Kaisa woke up to a loud crash. For a moment, a massive stream of thoughts rushed into her mind, as if her brain had decided to run through every possible scenario.
— Ow… my head hurts.
"I should get some fresh air," Kaisa thought.
She opened the window and took a deep breath of the damp city air. Not far away, the lights of high-rise buildings were glowing. It had been raining for two days already — sometimes heavier, sometimes lighter.
The weather forecasters say it will continue until the weekend.
"This isn't how I imagined my vacation, but oh well. Right now, I should grab something to eat and check what my sister is doing."
Kaisa stepped from the balcony into her room. The interior was done in dark blue tones. The room was small and cozy. On the desk lay house blueprints and an article describing a new foundation-laying technology.
Kaisa stopped at the desk, took a folder from the shelf, and quickly cleared everything off the table.
— That's better. Now I can go eat, but first I'll check on my sister.
Quickly crossing the corridor, Kaisa peeked into the living room: her sister was fast asleep.
— Now I can go to the kitchen.
At that very moment, she was already in the kitchen. Taking a pot from the refrigerator, she turned on the stove and placed it on the heat.
A loud crash was heard, not like thunder. Lightning flashed outside the window.
— Or maybe it really is thunder, Kaisa thought.
A notification appeared on her phone.
"Probably mom," Kaisa thought. She took the phone out of her pocket. Stirring the soup with one hand, she suddenly froze.
Unknown number. Message: "1 minute."
"What one minute? Who are you? What do you want?" Kaisa typed.
The messages didn't go through. The sender's status showed: "Last seen a long time ago."
So, what should she do? The door is locked. There's time to hide. Maybe call the police? No, they'll take too long. Neighbors? The ones on the 10th floor are at work, the 8th — on vacation.
The neighbor from the adjacent apartment!
Kaisa ran into the corridor to the notebook.
"If I remember correctly, mom wrote the neighbor's number here. Okay, okay… here it is! How much time is left? Ah, doesn't matter."
Kaisa quickly began dialing the number, correcting mistakes a couple of times.
A ringing tone… another…
— I'm coming, a voice was heard from the other end of the line.
A knock on the door.
Kaisa ran to the door to look through the peephole. When she looked, she saw a horrifying sight: a man in a black mask and glasses stood in front of the door, holding the neighbor's head, with the eye sockets hanging out.
A bang — and in an instant, the door flew inward with full force, pinning Kaisa to the floor.
Kaisa couldn't move: her body was paralyzed by that horrifying sight and the weight of the door.
— Yui! Sister! — but it was too late.
Kaisa began to lose consciousness. Slightly turning her head, she saw a pool of blood beginning to spread.
Screams were heard — screams Kaisa would never forget.