A Sleepless Night
1026 Words
Ding!
The elevator chimed softly as its doors slid open, and Green felt the familiar searing warmth on his wrist where the magical array was etched.
“Huh?”
Green raised an eyebrow, his previously nonchalant gaze now fixed on the elevator.
Inside stood a middle-aged man in a security uniform, holding a cloth bag, standing ramrod straight.
Vanessa immediately recognized him and called out excitedly, “Thomas!”
Thomas? The apartment’s manager?
“Ha! I was just wondering where you’d gone!” Vanessa said cheerfully. “This is my boyfriend, Green Murray. You can call him Green. He’s going to stay with me for a while.”
She turned to Green, introducing him. “This is Thomas, the manager I mentioned. He’s helped me with so many things!”
“Oh, nothing much, just some small repairs—part of my job as the manager,” Thomas said with a smile, extending his hand toward Green. “Hello, Mr. Green. If you ever need anything here, feel free to ask me!”
“Hello.” Green returned the smile and shook Thomas’s hand. “I’ll make sure not to trouble you too much.”
The moment their palms touched, the heat on Green’s wrist flared violently.
“Haha, no trouble at all!” Thomas laughed as he withdrew his hand and stepped out of the elevator. “I have to get back to work. You two should head upstairs!”
“Wait!” Vanessa called after him just as Thomas was about to leave. “My boyfriend has something he wants to ask—”
But before she could finish her sentence, Green tightened his grip on her hand, silently stopping her.
“What is it?” Thomas turned back, looking at them curiously, as if he hadn’t caught what Vanessa said.
“Nothing,” Vanessa replied with a smile. “My boyfriend just wanted to thank you for all your help and invite you to dinner sometime!”
“No problem!” Thomas responded warmly. “Let’s do that when I have a day off. Bye!”
“Bye!”
Vanessa held onto Green’s hand, watching Thomas disappear into the security office before stepping into the elevator.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Vanessa’s hushed voice broke the silence.
“What was that about?” she demanded, staring at Green intently. “You think there’s something wrong with Thomas, don’t you?”
Green nodded. “Yes, there’s definitely something off about him.”
“But I didn’t notice anything strange! He seemed exactly the same as usual!”
Vanessa frowned, clearly perplexed. She had been standing so close to Thomas—if anything was amiss, she should have sensed it.
“Your eyes can deceive you,” Green said simply.
Vanessa mulled over his words, nodding thoughtfully.
The elevator soon reached their floor, and the screech of its doors opening echoed down the corridor.
“Was it a demon possessing Thomas, or is he not human at all?” Vanessa asked, her curiosity getting the better of her as she unlocked their apartment door.
But Green didn’t give her a direct answer. “I just know something’s wrong with him. I’ll need to investigate further to figure it out.”
“When are we going to investigate?” Vanessa asked, her eyes sparkling like a child with a new toy.
“We’re not investigating—I am,” Green emphasized as he stepped into the apartment and set his belongings down.
“Oh…”
Vanessa pouted, clearly disappointed at being excluded again.
Moments later, she grabbed a towel and mumbled, “I’m going to shower. Care to join me?”
Green stiffened at the unexpected invitation, preparing to decline, but Vanessa’s mocking expression stopped him in his tracks.
“Damn it!”
Feeling his pride as a man had been challenged, Green cursed under his breath, stormed over, and swept Vanessa into his arms. “You’ll regret provoking me!”
With that, he kicked the bathroom door open.
Deep into the night, in the bedroom.
Green’s eyes snapped open.
Blinking a few times to adjust to the darkness, he gently moved the sleeping Vanessa off his chest and onto the bed beside him.
After quickly dressing, he glanced at Vanessa, who was still sound asleep, and silently left the room.
The hallway lights flickered dimly, occasionally cutting out for a few seconds.
Green massaged his sore lower back as he strode toward the elevator.
A soft chime signaled the elevator’s arrival, and its doors opened to reveal the dimly lit lobby. Green stepped out and made his way toward the security office, its door firmly shut.
Through the glass, he could see Thomas seated behind his desk.
Before Green could get much closer, the apartment’s main entrance swung open.
“Huh?”
Green stopped in his tracks, frowning at the unexpected visitors.
An odd pair entered the building: an elderly Asian man and a blonde woman with an almost unnaturally voluptuous figure.
The stark contrast between them—a frail, hunched old man and a statuesque young woman—made for a bizarre sight.
The pair scanned the lobby briefly, their gazes pausing on Green for only a moment before locking onto the security office.
Without hesitation, they headed toward Thomas’s office.
“Hey! Hold on!”
Green stepped in front of them, blocking their path. “Who are you?”
The blonde woman tried to push past him. “This doesn’t concern you. Move!”
But to her surprise, Green didn’t budge. Instead, he grabbed her wrist.
Green glared at the two strangers, about to speak, when the magical array on his wrist flared with a searing heat—stronger than anything he’d felt before.
“Damn it,” Green cursed, releasing her hand and taking a step back, his eyes narrowing.
These two weren’t ordinary people.
And their presence felt even more dangerous than Thomas’s.
As Green weighed his options, the door to the security office creaked open, and Thomas emerged, a teacup in hand.
His eyes moved between Green and the newcomers.
“Who are you?” Thomas asked calmly.
- Writer
