AJ sparked a cigarette, anxiously pacing back and forth in her apartment. It was a one bedroom, but it was very spacious. Maybe it was because she didn't have much furniture, or belongings in general that made it feel so empty.
She puffed with shaky hands, taking in the nightmarish events of today. So many bad things happened she was scared to list them out in her head. If she did, she would probably go mad.
How did she get herself blackmailed for looking at some stupid pictures? If those were really aliens or monsters, whatever, why would Sauer ever let that information just sit out so easy to find? Either he wasn't nearly as smart as she thought he was, or he just really needed an excuse to blackmail her. If she really just discovered some crazy government conspiracy wouldn't they have just killed her?
What angered her the most though was that Oliver had to be involved in this, at all. This had to be his doing. What was his interest in her anyway? She was no bombshell, she hadn't even been nice to him. Her nerdy rant should've turned him off right away.
If there was a perfect time to plan a fake death, this was it. She had no real connection to her family, and they were hundreds of miles away anyhow. As far as friends go, they were all as eccentric as she was, crazed UFO nuts. If they knew she was part of some crazy conspiracy being blackmailed by the CIA, possible involving aliens, they would understand. Too bad she wouldn't be able to tell them.
It was seven o'clock, not time enough to plan her fake death before going to jail. She took the last few drags of her cigarette and put it out in an old worn-out ashtray. "Come here Henry," she whistled. Out from her bedroom pranced her little black cat, meowing and begging for food. As she fed him time seemed to speed up. Every second became shorter and shorter.
Her cat was practically blind and knocked things over all of the time, which is exactly why she named him Henry Bemus; Her favorite character from the twilight zone. Every time she got to the scene where he breaks his glasses, AJ always had to dramatically yell his iconic line with him, "It's not fair! There was time now!"
Well, if there was a more appropriate time to scream that, it was now. None of this was fair. But she had no time. Now it was just thirty minutes before she had to leave to face that perverted monster.
When there was fifteen minutes left, she gathered her courage, threw on her jacket and left. Unfortunately he only lived a mile or so away, but what could she expect living in the city so close to work.
The walk was cold, and the streetlights had already turned on. She made it to an old apartment building almost hidden between a small dry cleaners and a hole-in-the wall diner. This is where the note said, so she walked to the door and tried to find his name on the buzzers. There he was, Oliver Fuchs, written sloppily on the tag.
She hesitated, rethinking her escape plan. But she had nowhere to go tonight, nowhere to hide. She grumbled and pushed the button, regretting her decision the moment her finger hit the buzzer.
A fuzzy voice crackled from the speaker. "Hello?"
AJ swallowed. "It's AJ."
She jumped when she heard the loud buzz letting her in. She almost waited too long before opening the door, but she bravely did it. Once she was in, she realized this was it. She had made the decision, there was no going back tonight.
She walked up the empty stairwell to his apartment. She found his door, apartment G7, with the broken seven hanging upside down. One small step for AJ, and one big leap into the unknown depths of whatever would happen beyond this door. But if Buzz Aldrin could face the dangers of outer space, she could face whatever horrors lay before her.
However, Buzz Aldrin did come back with moon madness. But before AJ started to chicken out at the last moment, debating what sort of crazy madness she would get, the door creaked open.
"Hey troublemaker," Oliver said, leaning casually against the door frame.
AJ shot him an angry glare. She hated him.
"Well, come in," he said and opened the door all the way for her to follow him.
When she entered, she found herself in a small kitchen, which was in complete disarray. It led into a living room which was cleaner and emptier, but still a bit disorganized.
"Don't just stand there, come here," he said, motioning her to enter the living room. It had a big black leather couch against a wall, an outdated television and scratched maple table in front of it. In the corner of the room was a desk littered with papers, files and various VHS tapes. A small fish tank was squeezed between books on a shelf next to the couch, but she didn't see any fish.
Oliver looked her up and down as she slowly stepped into the living room. "So you don't change after work?" he asked, hands casually in his pockets.
AJ shrunk into her open jacket. It was his fault, he had her so worked up she didn't even remember to change. "It doesn't look like you do either."
Oliver looked down at himself, realizing she was right. He was still wearing his suit pants, a white button up shirt and a teal tie loose on his neck. "Whatever, I was working longer than you." He scratched his head and pointed to the leather couch. "Take off your jacket, come sit here please."
AJ did so, nervously putting it on the arm of the couch. She sat down, feeling the leather on her bare legs underneath her pleated skirt. Oliver stood in front of her, head tilted to the side. "So have you made a choice?" he asked.
"A choice about what?"
Oliver leaned down, his face just inches away from hers. "Do you choose jail?" he said and put two fingers under her chin, pushing her face up to look directly at him. "Or me?"
AJ put her hands on her lap, trying to shrink herself into nothing. "I just don't understand."
Oliver gave her a smile she could only read as pure evil. "Don't worry, you will."
Without warning he grabbed her wrist, pulling her to the side enough to snatch her other wrist behind her back. "Hey!" she yelled, struggling to pry herself away from him. But Oliver ignored her, squeezing both of her small wrists in one hand, and slipping his tie off his neck with the other.
AJ wrestled against him, trying to wiggle out of his tight grip. "This would be a lot easier if you would stay still," he said impatiently, wrapping the teal tie around her wrists. When the knot was complete, he let go of her. She scurried to the edge of the couch, trying to free her wrists from behind her.
"Is this it? Are you going to kill me?" she cried.
Oliver scoffed at her. "You watch way too many movies."
