Another Sleepless Night
Behind the WallLuhan groggily sipped his morning coffee desperately trying shake the tired cloud that hung above his head. He winced the moment the bitter liquid reached his taste buds. He hated coffee. He was more of a green tea guy. It was better for the nerves.
He only drank coffee when he had to. It was days like this he forced him self to ingest such a nasty beverage. But only after he polluted the drink with loads of sugar and flavored creamer. As if the coffee alone wasn't unhealthy enough.
Despite his strong hatred of the refreshment he had an important meeting today and needed the extra energy. He wouldn't need to drink such an unpleasant liquid if he had only been able to sleep the night before.
After living in these apartments for nearly a month most people probably would've gotten used to the constant screams, but something about hearing someone's agony every night just didn't sit right with Luhan. Around the same time every evening Luhan is violently forced awake by the horrid sounds that push through the much too thin bedroom wall. A ten foot tall barrier that is meant to keep Luhans and his neighbors lives separate, but always fails to do so.
Many hours of his precious resting time have been disturbed by vicious yelling and pained sobs often accompanied by the sound of glass shattering. The worst moment of it all is the loud thud and the sound of commotion that always follows the brutal shouting. There was no doubt in Luhans mind that the noise could be any thing other than a harsh beating.
The first night it happened he rushed to the apartment next to his in panic hoping to stop what ever disaster was occurring. Trying his hardest to get anybody to open the door. But every bang of his fist was ignored. Luhan ran back to his apartment and frantically called the police hoping they would come to his poor neighbors aid. Luhan waited in the hallway of his apartment complex till morning.
The police never came.
This repeated every night for a at least a week. Eventually Luhan gave up on hoping the law force would do any thing for the poor soul next door. The police were useless.
Luhan glanced at his watch as he finished the last of the pungent liquid. He had approximately 6 minutes before he needed to leave for work. He dreaded having to sit in an office of business men attempting to keep his eyelids from shutting. He quickly slipped his shoes on and found the cream colored folder that held all of his needed papers and documents before heading out.
He took slow tired steps toward the elevator at the end of the hallway when he heard the high pitched creak of an old door. He glanced over his shoulder to see a petite blonde girl limping out of the apartment next to his.
It was the first time Luhan had actually seen the poor girl. Being able to put a face to the suffering cries only made the feeling of sympathy worse. She slowly dragged her worn body to the elevator where she stood next to Luhan. She wore a black oversized hoodie and a white face mask. The strangers on the street may think she was trying to prevent herself from getting sick, but Luhan new better. The faint tint of purple peaking out from the top of the mask proved his theory.
"Hi"
Luhan hesitantly tried to start conversation. The small girl looked up at him for only a few seconds before her eyes returned to the dark blue carpet. Shyly she lifted her hand in a weak wave.
"I'm Luhan by the way. Your neighbor... What's you name?"
He peered at her with kind eyes still trying to initiate small talk. She seemed to become tense when the words escaped his lips. Nervously picking at the loose strings of the sleeve of her hoodie she softly whispered "Jessica".
A few moments of awkward silence passed before the elevator doors slid open. Luhan began to walk away before suddenly turning on the ball of his feet to face the small girl.
"You should leave him. Before it's too late."
His tone of voice suddenly changing from friendly to serious. He knew it was none of his business, but the words just slipped out before he could register what he was doing.
She didn't even spare him a single glance before she quickly scurried out of his sight.
***
Luhan tightly clutched the fluffy pillow to his ears trying muffle the distressed howls. His knuckle turning white from all the pressure. With each bang and crash the image of a dainty blonde girl crying out for help flashed across his mind. No matter how hard he tried to not envision what her face might look like right now he just couldn't. He could practically see the blonde's face contorting in pain as the tears and drops of blood streamed down her delicate face.
Trough the wall he could he hear her desperate cries for mercy and the terror in her voice as she begged him to stop. He could tell he was beating harder than usual tonight.
Luhan wondered how a man could ever heart a woman like this.
He hated that he couldn't do anything to save her. He's tried everything he could think of In the past weeks to no avail. Trying to break in didn't work because the door had multiple locks and the police always came late if they even came at all.
Suddenly a tormented scream that seemed to shake Luhan's very core filled the tiny bedroom followed by a chilling silence . Luhan's eyes shot open and his death grip on the pillow loosened almost instantly. He slowly sat up straining his ears searching for some sort of confirmation that Jessica was alright.
As the minutes passed Luhan became more and more anxious. Praying to every god his mind could conjure up that he would hear at least a whimper. He never thought a time would come that he would be longing to hear the weak cries that kept him up every night.
From a distance Luhan could hear the faint ringing of an ambulance creeping closer. He immediately froze.
No... They couldn't be coming here.
He was practically shaking with fear by now. His heart was beating out of his chest and his eyes couldn't help but water. The sirens were getting dangerously close and Luhan still couldn't bring himself to except what was happening.
From his bed he could see an ambulance and a few police cars quickly coming to a halt in front of the apartment complex outside his window. Men in black uniforms hastily made their way toward the main entrance. Within seconds he could hear the shouting of multiple men through the wall and the door being forced open.
Luhan finally allowed reality to settle in.
Tears fell from his eyes as he ran to his front door. He swiftly swung the door open and peered down the hall with fearful eyes. The sight brought Luhan to his knees.
He brought his hands to his face muffling the heart wrenching sobs praying to god that this was all just a dream. That his was all just a bad nightmare brought on by the nightly fights and weeping that went on behind his bedroom wall.
There lying lifeless on stretcher was a beaten and bloody Jessica. Her body was battered and her clothes were torn and soiled. Every inch of her exposed skin was tainted with bruises. Her face was so mutilated she was almost unrecognizable.
It was too late.
~~~~~
-Author Note-
wtf did I just write
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