Chris looked at the package with apprehension, his eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. He knew he would have to return the box, currently sitting upon a hastily cleared out spot on his dining room table.
Of course he knew who it belonged to, the new neighbor who lived a staircase away from him.
He swallowed roughly and fingered the loose taping on the cardboard box, while considering his actions. He could simply say he didn't know it wasn't for him, because he had forgotten to look at the address on the box, but that would be suspicious, he knew he had to return it, but he was far from ready to leave his sanctuary.
Maybe he could just give it to the landlady to return? Yeah, that would work. A pang of guilt washed through him, he knew the landlady was old and kind, she would understand and walk up the stairs, regardless of her bad knee. Ms. Elizabeth didn't deserve that, she needed her rest and she had been so kind to him...
With a sharp intake of air Chris got up and grabbed the box, tucking it under one hoodie clad arm before he could stop himself.
He stormed out of his dining room and rushed to the doorway, hastily grabbing his key ring in a clammy fist and opening the beige door.
The sunlight burned his eyes and he suddenly felt empty and high strung. This was a mistake, a mistake, a mistake! He couldn't stop the feelings of dread from wrapping around his throat, he thought back to his conversation with his mother, thought back to her sobs, and desperately began wishing back the monochrome buzz.
Chris took a deep breath, he wasn't prone to panic attacks, but he did have plenty of anxiety attacks. He calmed himself marginally and focused on his only thought 'It's just one staircase away, I have to give it back.' Chris felt annoyed at the man who had knocked on his door and dropped the package in the first place, even if he was aware the anger was wrong, it kept him going.
Chris quietly made his way across the hall of his room, where he veered right and saw the metal staircase linking the two halves of the apartment complex. Breathing a quiet sigh of relief he walked up the stairs and pretended not to hear it groan.
Once he was up he took a tentative look around, there were no people - which was to be expected at ten o'clock AM on a Tuesday - Chris stalked to the joint hallway and turned left, it only took three seconds for his destination to appear in his vision. Feeling a small sense of anxiety return he bit his lip and gripped the package tighter, he would look idiotic if he turned back now.
The door seemed to loom the longer he stared at it. Chris closed his eyes and knocked hesitantly. Staring at his feet he counted to twenty in his head before, without warning, the door cracked open an inch. Startling, he jerked his head up and stared down the young man in front of him. The small stranger must have only been up to his collar bone despite looking relatively the same age as Chris himself. He had dark black hair which hung around his face and curled delicately around his neck, effectively covering his eyes from sight. A pale hand disappeared from the door's knob and the stranger ducked out of sight, like a frightened rabbit.
He hadn't even seemed the man's face.
Chris began contemplating turning back and forgetting the weird experience, before the door cracked open once more and a large house cat leered at him, its singular eye narrowing in suspicion. Chris blinked, feeling very bewildered at the unjustified looks the cat was giving him. Then he saw the crumpled paper the cat was holding, Chris bent down slowly and very shakily took it out of the black cat's jaw.
The cat didn't seem phased so Chris unraveled the lined paper, it appeared to have been ripped out of a notebook of some kind.
I'm sorry, I can't talk very well. I'm assuming you're here about the box? Could you please leave it by the door? Morrow (my cat) will tell me when you have.
-Ki, your neighbor (I'm sorry for inconveniencing you)
Chris stared blankly at the note for awhile, before relenting and setting down the package, taking a step back afterwards. He skeptically eyed the feline and was surprised when it let out a large meow, before gripping the package in its teeth and dragging it into the dark house.
What just happened?
YOU ARE READING
Lacuna
AdventureChris, a failing artist at twenty, cannot deal with his family or his anxiety, living in a small apartment building, meets Ki, his reclusive neighbor, never seen without his creepy black cat, who might have more in common with him than Chris thought...
