I seize the moment and make a beeline out of the store to catch up to Naya. Well-needed adrenaline pulses through my veins as I burst through the doors, all the while noticing Naya halfway down the street.
Damn, my little doll is fast.
Together, we dart into a narrow alleyway hidden from view, and Naya cannot help but giggle from the tension. She cast me a flirtatious look as we turn the corner at the farthest end of the alleyway, continuing through the empty streets, getting far away from the convenience store.
When we’re certain no one is tailing us, we duck into another alleyway. The ground is rough and unforgiving, but we sink down anyway, huddling close to share what little warmth we can. I grab a blanket from the backpack—we stole it from one of the motel rooms we stayed at—and drape it across us both. The wind casts a somber mood over the surroundings.
“Did you get it?” I ask, and she gives me that beautiful fucking smile that makes my insides swirl with beastly infects.
“Yup.”
She takes out two large sandwiches filled with vegetables and chicken before handing me one. This is what our lives have come to be; stealing from stores to survive. She brings out two water bottles from under her shirt, along with a lighter. Ismile, kissing her temple, which makes her rest her head on my shoulder.
“You’re perfect,” I whisper, feeling my obsession with her only growing with each day that passes.
She sighs softly, content, eating in silence. I reach into my pocket to pull out a cigarette from the package I stole earlier, and flick the lighter with practiced motion. The end of the cigarette glows as I put the poisonous stick between my lips and inhale the acrid fumes. I drag nicotine and tobacco into my lungs, filling me with a kind of calmness that instantly relaxes my body.
A cold wind washes over us where we sit, hidden in the middle of an empty street, while darkness befalls the surroundings. A lone streetlight farther away flickers, casting the alleyway in a dim light, before it sputters out, leaving the glow of my cigarette the only constant source of light.
The silence presses in, and I glance at Naya, her head now leaning heavily against my shoulder, the sandwich long gone. Her light snores fill my ears—a peaceful sound in the chaos that rumbles through me. My heart tightens as I study her sleeping form, the dark circles beneath her eyes a testament to the exhaustions wearing down on us. My doll is safe; she’s here, living alongside me. That is enough to make the demons in my head go silent, disappearing into the dark corner of my mind where they hide, despite the nightmares haunting me every time I close my eyes.
Exhaustion washes over me as I take another puff of the cigarette, then extinguishes the lighted part. The later it becomes with the darkness falling even more prominent, the more the cold creeps closer. I pull up my hood, seeking body warmth from Naya as I hold her as close to me as possible.
Memories I would rather forget fill me as I sit here, holed up in the corner of a street as the rain slowly starts falling fromthe horizon. I swallow harshly, able to physically feel the saliva traveling down my throat, closing my eyes from the nausea taking over me.
This was how I was howled up while protecting my brother years ago, when we were on the run from our parents as they continually sought to ruin our lives. Now, I’m on the run from a phantom figure; one who exists out there somewhere, but one I have no idea how to find.
I must have drifted off, because the next time I open my tired eyes, sweat clings to my forehead, leaving me shivering and feverish all at once. The rain patters heavily on rooftops all around the city, yet I know it’s not that which causes such anxiety.
My neck aches from the uncomfortable position I slept in as I look before us, not seeing anyone; though the trickling sense of dread fills me, spidery legs crawling over my spine.
It’s not until my ears pick up the sound of distinct footsteps that I realize the source of my panic; each breath coming in sharp and jagged edges that feels as if the air itself has turned against me. A wave of foreboding splashes over me like a bucket of ice cold water, and an awful gut feeling settles in, telling me that something is very wrong.
I shake Naya’s shoulders, desperate for her to wake up. It can’t be my imagination, can it?
The sounds of footsteps walking on asphalt ground comes all the closer with each second I’m paralyzed, watching as the rain pebbles down. My nerves run on high, feeling my little doll slowly waking up beside me.
“Naya,” I whisper into her ear, causing her to open her eyes wide while looking around.
I put my index finger to my lips in a gesture to be silent. The footsteps stop for a second, and it feels as if my heart might combust. Carefully standing, I sling the backpack over myshoulder before helping Naya stand.
She grips the blanket tighter, as if it could protect her from the potential monster lurking in this alley. Breathing feels impossible, as if one breath could blow our cover. The footsteps reverberate through the streets with a creek that echoes off the walls, heightening my anxiety as I peek around the corner, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever’s there without exposing ourselves.
If we’re lucky, it’s someone just taking a stroll, or someone who’s gotten lost in the eerie city at night, desperately trying to find their way home. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something bad, yet the churning of my stomach speaks of horrors and forebodings, like an old fairytale where they could predict bad outcomes arising.
The silhouette emerges, revealing a tall, slim figure standing at the very end of the street. He no longer moves forward; instead, he stands still, and a suffocating silence ensues. A horror-like shiver crawls across my spine with the discomfort tearing through flesh and bone.
His dark suit drapes over his body, blending seamlessly with the shadowed walls of the surrounding buildings. The only source of light now is the moon, casting faint, barely discernible shadows after the lamppost died long ago. Despite the distance, I can instantly tell who he is—I spent eight months fearing him, raging against his existence, and wishing I could kill him.
“There’s no way,” I murmur, words barely audible.
With a steady breath, the silhouette lifts his head, appearing to be looking straight at me.
His smile is tilted wide, revealing sharp teeth, far from friendly. I recoil, pressing myself against the wall as if it could swallow me whole, and with that, hide me. As if snapping one by one, the threads of my sanity gradually slip away, transforming me into a wild madman. I feel like one, unable to comprehendreality.
I thought Naya was hallucinating when she said she saw him. I thought it was her fragile mind finally snapping as well, and I wasn’t there to support her the way I should’ve. Now, it appears as if she saw the truth all along, and I was merely another person who cast her aside. Shame burns my insides, scorching my bones until I don’t want to meet her gaze. I fucked up—I know I did.
I feel Naya’s gaze on me, waiting for an explanation. But the pounding in my chest is so intense, leaving me paralyzed with fear. I can’t go back to Dankworth Institute. I can’t endure what I once did.
