Chill ran down the spine of Nora, as she stood in shock. Nora, shakingly held tightly onto a piece of paper which she had folded. Her staggered breath matched the loud rhythm of her racing heart which produced a thunderous noise through the vacant living room space. "You’re running out of time." She read the note again. Her throat went dry. This was no coincidence. No accident. The sender of these warning messages had no plans of stopping their intimidation of her. Nora was speechless. A strong grip formed around the paper when she shifted her eyes toward the empty living room. Sandra left the house quickly before Nora could finish her words while expressing her angry disapproval. Nora's worries appeared foolish to Sandra because they lacked any practicability. But now Nora knew she wasn’t crazy or delusional. But Nora realized she knew better. She felt it. “This was real.” Nora muttered, her eyes glanced at the note again. She leaped from the couch's seat without tak

Lisa was on the phone with Oliver once more, after promising not to. “Oliver, this is not a good time,” Lisa whispered into the phone speakers, and kept turning back to check if Eric was nearby. “What do you mean, by it is not a good time?” Oliver asked confusely over the phone. Lisa delayed in her response, “not now, I will call you later,” Lisa muttered. “What?” Oliver blunted. Lisa ended the call. Oliver stared at his phone confused. Lisa quickly stuck the phone in between her clothes, she exhaled, wiped off her eyes. “Isn’t this what I wanted? To leave Eric for good?” Lisa questioned herself, her heartbeat was still at a fast paste, even though she tried to calm down. “Yeah, my time is come, my wishes are now coming through,” Lisa said within herself. She nodded gently, as she came to her realization of her wishes are about to come to pass. “No need…… there is no need to be afraid, I just need to play the last card, before the game ends,” Lisa muttered within herself.

Nora couldn’t believe her eyes. The car zoomed off immediately, without remorse or concern of what it did to her clothes. Nora stood there speechless. She wiped of the water of her face. Nora walked into her workplace drenched in water, so as everything that isn’t under shelter during the rain. Mr. Thompson sights her from the door, because of the little bell at the top of the door that rings when someone opens it. Nora managed to get to the back, for a change of clothes. “Late again, huh?” Mr. Thompson asked. Nora didn’t respond. “If you continue like this, I will get you fired,” Mr. Thompson said, pointing his fingers at her. He walked away. Nora sighed. She mimicked him sarcastically, and laughed. Nora exhaled in relief. The words from the greasy, rumpled, pizza note, replayed in her mind. “You are running out time……,” the note said. Nora thought about it, as looked herself in the mirror. Mia put on her name tag of her work uniform. Sandra’s words repeated in her

The morning atmospheric conditions were bracing outside yet Eric maintained a heavy tension inside his living area which suffocated the air. The coffee mug stayed unwrapped in his grasp as he sat at the edge of the couch. Twice he looked up from his smartphone screen toward the door of his apartment as thoughts circled his brain. Lisa hadn’t called last night. The way she phoned this morning left him feeling discomfort in the atmosphere. He remembered the sound in the background during the call. Any sound of a car horn continued repeating in his mind. Lisa informed him she spent time at a friend's place yet city sounds from her background clearly refuted this claim. The house where she stayed with her friend found itself located within a neighborhood characterized by silence rather than city noise along with vehicle honking sounds. It was impossible to know where she vanished to. Eric clenched his jaw. Since his sixth sense alerted him to an issue he decided to dodge his usual

Eric positioned himself at the doorway while his forehead formed a frown to witness Lisa accompany Nora to the lobby. Something was off. He could feel it. When Lisa extended to walk Nora to the lobby Eric reacted with surprise. The behavior felt inappropriate given her typical subtle manner because it appeared both too emphatic and too demanding. Current observation of tense interaction between Lisa and Nora causes his stomach to knot. “Lisa?” He called. Lisa turned to him. His tone revealed suspicion during the inquiry as he said “Everything okay?” to Lisa. A pretty dimpled grin emerged from Lisa's face as she looked at him. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” Eric’s gaze flickered to Nora. Nora looked away. She looked uneasy. The purse strap clenching in her hands and her sporadic foot movements caused her to wish she could escape the situation. Nora was away that her mission has failed and Eric was still lost in the lies. He narrowed his eyes. Nora briefly paused be