Behind The Locks || ONC 2024

Chapter 10: Seeking Answers

Who knew dressing sporty didn't increase one's breath-holding threshold nor speed.

After what seemed like a mile's chase after the Jeepers Creepers, Arielline did not catch up with him. She quit after he took an alley between two buildings.

With the overwhelming tire, burning heels, and scarcity of air, she could no longer hold on to the chase.

She mounted the weight of her upper body to a wall, inhaling more air than she could have if she toddled nonchalantly.

The reason he was stalking her had not yet hit her.

If he was doing it for a good reason, he wouldn't have run, would he? But the kind of unlawful reason that would make one keep an eye on her even in her house was unfathomable.

Speaking of her house, had he seen her wounds heal?

Sure he was there when she was getting mend by Nick.

Could he have noticed how flawless she was the following morning?

The only people that could attest to her change were Nick and Mirabelle, but apparently there was a third card.

Dan and Mirabelle must have either been too busy to read her texts and ignore her phone calls or had all lost their phones, if that didn't sound any corny.

Could you imagine that Mirabelle had not posted a single reel in two days. Frankly, I don't know another definition of miracle.

Arielline didn't have Nick's number but she couldn't almost promise that he too was missing in action.

She had promised herself to visit Crispy Donuts Café before work until all her plans were wrecked by both sleep and Jeepers Creepers.

She followed his trails, after losing him to tire, at her own pace.

Suddenly, she once again caught the oversized coat disappearing at a corner. She lunged towards it
without dilly-dallying.

He had a chance to escape but still he didn't. If Arielline's conscience was trailing her right, he wanted her to follow him, but for better or worse, she had to find answers and somehow he seemed to be the only one with them.

Nobody ever said that finding the answers to her questions would be a walk in the park.

She took the corner and unexpectedly Jeepers Creepers was standing right at the end of the alley.

The slight modicum of bravery she had dwindled and out of it flew in fright.

He was standing, his face staring at a wall in front of him, coat hanging loose and dancing to a cold sinister breeze. His hat topped his head and covered some of his back to slightly above his shoulder blades.

He could pretend like he was trapped between the two walls beside him and the one in front of him but Arielline knew clearly that he still had a chance to get away.

Her eyes marched from his ambiance to whatever he was supposed to be staring at.

Faded-orange bricks topped on each other, connected with grayish stripes were all she could envision.

Her sense of sight had lately been reliable and if it was concerned every other wall around the neighborhood had an equal appearance, some more ravishing.

Whatever made it special was missing in her view.

At the bottom of the wall were three, dark-green garbage containers half full of trash bags, explaining the reeking odor making a kingdom out of the air around her.

She swallowed a dollop of cold saliva before calling him out, "hey."

She went unanswered, instead the man turned to face her.

Just then did she notice the heavy chain grinding beneath his giant boot. It ran from the wall on his far right to the wall on his far left. And was as leaden as rain clouds.

He had brown eyes, one of which had a scar running from slightly beneath his hair line to an ugly pimple
by his cheekbone. His lips were crooked and could only be compared to those of mythical witches. Same
to his nose that seemed like a gnarling tree root. He must have been one of the people sculptured when resources were scarce, and they had to force parts to his face.

Judging by his nimbleness, Arielline would have bet that he was not older than thirty but the gray in his beards and the crinkles at the corner of his eyes said otherwise.

A whole brave speech she had made up to make the man cringe disappeared into the blues.

The man seemed to notice how fuddled the girl was, but paid less attention.

In awkward silence of staring at each other, the man stepped back from the chain and grumbled, "you need answers?"

Deceiving how empty it could be, his voice echoed across walls.

"Y..yes," Arielline answered, not sure if it was the answer the ugly man expected from her.

"Follow me."