Chapter Text
The sound of keyboard keys filled the dead silence. On the table were several books with different titles, empty coffee mugs and coffee pots, a notepad with crossed-out story titles, and circled sections of small paragraphs. Stephanie, a young woman with fair ivory skin, azure almond-shaped eyes, and a medium, refined nose, sat in a chair before the table. She had a round facial shape and long, straight, dark brown hair that reached her hips.
Her body is a skinny hourglass body with thick inner thighs, medium-length legs and arms, and medium-sized breasts. She wore Oxford blue half-frame rectangular glasses, a light blue long-sleeved shirt, a blue camouflage sweater, denim jeans, and light pink and white shoes. The woman adjusted her glasses and typed in a dimly lit Google Doc , exhaustion evident in her tired eyes.
She quickly finished a paragraph and sighed, scrolling through the pages of the Google Doc with her mouse, her tired eyes scanning for any mistakes. After double-checking, the woman converted the Google Doc to a PDF and sent it via a website message, awaiting a response on Discord . As soon as she sent the PDF to someone in the chat room via Discord , the person messaged her.
“ It’s about time you sent me the Google Doc! I’ve been waiting for over two weeks! ” The stranger’s text message sounded impatient, his tone adding to the tension. The woman, Stephanie, sighed and messaged back to the stranger, “ I’m sorry. I didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night and was juggling many things in real life. ” Her apology was sincere, reflecting her regret for the delay.
After Stephanie apologized to the stranger through Discord , he responded, “ Yeah, whatever. ” The stranger’s dismissive tone was evident in his message to Stephanie, making her even more regretful. “ Thanks for giving me the PDF of my story. I’ll make the payment tomorrow, okay? ”
Stephanie perked up after reading the stranger’s message on Discord about the payment. “ Tomorrow? ” Stephanie texted the stranger, her voice tinged with confusion and concern about the payment delay. “ My rent for my apartment is due tomorrow, and you promised to send me money when the work is finished before the rent’s due date, right? ”
“ Listen, lady. ” The stranger texted Stephanie, the tone of the conversation sounding cold and emotionless. “ It’s no big deal to lose that much money! You’ll handle it without a single buck. ”
“ It is a big deal! ” Stephanie texted, her tone strong and serious. “ I’ll be kicked out of my apartment if I don’t have the money now! So please don’t back out of your promise and pay me the amount for the PDF. ”
The next thing Stephanie knew was that the message had been immediately blocked, and the person she was chatting with had disappeared. She groaned in dismay, bonking her head on the table’s surface. She winced and immediately stood up to her full height, rubbing her lower spine with her hands.
“Oh, mi Dios.” Stephanie softly groaned, speaking a little in Spanish. “I need to get up from my chair and walk around my apartment a little to stretch my legs. Maybe I could get another offer for a hand-to-hand trade instead of online.” She muttered to herself at the end. Stephanie pushed her chair back and stood up, wincing when she felt her back crackle, sounding like she was lying on glow sticks.
Stephanie stood up from her chair and turned towards the door, muttering, “I need to go and eat something. I haven’t eaten anything for the past few hours.” She paused, stepped close to the door, and responded, “That’s right. I need to check my money before heading outside.”
She reached into her pocket, took out her phone, and tapped on a bank app as she sat on a chair, pausing briefly to push back some hair strands from her face. The bank account showed a small amount in her checking account, but Stephanie’s savings account had millions of dollars. Stephanie nervously chewed her lip while staring at the checking account and savings account, torn between not going out to eat and sitting alone in her room or breaking out $500 from her savings account.
But Stephanie growled out of pure hunger, so she sighed and tapped her savings account, pulling out only $500 and locking her savings account again to keep herself from drawing too much money. Once she had added a reasonable amount of money to her card, Stephanie put on her shoes, zip up her blue camouflage sweater, and opened her apartment door.
She stopped halfway when she saw someone else leaving their apartment. The man, who looked like a businessman in a suit and was adjusting his sleeve, paused after hearing Stephanie’s apartment door open and glanced over, seeing her.
