A/N, Massive Trigger Warning, Gore.

Aphmau turned in her fitful sleep, fingers gripping desperately onto the sheets as if she were holding a dying lover, her brow etched into a heartbroken frown and a cold sweat permeating her skin.

A loud crack outside her door tore her from her nightmare she blinked for a moment, confused on what had disturbed her sleep, she sat up to listen intently and glance around her dark, empty room

Her heart was heavy and her lungs took in shallow breaths, she could hear the faint sounds of footsteps in the hall, they were light, as if they were trying to be silent.

She heard her neighbors door get kicked suddenly open, and a loud masculine yelp stung her ears, as well as the noise of a nasty struggle.

"Wolf! Wolves!" The man shouted, his voice high and terrified before he suddenly fell deathly silent.

The proceeding quietness was deafening, Aphmau strained her ears trying to place even the smallest noise from the room just next to her.

She quickly threw off her sheets and bolted to her front door, grabbing the cast-iron pot from the sink and weilding it like a baseball bat, she creeped up to the peephole in her door.

The light from her neighbors room bathed the hallway in a pale orange glow, the long shadow of the door played tricks on her mind as she swear she saw it move slightly.

But there was nothing, she sighed in relief, perhaps it was just a remnant of her nightmare. Aphmau was just about to pull away when a large shadow appeared in her neighbors doorway, two figures, both with large ears and long, bushy tails dragging the floor.

The world seemed to stand still as they near silently passed her doorway, she inhaled sharply before clasping her free hand over her mouth to silence herself.

The first passed her door, they were a head shorter than the second figure and Aphmau caught the blood-chilling glimpse of a bloodied knife glinting off the light in his hand.

The second, far larger figure lumbered past with far less stealth than the first, but that didn't matter, in the orange light of her neighbors door she saw a glimpse of a black snake tattoo wrapping up his arm.

She suddenly lost her balance, causing her to slightly step back and the floorboard to betray her by squealing loudly, her heart dropped like cement into her stomach.

The second figure paused, and slowly turned to her door, she could only see the bottom portion of his face, stubble, a scar running up from his lip to the rest of his face. She froze, body paralyzed in fear.

He snarled quietly into the peephole, showing off his many missing teeth before trying to spy inside her room, she ducked quickly and quietly to avoid being seen.

She heard his weight rest on her door with an almost innocent creak, his nails rapped the door as he peered inside.

Aphmau pressed all of her weight on the door as she bit into her hand to stifle herself, the next few moments were hauntingly silent, before she heard the sound of two pairs of footsteps sprinting away.

Not trusting herself, she stayed like that for far longer than was necessary, her hand clutching the stitch in her chest and her body shivering without her permission.

Finally, she willed herself to stand, pot still gripped in her hand like a lifeline, her knuckles were white from the strain on her balled fist.

The peep-hole was empty, and after a moments hesitation she thrust open the door into the hallway.

Slowly, she peered into her neighbors apartment, steeling herself for what she might find.

It wouldn't have mattered what she did, she was never prepared to see her neighbors blood splattered on the wall like a Jackson Pollock painting, his still warm corpse twitching as his head hung on a hinge of nerve and sinew.

Tears and vomit both raced each other to her head, the room smelled sickeningly sweet, and the sight was too much for her, she bolted quickly out the door to the nearest payphone in the hall.

Emergency Line, What is your emergency?

The operators voice was calm and soothing, but it did nothing to either calm nor sooth Aphmau's frantic heart.

"M-murder! He's been murdered!" Aphmau would have cursed herself for playing the unhelpful pronoun game if she had any lick of sense left.

"Miss, calm down, I'm sending security to your location right now, but I need to know what happened."

Aphmau closed her eyes and tried her best to breath through both her tears and the urge to spill her insides out.

"I heard a noise that woke me up, and my neighbor screamed, I saw two... two..." She hesitated, two werewolves? That would send the whole city in a panic, but she didn't want to lie...

"Two beast-folk I couldn't make out what kind they were, come out of his room, I rush in and, he's dead!" She finished, feeling her nerves prickle her back uncomfortably.

"It will be okay ma'am, I'll be on the line until the officers arrive." Aphmau felt her knees give away underneath her, but she was able to catch herself on the wall.

"Thank you."

Not long passed until three officers came bursting up the stairs, Aphmau felt relief wash over her as the masked men went past her, two slowly went inside, she heard one of them gag.

"Holy fucking shit." Was the only words that cane out of either officers mouth, the third put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay miss?" He asked, a small smile visible underneath his darkened helmet.

"Physically." She replied quickly, still trying to catch her breath from the traumatic experience of seeing an amateur beheading.

"Frankly I'm not even going to ask about emotionally." He chuckled, likely as a way for her to feel more at ease, it somewhat worked, it drew a small smile from her for a moment.

"Did you know him?" The officer asked slowly, adjusting his rifle on his back as he glanced into the room with the other two, Aphmau heard his breath hitched.

"Mr. Irons helped me with my groceries yesterday." She nodded blankly, he'd seemed in a wonderful mood, and now he was dead.

"First name?" The officer looked at her sadly with a notebook in his hands, scribbling down her testimony.

"Richard."

As he asked more questions the reality that she'd nearly been murdered came heavily upon her shoulders, tears threatened to fall again despite herself.

"I'm sorry for the questions Miss Pheonix, it's protocol." The officer put his hand on her shoulder again, squeezing it gently.

"I know, was that all?" She shook off both his hand and her emotions, crossing her arms and trying desperately not to think about her neighbors corpse.

"I think that's all I need from you. You may head back to bed, try and get some rest." She nodded, heading past him back to her door, her head was foggy, and her breath was still shaky.

She slowly shut her door behind her and locked both the deadbolt and the worn handle, her anxiety skyrocketing.

She made her way to bed, looking over her shoulder every few seconds, as she tucked in she looked at the ceiling.

She did not sleep another wink.