Satin

Five

|Unedited |

'That little freak!' Aspen hissed, storming back into her home. Of course he did this. Of course he did. That's why he was here so early today! 

She reached behind her to shut the front door and quickly recoiled, deciding that whatever was on that door was not what she wanted on her hands. With her hands clenched by her side, Aspen paced quickly to her couch and picked up her phone. She dialled 911, her breath shaking with anger.

'911, what's your emergency?' A man with a deep voice asked.

'I'd like to report vandalism.' Aspen stated.

'Okay, what seems to be the problem?'

Aspen stood up and walked warily back over to her front door. By now there was blood pooled on the floor, ruining the expensive hallway carpet. 'My front door has been completely destroyed. There are slash marks with blood in them and the blood isn't stopping.' She crouched down carefully and looked closer at the slashes. Blood was steadily pumping out of it. It seemed... Alive.

'Is this the first time you've been targeted?' the dispatcher asked.

'Targeted? I wasn't targeted, I was harassed and I know who by.' Aspen sat down on the ground, careful not to touch the still-growing pool of blood acting as a moat between her apartment and the hallway. 'His name is Zeke. I met him a few days ago and he hasn't left me alone since then. He broke into my house this morning and cooked me breakfast and now suddenly my door is wrecked. Put two and two together.' 

The sound of pen scratching on paper carried through the receiver. Aspen sighed and played with the ends of her hair, her phone balancing between her shoulder and cheek. Light danced through the window at the end of the hallway, illuminating dust particles as well as splintered pieces of wood swimming in the puddle on the floor. 

'Miss, I'll have two officers come by in the next hour just to make sure everything is okay.'

'The next hour?' Said Aspen, nearly dropping her phone 'I want someone here now.'

'Because you are not in any immediate danger, this isn't considered high priority at the present time.' The dispatcher explained. 

Aspen clenched her jaw in anger and stood up, walking back into her apartment. 'Whatever. I need to go to school so I won't be here when they arrive.' 

'Understandable. As long as the damage is only outside your home that won't be a problem. The officers will contact you if they need any information.' 

'I suggest they bring a forensics team with them. There's a lot of blood.' 

Hanging the phone up, Aspen put on her coat and grabbed her bag. She slid her phone into her pocket and left the apartment, gingerly pulling her door closed as she did so.

...

The wind blew stray hairs across Aspen's face and into her eyes as she boarded the bus. She fumbled around in her bag for change while trying to sort her hair out.

'Hurry up. I got places to go.' The bus driver said in a strong New York accent. She was a plump woman in her mid forties with curly red hair tied messily under a cap. A huge wart  just above her lip took centre stage. Her lips were cracked and painted purple and her eyelashes were clumpy and crooked. 

Aspen smiled sarcastically at her for a moment before directing her attention back to her bag. Startling Aspen, her phone began ringing. Groaning in frustration, Aspen pulled a $20 bill from her pocket and handed it haphazardly over to the driver. The driver immediately pulled out of the bus stop, chuckling when Aspen stumbled.