Scary Urban Legends

The Apartment Story

When I heard the first bang, I thought it must be a firecracker. My neighbors lit them even when it wasn't guy fawkes day.

The second bang was the same as the first, but third made me rise and move to the balcony sliding door.

Bang four,five, and six came next, this time close enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge. The blow was a concentrated bang, and in the break between the shots someone screamed.

I hid in my cupboard, heart thudding, hands held together, praying for a God I used to follow.

The click of my front door came first. Then footsteps on the carpet punctuated by quick breathing.
The stranger walked into my room, blood on his jeans and shirt, the pistol hanging loosely in his hands.

I pressed back into the wall, as if the action might take me through the wood. He searched under the bed, the desk, and inched toward the cupboard.

Death was coming. I knew it as well as I knew my own name. And in that moment I decided I wanted nothing more than to survive.

He clasped a hand around the cupboard handle to scream but all my trembling lips could muster was a mumbled, "No,no,no."

He pushed the icy metal against my forehead, right in the center.

My eyes swelled with tears and I gritted my teeth.

He pulled the trigger down.

The gun made an empty click.