Locked Door

Chapter 4

I knew I had to get out of there and find a new apartment to live in, but I just couldn't. Something was very wrong and there were people who were potentially in danger. I couldn't just let them go.

The question which plagued my mind constantly was - who was Michelle? If she was the previous tenant, then Vincent lied to me about not knowing other tenants. I had to talk to him. But I couldn't just barge in at 6 am, demanding to know who Michelle was, so instead I decided the best approach would be coming for lunch and starting a casual conversation with him. Maybe his wife would also shed some light on the whole situation.

But first I had to get some rest. I was beyond physically and mentally tired and needed a break. I fell into my bed, feeling like I was going to fall through the softness of it and stared at the ceiling. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes when I started to feel my eyelids become heavy.

For some reason however, I couldn't relax. There wasn't any particular reason why I couldn't, I just couldn't. I closed my eyes and then shot them open. I thought I heard someone calling my name, so I looked around the room. It must have been my imagination, though, since no one was there.

I closed my eyes again.

"Nathan..." – a soft whisper made me open my eyes again.

Despite feeling my heart start to race, I struggled to keep my eyes open. I hazily looked around the room, but no one was there. I relented and closed my eyes again.

"Nathan..." – the whisper resounded again, louder and clearer than last time.

I opened my eyes once more, still struggling to keep them open despite the clear presence of another person in my room. I wanted to get up, but I couldn't. It's as if my body was just too heavy to even move my head.

"Nathan..." – the whisper was directly in my ear now, but I couldn't look.

I should have been frightened shitless, but for a very strange reason, the voice seemed to have an opposite effect and I felt my eyes staying closed for longer periods of time.

And then I heard the sound which made jump out of bed. Creaking. My eyes shot open and stayed like that. I could move again, so I scrambled out of my bed, frantically looking around, only to find an empty bedroom. After calming down, I glanced at my watch. 13:25 pm. I had slept through the entire morning without even realizing it, but felt surprisingly refreshed. I grabbed a snack and decided it was finally time to visit my neighbor.

I got out my apartment and as I closed the door, I saw that the old lady from 307 heading towards her apartment.

"Ma'am, wait-" – I started, but she shot me an angry glance and interrupted me.

"Stay the hell away from me!" – she said as she pulled out her keys and turned to the door.

"Ma'am, please, I just want to know a few things. About my apartment. My life could be at stake here. And possibly the lives of other people." – I recited as quickly as possible, out of fear of having her lose interest or interrupt me again.

She put her keys in the lock and then froze, shaking her head.

"All I can tell you is, you need to get out of here if you value your life." – she looked at me with utter seriousness – "That apartment is dangerous."

She twisted the keys and unlocked the door with a loud metallic echo. She opened the door, ready to step in.

"Wait, why is it dangerous? What do you know about it?"

My demands fell on deaf ears as the lady went inside and shut the door in my face yet again. I wanted to call out to her, but ultimately decided not to bother her. Besides, I had to go and talk to Vincent. I ran down the flight of stairs and got to apartment 204. I raised my hand to knock on the door, when I saw a piece of paper taped to it.