The Strange Case of the Jackson Building

Chapter 13 - Paranoia

Chapter Thirteen

Paranoia

Petra was still obsessing over the message displaying her last name on her building's entrance in the late afternoon. She thought about it deeply, trying to remember a time when she had mentioned it to anyone, but failing to find any.

There was good reason for that, she bitterly thought. She hadn't told her last name to anyone there, except for her landlady, and the woman lived hours away. She seriously doubted the woman had driven there just so she could pin a piece of paper holding a warning message with Petra's name on it.

One thing was for sure though - it hadn't, couldn't, have been the old lady. At least not this time.

She had considered Natasha, the only person with access to her personal documents, but she always left the apartment with them, she would've noticed if the girl had searched through her stuff and she had developed the habit of locking her bedroom door every time she left, ever since that pair of footprints had mysteriously appeared in her room's ceiling. So it hadn't, couldn't, have been Natasha. At least not this time.

Who then? Who could've possibly known and why would they write it and, apparently, randomly leave it on the board for the whole building to see? What was the point? Making people be wary of her? Why?

If the point was to upset and concern her, then whoever had done it had definitely succeeded.

Still consumed by these worrying thoughts, Petra didn't even notice Eli until he gently grabbed her arm. He was leaving their building while she was arriving.

"Hey Petra," he greeted, amused that she hadn't seen him.

"Oh, hi Eli. Sorry, didn't notice you."

"Yeah, I figured. You looked distracted."

"I was just... lost in thought, I guess."

"Can't be healthy to think that much," he joked. "Join me for coffee?"

Petra accepted the invite, more than happy to postpone her arrival at the building and eager for Eli's good company.

He led her to the tunnel she'd seen her first night but had never got around to explore. The tunnel was incredibly short and, after it, there was a lovely, small and sunny square with a couple of boutiques and coffee-shops. It was quaint, beautiful and peaceful, hidden away from traffic and people and noise. She kicked herself mentally for not exploring it sooner.

The afternoon was pleasant in Eli's company. They both ordered coffee and donuts and enjoyed the late, setting sun in the warm square. Eli was quite easy to befriend and talk to. She ended up sharing with him that she was studying to become a psychologist, though he didn't know her well enough to see the irony in it.

Eli told her he wanted to become a botanist, though he was also really interested in photography and Kyle was studying Marine Biology, though he also had a passion for music. He sincerely had no clue what Harry wanted to do or be, which made them both laugh.

"Kyle is a softie. He immediately accepted Harry, even though I thought he was robbing us at first. But he's cool, just doesn't talk much."

"Have you and Kyle known each other for long?"

"Basically all our lives, really. We were neighbors back home. None of us has the most stellar families, so we've pretty much been each other's family since... ever. We've got each other's backs."

"That's really great."

Eli continued to entertain her with funny tales of his and Kyle's many childhood and teenage misadventures, until the sun finally disappeared. He ended up inviting her for dinner and she gleefully accepted.