Chapter 1- the keys
“Kira!… Kira, where are the keys?”
Seraphine’s voice echoed through the apartment as she headed toward Kira’s bedroom.
Kira was sprawled across her bed with a guitar resting in her lap. She looked up and immediately shouted back.
“How am I supposed to know when you were the last one who took them?”
The two had been roommates for over a year. Kira, twenty-six, had graduated several years ago. With her short dark hair, piercings, and sharp attitude, she was hard to ignore. Seraphine, on the other hand, was twenty-three and had graduated only a year ago. Since then, she had been living with Kira.
“Fuck, you messed up the notes I was practicing, and you knew I’d been working on them since this morning,” Kira said, adjusting her grip on the guitar.
Seraphine crossed her arms.
“Not my damn problem you forgot where you put your keys. You might wanna get that memory checked.”
Kira rolled her eyes.
“You’re really gonna give me a hard time just because I forgot where my keys were?”
Before Seraphine could answer, Kira’s cat jumped onto the study table. While wandering across it, the cat accidentally knocked a set of keys onto the floor.
Both girls immediately looked down.
Seraphine stared at the keys before looking back at Kira.
“Sure. It was with me last time. And then your cat suddenly pulled it out of thin air, right?”
She bent down, picked them up, and headed for the door.
“I’ll copy it and you won’t have to humiliate me again. I won’t be late.”
As she walked out, Kira called after her.
“Don’t be late. I have to go out too.”
Seraphine ignored the bedroom door and left it wide open.
“God, at least close the door behind you!”
But Seraphine had already left the apartment.
Kira let out a long sigh, got up, shut the door herself, and returned to practicing.
⸻
Later that morning, Seraphine met up with her boyfriend, Silas.
She walked out of the building toward the car where he was already waiting for her. Silas sat in the driver’s seat, scrolling through his phone until he noticed her approaching.
A smile immediately appeared on his face.
When she got inside, he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“Morning, Sera.”
She smiled.
“Hey, honey… how was your trip with your friends?”
As she fixed her lip gloss using the mirror, Silas smirked.
“Wasn’t that bad.”
“Wasn’t that bad?” she repeated curiously.
“I missed you.”
The sudden honesty made her blush.
“I missed you more. Like, really.”
She looked into his eyes and smiled.
“I’ll stay with you on the weekend.”
With that, Silas started driving.
A few minutes later, he glanced at her.
“Oh, by the way. How’s Kira?”
The smile on Seraphine’s face faded slightly.
She turned her attention toward the window.
Silas noticed immediately.
“What? Did you two fight again?”
“Let’s just enjoy our day without bringing her up, alright?”
Her voice was gentle, but final.
Silas knew better than to push further.
“Alright.”
⸻
Two hours later, their date was still going well.
They had already finished dinner and were looking through the dessert menu.
“You better try the new cheesecake,” Silas said.
Seraphine laughed.
“I’m literally on a diet. Are you trying to sabotage me?”
“Just eat this time. I’m not arguing.”
Before she could answer, her phone suddenly rang.
The moment she saw the caller ID, her face dropped.
“Shit… I forgot.”
She answered.
The second she put the phone to her ear, Kira exploded.
“I’VE BEEN TEXTING YOU!”
Seraphine winced.
“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how fast time went.”
Kira took a deep breath, trying—and failing—to calm herself.
“I’m supposed to go out with my friends, and you’ve got my keys! I don’t wanna be locked out of the apartment!”
Her friends were supposed to arrive any minute.
“Okay, okay. I’m on my way now. Calm down.”
She ended the call.
Silas looked at her.
“Is everything okay?”
Seraphine sighed.
“Yeah. I just have to go. We can meet again on the weekend.”
She grabbed her bag.
“Can you drive me back to my apartment?”
⸻
By the time Seraphine returned, she was running late.
She had stopped to make another copy of the key before heading home.
Slowly, she unlocked the apartment door and stepped inside.
The apartment was dark.
That wasn’t unusual.
Kira practically lived in darkness.
But tonight felt different.
Quieter.
Heavier.
“Kira?… Are you home?”
No answer.
Seraphine locked the front door behind her and walked toward Kira’s room.
She knocked.
Nothing.
She checked the kitchen.
Empty.
The bathroom.
Empty.
Every room felt strangely still.
A chill ran down her spine.
Kira wouldn’t leave without her keys.
So where was she?
Then—
A knock echoed through the apartment.
Loud.
Sudden.
Unexpected.
Seraphine froze.
The sound came from the front door.
Slowly, she turned toward it.
Her heartbeat quickened as she stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
Finally, she reached the door and wrapped her fingers around the doorknob.