“Oh, good morning, Miss Allen!” The businessman perked after seeing Stephanie, who immediately shied after catching his attention with him. “How are you doing, ma’am?”
“I’m fine,” Stephanie stammered softly, sighing as she closed the door. She paused momentarily to turn around and locked her apartment door with the given key as she placed it into her blue jeans pocket. “I’m going to head out to eat somewhere.”
“Do you mind if I follow you, Miss Allen?” The businessman politely asked, stepping aside to allow Stephanie to walk ahead. “I’m heading to the same elevator with you.”
Stephanie paused, glancing away momentarily to think over the offer from the businessman before glancing back towards the businessman, responding, “Sure, I’ll follow you.”
The businessman allowed Stephanie to step past him before following behind her as she walked through the hallways of other neighbors. However, the neighbors were very rowdy , with children screaming at the top of their lungs, babies crying, and couples arguing and tossing items. The businessman sighed as he shook his head, remarking, “I would’ve gone crazy from all the noises happening here.”
“Yes, I agree,” Stephanie nodded, sighing softly. The businessman was trying to give Stephanie small talk, but Stephanie wasn’t in the mood to talk to the businessman. She arrived at the elevator and held the door open for the businessman to enter, who nodded a silent “thank you” towards Stephanie. Once the two were inside, the businessman turned to Stephanie, asking, “So, what were you doing in your room, Miss Allen?”
“Nothing much, sir,” Stephanie responded calmly. She was mentally exhausted from talking with the stranger, but being polite, she kept herself calm and spoke to the businessman. “I was just writing chapters for a story and deciding to take a break from my writing.”
“That’s a good idea,” the man nodded in agreement but paused as he looked at his watch around his wrist. “At this late in the day, though?”
Stephanie gently shrugged her shoulders, simply responding, “The beauty of the night sky, along with the sunset, keeps me motivated and allows me to act as a way of doing things.” Stephanie paused thoughtfully, thinking of words, “Keeping yourself balanced between technology and nature.”
Stephanie chuckled softly after realizing her dialogue, adding, “It does sound weird that I sound like a hippy from how I mentioned ‘being connected to nature’ and ‘balance between technology.’”
“A little,” the businessman nodded in agreement. “But I get your vision. I do sometimes think we lean too much toward technology instead of nature. We did come from nature, but technology motivated us to keep moving forward.”
“True,” Stephanie nodded in agreement, holding back disappointment but focusing on waiting for the elevator to reach the final level. Suddenly, the elevator stopped at a level, and the doors opened, allowing one of the neighbors to enter.
Stephanie inwardly pursed her lips in recognition of the woman, who was a gossipy hen. The gossipy hen noticed Stephanie standing at the back of the elevator and perked up, leaning towards the businessman and whispering, “Isn’t she the survivor?”
The businessman blinked with confusion after the woman asked him before gently leaning toward the woman, asking, “Survivor? A survivor from what?”
“Oh, you know, the famous bakery?” The woman whispered. “I think the name is Panadería ?” Stephanie looked away from the woman, her arms crossed over her chest, and her head ducked slightly. The woman whispered to the businessman, “I heard that a thief broke in and tried to steal the money but was caught by the daughter.” She nodded her head towards Stephanie, “which resulted in the family being killed, and she survived. Rumors said that he was the ex-boyfriend who broke up because she looked like a hooker.”
Stephanie tightened her grip on her arms as the elevator doors opened, and she pushed through the two, hurt from the woman’s gossip. She pulled her sweater’s hood over her head, covered her face, and headed outside. Outside, people were walking around to get to places and catching taxis to take an extra mile in their journey. Stephanie followed the crowd, keeping herself low while thinking about what to do next.
Stephanie thought with a deep sigh. I had been tricked online again for the seventh time. I needed to figure out how to earn money without spending all my savings. Stephanie stopped at a crosswalk and looked up towards the sky, seeing the beautiful orange-yellow sunset that turned the clouds pink. I could print my stories and see if any publisher would accept them.
