The Second After

The clock read 2:13 AM. Mr. Adler’s Apartment was the only one with its lights still on across the street, which was quite unusual since his lights were never on at this hour. I’ve only ever known two kinds of people that stay awake at this time: people who can’t sleep, like me and people who are about to witness a Murder. I’d heard that on a pod cast before. And There I was, eating instant noodles, I definitely hadn’t sign up for option two.

Something felt off. There was someone else in Mr. Adler’s apartment and he had been living alone for quite a while. I hadn’t seen a single woman walk through that door in ages, Which, honestly, had been a little boring for me. So, seeing a dark figure there late at night was slightly alarming, but I told myself that he must have found some company after all this time. It looked suspicious, sure, but I decided to ignore it and returned to my very yummy instant noodles and late night reading.

After a while, I looked out of my window, purely out of curiosity, definitely not being nosy. The lights were still on but there was only one figure now so, I assumed the guest must have left. Thinking everything had gone back to normal, I was just about to turn away when I heard a loud thud that pierced through the silence of the night.

I rushed back to the window to see if I could figure out what had happened. But I couldn’t make out much. The sound had me concerned, and I’m the kind of person who has to tell someone what’s on my mind, so naturally, the first person who came to mind was Lexi, My personal emotional support or as others would call it “best friend. I grabbed the phone off the table and immediately called Lexi.

“Hey Lexi”-

Before I could say anything else, she started yelling from the other end.

“Why are you calling this late, Ava?”

“You know I Wouldn’t call unless it was important”

“Oh, yeah? like the last time where you called just to tell the guy you liked from your book Had died”

“Hey that was necessary, I had a heartbreak and I’m still recovering but that’s not important right now”

“Remember Mr. Adler from the apartment across from mine?”

“That guy who never invites anyone over, not even a woman. I’ve always thought he was weird. What about him?”

“Well, a while ago I saw someone else with him, and then, a little later. I heard a loud Crash coming from his apartment.”

There was a pause on the other end.

“Ava, listen to me. Stay away from whatever is happening. Don’t do something stupid like you always do. Better yet, inform the cops, but DO NOT get involved at any cost.”

As we ended the call, I stared at the window across from mine. Something told me this wasn't going to be that simple. I was still debating whether or not I should go and check, but before I could make up my mind, I noticed someone walking out of Mr. Adler’s building.

I leaned closer to the window to get a better look, but all I could make out was a black hoodie and a hand. A scarred hand. As he walked past, I couldn’t see his face, but I swear I felt him looking straight at my window.