THE SOUND OF a heavy fist slamming against a wooden door dragged Asuka out of the void of sleep, where she had been aimlessly floating without rhyme or reason for what could have simply been an hour or two. With a jolt at the sudden noise, the woman was shook from the grasp of slumber, eyes blearily snapping open.
A soft groan was released from her dry throat, her mind still clouded as her brain tried to catch up with the rest of her body, not entirely happy with the fact she was forced awake during the deepest part of sleep. Though, through the haze of sleep still fogging her mind, Asuka barely registered the sound of the lazy pattering of rain slapping against her window, let alone the sound of the harsh, rapt knocking at the door.
Glancing out the nearby window, she caught the sight of dawn just barely breaking over the distant horizon of skyscrapers. It was way too early for her to be awake right now, willingly, and way too early for someone to be knocking at her door. With a suffering sigh, the woman rubbed at her eyes with the heel of her palm as she rolled over onto her side, reaching over to grab her phone. Squinting through the dark, and burning light of the phone screen, the time glared back, confirming the blue-tinge of the outside world.
Who the fuck was at her door at this time? They better have a good reason.
With an irritated grunt, the woman sat up from her lumpy mattress, and pushed the blankets off of her, before sliding out of bed and hastily making her way towards the front door where the knocking had only increasingly became quicker and more obstinate with their impatience. Asuka had to fight the urge to grit her teeth at that, tossing up whether she should even answer the door, just out of spite for their persistence. Whoever was outside had no right to even expect her to bend to their will and answer the door, especially at this hour, steadily pushing the idea that she had to comply to their demands and open the stupid door.
Still, she took the necessary steps through the dark apartment, her muscle memory in effect as she blindly navigated her way through the halls towards the front door. She had walked these halls everyday to the point that she knew how many steps were needed to take to get from anywhere to everywhere even if she was blindfolded.
Though, her entire being visibly recoiled suddenly the closer she got to the door. Hair standing on edge as though her body was sensing something she didn't quite understand, or wasn't ready to see. She prayed that it wasn't a loan shark, banging on her door to ask for their money, dressed in their grey suits, briefcase in hand, or the creepy landlord finally deciding that the suggestions of an alternative payment was nigh.
