The Strange Case of the Jackson Building

Chapter 7 - Damaged

Chapter Seven

Damaged

When Petra woke up that morning, she was greeted by warm, soft rays of sunshine gently embracing her sheets and skin. It was a beautiful day outside and she couldn't help but smile, despite the memories of an awful night. She had decided to skip the first class, so as to recover from the sinister events and get a few extra hours of sleep.

The idea was for her to sleep through the whole morning, but the sunny day outside encouraged her to go out. Now that she was awake, it was probably best to enjoy the bright and warm sun, instead of being locked in her room.

The shorter the amount of time she spent inside that building, the better for her frail sanity. And the scene that was waiting for her in the living room only seemed to reinforce that thought. After taking a quick shower and getting ready to leave, she walked through the long corridor, longing for a bowl of cereal and a much needed cup of coffee, but as soon as she got to the living room, she lost all her appetite.

Everything was in complete disarray again. Nothing in that room was in its proper place, except for those horrible paintings. It was a complete mess, much like it had been the first time it happened. It was chaos, there didn't appear to be any logic to the madness. Not that logic was the word to associate to the phenomenon.

This time though, there was no sign of Natasha anywhere.

Once again, Petra found herself looking for answers and reasonable explanations that would never be good enough.

But the main event, the cherry on top of this sour cake, was definitely the footprints. Impossible to ignore, the ugly, beastly things were scattered all over the walls and ceiling, with no pattern or observable sense. It was so disgusting, Petra was sure she would've thrown up if her stomach wasn't empty.

This was too much. This was it!

Someone was trying really hard to make her feel insane.

And there was only one person who could have done it. Even if she couldn't understand why or how.

She quickly walked down the hall, heading towards Natasha's room.

Enough was enough.

This girl had some serious issues and Petra was done with it. She was tired of questioning her own mental state, tired of not sleeping, being afraid and doubtful, tired of being played with.

The game was over. She wouldn't be pushed around or made a fool of anymore.

Natasha was guilty, she had to be. This all had to be her twisted idea of a prank, some sick, perverted version of a haze to a new flat-mate.

But it would stop, then and there. Petra couldn't take it anymore.

Without ceremony or care, she knocked on the girl's door.

"Natasha!"

No answer.

She knocked again, with more strength and urgency, calling for her again.

Still no answer.

Petra repeated the process until she was forced to acknowledge defeat. Natasha was either out of the apartment or simply refusing to talk to her. Either way, she didn't have the energy or will to waste more of her time with it. Besides, if Natasha was doing it for the attention, Petra didn't want to play right into it.

"You know what?" she mumbled, after a deep breath, "Whatever. I don't care. Fuck it. Don't want to deal with this anymore. I'm done."

She grabbed her bag, her keys and promptly left the apartment. As she was going down the five floors inside the elevator, her fury was only rising the more she thought about it. Natasha better have everything cleaned up and back to its original place when she returned. And even if she didn't, Petra refused to do anything about it. They would live in that mess, for all she cared.