The dark mist of the night shrouded Harper's room in shade with a dim beam of light reflecting in from the streetlights sitting outside of the window. Harper constantly rolled around her bed, repeatedly fixing her pillows, tugging on to her covers and forcing her eyes shut only to reopen them several moments later to check if any time had passed. As the alarm clock on her bed side cabinet changed from three-thirteen to three-fourteen Harper grunted in frustration and launched herself back on to her bed.
She put her new diagnosis of insomnia down to some sort of form of PTSD, caused by that terrible night three months ago. Since that fateful night, instead of sleeping she would unwilling re-live it in her head. The sound of the screams, the cold sensation overtaking her body as she froze in fear and Alex's face when they got to her…
Although, instead of Alex's cold pale complexion, tonight only one face stuck in her mind. Max's. His eyes when he came face to face with Harper haunted her, she wasn't sure if it was a look of terror or delight. One thing she did know for certain though was that his appearance was not a welcomed one.
Why did she have to go to that party?
Why did he have to be there?
A million thoughts rushed through her head and each one filled her with dread, bumping into Max at Ray's party had opened a can of worms which Harper would have preferred to remain tightly shut. As the clock ticked on, Harper felt her synapses shutting, the quiet lure into sleepiness. As each of her limbs became heavy her heart slowed to a more peaceful beat. She gave in and let her eyes close as she relaxed into her mattress.
Thud, thud, thud.
Harper's eyes peaked open, the muffled noise continue as it grew increasingly louder before calming again. When the noise faded away Harper mumbled to herself, "stupid neighbours," before launching her face back into her pillow and returning to sleep.
Thud, thud, thud.
"I'm not listening to this," Harper groaned to herself.
Thud, thud, thud.
"I can't hear you…"
Thud, thud, thud.
"Oh, come on!" Harper launched her duvet on to the floor before barging out of her bedroom and straight out of her apartment's front door.
She stopped in the hallway and looked around, the ticking of the old grandfather clock at the end of dark hallway gradually reduced, the ticking had a relaxed feeling, as if it were a heartbeat at rest. Harper felt as if the air moved like cool water and the aroma of the pungent air freshener lingering in the air infused her far more deeply than it did in the light of day. In the twilight the fabrics hanging from the dirty beige walls were muted colours, as if they too awaited dawn to ignite their colours for all to see.
"Hello?" Harper whispered edging her way down the hall, the floor creaked underneath her feet, "who's there?"
Footsteps echoed sharply around the deserted hallway, sounding overly loud in Harper's delicate ears, like the booming heartbeat of a condemned prisoner. Harper peered down the hall to see who was approaching her but there was no one to be seen, however, in the corner of her eye she caught sight of a shadow lingering at the bottom of the hall. The footsteps paused and very quickly Harper was overcome with fear, like a knife in the gut was being twisted excruciatingly slow. Her breath become stuck in her throat as Harper fought valiantly for breath, a cold sweat passed over her body as she trembled and fought to control the new feeling of nausea rising within her.
Gradually the footsteps resumed, trudging up towards Harper, they had a wet sound to them as if they squelched with each step taken. Each footfall is chaotically spaced from the last, no rhythm at all. Bit by bit they sped up, changing from a slow stumble to a rapid speed. Whoever it was seemed determined, or more likely they were angry.
Harper had no idea who or what it was, but it was clear to her that they were a threat.
As fast as her feet could carry her Harper rushed back into her apartment, she spun around to the slam the door but instead felt a strong force violently push her to the cold floor. Harper held her head in pain as her forehead smacked on to the wooden flooring and she panted frantically as she fought to maintain calm breaths. An ice-cold air hovered above her, Harper remained still on the ground and eventually the draft evaporated away.
Harper pulled herself up and moved her trembling hand to the newly formed bump on her head, she winced in pain as her fingertips made contact with the throbbing bruise. Carefully Harper lifted herself up from the floor and wavered over to the nearby mirror hanging on the wall. She sighed as she adjusted the slanted mirror before observing her injury. The dark purple bulge was quickly growing and Harper groaned in annoyance, how was she going to explain this at work tomorrow? She then pulled at her sunken cheeks, the dark circles under her tired eyes had also expanded.
Harper felt a wave of sorrow come over her, she missed the person she used to be, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get her back. It was in that moment she felt an icy breath shoot down her ear. Harper reacted quickly, flinching her neck and covering her ear before spinning round and observing the area around her. There was nothing or no one to be seen.
She chuckled to herself and then returned to gazing at her reflection, she turned and instantly made contact with the Alex's corpse like expression standing behind her. Her once gleaming brown eyes had dulled, their sparkled was gone and instead they were filled with blackness. There was a softness to her complexion which should have reassuring to Harper but as Alex's scrawny fingers reached up and rested on Harper's shoulder the frosty air shot back down Harper's ear as Alex's voice crackled, "boo…"
Harper's voice became trapped in her throat and in a fight or flight reaction she ran into her bedroom, slamming the door firmly behind her. She could hear Alex marching after her and as Harper rested in front of her bedroom door she felt Alex try to aggressively punch it open. Harper cried out in fear as she used all her strength to keep it shut, leaning her back up against the door, her body painfully smacked into it with each hit Alex give. Steadily Alex slowed down and her brutal blows came to a stop.
Tears rolled down Harper's face, she quietly blubbered to herself and yanked herself up from the floor. Slowly she reached out her dithering hand and turned the rusty doorknob, the door let out a loud whine as it gently drifted open. Harper remained frozen in her place but her eyes darted around the empty room in front of her, Alex was gone, Harper gave a sigh in relief before firmly shutting her bedroom door behind her and propping her desk chair against it for extra security. As Harper turned to her bed she was met with another strong force of freezing air, her eyes snapped shut to protect themselves from the icy sting. When they reopened there in front of her floated Alex, Harper looked up at her intimidating figure, Alex's dark dress flowed in the breeze and her long damp hair hung from her head.
"I'm sorry…" Harper croaked.
Alex then suddenly erupted into an ear-splitting shriek, Harper collapsed to the floor as Alex launched herself over her. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"
Harper sobbed hysterically, covering her bulbous green eyes with her gaunt hands, she pleaded for her life. She felt Alex loiter close to her body but in one swift movement the newly added pressure above Harper vanished. Bit by bit her eyes peered open and to her relief Alex was gone…