#5: Next door

14/6/2010
3PM

Ann had just finished school. She walked intently back to her nearby apartment building, hair caught in the wind. She had no time to lose, she had to report to work in half an hour. She rushes into the elevator just as the doors were about to close, about to push the button for her floor only to realize it had already been pushed, illuminated in red, she knew all her neighbors living on her floor, however she did not recognize the man inside the elevator. She paid no attention to him, he wore a plaid shirt, buttoned halfway, denim jeans and a baseball cap that hid his eyes, he stared at the ground most of the time, but Ann felt extremely uneasy.

She stormed out the moment the doors open, partly because she was going to be late for work, but mostly because she was uncomfortable being around that man. frantically walking down the long hall, she reached her apartment, and started fumbling with her keys, in the corner of her gaze, she realized the man was walking directly towards her. She broke into a cold sweat, her heart beat quickened with every step he took. He was just a few feet away from her now, she finally manages to find the right key, hastily unlocking her door, only to realize he was unlocking the door next to hers. apparently he lived next door. Confused, she dumped her bag in a corner, changed to her barista uniform, tidied her hair in a mirror and ran out, making her way to the cafe she worked at.

14/6/2010
4PM

Ann reached work in the nick of time to start her shift. She thought nothing about what happened earlier, she assumed her next door neighbour, Ruth, was just having some company over. She was confused as to how she had never seen that man before, Ruth was a close friend of hers, a confidante. Ann parents separated when she was young, both of them had gotten re-married and cared little about her, Ann lived with her maternal grandmother in that very apartment all her life. She had the place all to herself now, her grandmother had passed away just a year ago. Ruth, who had been Ann's neighbour for five years would always check on Ann, comforting her, being a friend to her. They were like sisters. Ann and Ruth started to drift apart when Ann started her degree course, having little time to spend with Ruth.

She was glad to have some work to do, to keep her preoccupied, distracted, from the many things that were circling around her mind. She had many school assignments piling up, and they were due pretty soon. She decided to stay up that night to finish up even though she was exhausted.

14/6/2010
8PM

Ann finished her shift, got her things and departed for home after saying goodbye to her colleagues. It was pouring outside, and she had forgotten to bring an umbrella, regardless she made her way home under the pouring rain as she lived nearby. She briefly reached her apartment building, sodden from head to toe, she was dying to have a warm shower. She hit the elevator button and waited at the lobby. The elevator finally arrived, carrying within it, the man she had seen earlier, he dashed out the moment the doors opened, bumping into Ann. Ann, now agitated, shouted at him but he had ran far out of sight. Exhausted, she entered her apartment, stripped off her clothes and threw them in the laundry basket. At long last getting the warm shower she yearned for.

15/6/2010
4AM

After a long grueling night Ann eventually finished her assignments, and thought she might get some shut eye before school. Moments after getting into her bed Ann heard a soft knocking on the wall beside her. She slowly got up as she heard it a few more times. This was extremely unusual, she pressed her hear against the wall, the knocking had stopped.

"Ruth?" Ann called out rather loudly.

No answer. Ann sat there on her bed for about a minute before she decided she was just imagining things and went back to bed.

15/6/2010
11.30AM

Ann had woken up late and was rushing for school. She dashed out her apartment and impatiently pushed the elevator button several times. It was almost as if history was repeating itself. The man she had seen the previous day was coming up. When the elevator doors opened he walked out, clad in old looking clothes, the same baseball cap, carrying a rather large bag. He gave Ann a rather threatening look. Ann thought nothing of it, she assumed he was angry at her for shouting at him the previous night when he had bumped into her. This was the first time she had gotten a good look at his face, he had a menacing disposition.

