Nina walked down the stoop of her apartment building and turned down the sidewalk toward the subway station. She put in her headphones, as she does every morning, and for some reason her attention was caught by the ground beneath her. She examined each crack, and the sheen of fresh rainwater coating them, and her feet in her black high-heeled shoes blazing the trail underneath them. She thought she heard some semblance of a person walking behind her with rushed urgency, so she turned her head around, at exactly the right moment. She saw a tall, imposing figure mere inches behind her brush past her side without saying a word. She was startled. She even stumbled and paused when she regained her footing so she could come to terms with what had happened. The figure wore a long, black overcoat with black shoes and khaki pants. She wondered who he was or what he could have been doing on her street so early in the morning. She had never seen him before, but he didn’t seem as intimidating as his getup may have suggested. He even looked back at her and waved his hand in apology. She waved back, still in utter confusion, brushing hair out of her face. Just then-- “Hey, watch it, lady!” a cyclist on the sidewalk interjected, blazing past Nina and waking her up from the trance she had fallen into. “Oh, uh, sorry…?” She uttered out of reflex, still hardly coherent. She realized that she was still kind of standing in the middle of the sidewalk, almost completely motionless. She was flustered, and somewhat frustrated with herself and her passerby because of the whole incident. Nevertheless, she continued walking. She, now more aware of her surroundings, started walking again, and considering the events of the morning so far. She had been passed by two different people, one of whom was rather rude. It was unusual for sure. Out of fear that she’d be run into again by someone possibly even more dangerous, she picked her head up and began looking straight ahead. The thick fog before her made the sidewalk feel like a tunnel of uncertainty. She reached the subway station, which was uncharacteristically empty. She greeted the attendant, swiped her MetroCard, went through the turnstile, and waited on the platform. She glanced around her and could swear that the first passerby with the black jacket was there some distance away from her. But when she looked back, he was gone. The train arrived and she got onto an empty train car. That happened somewhat often, so she found a seat and sat down in it. She was rummaging through her bag in her seat to put away her wallet and phone in preparation for the day, and when she looked up, she saw the coat. The same black coat the first person was wearing.
As Nina sat there in the completely empty subway car, she is glad that her day is finally over. She put her headphones in and blasts her music in her ear so she can’t hear the noise of the train on the rails. She swung her feet to the beat of the song and kicked something that was under her seat. She reached down and picked up a heavy brown coat off the floor. When she lifted it up, an envelope fell out of a pocket. Being the nosey person she is, she opens it. All it said was “Whoever sees this, meet me at main square park at 5 30”. She looked at her watch and it was 5:00. She didn’t want to go because she was so tired but she likes investigating things and was very curious about what it could be. She decided to go and she got off at an earlier stop. She got at the park a few minutes early so she sat on a bench and patiently waited. She was kind of nervous because she had no idea what was going to happen. a sketchy looking man walked past her and sat on the bench next to her. She knew he had to be the one who wrote the letter because there was barely anybody there and he looked very sketchy. She walked up to him and said “Are you the one who wrote this letter?” and she pulled the letter out of her pocket and showed him. He responded by saying “yes, have a seat” Nina sat but she started to regret even going to the park. The strange man whispered to her “I have a deal for you and now that you’re here, you can’t really say no.” His voice in her ear gave her chills. He continued “ if I give you 10 million dollars, you need to kill one person for me and then we will never see each other again” At first Nina thought in her head that this guy was seriously psycho and she should probably call the cops but as moments past, she thought maybe the money would be a great thing for her family and her brother who is seriously sick and money would help him out. She finally said deal to the man and after they talked about all the details, they both left. That night she stood outside the man’s house like she was supposed to. She saw him down the street, walking towards his house and she was going to change her mind but then her brother’s face popped in her head and she stayed. He got closer and she gripped the gun that was in her pocket. She pulled it out and he froze. She could see the fear in his eyes but she continued to raise the gun. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. Nina couldn’t even look at the man, she just ran away. The next morning, Nina sees that same man on TV. She read the name of the victim and she dropped the mug that was in her hand. It shattered everywhere but she didn’t even care. She recognized that name. She knew it was her neighbor’s son. She started crying hysterically and couldn’t believe she would even do such a thing. She knew she couldn’t face her neighbor because she was such a sweet innocent lady. She decided to type a letter to explain what she did but leave her name out of it and after she put it in the mailbox, she would have to leave town. She put it in her mailbox when it was very late at night so no one would see her. She got back home and picked up her bags that were waiting for her at her door step and left.
