Every day seems the same, the repetition that I can’t escape. My alarm blares at 5:30 am waking me up, I make my bed, eat Lucky Charms for breakfast at 5:40 am, get ready for work, and walk out of my apartment at 6:10 am. I do the 5-minute walk to the bus stop, the bus comes at exactly 6:22 am every day. I get on the bus, say hi to the bus driver Gus, and sit for 30 minutes before getting off at the stop where my job is. I walk into the building at 7 am and spend ten hours in this sterile office environment, I get an hour lunch at 1 pm on the dot. There are predictable lunch options in the break room and I get a tuna sandwich on wheat with some Doritos while sipping on a Dr. Pepper.

One Tuesday morning as I leave my apartment, I notice a black envelope sticking out of my door. I open it and on the sheet of paper is a sentence that looks like it was letters taken out of newspapers and magazines which says:

“Hello Grace, you’re being watched.”

I look around wondering who left me this note but there is no one in the hallway and think, “Is this someone’s idea of a sick joke?” As I start the five-minute walk to the bus stop, my heart starts racing, my eyes dart around and I start humming to try to calm down. When I get to the bus stop, I tell myself that I am overreacting and it’s probably nothing. I look at my watch and see that it is 6:22, yet no bus.

6:30 am comes and it’s still not here, the bus is usually right on time. 6:36 am and here it comes, when I get on the bus there is an elderly woman I have never seen before driving. She looks at me and smiles, one of her teeth is missing. I start to smile at her when I remember the note from this morning and my smile drops. I walk into the office building at 7:06 a.m., I’m six minutes late. Oh no!

At 1 PM, I go into the break room only to discover there is no Dr. Pepper. So, I decided to drink water with my tuna on wheat and a bag of Doritos. Before I know it, the day is over and I am back in my apartment lying in bed.

The next day, at 5:30 a.m. I woke up and got ready to have my Lucky Charms when I noticed another black envelope inside my Lucky Charms box. This note looks exactly like the last one but has a different sentence on it: “You can’t escape me.” Panic clenches my chest as I look around my locked apartment for signs of intrusion. I called the police and two male officers came over who told me that without any evidence, there was not much they could do.

Days passed, each creepy note being hidden somewhere in her locked apartment. “I can’t wait to have you and make you mine. ,” reads one that was placed on my nightstand. “Your heart belongs to me,” reads another that was placed on my bathroom mirror. “I’ll never let you go, NEVER. I love you and I know you love me” reads another that was placed in my closet. I start drinking energy drinks to stay alert, my sleep is restless, and my muscles are tense. Every creek in my floorboards and every glance over my shoulder has my heart racing.

I decide to set up a few hidden cameras in my apartment hoping to get a breakthrough. The breakthrough came about a week after the notes started and two days after I set the cameras up. Reviewing the footage from the camera I placed in the living room, I spot a figure in the background — someone who shouldn’t be there delivering a note inside my refrigerator which had said, “we’ll be together soon my love.” I pause the video and when I see who it is, my mouth drops. It’s Gus, the bus driver who lives in my building.

I decide to confront him. I stomp over to his apartment and pound my fist against his door. When he opens the door, he looks me up and down before smirking. He confesses to me that he has been obsessed with me since the moment he saw me and that is why he also moved into the building so he could be closer to me. He revels in describing how he has watched me living in fear and how excited it gets him.

I step back in shock and shriek at him, “You are a freak and I will never love you.” I start to dial 9-1-1 when he lunges at me knocking the phone out of my hand and I land on the ground stunned. He straddles me, pulls out a knife, and stabs me in the stomach over and over again.

Then, with a smirk on his face he leans down and whispers, “If I can’t have you, nobody can.” He gets off me and just sits next to me. The blood drips down my lips, my breaths coming out in gasps and tears fall down my face. I opened my mouth to say something but words wouldn’t come out. I couldn’t move, couldn’t get up. This is it I think to myself.

(Author note: I’m not sure if I did this correctly, this is the first time I’ve written a character’s death. I want feedback on it).