Sleepless Night

a Heavy Rain story

The dark, murky skies of Philadelphia would have been a depressing sight, had it not
been a reasonable two o’clock in the morning. The heavy rain that had been descending
rapidly from the sky was ongoing for the past three days – how the city wasn’t flooded by
now is a mystery. On the East side of town, in a rather spacious loft apartment, a young
woman laid asleep on the couch in her living room, beads of sweat forming upon her brow
as she tossed and turned in her sleep. Soft, barely audible whimpers escaped from her lips
just before she jumped awake with a slight scream. The woman breathed heavily as she
regained her composure, sighing when she realised the intense and superfluous situation
had only been a pigment of her imagination.

The woman was a brunette, her hair almost reminiscent to the soft, lush fur of a black bear,
and her eyes fairly similar to that of a mix between chocolate and caramel. She adjusted
her white tank top and sat up, drooping her head over her lap. Her thoughts raced as she
finally calmed herself down. After a moment, she had reached for the remote control and
turned off her plasma-screen television which knocked out on account of the horrid weather
– the television had been emitting static and an almost eerie sound because of it. Setting
the remote back down on the coffee table next to the tea set, she picked up her wristwatch
and looked at the time, laughing to herself and rolling her eyes as she set the device back
down. ‘2:47am...always the same time,’ she thought.

Rising reluctantly from her comfortable piece of living room furniture, the young woman
stretched and gave a brief yawn before looking around her home. It was an absolutely
elegant dwelling – a New York style loft apartment decorated with mismatched yet stylish
décor. From the front door just to the left of the living area, you could observe the entire
apartment. It was fully open, except for the bedroom which was bordered by three walls of
slightly frosted glass with a wooden frame, the room still somewhat visible through it. The
living area was separated from the rest of the house by a raised platform, easily accessible
with a small step up or the two small sets of stairs on each side. The living room boasted a
comfortable sitting area of a couch and two matching arm chairs as well as a matching
three-set coffee table with a medium sized television just off to the side. Behind the sitting
area was a small bookshelf taking up a good section of the wall length wise, and a beautiful
and modern stereo system sitting atop it.

The woman hopped down from the living area and made her way to the kitchen. ‘Goddamn
insomnia,’ she said to herself. ‘I’m totally exhausted but just can’t sleep.’ Taking a sip of
water from the purified water bottle on the counter, she spotted the teapot on the stove. ‘A
hot drink is what I need.’ Pouring herself the now chilled tea, she opened the microwave
and set it for a good thirty seconds. Finding herself at one of the many ceiling-to-floor
windows in the apartment, she leaned against it and looked out into the city – the
metropolitan still rather alive despite the late hour, as proven by the vast amount of lights
on in the surrounding buildings. The woman heard the microwave beep and returned to
fetch her tea. She brought the porcelain cup to her lips and inhaled the wonderful aroma of
chamomile and honey, followed by the warm sensation of the soothing liquid make its way
down her throat. Her body felt warm afterward, her skin proving this with a severe case of
cutis anserine, making her chuckle as she rubbed her arms. ‘If I try to stay busy, it might
actually help me get to sleep,’ she thought.
Crossing the room, she arrived at her desk which leaned against the main wall bordering
her bedroom. She sat in the office chair and opened up her email client, resuming an article
that she had started typing earlier. She continued writing but suddenly felt a chill travel up
her spine – the feeling of being watched slowly overcoming her. She ignored it, however,
and finished her work. ‘A hot shower – that’ll create the magic of sleep.’ Heading toward the
living area, she ascended one of the sets of steps and entered the room parallel to the front
door. Her arm moved to the side as her fingers danced with the tiled wall, trying to find the
light switch. Activating it, the overhead lights illuminated her bathroom. It was a rather
spacious restroom that had a set of sinks positioned in a circle in the centre. To the right of
the entrance was another smaller room that held a toilet and some supply shelves above it.
Further to the right was a bathtub, several more shelves, and a small walk-in closet filled
with cleaning supplies. On the opposite side of the washroom was a wall that divided the
shower area from the rest of the room – on the opposite side of the wall were three shower
heads, giving the appearance of it being a public washroom.

Heading toward the showers, the woman halted her movements as she noticed the box of
sleeping pills on the dresser against the wall. ‘I shouldn’t take those damn pills again,’ she
thought, confident that the medication was the sole purpose behind her recurring
nightmares. The brunette removed her tank top and underwear and put them on the nearby
chair before walking around to the showers. Turning on the centre one, she jumped back as
the cold water surprised her. A moment later, the water had shifted temperatures to a much
desired warmer one. Standing under the water, the woman ran her hands through her hair
and turned to face the other side of the area, the water slowly and rapidly trickling down
her body and escaping the scene via the drain near her feet. A few moments later, she
turned off the shower and shook her hands dry as she went back to the chair retrieve a
towel. In a gentle motion, she dried her skin before replacing her clothes and exiting the
bathroom. Upon leaving, she stopped when she heard the sudden sound of something
hitting the ground in an unknown part of her home. Swallowing hard, she reassured herself
that it was nothing. ‘I swear I heard something. Way to go Madison. I think you’re starting
to lose it.’

