Sneaky

It Begins

I don't do AN's often but today is a special occasion.

Today is this story's 1 year anniversary.

To celebrate, I'm giving you this special side story.

Enjoy!

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A yawn escaped me as I locked my apartment door and headed for the worn ugly dark green stairs of my building.

I wonder if the bakery across the street is still open? I'm feeling like donuts for dinner.

I rounded the first of many corners and used the railing to swing around onto the 3rd floor steps.

Mmm, I'm not sure donuts are worth 4 flights of stairs though...maybe I should get take out too. Chinese and donuts? Yeah. I wonder what soy sauce on donuts taste like?

I jumped the last 4 steps onto the second floor and watched the creepy guy in apartment 2 look over from his door.

I blinked as I watched him shuffle inside, never taking his eyes off me —or more precisely my chest— until he was looking through just a crack in the door.

Does he think I can't still see him there?

I've gotta find a new place, somewhere where the neighbors aren't so...creepy.

Turning, I hurried down the stairs, swinging around the corner to the final set before the ground floor.

That guy makes my skin crawl.

"Um, Hi"

I looked over, and gave a friendly smile to the pizza delivery boy coming up the steps.

"You wouldn't happen to know which floor apartment..." he looked at a piece of paper in his hand. "9, is on, would you?"

9? Oh um...3rd floor? Let's see, 4 apartments to a floor— yeah 3rd floor.

I held up 3 fingers and he smiled.

"Thanks—"

The glass doors of the building shattered in a rain of shards, scattering across the ground floor and my arms instinctively came up to protect my face.

My ears rang as screaming erupted from the bottom of the steps.

Hazard lights blinked in rapid flashes from the doorway, adding panicked yellow flashes to the fight taking place on the ground.

"Ahhh! Hel—!" The man on the ground's screaming was cut short by the vicious gurgling of blood filling his throat while the woman on top of him sank her teeth into his neck.

My eyes grew dry from not blinking but I couldn't bring myself to blink more than twice even though they're starting to sting.

That woman's hand is hanging from the tendon, and I don't think that's a necklace dangling outta her stomach.

The man's screaming drown in his throat but the absence only brought the chaos from outside to my attention.

I'd heard there were riots happening all over the city, but I didn't know it was happening so close.

My breath caught in my throat as more than bloodshot, milk-white eyes fixed on me.

Oh my God...

Her mouth is gone.

Her bone is exposed all the way up to her nose. Her tongue is hanging through her throat, hitting her collarbone.