15/6/2010
5PM

Ann was on her way home, she was relieved she had finally submitted her assignments and didn't have work that day, she could relax a bit. When she reached her floor, all she saw was numerous policemen, several reporters, yellow and black police tape sealing the entrance of Ruth's apartment. Ann was genuinely shocked, news reporters caught sight of her and the whole horde of them made a mad dash towards her, asking her questions she hadn't had a clue how to answer. A police officer pulled her aside away from the reporters and told them to leave her alone. Ann was still in shock, the police officer slowly explained that Ruth, Ann's neighbour had been killed, and they suspected that the Ruth was murdered by the same man who had killed numerous other girls around that area. Ann had goosebumps all over her body now. The officer went on to explain that this particular serial killer would befriend his victims often getting intimate with them before finally killing them Ann saw officers bring out several garbage bags, each stinking of death. She felt the urge to puke. She remembered something and sprinted into her apartment, followed by the officer. She grabbed her laundry basket and emptied its contents on her floor, quickly catching sight of the blouse she had worn the previous night. There it was, blood stains, from where he had bumped her. Ann turned back to look at the officer, the hairs on the back of her neck were standing.

15/6/2010
11PM

Two policemen were given the task to guard Ann's apartment building that night in case the serial killer were to return. Although Ann felt safe, she still had a sense of uneasiness. She didn't have school the next day, but she was tired from the hectic day she had had. She turned off her television, she couldn't find a way to preoccupy herself, so she decided to just go to bed. Her house was quiet, empty, and with Ruth gone, Ann felt so alone, she was still unable to accept that Ruth was really dead. She turned off all the lights and edged towards her bed. Nothing could prepare her for what she was about to experience next. As she was about to climb onto her bed she felt two strong vice-like grips on her ankles. Immediately she looked down, and in the bluish moonlight seeping in through her window she sees two arms, grabbing her from beneath her bed. Her heart skipped a beat, but she couldn't scream. The arms then pulled forward, making her fall, relentlessly pulling her under the bed. In her panic-stricken state, Ann manages to catch a glimpse of what was under her bed, it was him. She was extremely scared, his grip was so strong and she could not break away. She felt she was going to die, going to suffer the same fate as her dear neighbour Ruth and all the other girls he had mercilessly murdered. He was slowly making his way out from beneath the bed. Ann managed to find her voice and screamed,

"RUTH! RUTH HELP ME!"

At that very moment Ann heard the same knocking on her wall she had heard the night before, except it was much louder now. Within a split second, almost effortlessly, the four legs of her bed broke and gave way as the heavy bed frame came crashing down on his skull completely pulverizing it. The knocking stopped. Ann was paralyzed on the floor.

16/6/2010
2AM

Ann sat on her couch, huddling her knees, rocking back and forth as the paramedics brought the lifeless body of Ruth's ex-boyfriend away. Strangely, she began to cry, not because of what happened to her, but because she finally accepted that Ruth was truly gone. She managed to give a short report on what had happened even though she was traumatized.

The serial killer had killed her on the 14th and left, he returned the next day to discard her body, he was dismembering her into smaller pieces so it would be easier to hide her corpse. However he had run out of garbage bags for her remaining limbs. Ruth had had a set of keys to Ann's apartment, he used them, but as he was searching Ann's place he heard the siren of police cars and immediately locked the doors and hid under her bed. Neighbours had called the cops after they noticed the strong lingering smell of rotting flesh from Ruth's place. The police assumed he had left the building long before they arrived.

14/6/2011
3PM

Ann was visiting Ruth's grave. She placed a bouquet of daisies on the foot of the grave, Ruth's favourite flowers. She had had a rough year, but nothing compared to what Ruth had gone through. Ann still felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, she felt if she had not grown to far apart from Ruth, she would have still been alive. They were best friends, and when Ann left for college Ruth was alone, in need of company, so when this strange man came into her life, she welcomed him blind to his malign intentions. But Ann knew Ruth had forgiven her, she knew Ruth had helped her that night, that without her miraculous intervention she would definitely have become the killer's next victim. Ruth had become somewhat of a guardian angel for her, someone to fall back on, someone she could ask for help, whenever she needed.