She was extremely leery about leaving the letter in the mailbox but she knew that it had to be done. The neighbor would see it eventually. She needed to get her mind off this letter. She couldn’t go home, that would just make things worse. It would have her second guessing her idea about leaving the letter. She knew that she had to be surrounded by friends. Maybe a girl’s night out, but all she wanted was to be was alone. In a weird way that’s all she wanted. She knew that it wasn’t the best thing to do but that’s what she wanted. No matter what she just can’t go back home, she knows that. At this point it was dark now, the time that New York became alive. As New York was become alive, Nina was just dying. She couldn’t get the letter off her mind. I drink seemed like the problem solver. It wouldn’t make matters better but it was going to be a temporary fix. In her eyes a temporary fix is better than nothing. The idea fix would be going out with all her friends but she didn’t want to take the time to explain to her friends what happened. The objective was to get her mind off the letter not to sit and talk about it. Her friends would never understand anyway. When she entered the bar, the atmosphere was dull and desolate, it was as if it was an abandoned bar. This was not what she had in mind, but it was going to have to work for the time being. Drink after drink things slowly started to become better. Nina went into her own world of happiness, this was definitely worth it she thought, however in the morning she knows she will think the complete opposite. With the amount that she was drinking she knew the hangover would be horrible. It was only a matter of time until she passed out drunk; and then she did. There she was, asleep in the middle of this abandoned, dull bar with empty drinks all around her.
Nina woke up at exactly 4 AM on the hardwood floor of the bar. One of the fluorescent lights flickered above her as she sat up, her dark hair sticking out in all different directions. She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to make herself feel more awake, and she wiped the little bit of drool from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve. Her head was pounding and she felt nauseous. She checked her watch. “Shit,” she muttered to herself and used a barstool to help herself up. She hurried as quickly as she could out of the back entrance of the bar and nearly tripped over the giant mass of black fur in front of her. The large black German shepherd must have been waiting for her the whole night. “Come on Hades, we’re gonna be late.” She said and dog barked at her in response, but followed. Nina opened the door to the black Mercedes that she’d crashed into the side of the bar the night before and silently prayed that it would start. Hades jumped into to his spot in the passenger seat and Nina took her spot next to him and put the key in the ignition. The car started and the sped off towards the cathedral. About half an hour later, Nina burst through the doors of the cathedral while Hades waited on the steps. “Cutting it a little close Nina, don’t you think?” The man in the first pew said. He had a black hood hiding his face, and he did not look up when he addressed her. “Sorry,” was all she could manage. He picked up a large black box and handed it to her, still without looking up. “You know what to do,” he said. She nodded to the man in the black hood and headed for the exit of the cathedral, box in hand.
Nina opened the heavy door to the cathedral with troubles. The box was too big and it was hard to hold it with one hand. When she did open the door, she heard the screeching sounds of the city around her. She walked around, trying not to seem too suspicious. Carrying around a huge box, around a city, and barely being able to see, is not the best situation. Too bad this is how she had to spend her day. It shouldn’t be weird, considering so many people do so many stupid things in the city, but still, it felt awkward to her. She walked a long time, until the noise of the city died down. She looked to the left and saw that decent sized school, PS 125. It was a nice school. Not too big, not too small, just right. She lets out a sigh, then struggles, yet again, in trying to get the door open. She didn’t want to put the box down; it could be stolen, considering this is a city. The box rocked back and forth in her hands. “Ah!” she yelled as the box almost fell out of her hands. Before it actually fell out of her hands, the door to the school opened and she smiled as it regained its balance in her arms. “Thanks,” she said and walked into the school as the person who held the door nodded. “Now,” she said to herself, but trailed at the end of her sentence. She started walking around and found the main office. She put the box down on a bench next to the main office and was about to open the door, but she heard someone coming. Instead of taking a chance, she grabbed the box and ran into the janitor’s closet. It smelled of chlorine, which isn’t the worst smell in the world, but still was overwhelming. After the feet passed, she slowly walked out and went into a nearby room. She sighed and placed the box on the top shelf in the back of the room. Then she climbed up to the top of the room on the shelf, opened on of the drop ceiling panels, and pulled herself up. She grabbed the box and brought it up with her. Finally, she thought.
