Page 27 of Who Said Mobsters Were Scary?
“I appreciate it.” I really do. And I will tell her when I feel ready, just not tonight. My troubles back home are a little more complicated, in the physical danger kind of way, than hers, and I want to make sure it’s safe to tell her before I do.
Her phone pings with a message. She takes it out and types a response, frowning at it.
“Your family?” I prod, even though I just cut her off moments ago.
“Yep. My dad’s trying to convince me to video-call this dude. Such a pain in the ass,” she growls.
Ugh. I wish I could do something to solve her problem. It feels awful that I can’t.
We sit in silence for a while, her texting back and forth and me watching her. The smell of impending rain grows stronger and when I look up, I can see more clouds in the sky.
“Should we head back?” she asks, tossing the phone back in her pocket. “Think it might rain.”
I don’t really feel like going back yet. “I’ll stay out for a bit more. But you can go.”
She trains her gaze on the shrine and the stairs, scrunching her nose. “You sure? I can keep you company.”
I shake my head. “It’s been an hour. I’m pretty sure they left. I’ll be fine.”
She doesn’t look convinced, but nods anyway. “Sure. Text me if anything happens. I can make it here in less than ten if I run.”
Once she’s gone, I leave the bench. It’s a little creepy being on my own here, but the weather is nice and the breeze is refreshing. Leaves rustle as I make my way to the edge of the shrine grounds where the view is. There is a partially intact bit of stone wall there, so I hoist myself up and sit on it, placing the envelope with the contract next to me.
As I take in the sleeping city, a sense of peace settles over me. I’m an outsider chilling in a graveyard in Nagoya in the middle of the night. On my own, without worryingthat someone might shank me or shoot me because he’s having a bad day. I’m still alert though, the habit a second nature that kicks in automatically.
And I’m grateful for it. It’s saved me many times, even if it’s easy enough for it to make me paranoid.
The trees behind me creak, shooting a bolt of fear through me.Killer timing, really.I snap my head back and glare at the blackness, looking for anything amiss. My eyes are used to the dark, so it’s easy enough to discern shapes even if the moon offers little assistance.
There is nothing, just trees and plants and old graves. I lie down and close my eyes. The signal tower nearby buzzes with static and the stone under me still carries some of the day’s warmth. If the skies were clear and there was no chance of rain, I could probably fall asleep here.
I try to calm my heartbeat, to tell myself that there is no one here and I’m just being paranoid, but the underlying prickling feeling remains just under my skin. My stomach pinches with nerves, anticipation for something to happen spearing through me. It’s a foreboding feeling, like a premonition, and it keeps me on edge.
The trees creak again, but this time I also hear branches snapping.Like someone has just walked over them while sneaking up on me.
That thought is all it takes. My heart is suddenly in my throat. Between one breath and another, I sit up abruptly, training my gaze on the path meandering through the graveyard. The pines just behind the last row obscure the shrine, so my view is limited.
I wouldn’t know if someone was here until they were about to jump me.
Another branch snaps, the wind picking up speed and howling as it passes through the signal station.
I scramble to my feet, still on the stone wall so I have a better vantage point, my breathing speeding up. Goosebumps cover my arms and cold sweat breaks out all over my neck. I feel like a sitting duck, waiting to be brutally murdered by some forest beast.
“Hello?” I say into the darkness, swallowing past a lump in my throat.
No answer comes, just more trunks making weird noises. The silence weighs on me, filling me with more of that foreboding anticipation. I’m positively spooked, my insides twisting. Any time now, someone will jump out of the trees and push me off the stone wall. I whip my head back, looking at the dark abyss that the bottom of the hill is. If I fall, I’ll break my neck and die in agony.
Fuck that.
I jump off the wall and bolt. I might be overreacting and letting ungrounded fear get to me, but I don’t care. I know to trust my instincts and they are screaming for me to get away from here before I find out whether there really is something lurking around.
Heading in the direction of the path going through the woods, I worry if that might be a bad idea, but it’s too late as I’ve already committed. I’m too scared to go back the way I came, so this will have to do.
Looking over my shoulder as I head down the steep incline, I see the shadows shift and move.Oh boy, there is something there and I think it’s following me.
I pick up pace, fighting the shrubbery and branches on the way down. The terrain is uneven, making it hard to sprint, but if I don’t, I’ll get caught.Preyed on.
Suddenly, my brain remembers the predatory presence of Chai in the club. Could it be him? But while it feels like I’m being stalked, it’s different this time. Less excitingand more… intense, but in a bad way. In a creepy ‘my friends and I split up and I am about to die’ horror movie way. Is it the surroundings? My circumstances? Because I am alone where no one can help me if this turns out to be more than my imagination gone wild?
