A shift of weight, of breath that wasn’t hers.

She turned, expecting to see someone from one of the other apartments – the students who never spoke to her, never made any effort – finally coming to invite her to one of the parties she always heard. Or to tell her that everyone had grown tired of ignoring her and she was now the centre of attention. Would never be alone again.

But the passageway was empty behind her.

Only a few more steps remained between her and the turn in the hallway ahead, where she would find the access door to the roof. The final part of the journey in The Game.

She cocked her head, waiting to hear the noise again. Silence surrounded her, almost suffocating in its weight.

There was something about being alone that made you believe in the impossible, with thoughts your only companion. She could lose hours alone, even when mildly pissed and wandering through the halls of the fancy block of flats they passed off as Luxury Student Accommodation.

Alone.

On your own.

As she always had been, when it came down to it.

The lights above her seemed to dim as she continued to walk.

Determined now to see it through. To move on from all that her past held. To forget. To erase.

It didn’t stop the feeling, though, that something was in the increasingly small, short, constricting hallway with her. The lift far behind her now. The turn towards the roof door now only a couple of feet away.

She straightened up and turned the corner without thinking. There was a moment when she caught herself flinching, expecting something to be there waiting for her. Instead, it was a short walk and a grey metal door that led to the stairs up to the roof.

All she had to do now was walk towards the door, try to open it, then find out if this was going to work.

And it had to work.

It had to be enough for them.

She couldn’t go back now. She had to make it to the roof and perform the last act.

The feeling of being watched was still there. The feeling of not being entirely alone.

She wasn’t going to give up.

The last few yards stretched out in front of her, yet she crossed them in seconds.

The door opened.

She almost fell forward, flat to the ground in surprise. Behind the door was darkness, but she could feel the cold from outside. A stone step was the only visible thing in front of her.

She stepped over the threshold as the light slowly dimmed behind her. She almost slipped as the door slammed shut and plunged her into total darkness.

She was blind.

Light rushed into her eyes, blinding her and shifting the world around her. The noise and anger and love, all coming towards her at once, overwhelming her.