Nina jumped at the sound of a cracking beneath her. Before she could even look down, light flooded into the darkness and blinded her as she fell through the ceiling. She closed her eyes tight and covered the back of her head, bracing for impact. The floor gave her no remorse as her back made a gruesome smacking noise onto the tile and she felt her neck whip back aggressively. She opened her mouth to scream but was met with dust and debris of the drop ceiling covering her. She felt a cough in her throat, begging to come out and expel the residue from her lungs. She knew she couldn’t though, because if she tried she might hurt her neck and back even more. Nina tried to open her eyes but she found them locked shut. Her body was suddenly willing her to just lie there and to quit; this was all too much for her. Why was she even in this school anyway? Whatever the reason was, it wasn’t good enough to merit crawling on the inside of a ceiling. She massaged her temples, trying to rub the pain away, but to no avail. Listen, she thought, you just fell through a damn ceiling, there’s no way you can quit now. You’re just gonna fall through a ceiling for no reason? That’s stupid. Don’t be stupid, Nina. Don’t be stupid. She sighed and let out a loud groan before dusting the debris off of herself. She slowly rolled onto her side and eased herself to her feet, ignoring the stinging, the pins and the needles as best she could. She finally willed her eyes open and saw something peculiar on the floor. A paper that held the numbers “68250”.
Nina held the note in her shaky hand. The note was in one hand and a match in the other. She put the match to the paper and saw it begin to burn. The numbers “68250” slowing disappeared. She threw the match box down and ran off. She could not leave a trace that she was there. She didn’t want anyone to find her. She walked now the street and kept looking over her shoulder. The streets of Queens were full of people and she hoped that would help her get away. Nina glared over at the street and saw that a black SUV had been following her for a couple of blocks. She sped up when she saw the entrance to the subway she ran down the stairs to hide. She bought a ticket for the next one leaving and got on. Once on the subway she kept looking around to make sure she was not being watched. It was the longest subway ride of her life. She was shaking and terrified of getting caught. The subways finally stopped; Nina was the first one off. She ran up the stairs, she had no idea where she was but hoped that is was far enough away to be safe. Her phone started to ring and the caller was blocked. She answered it, a deep manly voice started to talk. The voice told her that she needs to give up because she will be found and then they hung up. She thought she might be tracked by her phone so she took her phone and threw it over a bridge. She thought she might be safe now. She turned around and a man was standing in front of her pointing a gun at her head. Nina sighed, “Okay you got me it’s over.” The man laughed and pulled the trigger.
Nina walked down the stoop of her apartment building and turned down the sidewalk toward the subway station. She put in her headphones, as she does every morning, and for some reason her attention was caught by the ground beneath her. She examined each crack, and the sheen of fresh rainwater coating them, and her feet in her black high-heeled shoes blazing the trail underneath them.
ReplyDeleteShe thought she heard some semblance of a person walking behind her with rushed urgency, so she turned her head around, at exactly the right moment. She saw a tall, imposing figure mere inches behind her brush past her side without saying a word. She was startled. She even stumbled and paused when she regained her footing so she could come to terms with what had happened. The figure wore a long, black overcoat with black shoes and khaki pants. She wondered who he was or what he could have been doing on her street so early in the morning. She had never seen him before, but he didn’t seem as intimidating as his getup may have suggested. He even looked back at her and waved his hand in apology. She waved back, still in utter confusion, brushing hair out of her face. Just then--
“Hey, watch it, lady!” a cyclist on the sidewalk interjected, blazing past Nina and waking her up from the trance she had fallen into.
“Oh, uh, sorry…?” She uttered out of reflex, still hardly coherent. She realized that she was still kind of standing in the middle of the sidewalk, almost completely motionless.
She was flustered, and somewhat frustrated with herself and her passerby because of the whole incident. Nevertheless, she continued walking. She, now more aware of her surroundings, started walking again, and considering the events of the morning so far. She had been passed by two different people, one of whom was rather rude. It was unusual for sure. Out of fear that she’d be run into again by someone possibly even more dangerous, she picked her head up and began looking straight ahead. The thick fog before her made the sidewalk feel like a tunnel of uncertainty.
She reached the subway station, which was uncharacteristically empty. She greeted the attendant, swiped her MetroCard, went through the turnstile, and waited on the platform. She glanced around her and could swear that the first passerby with the black jacket was there some distance away from her. But when she looked back, he was gone. The train arrived and she got onto an empty train car. That happened somewhat often, so she found a seat and sat down in it. She was rummaging through her bag in her seat to put away her wallet and phone in preparation for the day, and when she looked up, she saw the coat. The same black coat the first person was wearing.
