Kavya finished typing the last sentence and checked the time. The white numbers at the corner of her screen informed her that midnight had come and gone without her notice.
She shut down her laptop after saving her work and stood up, stretching her muscles as she went and let out a relieved sigh as her spine cracked.
It had been a long day at office and the work had bled over even after she had clocked off for the night. The assignment was important though, so she couldn’t just leave it half-finished either.
The room was slightly chilly, autumn nearly at its end and slowly starting to hand the reigns over to the winter chill. The gentle breeze outside had lost most of its warmth, swapping its pleasantness for a more biting edge.
Picking up her empty water bottle, she ambled her way into the hall where the filter was affixed to the wall. A gentle breeze blew in through the opened windows rustling her hair.
Kavya looked out the window as she filled her bottle. It was almost pitch black outside; the streetlamps barely illuminated the narrow road ahead; the trees on either side of the street cast long shadows on the walls, making it seem as if a million shadowy presences were slinking about in the dark.
“It’s really quiet tonight” Kavya thought, as she switched off the filter and returned to her room. The hairs at the back of her neck stood up. Normally, the thought wouldn’t bother her as much. She lived with three other flat mates, one of whom she shared her bedroom with, and there was constantly some sort of noise in the small space.
If Vinnie wasn’t filling their bedroom with constant snoring, it was Olly tripping over something. And Ana’s late night shower operas were a thing of its own. In short, having a quiet moment to herself was quite rare and precious.
Today however, Anayra was out of town, travelling for work reasons. Olivia had taken the week off to attend a cousin’s wedding. Vinita had been reluctant to leave her completely alone for the night, but Kavya knew she had been looking forward to spending the night with her boyfriend. She had finally agreed to go after Kavya had reassured her that she’d be fine, and that she’d call in case of an emergency.
Kavya walked onto the cold tile of the bathroom and started to prepare for bed. It would do her no good to scare herself by having these thoughts. She brushed her teeth, and headed for bed. Tomorrow would be another long day.
As she crawled under the covers, she firmly told herself that the feeling of someone watching her was just her own paranoia from watching too many horror movies. Facing the shadowy room before her, she took a deep breath to calm herself down. The chill of the wall inches from her back provided little comfort as she slowly let exhaustion take over.
She dropped off to sleep, dismissing the light hand slithering over to rest on her hips as her imagination.
DoubleSpeak 