She followed the others when the crosswalk light turned white, allowing them to cross the road. Stephanie turned to the right, walked along the sidewalk, and avoided any attention from anyone. The sounds of driving cars with the occasional roaring engine of a Charger roared down the streets, the chatter of people either to each other or on their phones, and the sounds of footsteps echoed through the city.
It’s peaceful when you walk outside during the sunset. Stephanie thought as she glanced up briefly. Maybe I should do this often whenever I need fresh air or stretch my legs. She finally arrived at where she was headed but paused when she saw the ‘ CLOSED ’ sign on the restaurant door.
A confused expression appeared on Stephanie’s face after she saw the sign before muttering, “Maybe they were revamping something? I could have missed something when I was there.” She lightly shrugged her shoulders and responded, “It’s not my business to stick my nose into things. I’ll go somewhere else instead.”
Stephanie turned on her heels and headed somewhere else to find another restaurant. Yet again, most restaurants were expensive at this point because of inflation. I should stick with going to the nearest grocery store to get something that I can quickly cook. Stephanie thought with a sigh.
However, Stephanie purposefully took longer to look at the sunset, stepping into a beautiful forest park near a large, roaring river and watching the sunset over the horizon at the ledge where they could see the river. The colors turned from a yellowish-orange color to a darker blue with millions of stars in the sky.
It’s beautiful seeing nature like this, Stephanie thought as she leaned forward on the railing to feel comfortable with where she was. It’s a shame no one else would see nature like this. Stephanie sighed as she watched the sky, the full moon rising into the sky and beaming down moonlight to the city.
Loud, crunching, and clattering sounds snapped Stephanie out of her gaze, startling her from the sudden sound. She glanced around to see where it came from, wondering where the noises came from. It sounded near her, so Stephanie leaned over the railing and glanced toward the floor near the river. She saw a dump truck dumping a gigantic pile of technology, including computers, TVs, speakers, and so much more.
After dumping all the electronics, the dump truck drove off, perhaps collecting more after dumping the one they had. Stephanie growled with anger as she gripped the railing with her hands. REALLY?! They had to dump trash near the riverbed?! How rude of them! After watching the dump truck drive off, Stephanie immediately headed toward the riverbed.
She stormed up to the large pile of electronics, shaking her head with disappointment as she looked around. She wondered how she would remove this pile from the riverbed before it became a problem. Stephanie could call the police and tell them what she had discovered, yet the feeling that the police would be the problem with dismissing the situation made Stephanie hesitate.
Stephanie continued to look through the pile, wondering how someone could grab this much electronics, but slowly realized that they were either stolen store electronics or ones that had been tossed out. However, Stephanie stopped when she discovered some familiar electronics in the pile during her search through the pile to get some idea of what she was searching for.
“Wait, what?” Stephanie muttered in confusion after seeing the electronics. She approached the pile of electronics closer, noticing her computer, headphones, and even her things. Stephanie frowned as she picked up her shattered keyboard. “That bastard threw out my things! What the hell?!”
She carefully looked through her belongings in the pile, taking out the ones that were hers to take pictures of. It wasn’t right for someone to toss her belongings without her permission, and she was just a week away from paying her rent.
After taking out her items and placing them down in front of the pile, Stephanie was about to take a photo of her tossed items when she winced in pain after feeling a stabbing pain in her chest. She wobbled a little and dropped her phone into the pile, causing her to bend over, but gripped her chest with a hand.
Her breathing was ragged, and sweat was forming on her forehead. Panic flashed in her eyes, realizing what was happening to her. Stephanie is having a heart attack. No, no! Stephanie panicked as she tried to take a deep breath, but her chest stung with pain. Not here! She winced as she wobbled, trying to push herself to grab her phone, but her body wasn’t listening to her, and the stinging pain became stronger to the point where she was almost screaming in pain.
