An Almost Perfect Life

I. A Tragic Decision

The alarm clock above the nightstand rang with the usual deafening singsong, making a silent snort escape your lips.
You forgot to unplug it so you wouldn't let that thing hit your eardrums the night before. Yes, you used to do it, because your lack of practicality with that hellish affair...
Speaking of hell...
The curtains in your room began to creak, letting the light of day enter to illuminate the darkness in which you used to bask.You growled disturbed as your eyes (Y / E) closed on a tall figure, with a pair of glasses and the hardest facial expression of a marble statue.
You took the pillow with your right hand and turned on your side, allowing one side of it to cover your ears and eyes.
Even though you were well covered and hidden, you still warned that man to approach your alarm clock and click on its top to silence it.And a voice reached you anyway, as if it were speaking directly to your ear and this made your nerves jump.
"Miss, it's time to wake up. I made you the usual coffee and pancakes with slices of strawberry and raspberry, on a bed of maple syrup."
You hated it when they talked like they were fucking waiters in a five-star restaurant.
"It's Sunday, disappear!" you murmured, still covered by the pillow but certain that they had heard you the same.
The pillow was gently removed from your head and hands, but still with enough force to make you drop all the weight on the mattress.
You got up on your elbows, casting a look of pure hatred towards the demon with glasses who had put your soft protection of soft cloth under your arm.
"If I'm not mistaken, you had planned to go for a run this morning after yesterday's dinner."
You frowned, sitting with your back against the headboard of the bed and ran your fingers through the tangle that had become your hair during the night. You hoped that the makeup on the eyelashes had not poured all over your face but from the spots you saw on your pillow you shouldn't have been a good show.
"Don't throw programs in my face that I say just to make myself feel good, damn it ..."
You brought your hands to your eyes, to erase embarrassing traces, and at the same time something was resting on your knees hidden by the gray and heavy blankets because the terribly harsh weather of London.
You turned around just in time to observe a flash of red eyes very close to your person but before you could slap him away, he was already retreating to the base of your bed.
In front of you, on a table, the food seemed to give off a sweet aroma that asked to be bitten despite the thousand thousand calories that governed. You got watering but you took it down as if it were a hard pill to swallow. You wouldn't have given any satisfaction to those two.
You observed them, statues at the foot of the bed as if they were really waiting for your order or your comment. There, in their white shirts and black pants.
"You have no intention of leaving, huh?"
As an answer, only that usual cryptic and malicious smile came from both.

