The Girl In Apartment 13 | Apply Fic

Chapter Three: Dead of Night

CRASH

Oscar looks up from his book, startled from the noise coming from the apartment next to his. He grabs his glasses and bookmark from the end table before he puts his book away. He grabs his phone, checking the time on his phone.

"One in the morning, Arlo," he reports to the sleeping cat on his lap. "I should probably go make sure she's okay, right?"

He lifts the blanket off of his lap, his cat barely shifting when it gets placed on the couch. He grabs his keys and throws them into his pyjama pocket before leaving his apartment. He approaches Hensley's door and knocks twice before taking a step back. He listens, hearing crunching and cracking noises, likely from Hensley dealing with glass shards. He knocks again, hoping that she's able to hear him. He leans into the door, trying to listen to what is happening. He tries the door handle, hoping that Hensley left her apartment unlocked. The knob wiggles but doesn't open. He knocks again, feeling fear and frustration taking over.

"Hensley? Are you okay?" he calls out, hoping she can hear him but also hoping that he won't accidentally wake up anyone else.

He knocks on the door again, this time louder. For a moment, all sound ceases. He presses his ear against the wood, wanting to hear anything, any indication that Hensley is okay.

The door opens without warning, startling Oscar and causing him to stumble. He catches himself and takes a step back. He straightens his glasses, looking at Hensley. She has a blank look on her face, eyes devoid of all life. The door is just open enough for her to stand there, preventing Oscar from seeing in or walking past her.

"What?" she asks, even her voice seeming more dead than usual.

"I just heard a loud noise coming from here. And wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"I'm fine."

She tried to shut the door but Oscar uses his body as a doorstop, preventing her from shutting it.

"What happened?" he asks.

"Why do you care?" she asks, leaning in towards him.

"I'd like to believe that you and I are working towards being friends and friends care about each-"

"Why are you even awake right now?"

Oscar sighs and shakes his head. He knows Hensley is trying to dodge absolutely everything that he's asking. He knows something is wrong; that something happened that Hensley is hiding. He tries pushing against the wood but Hensley works to prevent him from being able to open it.

"I was up reading. I'm just concerned about you. What happened? Are you okay?" he asks again.

"Oh my God. I'm fine. My mirror in my room decided to swan dive off the wall and it scared me awake."

"Holy shit. Do you want some help cleaning the shards up?"

"I'm fucking fine, Oscar. I'm tired and grumpy so I'll deal with this. Go home and back to bed."

Hensley shoves on the door with surprising power, sending Oscar stumbling back into the door of Apartment Fourteen, Jade's home. He catches himself and takes a step towards Hensley's place again, something not sitting right in his stomach. He debates knocking again, though he knows all he'll do is piss the girl off further. He takes one step towards his place again before Jade's door opens. He whips around to see the girl pop her head out, wiping sleep from her eyes. She flicks one of her pigtails back, eyes narrowed at Oscar; though he can't figure out if it's because she's tired or pissed.

"Mr. Finley, is there any reason, in particular, you've decided to knock on my door at one in the morning?"

"Didn't mean to. Sorry. I heard a crash from in Hensley's apartment and went to talk to her. She knocked me back and into your door."