Thin Walls -- Short Story Thriller

Thin Walls

Weeks ago, Kathryn would've sworn up and down that her apartment was the best deal out there. It was conveniently placed, equidistant from the grocery store, her girlfriend's house, and her workplace. Parking was easy to come by and free. The landlord was friendly and helpful. Her neighbors weren't even that bad.

The caveat? Thin walls. Frighteningly thin walls, one reviewer had described. So thin, they might be knocked down with a single, gentle breath. She would not know the troubles these thin walls would cause her until her 3rd month in the place.

She was coming back from a holiday party, unsurprisingly late. The buzz of alcohol still trembling in her skull, she was a bit disoriented and more than a bit drowsy. She almost immediately fell on her bed.

But as she was drifting off, a burst of sound reached her through those blasted walls. The lovely sounds of a couple arguing. With a sign, she heaved herself up and went to get her noise-canceling headphones that her girlfriend lovingly bought for Kathryn as a house warming gift.

She flopped back down in her bed, slipping the headphones comfortably over her ears. Their muffling properties provided the perfect void of quiet.

But there's a limit to everything. There's only so much that a pair of headphones can block out. Maybe if the walls had been thicker. Maybe she could have just minded her own business. Maybe she could have kept her apartment. Not that anyone was stopping her, but there was no way in hell she was going to stay after...

In the middle of the night, a sound rose from the apartment next to Kathryn's. A single, overwhelming boom that caused her to fly up and nearly fall to the floor. For a moment, she just sat, upright on her bed, waiting.

She doubted her own ears, had it been a part of her dream? But no, it couldn't have been. Suddenly, 3 more sounds, one after the other in the same fashion. Now there was no doubt in Kathryn's mind as to what she heard.

Gunshots.

It was as if she was a toy, wound up and ready to be set off. She was still for a couple of seconds...and then she sprung into action. 

Kathryn moved so fast, that she fell on the floor in her mad rush to reach her phone. With shaking hands, she dialed 911 and waited with bated breath. She was on the floor with her knees to her chest, leaning against the kitchen island.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Yes, hello." Kathryn greeted the operator with a desperate cry. "I heard gunshots from my neighbors' apartment. Earlier there was a couple of arguing, and I think someone might-"

Kathryn was cut off when she heard another distinct sound. Not at the fault of the thin walls this time. She heard the opening of a door in the hall. She heard the gentle footsteps of someone, coming from the apartment next door.

And then she heard a hard and fast knock at the door.