Chapter Text
“Augh…”
I let out after I have finished carrying the last moving box to my apartment. ‘Finally…’
“Living on the 4th floor sucks.” I said plumbing on my bed with a big groan.
“And of course, the stupid fucking elevator HAD to be out of commission today. In the middle of summer. In the middle of the day. In the middle of this heat.” I yelled into air, wailing in bed, cursing at whoever was responsible for my dilemma.
But, -other than the physical labour and sweating-
I was glad the last boxes have arrived. I have moved into my new apartment over a month ago, but the delivery of the remaining boxes had to be delayed.
Something about the delivery driver getting into a
huge car accident. The delivery company was super understaffed, with too much work, so it wasn’t able to be delivered earlier.
Your average greedy company I suppose.
At least, I have my kitchen utensils now… I can finally cook for myself. The last month I have been surviving off of takeout and instant ramen.
Not very ‘healthy’ or nutritionally sustainable, but with my situation, there wasn’t really another option.
And I was sure as hell not going to buy new kitchen supplies. That shit was expensive. Besides, I am pretty sure my wallet would grow consciousness and kill me in my sleep, if I spent another dime on unnecessary kitchen supplies.
I looked at the time… 6:27 pm… In about an hour and a half my shift would start at my new job. It’s not my first shift there, but it is my first night shift.
I can’t lie, I was rather reluctant to take over the night shifts… but it pays extra. And I would never say no to an extra buck, considering my spending habits and especially after I spent all of my money for the deposit of my new apartment.
It was a nice apartment. Nice kitchen with an island, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom with a shower and a bathtub, and a big living room. Not to mention, the neighborhood was nice and the neighbours weren’t loud.
It made a dent in my bank, but nonetheless worth it.
I finally got the motivation to get up from my bed and go take a shower. All the heavy lifting AND carrying everything up the stairs left me sweating like a damn dog.
In the bathroom, I quickly got undressed and hopped into the shower. While massaging the shampoo into my hair, I was thinking about multiple scenarios how the shift might turn out.
Weird drunk men… random homeless people… creepy customers…
I really hope I don’t meet any of those today. That’s an unrealistic wish though. Fact of the matter is:
I will meet these type of people tonight.
I just have to hope that I don’t attract any of negative attention of them. Should be easy enough.
I sighed, while washing the remaining shampoo out of my hair. Now only scrubbing left. God, I hate taking long showers. The sensory of the water pisses me off after a while.
Finishing up my short shower, I took a towel and lazily wrap my hair in it. I don’t bother covering up my body whilst leaving the bathroom. I mean…
it’s just me.
And it’s not like anyone could peep through my windows, I lived on the fourth floor.
No one could see me from here.
In my room, I finish drying myself completely off and put on some clothes. I was feeling something simple that day, so I put on a pair of denim jorts, a black junky belt and a random off-shoulders band shirt.
Now that I was fully dressed, I was checking myself out and debated, whether I should wear make up or not.
‘Ahhh fuck it. If I die in this night shift, I’m gonna die looking hot.’ I thought to myself.
(^ if you prefer to not wear makeup, just ignore this part.)
After applying my makeup it was time for my favorite part… jewelry.♡
Adding my finishing touches, I’m thinking about what I was going to eat before I have got to go.
‘A sandwich or instant ramen… sandwich… ramen… sandwich or ramen… Sandwich.’ I’ve had enough instant ramen this month. Or a lifetime.
Putting on my last necklace, one with my birthstone in fact, I looked at the time again. 7:32 pm.
My shift starts in about 30 minutes, and it was only a 5 minute walk, so I had to be out of the house in 20 minutes.
Leaving my room to head to the kitchen, I suddenly slip on a wet puddle. Probably there because I decided to leave the bathroom completely wet.
‘Great… consequences of my own actions…’ I thought while falling forward to my demise. I facepalmed onto the floor.
“Verdammte Scheiße, du Bastard… kleiner Hurensohn…” I groan curses mindlessly into nothing.
“What the fuck is this? Bro thinks we are in Life Is Strange… Ow.”
I looked at hands and there are some mean scrape wounds.
Sigh. Of course this is what I needed.
I get up and walk into the bathroom to look for some plasters.
I rummage through the cabinets and find some Hello-Kitty bandaids. ‘At least some good news hehe.’
After putting on the bandaids, I grab some paper towels and clean the wet puddles that I left behind.
I look at the time again. 7:40 pm… I have to hurry up but there’s still enough time.
Heading to the kitchen, - with no injuries this time - I go over to my fridge and take out a premade sandwich, which I got from my workplace, and a mozzarella cheese stick.
I sat down and started eating. The sandwich wasn’t the greatest sandwich in the world, but it’s edible and that’s all I need for today. The mozzarella stick definitely tasted way better.
After I finished eating, I grabbed my Juicy Couture handbag and put on my converse.
‘Okay… double check. Keys? Got ‘em. Wallet? In my handbag. Headphones? HEADPHONES.’ I sprinted to the kitchen and grabbed them from the counter.
