There’s Something Wrong with the Third Floor

Julian is on the roof when Maya returns. She finds him at dawn, sitting at the edge with his legs […]

The thunderstorm hits at 2 AM. Maya wakes to lightning painting her ceiling white and thunder that shakes the building’s

The roof is freezing. Not building-curse freezing. Just normal October-in-Seattle freezing. The wind whips across the flat expanse, carrying rain

Derek from 2A is exactly the kind of man Maya should want. Tall. Handsome in a clean-cut, safe way. Works

Julian starts visiting every night. Not in a creepy way—though Maya is aware of how that sounds. He doesn’t appear

Mrs. Kowalski won’t talk. Maya spends twenty minutes outside 1A, knocking and calling through the door, but the old woman

Maya doesn’t go to work on Thursday. She calls in sick—which isn’t entirely a lie, considering she’s had maybe six

Maya spends all of Wednesday researching. She should be working—the Rothko assessment is due Friday and she’s barely started—but instead

Maya doesn’t make it to the third floor. Not because she changes her mind—though lying awake until dawn definitely gave

The rain hasn’t stopped for three days. Maya Rivers stands in front of the Blackwood Apartments with a soaked cardboard