back of his truck, and kicked into the corner back room of the tenement building.

And it was there she sat- alone and terrified. The night Kasey had awoken in the bare and dirty room she had pounded and kicked at the door with all her might and screamed hysterically for help. But no one ever responded to her cries, for there were no signs of people for miles. And after a full week of being poorly fed, inadequately hydrated, and sleep-deprived, her scrams had turned into desperate and miserable whimpers. After looking down helplessly out of the third story window, she curled up in a ball in the corner, facing the wall, sobbing. She began to feel how cold it was, and all she had was an old wall radiator that simply mocked her. She had no idea that the police and her parents were frantically searching for their only daughter. She rested her forehead against the wall. How long would she be trapped in this cold, gray void?

The man sat impatiently on his couch, in a downstairs room, running his hands through his greasy hair. He was waiting for her to become weak before he carried out his plan. He was feeding her less everyday, and with only the floor to sleep on plus fear and terror eating her alive, she was going to be barely conscious when the time came. He was very anxious to go through with it already, but he forced himself to be patient. Patience was key; he had learned that during his previous experiences. The last one had been messy, and the girl had used a jagged broken bottle piece to try and stab him, almost getting away. And he certainly wouldn't let that happen again.

The man stood up and walked towards the kitchen to pick out what he should feed Kasey. He wouldn't starve her; he didn't want her to be completely out when he was ready. It wouldn't be fun unless there was some struggle. He grabbed a Pop-Tart and a shot glass full of water and progressed to Kasey's room.

Kasey shivered in her corner and looked up angrily at the radiator. Then she thought, maybe if she talked to it, it would be nice and turn on for her. She staggered over to it and squatted down to try and reason with it. After days of no sleep and food, she was beginning to lose sight of reality. As Kasey talked to the radiator, she found it wasn't responding to her questions. So she began shaking it. "Wake up! Listen to me! Hello?!" The radiator fell down to her feet, not even attached to the wall. "Oh no," she thought. "I've killed it!" But the sound of the man's footsteps coming up the stairs snapped Kasey back to reality. She took the dead radiator and pushed it against the door so the man couldn't get in.

Kasey backed away from the door as the man began to pound against it. She looked out the window and slipped back into her delusional state. The man was able to open the door a crack and look inside. He chuckled, "Good luck jumping three stories down!" Kasey turned back towards him and shouted, "No, I won't jump, I'll fly away!" And with that, she leaped through the glass and fell to the ground below.

She landed in an overgrown shrub, very scratched up, but alive. The man glared down at her from the broken window with a look of pure hatred. The time had to be now. There wasn't any more time to wait. His expression snapped Kasey back to the universe. She frantically began untangling herself from the thick bush while the man sprinted down the stairs. But he stumbled and began his tumble down three flights of stairs.

The man landed flat on his stomach when he reached the bottom floor. He would've felt his entire body throbbing and aching if he hadn't broken his neck. He could only turn his head to face the front door, which was slightly ajar. Staring back at him was the innocent face of Kasey, cut up and on her hands and knees, with an unreadable expression. She made her way closer to the door, where they locked eyes. The man's face was no longer menacing, but pleading. The angelic Kasey reached out, then ever so slowly closed the door shut.