It was a set of JBL’s accessorized with a bunch of random stickers I collected over the years.
Some pride flags, some FNAF.
Most of them being cat stickers. Meow.
I quickly left my apartment and double checked if my front door is locked. ‘Yep.’
Walking down the stairs, I turned on my headphones and clicked shuffle on my playlist.
When I exited the building, I looked up and was met with a relatively bright sky but the sun seems to be setting soon.
I could already see the blue and purple hue building up on the horizon.
‘Better hurry.’
—
‘Here we go…’
Entering the store I was immediately greeted by my boss, Mr.John. He was a short, elderly man with a kind smile and a soft voice. “Welcome sweetheart. How are you doin’?” He asked me with his signature smile.
For some reason, he only ever calls me sweetheart. It’s nice, don’t get me wrong, but a part of me wonders if he only does it because he can’t remember my name.
“Thank you, Sir! I’m doing alright, my last belongings were finally delivered today.” I told him, because for the last few weeks I’ve been complaining about it being late to him… multiple times.
“Ah, that’s good news. But, if you ask me, there’s some’ fishy about that incident. It don’t feel right to me.” Said Mr.John, which made me wonder… ‘What does he mean?’
“How so?” I asked him. “Wasn’t it just a car crash?” I added.
“Well yes, it was a car accident. But you know Mr. Kayak? He’s one of my oldest friends, oh we go way back… but other than that, he’s a police officer. And not only that, but also the Sheriff that was responsible for that case. At the scene, the delivery truck didn’t collide with another car. In fact, the truck looked like it had crashed into someone, but there was no body. Except for the delivery drivers… and not only that, the autopsy showed that both of his kidneys were removed.”
I widened my eyes at this new information. ‘What…?’
“W… what do you mean his kidneys were missing?” I double checked, hoping I just stupidly misheard him.
“Yes my dear, his KIDNEYS were missing. But not just ripped out recklessly… Kayak says that whoever did it, definitely had past experience with medical practices. It was on a level of a surgeon.”
“That’s terrifying…” I said in a low tone with a mix of bewilderment.
“To make matters even worse, it’s not even 20 miles away from here.”
…
“WHAT?! S-so you mean, there’s a possibility the killer could be in our town?! Living among us?!” Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling very optimistic about my night shift anymore… matter of fact, I think I’m gonna shit myself.
“Yes, yes. I understand that you’re scared. But nothing to worry about, they’ve got police patrolling all over the town and are on the look out for any suspicious people or behavior. I would’ve stayed here with you, but I’m afraid I’ve got my own to look after. But don’t hesitate to call me, if anything happens. I’ll be here before you know it.”
As much as I appreciate the concern, I doubt Mr. John… a short, a little bit scrawny, aged man could do much against… an armed killer.
Nonetheless, I still thank him. He’s a very nice man and it’s nice to know I can rely on someone.
“Thank you Mr. John. But I really hope it won’t come to that.” I thanked him with a small smile. He reciprocated it, and laid his hand on my shoulder.
“Of course… we all do.” He said in his usual soft voice. “Anyway, regarding work. Since it’s your first night shift, you don’t have to do anything other than working at the counter.”
Sigh, at least some good news. I’ll probably just spend the whole shift texting my friends and listening to music. Yippie!!!
—
It’s currently 11:19 pm, I’m about 3 hours into my shift. Fortunately enough, there has been no weird customers or suspicious behavior so far. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m absolutely terrified.
I would be lying if I said that I didn’t jump at any noise that came from the outside. The thought of having a serial killer in town is, to put it lightly, fucking bonkers and horrifying.
“No. No. No. It’s not good thinking too much about it. I can’t let my thoughts ruin my whole night.” I whisper-yelled to myself. ‘I’m safe. Nothing will happen to me. I’m safe. I’m safe’
Right as I thought that, a black van pulled up and parked in the small parking lot of the store property.
‘Ominous black van in the middle of the night. Great. Super. Just what I wanted.’
Three men exited the vehicle.
One of them, the tallest one, wore a yellow hoodie.
Even tho, he was already really tall, I noticed that it’s not his full height because his posture is slouching a bit. I can’t identify any other features because his hood is covering most of his head.
The other one wore a simple beige jacket and denim jeans and he’s got black hair. Other than his friend, he looks like he’s average height.
I can’t make it out clearly, but he seems to have an annoyed expression on his face. ‘Please don’t be a pain in my ass…’ I thought to myself and go on to observe the last man.
He’s definitely a bit taller than the guy in beige but still a head shorter than hoodie guy. He’s wearing a green jacket with a blue hood.
But there’s something else… at first I didn’t think anything of it but he seems to be twitching every few seconds. I don’t want to assume, but it seems like he’s got some kind of ticking disorder. But the most concerning part about him is the mouth guard that he wore.
‘Of course… big black van. Three mysterious and ominous men. In the middle of the night. Wow, thanks universe. But I like to be wined and dined, before I get FUCKED.’ I thought to myself.
