𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜
ᵐʸˢᵗᵉʳⁱᵒᵘˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵉⁿᵗʳᵃⁿᶜⁱⁿᵍ
- 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 -
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October breezes were always a certain way. And so was Mia's life. Her regular habit of being irregular in taking care of herself was normal. She'd sometimes forget her meals, dentist appointments. But she'd never forget someone's birthday, their favorite color, the things that would make them laugh. She would in a way rather see someone else happier. It was in her nature. She inherited this specific quality from her father.
Harry was a hard man to understand. One would even take one look at him and call him thick minded. But he thought with his head unlike most people. Until he didn't.
He gave permission to Damia to go back to working. This is what was different about Mia's recent mornings.
She was at the flower shop regularly for a few hours each day. That Monday morning at the shop was hectic. Apparently a local musician had tragically passed away. Teenagers in the town created a monument in his honor. Mrs. Angston couldn't possibly deal with all the crowd herself. But she also didn't wanna keep Mia till sundown. It was a sketchy area and she was scared to let a girl like Mia walk those streets alone at that time. But Mia insisted on staying. She even told her she'd take a cab so it was going to be okay. Mrs. Angston had to let her stay eventually.
She helped cleaning up after. All the flowers were sold out. Mrs. Angston talked about how they needed to close the shop until the flowers were all bloomed and ready to sell.
Mia bid her goodbye and went out of the cottage on the road. She searched for an Uber on her phone while walking the street. It was a pretty small street so not a lot of cars could pass at a time. Mia had to walk for a while to finally be able to get an Uber. She had already called home to let them know she'd be a bit late so they didn't have to wait for her for dinner.
When an Uber confirmed, she put her phone back in her bag and waited. She admired the flowers in her hand. Mrs. Angston had given her the leftover flowers from the day. They were a bit dried but still very much beautiful. She counted the flowers till her ride arrived.
She got in and looked around. The car seemed a little dusty. But Mia was never one to complain. If she had a problem with something, she'd rather suffer quietly then to bother anyone.
She usually would greet the driver out of courtesy. But she didn't this time. It didn't feel natural. The man driving the car himself was mute since the beginning. It felt odd to start a conversation. Besides she was too anxious to start one with a stranger. The environment didn't feel right. She had a feeling at the back of her head that something was going to happen. She didn't know why. She wished Mrs. Angston had arrived home safely. She was old but she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Mia knew that. But still, she couldn't help but worry.
She signed softly and starred out of the window. She noticed some unfamiliar trees and roads.
"Excuse me, sir." She nervously spoke. "I think you have my location wrong. We're going in the wrong way."
"It's a different road. We're on the right track." The man spoke starring at her through the rearview mirror.
Normally Mia would be convinced. She'd believe anything anyone says. But this time was different. She had a bad feeling. She tried opening the window on her side. Her heart beat faster and hand went cold when she realized the window was locked. Usually Uber driver's don't lock the passenger windows if not asked.
She took her phone out when it vibrated. Horrified, she watched the notification saying her Uber had arrived.
This wasn't her Uber.
She started hyperventilating. She wanted to crawl under the seats and wish the floor would swallow her whole. But she had to do something.
"Sir, I need to get down here. I have an emergency."
"We're not at the destination yet." The man said nonchalantly.
Mia panicked. She clutched her bag tighter to her chest.
"It's an emergency! Stop the car!" She pushed at the driver's seat. Her voice rose an octave which startled the man. He hit the brakes and turned to look at her. His face was red. His eyes were red. He reeked of smoke and alcohol. Mia backed away from him. She could feel the cool leather pressed against her warm skin.
"You little bitch!"
Mia panicked. Out of reflex she smacked his head as hard as she could with her bag. His face flew to the front causing him to hit his head. He groaned and smacked his fists hard on the dash board, cursing. He accidentally unlocked the doors.
That clink was enough for Mia to know what to do. She quickly got out and sprinted.
She didn't know where she was going. She wasn't sure what place this was. She was just running away from the scary man.
She could hear the man behind her screaming at her to stop and get back in the car. Mia took a turn and loose the man's voice for a bit. She hid behind some bushes besides a building. The building was probably abandoned so there were no lights around. Mia's slender frame could easily go unnoticed in that place.
She hid and silently prayed to God it would be over soon and she'd wake up in her bed from this nightmare.
Soon she could hear shuffling. She held her mouth tight to lower the sound of her heavy breathing.
"Oh little birdie,"
Mia shuddered. The voice grew closer.
"Where are you hiding?" The man sang as his voice grew louder as if he was pretty close.
"Why don't you come out and I'll be nice to you."
Mia closed her eyes and clenched her toes.
"And if I find you here right now," his voice was grave. "It won't be pretty." He whispered.
She could feel his voice so close. Mia almost jumped when the man pushed the bush aside.
Mia was hiding right next to the bush the man torn opened. She watched in horror as his hand slowly went out of the bush and he walked away searching for her somewhere else.
When she couldn't hear his voice anymore she took deep breaths to compose herself. She took her phone out and called the very number she'd been starring at for the past few days.
"Hello," Mia spoke. She didn't realize she was crying until then. Her voice was shaky and breathless.
There was a long pause on the other side of the line before a voice spoke.
"Where are you?"
"I'm.. I'm...I don't know. It's dark and.." Mis swallowed thickly looking for a sign of the man. "It's cold and a man is looking for me. I'm scared." A sob left her throat as she talked on the phone trying to figure out where she was.
"Stay right where you are. I will be there. Do you understand?"
"Ok," Mia said low enough for only her to understand but she hoped he heard it. He had to.
Mia didn't know how long she had been sitting there, hiding in the bushes. She peaked from the bushes to see lights on the street. She was horrified. What if the man was back with more men to take her with them.
Damia knew how the world works. She might always have her head buried in her books but she knew. There's monsters walking the street in human skin. They'd tear apart anything they could. Mia didn't wanna be torn. But her blood curdled thinking about the flashing teeth these monsters might have. Would she survive them?
Her heart beat quickened when she saw a familiar dark car on the alley. Without thinking she jumped from the bushes and sprinted towards the car.
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• • • • •
Hello my dandelion babies <3
*signs* Apologies for late update. Again. I wrote this chapter back in June. But I never edited it. I won't lie saying I was busy. I was actually kinda sick. But that's okay. I'm regularly going to therapy and taking my meds on time. Hopefully everything will be okay.
I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who messaged me regularly, checking up on me.
AND ITS AUGUST. THE MONTH TAYLOR SWIFT CREATED YESS
And we're almost at 200k reads? That's insane. When I started this story a year ago I never imagined I would be where I am rn with such amazing readers and followers. Thank you for everything you've done. I can't thank y'all enough.
Anyway, are y'all excited for Stranger Things final season? Cause this season left me crying, rolling on the floor. I hated every part of Eddie's death )':
What do y'all think is gonna happen to Mia? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter :D
Take care. Drink water. Don't do drugs. If you do, do it safely. Sabrina's new album is so good. Stream that! Kay, bye now.
- Your friendly neighborhood duckling
🤍
Edit: going on a hiatus. Sorry (':