At Daybreak

Nocturnal

Amabelle
New York was never quiet. You could never escape the noise wherever you went no matter what time of day it was. I should know, deep in Hell's Kitchen of New York City was where my small apartment was located. There was always something going on outside, construction, buses, traffic, people yelling, and people screaming. You could never end the noise.

Sometimes I would just sit in my room and listen to the people outside living their lives to the fullest, they had freedom, they had choice, they could live freely in the light. Me on the other hand. I could most certainly not.

My life was like a video game, where I was the character and the person on the other side of the screen would control your motives, movements, food, and how long you lived. In other words I was the marionette and the man upstairs was the marionnettiste.

The only freedom I had was my french. My beautiful language could not be taken away by anyone. It was my first language and a secret I kept so that maybe one thing in my life i would have complete control over, one thing I could make completely my own. I kept this my secret because if the man upstairs found out he may take control it as well. Ugh. Just thinking about it made me sick.

I stretched yawning, reaching my arms towards to ceiling then curling up back in a ball on my bed. I turned over looking at the window covered in drapes. No light showed through, indicating it was indeed evening.
I glanced over at the clock, the hands collided at 9:35pm. Perfect timing. I slouched off the bed peeling the blanket away from my body, I shuffled to the closet and picked out my clothes for the night, skinny jeans and a white blouse. I walked into the washroom and took a quick shower, waking up my nerves and making me feel refreshed. Giving me back some control over my already restricted life.

Son of a viper

That's exactly what he was.

I picked up my bag from the side of my bed, it held my camera and my notebooks. I shrugged it onto my shoulder rejecting the thoughts of "breakfast" I wasn't hungry in the slightest.

I stepped out into the dimly lit hallway, and carefully closed my apartment door. Click, my door was locked and off I went.

The man upstairs. I never quite got to know his name he never told me anything. But he knew nearly everything about me. He had control over everything in my life, and I hated it I hated every second. But what could I do? I was helpless. If I disobeyed for one second he would cut my life off like it was a banana going through a blender.

He owned the apartment which I lived in, HECK HE OWNED MY LIFE! he has cameras up monitoring my every move throughout the building and he has access to every camera stationed around Hells Kitchen so anything I did he would know and I could be found. Son of a viper.

But the greatest restriction he had on me was over the time of day I was allowed out. I could remember his exact words, they worked fear into me like nothing else could. It reminded me how powerless I actually was. "This is your deal to keep u alive...you must be back in your apartment in bed by Daybreak. If your not I will know, I will find you and then you know what happens next..."

Those were his exact words to me.

I guess you could say that I am nocturnal. I sleep during the day then go out at night, even though I can go out exploring the city at night I can't really go for help because he has access even to the police stations cameras and he restricts me from using any electronics except a camera and my computer. Which both he strictly controls.

Everything I buy comes from online, my job is a night photographer and my photos are sent in by email. He watches my every move. He gave me this job, and he could take everything away should he choose.

Son of a viper. I hated him.