Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Time goes by relatively fast and slow at the same time.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick.
It was just a regular Saturday morning and I was just lying in his bed – wondering what I was going to do for the day. I’ll most likely do the same routine I’ve been doing for years. I will get out of bed after staring at the ceiling for what feels to be only 10 minutes, but in reality, it’s 2 hours. Afterwards, I will go to the kitchen to have the same old breakfast and then go to the bathroom to take a shower. I’ll brush my teeth with the same old brand of toothpaste. Wear the same style of clothing, go to my same old boring and shitty convenience store job. Then I’ll finish my shift and return back to my apartment building, where I will have the same old dinner and then wash up and go to bed. That was supposed to be the norm– the same old routine– but I wanted to do something different today.
Recently, I have been hearing strange noises coming from the apartment next door – room no. 9.
It almost sounds like the screams and cries of a woman in distress. I live at the top of the building and even when I head out, I can still hear the noise. Nobody in the apartment building has ever stopped and questioned what was going on inside that room nor have they even knocked at the door and asked what was going on in there? Due to a mix of my curiosity and boredom, I decided to see what was going on with my next-door neighbor. I walked out of my apartment room and now, I was standing in front of my neighbor’s door.
“What the hell are you doing?” A short, middle-aged man who looked like he lost himself from a messy break-up asked in the most annoyed tone you can think of.
The man was the building’s landlord and he is not really the friendly type – especially with the disappearance of his ex-wife.
“W-well, there were strange noises coming from this room and I wanted to check on the person who lives here. To see if they’re fine.”
The landlord gives me a weird look.
“What?” The landlord responds as if an alien was standing next to him.
“The noises. In this apartment room. You don’t hear it?”
“No, I don’t… Have you been taking your medication, Zac?”
I was surprised at the landlord’s response because the sounds coming from the apartment can even be heard by someone from downstairs.
“Yes. Yes, I have.”
“Well, then. I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but let me tell you this, boy. There is no sound and nobody is in that apartment room. I recommend you get that brain of yours checked.”
The landlord left and I am left speechless.
.
.
.
D-did he just called me crazy?…He could have just said the actual word and my medication isn’t even for mental health reasons. They’re vitamin supplements for my diet.
The landlord was acting a little strange. It was weird that he would ask me if I took…
Wait. How did the landlord know I take medication? I was never friendly with him and certainly not now, so how does he know!?
There was something suspicious going on with the landlord and I knew that. It’s even weirder that the sounds
from the apartment had stopped when he appeared. Like I wouldn’t miss that oddity.
“I’ll come back tomorrow,” I whispered to myself.
What could be in there and why is the landlord suspicious? Many questions float around my mind, but it’s best if those questions are answered tomorrow.
***
The next day went by, and the same thing happened. I tried to look into apartment 9, but was prominently stopped by the landlord and then got called crazy…again. Then there was the next day, the same thing happened. Then the next day, the same. Then the next, then the next, then the next, then the next, then the next; to cut it short, this went on for nine months.
Should I just give up? I kept wondering to myself every now and then. It has been months of the same thing and the only thing that changed was how loud the sound was. It was once as loud as a music concert – paired with the sounds of over 1000 screeching birds – but as of late, it’s becoming softer – quieter. But, there was just something so… so mysterious about that room and I felt like I would only stop until I knew what was going on in that damn room. It was almost becoming an addiction for me.
“You know what. Today will be the last day that I will go and try to see who or what is in there. If the same thing happens, I’ll just wave the white flag and try to go back to my normal life, I told myself, but deep down inside, I knew I wouldn’t give up easily. Even deeper down inside my gut, I felt that maybe – just maybe– I would finally discover the answers to my questions. Hopefully the next day, I will get my answers.
***
Zac, like usual, is standing in front of the door of the apartment room that has been basically driving him to the brink of insanity for the past nine months. Welp, here goes nothing.
One knock and – huh? The door – It just opened and the sounds stopped.
What the-? As if it was a reflex, he turned around to see if the landlord was there but no, he wasn’t.
That’s strange. He would’ve been here by now. Zac turned his focus on the now opened apartment room.
Should I go in? If I go in, I would probably get my answers. If I don’t, those nine months will mean nothing. … Well, never say never I guess. Here goes nothing.
Zac slowly opens the door and lets himself in.
“Hello, is there anyone home? Sorry for intruding,”
Zac said, but there was no reply.
Okay. Weird. Usually people freak out if someone busts into their home. The screaming and shouting would make sense in this context.
Zac took a look around the entrance and noticed that it looked like it had not been cleaned in months.
“Seriously, is there anybody here?…Guess, I’ll make myself at home then…”
Before he could explore the room any further, Zac decides to leave a door stopper he saw in the corner of his eye, just so it would be easy for him to leave later. For what seemed like ages, he finally stumbled upon something interesting. A closet that had boxes labeled as ‘sweet memories’.
Sweet memories? Wonder what’s inside?
Zac – being the curious guy that he is and wanting answers – decides to open one of the boxes. Inside the box was filled with photographs of a couple and they looked like they were happy.
“Photographs that look like they were taken somewhere in the 2000s. Cool, I guess… Wait, is this…the landlord?! And wait a sec, this woman looks like his ex- wife, who was said to have gone missing 2 years ago-”
Suddenly – as if on cue– a rotten smell filled his nose and it seemed like it was coming from the wall inside the closet.
Zac decided to tear down the wall and it felt like an eternity tearing it down, but finally he was able to see what was inside the wall.
“W-WHAT THE ACTUAL”
The entrance door creaked open and it can be heard that the foot stopper was kicked away. Zac immediately went silent.
“I tried to warn you, boy.” It was the landlord and the tone of his voice didn’t sound happy. Not one bit.
The thing he saw was–
“But, here you are. Rummaging on stuff that doesn’t belong to you.”
“What actually happened to your wife?” Zac asked with his back turned away from the landlord.
“Old hag cheated on me, so I had to punish her.”
“To this extreme?”
“Yep.”
“Then that screaming?”
“I was surprised that you even heard her, but I guess you
were too late.”
Footsteps can be heard leaving the apartment room.
“Don’t think I’m going to let you go, boy.”
The door slammed shut and locked in.
“Wait. WAIT!”
Zac rushed to the door and tried to open the door. He tried picking the door’s lock, kicking, banging, body slamming to open the door. But nothing worked. Zac felt helpless. He didn’t know what to do…except to scream for help.
