Convincing Clara

- CHAPTER ONE -

December 1, 2005

I woke up completely terrified with my blankets on the floor believing that I was late for an interview for a new job. Or was that a dream? I don't remember. As I check my phone beside me, it was flashing in my eyes terribly bright as if it had blinded me. The time was just 4:40 a.m. I must've had a nightmare of some sort. It was December 1st. A new beginning. I had a strong feeling for this month but not at this point. I put my head gently back on the pillow, forcing myself to sleep but there was something bugging me. I could feel a presence. Something suspicious and uncomfortable. I opened my eyes again rapidly and observed that there was light coming from the kitchen. I got out of my bed slowly looking straight into the kitchen, feeling cold and feeble. I took my leather jacket which was simply thrown on a small steel chair and went towards the kitchen with a shoe in my hand. The shoe was the size of a thirty centimetre ruler. It's not my fault that I had big feet. My short and dark brown hair was a complete mess. It didn't matter to me at this moment. I approached the kitchen and observed that the light that I thought was coming from my kitchen was actually coming from the front door. It was open the whole time. Who could've broken in? Whoever did, didn't leave a trace of anything or not even any mess. Unusual. I closed the door and returned slowly back to my bed without any energy. I placed myself fervourlessly in bed and turned onto my right with my head on my soft and warm hand. My honey-coloured eyes couldn't close. Something wasn't right. I couldn't sleep. I've never had this feeling before. I turn onto the other side and see a large figure under my white blanket that I thought I dropped on the floor. I unveil it as if we were unveiling a famous monument.

"CLARA? What's wrong with you?" I yelled. "You scared me!"

"Well, I didn't want to go home. Besides, December is bad luck, ya know." She confessed.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were coming?" I asked hysterically.

"I did, actually. I texted you at midnight but you didn't seem to answer. So I just came and slept here." Clara notified me.

"Let me check." I said.

I did check. And she was right.

FROM: CLARA

Hey, do you mind if I stay over tonight? I'm not bothered to walk home right now. Thanks.

(5 hours ago)

"Oh. Ok. You did, I guess. Ok. Sleep then. Sorry for waking you up." I apologized and let her rest.

I couldn't sleep so I turned on the television and made myself a small club sandwich stuffed with ham, Cheddar cheese and some bits of lettuce and tomatoes. I relaxed on my couch and began to feel a tiny bit chilly for no reason. I checked all the windows to check if I had any of them open because I always had the heaters on during winter. Someone had left the bathroom window completely wide with a letter taped against the mirror of the bathroom and it had a very familiar scent. A man's aroma. One similar to mine. I was good with aromas. It was as sweet as the fragrance of expertly blended incense, sweet as honey to the taste. Besides the scent, the culprit seemed to have left a note behind saying:

' Found you. '

It was frantically a very short phrase with a possible massive meaning to it. Below that phrase, he left a small dash with a capital M beside it like this: -M

His name could've possibly begin with M. At that moment, millions and millions of names popped into my head which gave me no opportunity whatsoever to identify who this anonymous person was. I mean what would a person want from a 20 year old living by himself in an apartment, far away from his parents. Speaking of parents, my parents Eva and Christian both live in England with my younger sister Grace.