As Nina sat there in the completely empty subway car, she is glad that her day is finally over. She put her headphones in and blasts her music in her ear so she can’t hear the noise of the train on the rails. She swung her feet to the beat of the song and kicked something that was under her seat. She reached down and picked up a heavy brown coat off the floor. When she lifted it up, an envelope fell out of a pocket. Being the nosey person she is, she opens it. All it said was “Whoever sees this, meet me at main square park at 5 30”. She looked at her watch and it was 5:00. She didn’t want to go because she was so tired but she likes investigating things and was very curious about what it could be. She decided to go and she got off at an earlier stop. She got at the park a few minutes early so she sat on a bench and patiently waited. She was kind of nervous because she had no idea what was going to happen. a sketchy looking man walked past her and sat on the bench next to her. She knew he had to be the one who wrote the letter because there was barely anybody there and he looked very sketchy.
ReplyDeleteShe walked up to him and said “Are you the one who wrote this letter?” and she pulled the letter out of her pocket and showed him.
He responded by saying “yes, have a seat”
Nina sat but she started to regret even going to the park.
The strange man whispered to her “I have a deal for you and now that you’re here, you can’t really say no.”
His voice in her ear gave her chills. He continued “ if I give you 10 million dollars, you need to kill one person for me and then we will never see each other again”
At first Nina thought in her head that this guy was seriously psycho and she should probably call the cops but as moments past, she thought maybe the money would be a great thing for her family and her brother who is seriously sick and money would help him out. She finally said deal to the man and after they talked about all the details, they both left.
That night she stood outside the man’s house like she was supposed to. She saw him down the street, walking towards his house and she was going to change her mind but then her brother’s face popped in her head and she stayed. He got closer and she gripped the gun that was in her pocket. She pulled it out and he froze. She could see the fear in his eyes but she continued to raise the gun. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. Nina couldn’t even look at the man, she just ran away.
The next morning, Nina sees that same man on TV. She read the name of the victim and she dropped the mug that was in her hand. It shattered everywhere but she didn’t even care. She recognized that name. She knew it was her neighbor’s son. She started crying hysterically and couldn’t believe she would even do such a thing. She knew she couldn’t face her neighbor because she was such a sweet innocent lady. She decided to type a letter to explain what she did but leave her name out of it and after she put it in the mailbox, she would have to leave town. She put it in her mailbox when it was very late at night so no one would see her. She got back home and picked up her bags that were waiting for her at her door step and left.
She was extremely leery about leaving the letter in the mailbox but she knew that it had to be done. The neighbor would see it eventually. She needed to get her mind off this letter. She couldn’t go home, that would just make things worse. It would have her second guessing her idea about leaving the letter. She knew that she had to be surrounded by friends. Maybe a girl’s night out, but all she wanted was to be was alone. In a weird way that’s all she wanted. She knew that it wasn’t the best thing to do but that’s what she wanted. No matter what she just can’t go back home, she knows that. At this point it was dark now, the time that New York became alive. As New York was become alive, Nina was just dying. She couldn’t get the letter off her mind. I drink seemed like the problem solver. It wouldn’t make matters better but it was going to be a temporary fix. In her eyes a temporary fix is better than nothing. The idea fix would be going out with all her friends but she didn’t want to take the time to explain to her friends what happened. The objective was to get her mind off the letter not to sit and talk about it. Her friends would never understand anyway. When she entered the bar, the atmosphere was dull and desolate, it was as if it was an abandoned bar. This was not what she had in mind, but it was going to have to work for the time being. Drink after drink things slowly started to become better. Nina went into her own world of happiness, this was definitely worth it she thought, however in the morning she knows she will think the complete opposite. With the amount that she was drinking she knew the hangover would be horrible. It was only a matter of time until she passed out drunk; and then she did. There she was, asleep in the middle of this abandoned, dull bar with empty drinks all around her.
ReplyDeleteNina woke up at exactly 4 AM on the hardwood floor of the bar. One of the fluorescent lights flickered above her as she sat up, her dark hair sticking out in all different directions. She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to make herself feel more awake, and she wiped the little bit of drool from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve. Her head was pounding and she felt nauseous.
ReplyDeleteShe checked her watch. “Shit,” she muttered to herself and used a barstool to help herself up.
She hurried as quickly as she could out of the back entrance of the bar and nearly tripped over the giant mass of black fur in front of her.
The large black German shepherd must have been waiting for her the whole night. “Come on Hades, we’re gonna be late.” She said and dog barked at her in response, but followed.
Nina opened the door to the black Mercedes that she’d crashed into the side of the bar the night before and silently prayed that it would start. Hades jumped into to his spot in the passenger seat and Nina took her spot next to him and put the key in the ignition. The car started and the sped off towards the cathedral.
