“Hello?” I call out, but then I immediately think that’s the stupidest thing I could do.
No one answers, and it’s scary and a relief at the same time.
“Fuck this shit.” I whisper to myself. “I’m going to my room.” I can come back early tomorrow morning for the clothes. It’s midnight and I doubt anyone will want to wash their clothes right now. And if they do, there are several machines that aren’t in use.
The hallway in the basement isn’t as polished as the communal spaces in the rest of the building.
The walls here are exposed brick, and the floor is naked concrete as opposed to the plush carpet that’s everywhere else.
The eco light right above my head turns on as I exit the laundry room. The lighting system is set up to save energy, so as I advance down the deserted corridor, the lights ahead of me come on while the ones behind me are turned off. It’s a motion sensor system; I realize whenmy phone vibrates and I stop to check it.
It takes a few seconds to retrieve my phone and unlock the screen for the lights above me to go out, plunging me in total darkness. For a second I panic, scared out of my mind.
Then I think that all I need to do to make the lights come back on is to move.
I take a couple of steps but stop again to look at the text message that just came in.
Unknown: You look scared. Good. You should be.
Everything goes dark again, and I know I should move, but it’s like my muscles are frozen.
“Who the fuck are you?” I call out. “Show yourself!”
I don’t know what I was expecting, but whoever is trying to mess with me doesn’t come forward.
The screen of my phone coming to life again looks like a bolt of lightning in the dark basement.
Unknown: Stabby knife emoji, stabby knife emoji, stabby knife emoji.
I don’t know who’s messing with me, but this lastmessage triggers my fight-or-flight instinct. And right now? I’m in flight mode.
My muscles finally obey the distress signals that are coming from my brain, and I take off running toward the elevator.
Maybe the person who’s sending the text isn’t even here. It must be the case since the hallways in front and behind me are dark.
Unless…
I stop again. My heart is hammering against my ribcage so hard and fast that white spots are starting to invade the edges of my vision.
The lights might be coming on just when I move because I’m alone here or because whoever is texting me is waiting for me to reach them.
If they had been hiding behind a corner without moving, the lights wouldn’t have come on.
All of a sudden, the elevator seems like the stupidest place I could be. What if the creep is waiting right by the elevator doors? Or even worse, inside it? Would they even be able to text from there? If they were connected to the building’s Wi-Fi, they could.
Maybe I should go back to my apartment via the stairs.
But what if my mysterious stalker isn’t by the elevator and used the stairs? I freeze again.
If this were a horror movie, the safest place to be would be with other people. Safety in numbers.
There’s that party going on in Vaughn’s apartment on the ground floor. Like last time, there are bound to be people out on the deck or on the beach.
The safest way to get back to my apartment would be by walking out, up the short flight of stairs that leads onto the beach and around the building. I could go back in fromthe main entrance or even go through the party and see if Tucker or Colsen or one of my roommates would mind walking me back to my room.
I move again, and I wish the lights were brighter so I could see further away than just a few feet.
There’s a fire door at each end of the hallway; those are the only two exit points without using the stairs or the elevator. I’m roughly halfway through the hallway, so it doesn’t matter which direction I take.
