Stolen Hearts

Chapter 1 : New kill

Chapter 1: New kill

It's pitch black outside, the light pollution of the buildings blocking the stars. The air is frigid as winter looms overhead again. I worked overtime tonight for yet another night in a row but it's not like it matters anyway, I live alone in an apartment in New York. As my late sister would say, I'm "Living the Life".

Cars flash by, too busy to get to where they need to be. There have been tons more accidents lately because of the slick roads. I'm just happy nobody splashed me with a stray puddle yet tonight.

The streets are dark, a faint and flickering orange glow is cast upon the sidewalk by the dying street lights. I drag my feet across the cement, each step sends pins and needles up my feet. Unfortunately, my car broke down so now I have to walk to and from work everyday. It's a strain on every muscle in my body but at least everyday it gets a little easier. I live in a dangerous part of New York, not that any part of a city is necessarily safe to be in. I move my keys in between the webs of my fingers, keeping a tight grip on them just in case something happens and I need a quick weapon.

As soon as my apartment building is in view I feel a rush of relief. I can finally go home and rest for the weekend. They can get the newbies to cover the weekend. I finally got two unobstructed days all to myself. Just the thought of that makes me eager to get inside.

Even though I'm so close to my apartment, the walk up the stairs seems so much longer today. My feet feel suffocated in the office issued black heels and continue to complain with every step. The elevator had been broken for years, which only makes my trip everyday worse. The real question is, did it ever even work in the first place? It hasn't been as long as I've been living here. I reach my apartment, and fumble with my keys. I have way too many, some are for my office, some for my friends' apartments and one for mine.

"They all look the same" I mumble under my breath, every key is gold with the same cut out in the handle. I try multiple times to get the right key, it takes trying every key to finally get the right one. I think that one of these days I'll get each key a different color. My door creaks open with the worst sounding noise I've ever heard.

I decided that since it's one of the first weekends off that I've had in years, that I'll take a little self care night. I head to my room and grab my makeup headband, some facemasks, and a bottle of the good kind of wine for tonight. I cook some microwave dinner of crappy mac and cheese but it tastes like heaven after being denied a lunch break today. I lay comfortably in my bed, eating the last of my scrappy dinner and sipping the chilled wine.

I thought about how awful my job is, how much I hate it. It's stuffy, the hours are awful, the uniforms are worse. The pay isn't even that good. I only make enough to keep this meager apartment and some cheap food. I set my things onto my side table and I sink into my bed, the pillow conforming around my back and head. I cover my face with my hands and groan. "I wish I could leave!"

"I can arrange that for you" A deep voice rumbles through my room. It sounds like it comes directly through my ears.

I snap up from my laying position, my hair standing on edge as goosebumps run down my skin. What's going on? Who's in my apartment? Was I imagining it? Was it from exhaustion or did my consciousness just randomly start sounding like a man?

A deep chuckle slices through the silence, freezing my blood. My head whips toward my bedroom door as it creaks open, revealing a tall man with tanned skin leaning against the frame, watching me like a predator sizing up prey. When he takes a step forward, I scramble off the bed, my back hitting the wall.
"What's wrong? Scared?" he whispers, voice like gravel. "You shouldn't be. Not yet." Another step closer. The overhead light catches something metallic in his hand—a blade that gleams hungrily. He notices my stare and tilts the knife, letting it catch the light. "Interested? We'll get very... intimate with it." His face transforms into something inhuman as he lunges forward, the knife arcing through the air toward my chest.