The Girl In Apartment 13 | Apply Fic

Chapter Fourteen: Midnight

Jade's head is pounding, her stomach twisting, and every muscle in her body is tight and achy. She tries to lift her head up but her muscles fail her. She let out a heavy breath, seeing it condense in front of her face. Slowly, she forces herself to roll onto her back, realizing she's staring up into the night sky. After a minute, she pushes herself into a sitting position, looking around. She doesn't recognize it but if she had to guess, she would assume that she's on the roof of a building.

"Oh fuck this," she scoffs.

She pulls all her strength together and pushes herself to her feet, trying to stretch enough for her muscles to loosen up. After a minute, she walks over to the stairwell that leaves to the roof, trying the door. The door rattles, clearly locked. She sighs and starts patting her pockets down until she finds her phone. She pulls it out, intending to call someone to come and hopefully get the door open. Oscar's sleep schedule is the weirdest of everyone's so he's her best shot. When she tries turning on her phone, she's greeted by an alert that she needs to plug her phone in. She rolls her eyes, scoffing.

"Typical."

She slowly approaches the edge, dropping to her knees and putting her hands on the stone lip, looking over for a few moments before pushing back. As she does so, the stone ledge shifts in her hands. It crumbles and falls apart, creating a two foot gap in the railing where there no longer is the protective lip.

"Nope, nope, hell the fuck nope."

She shoves herself back before getting up. Every part of her wishes for even one percent battery on her phone because that would be a text to the group chat that could get her the fuck out of this. She wraps her arms around her legs, slightly shaking from the cold. She slowly looks up, trying to find the moon or stars, neither of which are visible with the grey clouds forming about her head.

"Great. Fan-fucking-tastic. It's going to fucking rain on me."

Jade forces herself to her feet and goes back over to the door, trying it again. When it still doesn't open, she slams her hand into it.

"Come on guys," she calls through the door. "This isn't funny. Cart? Captain? Perry? Whoever did this really needs to let me the fuck back in. You know I don't do heights. Come on!"

She doesn't realize that her eyes are water until tears start falling down her cheeks. She quickly wipes them away, knocking on the door again.

"Seriously! This isn't funny. I'm starting to panic! Guys, let me back in!"

She hits the door one last time before closing her eyes and leaning her head against the metal. Her breathing is hard and heavy, becoming more of a chore as her fear starts to take over. She only ever came up to the roof once, but she was with Carter and Yumi and they went nowhere near the edge. She drags her nails along the metal to form her hands into fists, shaking from a mix of fear and anger.

Then a giggle rings out. Jade feels a tingle run down her spine, chilling her to the bone and causing her to tense up. It was like a knife cutting through the thick night air. It sounded somewhere between human and something not of this world. Slowly, Jade lifts her head up and looks around the rooftop for any other signs of life.

"Hello?" she calls out. "Is someone there?"

She takes two steps in the direction the laugh came from when it rings out again, this time from the complete opposite end of the roof. She whips around, hoping that someone is there.

"Who's there?" she demands, her voice firm as she tries to keep it from shaking.

She barely takes one step in the direction before the person laughs again, this time directly behind her. She whips around, not seeing anyone there.