Heartbeat AU
Ever since they moved into their new apartment, Character A has had trouble sleeping. Being from the big city, they weren’t used to the quietness of an isolated apartment complex that almost seemed swallow every stray sound whole.
The somber silence of night made their heart slowly pound loudly in their ears -- *thathump*, *thathump*, *thathump* -- while they struggled to fall asleep. After a good long while, it wasn’t the silence of the apartment that gave Character A a feeling of unease, but that steady rhythm pounding on their eardrums, almost maddeningly slow: *thathump*, *thathump*, *thathump*...
Character A didn’t find rest that night. They laid awake, terrified to move and interrupt the heartbeat that never faltered or strayed from the same slow beat. The heartbeat disappeared during the early morning hours, and Character A knew now more than ever that the vacuum it left behind was the most terrifying thing of all.