Read chapter one here.
CHAPTER TWO
Out the apartment door, April ran into the sudden storm. The rain echoed off the pavement with a volume that covered all, and poured with such heaviness that her clothes were instantly soaked. Visibility was limited, too. The sensory overload snapped her out of whatever spell she had put herself under and the pit in her stomach returned.
"Of course they aren't here, they're dead", she thought to herself.
In that moment, through the wall of pouring rain, April could make out very little. Though her clothes now weighed down on her more and more, she felt frozen in place as she slowly glanced around in her depression.
Straight ahead she could make out a the first row of cars immediately in front of her but not much further. The storm was falling so heavily that a few car alarms began to go off. To her left, she saw the couple that lived two down from herself running in to their home. They were typically rather nice to April, but it was obvious that the girlfriend was weary of her. It likely had more to do with a distrust of her boyfriend than anything else but girls like her rarely lash out at the right targets.
The wind picked up right as they went to close the door, causing it to slam heavy enough that the sound could actually be heard in the chaos.
April then looked to the right and that's when she saw him.
The assassin, her reaper, stood roughly 10 feet from her staring at her with an unmistakable look.
Fight or flight kicked in and time began to slow. She realized in her heist to run out that she had left her keys on the table near the front door. No time. On foot would have to work.
She began to run as fast as she could, not allowing herself to look back. Out of the parking lot of her complex, she continued out to sidewalk that hugged the main road. Following the concrete path, she continued as the rain continued to pour, intent on making her makeshift plan work.
The Shinning Tree Apartments were surrounded largely by a crappy, cheap fence. It gave the illusion of safety to those ignorant of how crime works and how badly crime was in the area, and the fence had a hole in it hidden by a small overgrowth of shrubbery. She hoped to make it to the spot before he could catch up, praying that she'd be able to use this as a chance to make it back to her place, grab the keys, and get away in her car.
As she ran, a pain began to grow under her rib cage on the right. She reached the hole and glanced back but couldn't see the man anywhere. While the rain was still providing good cover, keeping anything that wasn't very close shrouded in mystery, the revelation that he wasn't right on her tail still provided a moment of relief.
Once on the other side, she felt she could slow down and use the night as well as the storm as a chance for stealth. Honestly, while far from overweight, she was also far from being in great shape so the sprint had taken a lot out of her already. She luckily knew the complex well, having a habit of walking around the entirety of it often when on long phone calls with friends. This knowledge helped as she was able to move through with a decent level of meticulous calculation. As she closed in on the group of units that housed her apartment, she slowed further to slowly scan what she could.
The fact that he wasn't right behind her did give hesitation, as she wondered if her had instead went into her home.
She stopped behind one of the parked cars on the first row and could see her place. The door was open and light from inside could be seen. This sadly did not answer her key question, though, as she thought she could have left the place open herself when she had ran out and she knew for a fact that she had left a few lights on.
Considering her options, she quickly ran to the neighbor's place two down and checked the door.
Unlocked.
She quickly opened the door and closed it as quickly and quietly as possible given the circumstances.
On the other side, she was greeted with a look of shock and disgust from the girlfriend.
"What the fuck!"
April held up a finger to her mouth, her face displaying panic and begged her to remain quiet and she quickly motioned to the door now behind her. She locked it and closed in, whispering as soon as she could that she was in danger and that someone was trying to kill her.
The range of emotions that followed in mere seconds from the girlfriend were whiplash worthy but settled on thoughts of concern for herself and her boyfriend over that of April.
While said in a much lighter volume, the tone purveyed was clear.
"Get the fuck out!"
Just then, the boyfriend walked out from the bathroom. Before anything could be said, a loud bang at the door rang through the apartment.
And another, and another.
He had found her.
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