About half an hour later, Nina burst through the doors of the cathedral while Hades waited on the steps.
“Cutting it a little close Nina, don’t you think?” The man in the first pew said. He had a black hood hiding his face, and he did not look up when he addressed her.
“Sorry,” was all she could manage.
He picked up a large black box and handed it to her, still without looking up. “You know what to do,” he said.
She nodded to the man in the black hood and headed for the exit of the cathedral, box in hand.
Nina opened the heavy door to the cathedral with troubles. The box was too big and it was hard to hold it with one hand. When she did open the door, she heard the screeching sounds of the city around her. She walked around, trying not to seem too suspicious. Carrying around a huge box, around a city, and barely being able to see, is not the best situation. Too bad this is how she had to spend her day. It shouldn’t be weird, considering so many people do so many stupid things in the city, but still, it felt awkward to her. She walked a long time, until the noise of the city died down. She looked to the left and saw that decent sized school, PS 125. It was a nice school. Not too big, not too small, just right. She lets out a sigh, then struggles, yet again, in trying to get the door open. She didn’t want to put the box down; it could be stolen, considering this is a city. The box rocked back and forth in her hands.
ReplyDelete“Ah!” she yelled as the box almost fell out of her hands. Before it actually fell out of her hands, the door to the school opened and she smiled as it regained its balance in her arms. “Thanks,” she said and walked into the school as the person who held the door nodded. “Now,” she said to herself, but trailed at the end of her sentence. She started walking around and found the main office. She put the box down on a bench next to the main office and was about to open the door, but she heard someone coming. Instead of taking a chance, she grabbed the box and ran into the janitor’s closet. It smelled of chlorine, which isn’t the worst smell in the world, but still was overwhelming. After the feet passed, she slowly walked out and went into a nearby room. She sighed and placed the box on the top shelf in the back of the room. Then she climbed up to the top of the room on the shelf, opened on of the drop ceiling panels, and pulled herself up. She grabbed the box and brought it up with her. Finally, she thought.
Nina jumped at the sound of a cracking beneath her. Before she could even look down, light flooded into the darkness and blinded her as she fell through the ceiling. She closed her eyes tight and covered the back of her head, bracing for impact. The floor gave her no remorse as her back made a gruesome smacking noise onto the tile and she felt her neck whip back aggressively. She opened her mouth to scream but was met with dust and debris of the drop ceiling covering her. She felt a cough in her throat, begging to come out and expel the residue from her lungs. She knew she couldn’t though, because if she tried she might hurt her neck and back even more.
ReplyDeleteNina tried to open her eyes but she found them locked shut. Her body was suddenly willing her to just lie there and to quit; this was all too much for her. Why was she even in this school anyway? Whatever the reason was, it wasn’t good enough to merit crawling on the inside of a ceiling. She massaged her temples, trying to rub the pain away, but to no avail. Listen, she thought, you just fell through a damn ceiling, there’s no way you can quit now. You’re just gonna fall through a ceiling for no reason? That’s stupid. Don’t be stupid, Nina. Don’t be stupid.
She sighed and let out a loud groan before dusting the debris off of herself. She slowly rolled onto her side and eased herself to her feet, ignoring the stinging, the pins and the needles as best she could. She finally willed her eyes open and saw something peculiar on the floor. A paper that held the numbers “68250”.
Nina held the note in her shaky hand. The note was in one hand and a match in the other. She put the match to the paper and saw it begin to burn. The numbers “68250” slowing disappeared. She threw the match box down and ran off. She could not leave a trace that she was there. She didn’t want anyone to find her. She walked now the street and kept looking over her shoulder. The streets of Queens were full of people and she hoped that would help her get away. Nina glared over at the street and saw that a black SUV had been following her for a couple of blocks. She sped up when she saw the entrance to the subway she ran down the stairs to hide. She bought a ticket for the next one leaving and got on. Once on the subway she kept looking around to make sure she was not being watched. It was the longest subway ride of her life. She was shaking and terrified of getting caught. The subways finally stopped; Nina was the first one off. She ran up the stairs, she had no idea where she was but hoped that is was far enough away to be safe. Her phone started to ring and the caller was blocked. She answered it, a deep manly voice started to talk. The voice told her that she needs to give up because she will be found and then they hung up. She thought she might be tracked by her phone so she took her phone and threw it over a bridge. She thought she might be safe now. She turned around and a man was standing in front of her pointing a gun at her head.
ReplyDeleteNina sighed, “Okay you got me it’s over.”
The man laughed and pulled the trigger.