Stalked

Chapter Seven

I threw the door open, my heart making its way up my throat steadily. The breeze brushed tendrils of my hair across my face, tickling my nose. I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering because I knew there was something out there. I cautiously lowered my arms to the side and stepped out further onto the back step. My heart had calmed somewhat and wasn't trying to escape my chest and I took it as a good sign.

I waved my flashlight around, looking for a sign of anything. I'm not exactly sure what I was looking for. Footprints or broken twigs I guess.

I didn't see either so I directed my light at the tree line at the edge of our property. I knew there were bears that came hunting and raccoons that scavenged in our trash so I thought maybe it was one of those nighttime pests.

Suddenly, my flashlight hit something. Something with eyes. And they were staring back at me, shining, watching. And they were bright. Shockingly bright, very light blue, almost gray. I stood transfixed, locked in a stare down with those eyes. I heard a noise from the house and I turned around to see Ethan standing at the door behind me, his eyes full of confusion and sleep.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked me tiredly.

I looked over my shoulder and saw the eyes still watching me. I turned my eyes back to Ethan and saw that he had his muscular arms crossed and was staring at me.

"I heard something," I said distractedly, "and I went outside to look." Ethan didn't look convinced and instead just stood still waiting for me to elaborate. "It's fine now," I said hurriedly. "No need to worry. It was just a raccoon."

I didn't expect him to believe me, and of course he didn't. I guess he decided to let it go because he turned around and headed back to his room.

I let out a sigh of relief, glad that he didn't decide to take it upon himself to investigate. I turned around slowly, bracing myself for the shock of the eyes.

It never came. When I turned around, the eyes were gone and the woods were dark. Even my LED flashlight seemed dull in comparison to the glowing orbs. I rubbed my hands together, finally feeling the chill of the breeze. I looked once more towards the woods and headed inside, locking the door behind me.

When I woke up in the morning, my neck felt like it was forcibly being bent in half. I cringed as I straightened up and stretched. My ribs ached as well. I eased myself out of bed and down the stairs, holding onto the handrail and taking one step at a time. When I entered the kitchen - after what seemed like hours - my mom rushed over and sat me down in a chair, scolding me for not calling for help to get downstairs.

See, here's the thing about me. I would've loved and greatly appreciated help. It would have been a lot easier on me and my poor battered and bruised body. But my pride and I, we could never ask for help or admit that we need it. I don't want people to think I'm the weak and needy girl who constantly needs assistance.

On the other hand, I respect people who are able to put their ego away for a minute and admit that they need help with something.

My mom put a plate of waffles in front of me and I dove into them after drowning them in syrup, butter, and confectioner's sugar.

I swallowed the pills from the hospital with water and went back upstairs to get dressed. I put on a random pair of jeans that were on the floor and a sweatshirt with the logo of the university Josh attended. I ran a brush through my hair, which was a disaster.

I wasn't quite sure where I was going when I headed out the front door. I couldn't go very far without a car and mine was being torn apart and redone. It was like my feet and my brain were on a different station and were plotting something which left me to figure out where they wanted to go.