Page 2 of Imprisoned Obsession

My neighbors are here watching, but then my eyes travel across a sea of unfamiliar faces.

Tyrannical amber eyes meet mine.

Consuming fear grips my throat. Tremors strike my unstable hands as anxiety pinches at my waist. Unbearable claustrophobia becomes overwhelming when his attention swallows everything around me.

He’s big. He stands in the back, but still towers over the blathering crowd. An unmarked cap shadows the beautiful glow of his eyes, but it doesn’t disguise his predatory stare.

My heart wrenches for unfathomable reasons.

Why can’t I look away?

Why am I so afraid of him?

“We need to take you to the hospital,” the paramedic says.

Instinctively, I snap my head towards her. Her voice nearly slips my mind as if I don’t grasp her words. She doesn’t wait for me to answer before tapping the window behind the driver.

I turn to look over my shoulder. The man’s gone, and another person has taken his place as if he were never there.

Did I imagine him?

The door slams shut, the vibration rocking the tempo of my agitated heart. The ambulance’s siren shrills above me as the vehicle drives away from the burning building.

The paramedic keeps an eye on me. Every twitch of my body is followed by her concerned voice as she monitors my oxygen level.

“I could use a statement from you,” someone says.

I am startled out of my trance by the voice. Whipping my head towards the newcomer, I gasp in shock as my back collides with the plastic divider behind me.

The cop and the paramedic argue about the bad timing as we turn a corner. I close my fingers around the mask and scoot myself away from him.

They argue about the fact that he is a rookie, and she is a pain in the ass. It occurs to me that they knew each other before today.

I prefer that they argue with each other instead of with me. I’m still trying to wrap my head around what just happened.

I came back early from class to change for work. Everything was fine, and Janice had already fought off her fever. I didn’t have to worry; she assured me that she hadn’t lived for thirty-five years without learning how to take medicine.

I’m just subleasing from her previous housemate, so the three of us aren’t close. We’re cordial, but we all mind our own business. I think our age difference has also kept us apart.

I wouldn’t even call us friends.

“The fire started on the seventh floor. The Chief said it originated in her apartment!” the cop yells heatedly. “I need to find out!”

“You don’t need to do anything!” the paramedic snaps. “You’re only this diligent because you want the credit!”

“So what?” The man bristles defensively. “I want to become a detective next year!”

The fire had started in my apartment. It’s no wonder Janice had more injuries than those who had escaped from the fire.

If an elevator malfunction hadn’t forced me to take the stairs, I would have been stuck there too. I would have been caught inside the apartment, trapped by the fire. So I could have been wheeled out on a stretcher just like Janice was.

I hate comparing our situations, but I can’t help but feel lucky.

“The Chief said it wasn’t an accident; there was flammable material!” the man shouts again.

It doesn’t take a genius to know the implications of his words. The accusation sits at the bottom of my stomach as I focus on replenishing my oxygen.

It still hurts to breathe. The acidity of the smoke is causing a film on my tongue that won’t go away, no matter how many times I swallow.

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