It all started four days earlier. It was a Wednesday like any other. You had your morning coffee, you dressed in the usual uniform with a black skirt and white shirt and you went to work. Your apartment was located in the center of Westminster, in the small district where about 40 families stayed but not more and about 400 meters away from the underground.
You had a car, of course, but you preferred to save money by taking an annual public transport pass and avoiding, at least during the week, the terrible traffic that filled the streets of London.
By divine grace, that day had decided not to rain and you cursed randomness for it.
At the end of your shift at the bank you worked for, you collected your things and said goodbye to all your colleagues. The bank was located in central London and wasn't very close to the tube station but still busy and viable enough to be reached.
Besides, it was also a beautiful day, until...
Many passersby seemed to stop in front of an alley but, after being vaguely interested, they passed on. Intrigued, you approached and the sound of flapping wings and a loud croaking came to your ears.
It seemed as if a bird was stirring. Maybe he must have got caught in something.
The alley was dark, so many left it alone and went their own way, but don't let that put you off. You loved all the animals except the flying insects, those you just couldn't stand them and thinking that maybe that bird could have stumbled into some trap made your heart tighten.
You took your cell phone from your pocket and turned on the torch, to allow you to better see in the darkness and there, a few steps away from you, a black crow was flapping its wings furiously.
You didn't see anything blocking him or forcing him to the ground but he seemed irritated by something.
"Hey, shh, shh-" you tried to murmur, trying to get him back to the ground but suddenly, as if the light had momentarily blinded him, with a strong blow something hit the crow and they both ended up against the wall sliding on the ground.
With a lump in your throat, you advanced quickly to that point and pointed the flashlight at the two animals on the ground.
The crow had bruised wings with rivulets of blood that wet the ground and what appeared to be a bat even had one of the wings pierced.
"What am I doing now?" you wondered, going back around you. You couldn't run out into the street and yell at someone to rescue beasts, but you couldn't even abandon them there. You were sure that some wild cats would eat them at the first opportunity.
You pointed the flashlight away from there and near a garbage bin you found an abandoned cardboard. It was dirty and even slightly wet on the sides but it would have been better than putting the two blood-filled creatures directly on your shirt. Then, you weren't sure they didn't bring disease.
You grabbed it and went back to where they were slumped and, with the help of a handkerchief, placed them inside the cardboard. Your phone indicated that it was 6 pm and if you had not hurried your area would have been packed with neighbors returning from work. Seeing you come in with two potentially sick animals would not have been an easy topic to avoid.
The journey home was quiet, London had seen oddities far more gradual than a woman carrying a dirty box.
When the bat woke up he began to scratch the crow that croaked in response and with a nervous tic you shouts to stop. In addition to receiving disturbed looks from the passengers, what surprised you was that the two had started to stare at you and at the same time stopped poking themselves.
You entered your apartment in the most discreet way possible, avoiding to greet someone and placed the box on the ground near the entrance door.
The two creatures watched your movements and suddenly that pair of yellow and red eyes started to upset you a lot.
You went back to them with two pieces of cloth you had made from an old hole in the sheet and you started to treat the crow first.
You passed a piece of wet paper on its wings but as soon as it came into contact with a wound, it croaked. You were about to drop it for fear that it would prick you with its beak but didn't venture anything like that.
You came to the conclusion that his wing was broken and that you couldn't do much without being practical. You cleaned it with the greatest possible care and together with the cloth, you placed it gently in an empty shoe box, then you returned to the bat.
That seemed like waiting for you, resting with your front and back legs as he stared at you.
You lifted him by his hairy chest, but beyond one of his clawless legs and pierced wings, all you could do was put him in a small box surrounded by cloth.
In the end, you decided that you would take the animals to the vet before going to work and they would take care of the situation.
Or so you thought ...
When you woke up the next morning, you felt that something was wrong. More a feeling than a real conscience.
You got out of bed, carefully, intending to check the two creatures that you had placed in the bathroom but when you arrived at the door that was already open.
You entered and in the makeshift kennels there was no trace of anything but the blood that had been left there.
As you closed the boxes, hoping that the animals had come out of the window and that they had not wandered around the house, the unmistakable sound of the gas being solicited was heard in the kitchen.
The blood froze in your veins.
Your ex-boyfriend no longer had the keys to your apartment and your parents would have warned of a possible surprise visit.You left the bathroom and grabbed the collectible dagger that your ex had left at your house on the shelf in the hallway.
You knew that one day, a weapon at hand would be useful.
The house keys were exactly where you left them the day before, hung on the wall in front of the small mirror above the shelf and swallowed loudly when you arrived in front of the door that separated the corridor from the kitchen.
Now the sound of cutlery and a pot on the fire was unmistakable.
What should you have done? Calling the police seemed the obvious choice, but when you turned to grab the charging cell phone in the same place where the dagger was lying, you only found the cable. The cell phone was gone.
You held the weapon tightly in your hands. You had possessions at home, possessions you cared about a lot and you didn't want them to be taken away but you had no other choice. Maybe if you started screaming down the corridor that a thief had entered your house someone would have rushed, even if only to put him on the run.
You took one last look at the kitchen and advanced towards the exit but when you tried to open the door you found it locked, you never locked it.
You raised a hand to grab the keys but took the void.
Confused you turned your gaze to where they were supposed to be but you found nothing in their place.
You opened your lips but immediately covered your mouth with your free hand to avoid that no sudden sound came out. You were sure you saw them there moments before.
"Are you looking for these?"
You turned suddenly and there, a few centimeters from you, a man was waving the keys of your door in the palm of his hand, a sharp smile on his fine lips.
You pushed yourself against the door, trying to put as much distance as possible between you and the stranger and you raised the knife in front of your stomach as if to protect yourself.
His abnormally red eyes seemed to pierce you from side to side.
"W-What do you want from me? I have no money in the house, I swear! " squeaked, letting your anxiety pour over your hands causing the knife to vibrate.
The man looked down at the weapon and raised an eyebrow.
"But take a look, the kitten has claws." He raised his hand to try to grab you but before you knew it you pushed the knife against it, trying to stop his advance but he stopped the blade as if it were made of rubber. He squeezed it tight and pulled it from your hands with little difficulty making you almost collide with his chest.
Caught off guard by your advancement, you managed to escape from under his arms and ran to your room desperately looking for something that could protect you or contact someone.
"Now, now, don't you think the best solution is to play after a good breakfast?"
The man in the corridor was right in front of the door of your room, watching you as a cat observes a trapped mouse.
Not panicking, you felt the cold breeze of the London air go through the pile of your pajamas. You had the window open, it would have been enough for you to come closer and scream and someone would surely have arrived...
But just as you took a step, your back collided with what was definitely a body.
You had checked the room, there was nobody there, there could be absolutely no one! And the man with the mocking grin was right in front of you!
You turned your head just to look at a serious, square face with a pair of glasses that covered bloody yellow eyes.
Thieves and even madmen. How many of them were still in there?
You tried to escape from the newcomer, turning around to reach the window but before you could scream the man grabbed you by the arm and forced you against him placing a hand in front of your mouth.
You clawed his arm, trying to hurt him as much as possible but that didn't seem to move in the least. Just as if you were a stupid butterfly in a spider's web.
Tears came to your eyes and you didn't bother letting them run down your cheeks and on the hand of your kidnapper.
Distracted and desperate, you couldn't even notice that the red-eyed accomplice had bent over you and raised the blade right in front of his lips.
"You used so much discretion when you let us in, Miss, let's keep it, okay?"

-----------------------------------------------------

Yeah, I know.I still don't know how to use verbs properly but try to understand, I'm an Italian girl who still has some difficulty with English.
Let's say that by writing this story, I keep myself trained.
Please let me know what you think because I am going to continue it for an audience, not just myself.

Bye for now ;)