Shadows

Chapter 31

Everything is intensified. The wind that's howling angrily and the trees that are swaying around back and forth. It's as if they're trying to warn me to run away and save myself, and for a moment, I consider it, but when I try and imagine how Lena would feel if her story came out, I stand in my place firmly.

The thing is that anyone in my place would probably choose themselves over their former best friend who ridiculed them, and I guess I should've done that as well. But when I go back to the night she woke me up from the nightmare, all thoughts of choosing myself leave my mind immediately.

After all, we are sisters even if we fight. However, what hurts me is that she didn't stick with her promise. She promised me that she would never get fed up with me, but I guess everyone has a limit before they finally snap, and she did. She snapped.

Don't put all the blame on her. You were the one who broke the promise first. Is it even considered a promise if you broke it before you made it?

Hearing a tree branch snap from the trees behind me, I quickly shake off my thoughts and start looking around frantically. It's like history is repeating itself, making me get an eerie sense of deja vu. Let's just hope that this won't be the time that they finally succeed in getting rid of me.

I was still spinning around and trying to identify where the sound came from when this cold feeling washes over me, immediately stopping me in my place with my back towards the woods.

You know that feeling when you can feel someone staring at you. No, staring into you. That's exactly what I am feeling right now. Someone is staring right into my back. It's like a dark looming cloud was hovering over my head. Add to that the fear that's pumping through my veins, and that's when you know that something is wrong.

Willing myself to not show my fear, I slowly spin on my heels until I'm facing the woods and a person in a black hoodie and a mask. 'S'. At least I think it's 'S', but it could also be their helper. Who knows? I could feel the fear showing through the cracks in the supposedly tough mask that I forced myself to put on. I can't show my fear to my enemy.

The idea that I was standing in front of the person who killed someone terrified me. And what terrified me, even more, was the mask they were wearing. It's a pitch-black mask with a blinding white smile that spreads from ear to ear, and the eyes, the eyes look as if they were melted with a lighter until they formed painful-looking bubbles. I know it's a mask, but it still looks painful.

It's something I've never seen before but will hunt me for the rest of my life.

I'm not exactly sure that you have much time to live...

I stand there, frozen to my place, it's like I suddenly don't know how to walk or run anymore. The person also stands there for a while, looking at me. However, it doesn't look like they have any intention to move. It's almost as if they are waiting for a show to start.

Little did I know that they were really waiting for a show to start. A show that I star in.

The person slowly - almost robotically - lifts their hand up and starts waving at me. I honestly don't know if they were trying to mock me or something, but what I did know was that I was now officially beyond terrified.

However, I was also confused because right after they waved at me, they put their hands in the jacket's pockets and turned on their feet to walk away while whistling. Yes, this person was, is mocking me.

The person disappeared from my sight, leaving me to wonder what I should do next. Is this it? Did they decide that I was not worth all the hassle? Now that thought is a happy thought, one that I would like very much.