The sound of running footsteps catches Stephanie’s attention, and she looks behind her, expecting to see a stranger who will come to help her. She stands up, trying to say something, but her muscles don’t follow what her brain commands. The stranger approaches Stephanie closer, and she signals to the stranger to call 9-1-1, still struggling with her heart attack.
The stranger reached into his pocket and took out something, and Stephanie wobbled a little. Her hand clutched her chest as she coughed hard, feeling lightheaded and dizzy from the lack of breathing. Instead of seeing a phone, Stephanie saw a glint of something metallic, causing her to take a sharp, ragged breath and try to step back away from the stranger.
The stranger stabbed something into Stephanie’s chest; something sharp pierced through her chest and inserted into her heart. Stephanie gave another sharp gasp of pain after the stabbing pain hit her heart, causing her to wobble backward before landing in the pile of electronics. Blood began to leak from her injury and stained the front of her sweater as Stephanie gave ragged inhales, trying to breathe.
She couldn’t move her body after she was stabbed in the chest, feeling her body begin to turn cold from blood spilling out of her body. Gingerly, Stephanie looked down and saw the dagger’s handle buried in her chest, blood pooling around it. That dagger was from the stranger, and her skin color was slowly drained from the injury and staining the electronics underneath her. He… stabbed me? …Why? Stephanie inwardly gasped, looking back up at the stranger.
The stranger who stabbed her looked like a middle-aged man wearing a black sweater, a grey shirt, pants, and boots. He instantly panicked after seeing Stephanie’s face after the hood fell off and the blood leaking out of her body as she lay on the pile of collected electronics, her breathing lethargic and struggling. The man stared at her, paralyzed by panic.
“Oh, shit!” The man panicked with a tone of recognition and fear, realizing his mistake of stabbing a famous survivor instead of a thief. He didn’t mean to stab her in the chest. He grabbed his head in a panic as he continued to panic, “Oh, shit, shit, shit, shit! What should I do now?!”
He looked over at his dump truck and back at the stabbed person. It was filled with more collected electronic items he had stolen or gathered from the recycling bins. Then, as if driven by a desperate instinct, he leaped back into the truck and returned to the pile. He dumped the electronics onto the corpse, hiding it out of sight from anyone else in the park.
Stephanie gave a sharp wince of pain, feeling the weight of electronics on her body crushing her and the dagger digging deeply into her chest. Each breath was a ragged gasp, her strength slipping away every second. Stephanie’s mind began to fill with panic as she attempted to move, trying to signal the man to stop what he was doing. No, no, stop! I’m not dead yet!
The stranger didn’t stop as he hopped out of his dump truck after Stephanie was hidden. The man jumped out of his dump truck, switched to his trusty bulldozer, which he had rented, and started pushing the pile of electronics with the corpse into the roaring river. Stephanie tried to scream out to the man to stop, but her muscles were already numbed. The ledge of the riverbank approached, and she fell with the pile of electronics, splashing into the roaring water.
Stephanie felt herself sinking deeper and deeper into the water, the ice-cold feeling numbing her body, and her lungs filled with water as a trail of blood lifted from her stab wound. Why…? Why is this happening to me? …I didn’t want this to happen to me… Please… someone help… She watched in vain as she sank deeper. Stephanie’s mind raced, her thoughts scattering like leaves in the wind. This is it… I’m going to die… The icy water closed in, and she let go with one final, desperate breath.
The man sighed after pushing the pile of electronics with the corpse into the river, nodding silently after seeing the body didn’t surface. He quickly parked his bulldozer somewhere that it would be hidden, stepped out from it, and checked to make sure there weren’t bloodstains anywhere. Once he finished checking, the man quickly hopped into his dump truck and looked at the clock on the dashboard.
“Midnight already… I’ve got to pay that debt before I lose my head over this.” He shuddered as he drove off, the weight of his actions settling over him like a cloud. He needed to redo everything before the next day arrived. He only prayed no one would ever find out what he had done.