Madison shook her head and headed for her bedroom. ‘Perhaps I’ll go to bed and give this
sleep thing one more shot.’ She sat on her bed and rubbed her legs, hoping that this time
she might be able to finally sleep peacefully. Laying down, she rested her head against the
soft pillow and breathed deeply. Before she could even think about a good night’s sleep, a
shadow in the house quickly moved past her bedroom, causing Madison to jump and yelp in
alarm. ‘I swear that shadow just moved. It’s freaking me out!’ She rubbed her eyes and
blinked a few times. ‘Girl get a grip. The door is locked tight and you’re home alone.’
Finding it damn near impossible to even think about sleep with her skin tingling and the
rush of paranoia and fear overcoming her. Taking a deep breath, Madison rose from her bed
and walked out into the kitchen area but stopped suddenly when a horrific sight took her
breath away. Across the room on the other side of the kitchen, the refrigerator door opened
slowly. The young woman had never felt such a rush of mind-numbing fear until that very
moment, where she thought that she was safe inside her apartment. ‘How on earth did the
fridge door just open like that?’ she thought. ‘This is seriously starting to freak me out.
Look, going without sleep is driving you crazy. You probably left the door open by accident.
Go to the fridge, shut the door, and go back to bed. Simple.’

Even still, she wasn’t all that reassured. Madison moved slowly toward the refrigerator,
somewhat reluctant on her actions now opposed to running for the door and getting the hell
out of dodge. Despite the fact that she was in her underwear and a tank top, she’d rather
wind up at the police station than experience the unimaginable should someone be inside of
her house. Standing in front of the refrigerator, she slowly reached for the door and
inspected it. Taking deep breaths and attempting to calm herself down, she slowly began to
shut the door, but slammed it shut and spun round when she heard a noise near her
bedroom. She swallowed hard and took small steps away from the refrigerator. Suddenly,
the room went dark – the power had been cut. Madison looked near the bedroom and saw
someone run into the room. ‘There’s someone here,’ she thought, utterly panicked. ‘There’s
someone in the apartment.’ She found herself crouched in the corner between the wall and
the refrigerator. Her gaze turned to the desk across the room. ‘The phone on the desk. I
could call for help!’ She peeked around the corner and glanced at the front door. ‘The front
door; it’s the only way out. If I can reach it, I still have a chance!’

Madison made her decision and quickly moved toward the front door. She reached for the
handle and began to pull, but the door was jammed. Suddenly, someone pulled her head
backward and put their arm around her neck, pulling her away from the door. Madison
struggled against their grip and used their weight in her favour – she jumped upward and
kicked off the door, causing them to slam into the parallel wall. The assailant released their
grip on Madison, causing her to stumble and fall to the floor. She crawled away and looked
up, noticing that her attacker was a man dressed in all black, his head covered by a
matching ski mask. He paced the floor waiting for his opportunity to strike. Madison jumped
to her feet and grabbed hold of the ladder against the wall and threw it at him, causing him
to stumble backward and fall.

Before she could make a second escape attempt, she was knocked to the floor by someone
else grabbing her ankles and dragging her down the steps and into the kitchen. She
grabbed a hold of the side of the archway, temporarily stopping her second assailant from
dragging her away. Madison kicked furiously, scoring a kick in the stomach, earning her
time to jump to her feet and make a run for it. But as she passed her assailant, he grabbed
her and threw her onto the counter. The brunette gasped when the man revealed a
glistening combat knife and attempted to stab her. Madison fought him off long enough to
grab a fork and jam it into his neck. The man yelled out in pain, giving Madison the
opportunity to run. Just as she got away, the first assailant threw her onto the dining table
and revealed his own knife. Dodging his stabs, she elbowed him in the face, but was
grabbed by the neck by the second assailant and dragged to the end of the table, where she
threw her leg back and kicked him in the face.

Madison jumped from the table just as the first assailant jumped on it. She picked up one of
the dining table chairs and threw it at him, the heavy metal knocking him off the chart. She
ran for her bedroom but was intercepted by one of the two assailants, forcing an alarmed
cry of terror to erupt from Madison’s throat. She turned to run in other direction, but was
blocked off by the second assailant. The young woman turned and tried to run past the first
attacker, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the window before
turning her round and slamming her against the wall. Madison grabbed him by the neck and
took a good bite on his ear through the material of the mask. The man yelled in pain and
threw Madison out of his way. Stumbling to her feet, she grabbed the nearby floor lamp and
whacked him with it.

She turned and ran for the living room but was intercepted by the second assailant who
found his way around the other side of the bedroom. Madison attempted to hit him, but he
blocked her strikes and picked her up over his shoulder. He threw her onto the bed and was
going to attempt to stab her, but she kicked him away and jumped to her feet. Launching
herself at him, she wrapped her legs around him and tackled him through the glass of the
wall and onto the raised platform of the living room. Scrambling to her feet, she ran for the
front door, knocking over her television in the process, hoping to slow down her pursuer. He
lunged for her, but Madison knocked him onto the couch, only to be punched in the face by
the first attacker, the force knocking her to the ground. He slapped her across the face as
the second attacker slammed her head against the coffee table, earning Madison a bloody
nose. The glass that had broken from Madison’s tea set on the coffee table had proven to be
a good weapon – Madison took a shard and stabbed one of the attackers in leg, making him
drop his knife onto her chest. Taking the knife, she stabbed the other assailant in leg and
jumped to her feet.

Making a run for the bathroom door, she missed the handle by an inch as one of the
attackers grabbed her by the hair and pulled her toward him. He pulled Madison away from
the door and spun her round to face him. As she faced his direction, he took his knife and
flung his arm across her neck, making a gash across her throat. He did it a second time in
the opposite direction, the second gash intersecting the first, forming an X. Madison’s hand
instinctively went to her throat, applying pressure to the slashes across her throat in an
attempt to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. Her murderer took a step back to watch as
she stumbled backward against the wall and slid to the floor.

Madison jumped awake with a slight scream, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She
took a deep breath and breathed heavily and deeply as she realised that the intense and
superfluous situation had only been a pigment of her imagination.