The Strange Case of the Jackson Building

Chapter 14 - Rage

Chapter Fourteen

Rage

The sound... that irritating, nagging, squealing sound was driving her insane.

Someone's baby was crying, nonstop, for the last two hours. It was coming from the apartment above hers and, lo and behold, apparently the nursery was directly above her bedroom.

Lucky her.

Why the fuck weren't the parents doing anything about it? If it was bothering her it should be bothering them, too!

The piercing sound was so incredibly annoying, she was almost considering ripping out her own ears.

The baby wouldn't stop wailing. It was unbearable, she couldn't take it anymore.

Petra got up, furious, seething, put on her sneakers and dressed one of her jackets. She didn't care that it was way past midnight, those people needed to stop neglecting their child.

Determined and with an angry mission, Petra walked out of her house and walked to the sixth floor with a sense of purpose louder than her newfound hesitance to walk around that building at night. She was tired, exhausted, and the only thing she wanted was a peaceful night of sleep. That was it. That was all she wished, but it seemed like it was too much to ask for in that hellish place.

She passed through the boys' door and focused on the one to its left. That would be the apartment directly above hers.

Sighing, she rang the bell, more than ready, itching even, to face these parents. She could hear the baby crying from there and couldn't possibly understand how anyone could ignore it or sleep through it. She rang the bell a second time, her frustration rising. Her arms were folded, her foot tapping the floor in the perfect stance of a disgruntled neighbor.

No one came to the door, so she decided to be more aggressive and knock on the door.

Again, nothing. She couldn't even hear movement coming from behind the door or some type of recognition or reaction, the only sound remained that of a screaming baby.

Petra knocked again, more aggressively, louder and repeatedly. Still, absolutely nothing happened.

Was the baby home alone? Wasn't that a crime? Should she call the police, social services... Someone? She wasn't sure if she should take such drastic measures, but the sound was so annoying she would end up doing it. Either that or she'd end up throwing herself out of a window.

Cursing, Petra went back to her own floor and apartment. When she walked inside her bedroom again, she was fuming and threw herself into her bed, shielding her head with her covers and pillow. It was amazing that the irritating noise could still penetrate through it.

She was so stressed, so tired and angry, so desperate, she had no choice but resort to her sleeping pills again.

This time, she didn't even feel guilty about it.

***

It was amazing to her that she still managed to, apparently, spontaneously wake up that same night, after taking the pill. That thing was supposed to knock her out for hours, like it had done so far. Why was she waking up?

Groggily, she looked at her phone to check the time. It was 2 a.m. Why the fuck was she awake?

As it was, it seemed like the pill had only made her dizzy, feeling like throwing up and her body feel heavier. She felt like everything, including her mind, was in super slow motion.

Why wasn't it working? Maybe she was getting used to it.

At least the baby wasn't crying anymore.