There was this young man who began university in a large city. He had no money, so the only place he could afford was an abandoned lodging building in a disastrous part of the city. When he moved into the apartment, it was in terrible shape and badly in need of repair. There was smudging on the floor, falling furnishings, and wallpaper that was falling off the walls.
As soon as he had his things loaded into the apartment, he agreed to clean it up a little. In the process of tearing up the scraped wallpaper, he discovered a small hole in the wall. As he peered into the gap, he discovered that he could see into his neighbor's flat. As there was no one at home, he covered the hole with tissues, wiped down the area, and cleaned it up. The next night, once he arrived home from university, as he entered the elevator, he noticed a woman walking in with him. In the air, he couldn't stop staring at the young woman's bulky curves and slim legs. A halt in the elevator caused him to get out, and as he looked up he saw the woman charging after him. He walked toward his apartment and noticed the lady open the door to the flat next to his. As far as he understood, she was his neighbor.
Upon entering his flat, the youthful man couldn't help but think of the woman next door. Being unable to resist, he decided to peer through the hole in the wall. Looking through the hole, he had a clear view of the entire flat. In an instant, he saw the same woman inside taking off her dress and preparing to get into the shower. He stayed silent, gazing at her nakedness while the woman hadn't realized there was a peephole. It completely floored him, and he was unhappy when she turned off the lamps and went to bed.
Suddenly, in the middle of the night, the young man heard screaming from the flat next door. He agreed to peer through the hole to find out what it was. He was terrified to see a huge man stabbing the woman with a big, slim edge over and over. Her body was covered in blood as she wailed in pain. The young man was completely paralyzed by the scene. His knees trembled, and his stomach spun. Immediately after delivering one last blow, the tall man ceased the groans, and the woman was dead. After stealing some items, the killer left the apartment. In the act of shutting down the door behind him, the killer turned, and the man caught a glimpse of his face. There was a long wound on one side of his cheek, and he had a pale nose and a murky beard. It would be easy for him to be identified.
As the young man scampered into his bedroom, he picked up his mobile phone. He stopped in mid-step just before calling the cops. As his heart began to race, he held the phone in his shivering hands. It would be discovered by the police that he had been spying on the woman through the hole in the wall, and the neighbors would also learn about it. The people he knows and loves will hate him. How would they respond? He wondered what they would think of him. He would be embarrassed to the point of feeling sick.
Slowly, he placed the phone on his bedside table and sat down. He never contacted the police. On the evening of the young man's return from college, the police were waiting outside his door. They told him that the previous night his neighbor had been killed, and said they needed to speak with him. In an attempt to keep them from entering his flat, he kept them talking in the hallway. Sitting at the shoe counter, the policemen asked him if he had noticed or listened to anything odd the night before. The young man was dripping and answered that he must have been napping at that time because he went to bed early. He denied knowing anything about the murder when they asked him a few more questions. Suddenly, one of the policemen spotted the hole in the wall. A few moments later, he stood up and peered through it.
Do you know for sure that there was nothing you saw?” He asked mistrustfully.
Despite the jig in his voice, the young man said tentatively, "I just moved into this apartment two days ago.". In fact, I had no idea there was a hole in the wall. As a matter of fact, I saw and heard nothing. You would know if I did."
After having questioned him for nearly an hour, the officers left after saying their goodbyes and it seemed as if they trusted him. Even though he was always haunted by the memory of the horrible murder, the guilt left him fairly soon, and he began to move on with life.
In the days and weeks that followed, the young man slowly forgot the murder. In order not to be reminded of the horrific offense, he blocked up the hole in the wall with paper. Additionally, he installed new latches and a deadbolt on his flat door. His curiosity was piqued when he picked up the newspaper and saw that an article had been written about his neighbor's murder. A police statement said the murderer was still on the loose and they were still examining the case. That night, the young man woke up to the sound of groaning. The sound seemed to come from the apartment next door. This shocked him.
The apartment had been empty since the murder. The apartment door was still covered with police tape. It was evident the sound was coming from next door, despite height's efforts to convince himself that it wasn't likely. A sense of curiosity overtook him, and he couldn't resist. It was a must to take a peek. As shivers spread through his body, he removed the paper from the hole in the wall and peered through the peephole. It took him a while to notice anything. It took him some time for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and yet he still could not see anything. The bizarre groanings were no longer audible to him. Only a strange silence could be heard. As he started to move away from the hole in the wall, he saw something staring back at him through the small opening: a big bloodshot eye.
His lips twitched in horror. He clung to the ground, frozen in fear, as a terrible unblinking eye stared at him.
There was silence until a woman hissed, "I know you saw!”
© Anjali