Mentality ~Short Niall Horan Horror Story~

Chapter Three: Brief Meeting

She remembers nothing from then on. She woke up the next afternoon at nearly four o'clock and just lay on the couch for nearly an hour before she felt a dull pain in her stomach telling her that she was hungry.

Slowly rising from the couch, she shuffles her feet and moves herself to the kitchen. Her search for food in the cabinets and fridge was fruitless, and so she dicides to go to the grocery store.

While at the store, people seem to feel uncomfortable around her. They cast looks in her direction as if she was a mutant, and their body language seeps awkwardness. I suppose they know what has happened, she thinks, but of course, everyone knows everything within short amounts of time in this town. Nothing's a secret.

While reading the back of a book in a deserted aisle, Megan feels eyes burning into the back of her head. This person watching me must have an intense stare if they can make me uncomfortable without even looking at them.

She cautiously turns around and sees a tall man with blonde hair, but his roots were brown take a few steps closer to her, but he keeps walking past. The man doesn't even glance in her direction or say anything to her.

While walking to the checkout lane, there's an odd feeling of discomfort radiating from people in line around Megan. When she turns around to see who's behind her, she's met with piercing blue eyes that could be mistaken for green. She breaks the stare of this person, who she realizes is the same person from earlier: the man with the blonde hair. His image is burned into her mind for the rest of the day.

At home, she runs inside with her arm of groceries before closing and locking the door behind her. She sits all of her items on the counter, and then walks around the house locking every single door, shutting every single window (making sure to cover them as well), before she finally unpacked her groceries. Paranoia was setting in rapidly.

That night, just as the night before, it started storming. Lightning cracked across the sky and thunder rumbled while the wind howled along, making the house creak in all of the creepiest ways. Once again, you could find her seated on the couch with her laptop open and resting in her lap. The night trickled by with a feeling of lonesomeness. There was a lack of noise, which worried Megan. She only realized that the power had gone out when the light of her laptop dimmed.

Her phone rang at precisely 11 pm. "I'll be there soon," The person on the other line said. He had a thick Irish accent, but they spoke so hastily that she wasn't given the opportunity to place it. The caller hung up with no more words spoken. She was absolutely terrified. Who was going to show up at her house, and what was going to happen when they did?

The power came back on shortly after the call. Megan scrambled up from her seat and rushed around the half vacant house, double checking that all of the doors were locked, and all of the windows were closed and covered. She even checked all of the windows upstairs, and the tiny half windows in the basement. After nearly an hour of walking in circles around her house, double and triple checking all of the possible entrances, Megan finally settles down, feeling more secure than she previously did.

The news channel was on the television, still obsessing over what happened the night before. "There are still no leads as to what even happened to 19 year old Kel-" Megan muted the television as fast as she could. She didn't want to have to hear about it, though there wasn't much to hear. It was a new mystery that was most likely going to sit unsolved for years to come.

Ring, ring. It was nearly midnight, and she had been expecting something else to happen. Ring, ring. She shakily picks up her phone and answers the call. "Hello?" Her voice wavers.

"I apologize for the wait, but it really won't be long, now." The thick voice from the previous call says.

"Who is this?!" She demands. Another twisted chuckle comes from the other end, matching the chuckle from the very first call she got from this unknown number. He knows what happened. He did it, he had to...and now I'm going to be next.

Maybe it's just her mind playing tricks on her, or maybe it's something flashing on the television screen, but Megan thinks that she's seeing lights seeping against the curtains over the windows. Not just any lights, but headlights. They seem to pass by every few minutes, first from one direction, and then from the other. She finally sits everything she was doing aside and watches the window for the lights. They come exactly five minutes apart...as if someone was going back and forth past her house.

Ring, ring. She was hesitant as always, but she answers the call anyway.

"I forgot something. I've got to go back. I won't be seeing you tonight." The line is cut off. She can feel weight being lifted off of her shoulders, but then it comes back. She's going to have to deal with this person tomorrow.