Disturbance

Five months earlier...

His fist pounded against the door, "Hey! I need to talk to you!"

He glared at the numbers five-zero-six engraved on the wood. Never before did he have this sort of trouble with his upstairs neighbor. It started a week ago and he would be damned if he let the ruckus go on any longer. The man struck the door with his fist again. As he considered going down to the front desk and putting in a complaint, he heard the door unlock. A moment later, it opened just an inch. Darkness filled the gap and an unpleasant smell swirled out. He took a step back and frowned. Finally, someone leaned over to peek through the space. Only a sliver of the face was visible to him, and one glossy dark eye. It didn't focus on him it only stared out. He heard a soft voice, feminine-like speak from behind the door. She sounded... off as she murmured, "Yes?"

The man straightened up and cleared his throat. "I'm George, from apartment four-zero-six—the unit right below yours? I am telling you nicely to keep your kids in line and for them to stop moving around like a stampede of animals. It's important I get a full night's sleep, and I can't do that if they keep making noises."

"Oh," she didn't blink, not once.

The smell finally started to get at George, while he waited for an apology. None came. "So, are you going to fix this problem, or am I going to have to get the superintendent involved?"

His voice picked up a certain edge and yet still she didn't move, but he could hear whispering behind the door. He began to feel a pressure start to build up in his head. The audacity this woman had! George opened his mouth to speak again, when two smaller faces appeared, right below the woman. They formed a line. Pale, in the dark background of the room, with only one eye visible. They too stared straight out, as if he wasn't there. The hair on the back of George's neck lifted, and just as soon as he had felt his blood pressure rise, it began to fall. It lowered to the point where he felt dizzy. He swallowed, uncomfortable with the three glossy eyes staring at him, and the smell too, of course.

The woman spoke again, or so he though, he couldn't see her jaw really move, "They understand. They'll be quiet from now on."

He was satisfied, but George could not bring himself to move, just yet. It wasn't until he realized what nagged at him, did he back up and fast. The woman's face rose up just a little, straight up, and her hair swayed with the jolted movement.

"Would you like to come in?" She offered.

George's breathing became shallow and rapid then. He shook his head and struggled to swallow. "Thank you, but no. I've taken up too much of your time already. Goodnight."

He gave a curt nod before he walked off down the hall to get back to the elevator. The perspiration that formed along his brow wiped was away with the sleeve of his shirt. He could not get the image of the woman and her two children out of his mind. Their pale faces in the darkness, staring at him. His mouth went dry again. It was a short walk from the door to the elevator. It was just a couple of hallways over with plenty of other doors he could stop and pound on if something arose. George reached the steel doors without trouble, however. An unsteady hand pushed the down button. He waited, desperate to rid his memory of the family with their eyes glossy and unfocused—one head right on top of the other.

Miniscule movement in the reflection of the unpolished steel of the elevator caught his attention. George looked back toward the hall, as the doors slid open and partly visible from around the corner were three faces. They were small, with large unblinking rust-colored eyes. At first, George thought they were children, but their smiling lipless mouths said otherwise. As did the stark hunger, he thought he saw in their eyes. He stumbled as he rushed to get inside the elevator, as they just stared at him. Frantically he pushed the button to close the door; in his opinion, it didn't close fast enough.