I grabbed my phone and opened discord, then searched for the group chat of me and my two best friends. Aubrey and Marun.
‘Yo, there are some scary looking men about to enter the store☠️’ I clicked send, and almost immediately got a response back. ‘Nah that’s tuff buddy’ from Aubrey and a ‘Nahhh bros next 😭🙏’ from Marun. ‘But you better be careful. If I have to travel to America for your fuckass funeral, I’m haunting your ass’ Said Aubrey. ‘Exactly bro you better stay safe’ Immediately added by Marun.
Typical. Jokes first, concern last. But I love these idiots so much. A small smile made its way onto my face.
I was about to text something back until I heard the store door open, and the sus-trio entered.
‘Right… I completely forgot about them for a second.’ I put my phone to the side, activated my customer service face and greeted them.
“Welcome. Let me know if I can help you with anything.” I said in an overly sweet voice. ‘Maybe if I’m really nice to them, I can steal some brownie points for myself… just in case.’
But I was met with nothing. It was like I wasn’t even there. ‘Oh my fucking god, I’m gonna get robbed.’ I was crying internally.
The beige jacket guy just looked at me with a disapproving glance. The one with the mouthguard was too busy rambling about something to beige jacket guy, while his body seemed to jerk into random movements every few seconds.
The yellow hoodie guy though… he was just… staring. In fact, he was staring right at me the whole time. His expression was blank, devoid of any emotion and thoughts and… wait a damn minute, when the fuck did he get so close to me?!
He was standing right infront of the counter now, just mindlessly staring at me. But from so up close, I can finally see some of his features.
He was completely towering over me. It’s not like I’m short, but he was just freakishly tall. He had brown hair, and a stubbled chin.
I couldn’t tell more than that, because he was wearing a blindfold that covered half of his face up. ‘Does he think he’s Gojo Satoru?’
He seems to be around his mid twenties, but even so, there are some white hairs around his stubble. Maybe it’s just the masked man effect, but he wasn’t bad looking at all.
It was just the way he was boring his gaze onto me. I can’t help but feel like I need to make myself small, like my existence is a mere inconvenience to him.
His stare felt like he was trying to read my mind, trying to figure out my past, present and future, and curse me while at it. It was creepy.
Without even thinking twice about it, I asked him.
“A-are you a crackhead…?”
…
‘Now why the fuck would you ask that Y/N?’
I immediately regretted my decision. ‘Oh my fucking god. I’m so going to get murdered. Survival instincts of a piece of bread.’ I continued cursing at myself internally, while waiting for his response.
I tapped my finger against the counter, preparing myself for the blow.
…
No response. Just pure silence. But something about his expression changed. It went from completely empty to, from what I could tell, a sting of… amusement? Did he think my question was funny? Or was it my reaction?
He just continued staring down at me. It was so damn awkward. Trying to distract myself from his all-seeing-eyes, I looked over to the other two.
In their shopping basket seemed to be some drinks, a variety of snacks and some shampoo and body wash. ‘Do they live somewhere around here?’
I think they were in some kind of banter over snacks.
“Oh my fucking god Toby, this is enough snacks. How much can you fucking eat?”
Right then, the one in the beige jacket looked into my direction and saw me staring at them.
“That’s none of your business Tim. It’s not like it’s your money that you’re spending anyway.” Said the guy with the mouthguard.
From what I heard, his name is Toby, and the other guys name was Tim. ‘Not his money?’ What did they mean by that?
Tim let out a “Tsk. Let’s just fucking go.” Before walking up to the counter, with Toby shortly following behind and bunch of other snacks in his arms.
I quickly readjusted my posture, and put on my usual customer service face, acting like I wasn’t just staring at them the whole time.
“Hello! Did you find everything you wanted tonight?” This time I only got a grunt back from Tim.
“I’m just gonna take that as a yes.” I said, and started scanning all of their items.
“Add a pack of red Marlboros.” Said Tim. ‘Damn, not even a please and thank you?’
I didn’t say anything though and just silently grabbed the red Marlboros from behind me.
“Oh? Why does our Brian look so amused? I hardly ever get a reaction out of him.” Said Toby. I glanced to the side, and saw him poking Hoodie guy in the sides.
“Hey Missy, what did you do to him? What’s your secret?” He asked me. Or so I think, but something tells me that he’s more demanding than asking me.
“Damn Toby, just shut the fuck up. I can’t stand listening to you, with your twitching and stuttering.” Said Tim.
‘Damn bro. He can’t help it you ableist piece of shit.’ I thought to myself trying to hide my true thoughts behind a poker face.
Which didn’t seem to work out, because Tim immediately gave me a snotty look and said, “What? Got something to say?” With a smug look on his face.
‘Alright. That’s it.’
Not wanting to get robbed or murdered is one thing, but never. EVER. will I let myself get disrespected by a turd.
“Yeah actually, I do. You shouldn’t talk to him like that. It’s obvious he’s got some kind of disability, you’re just being an asshole.”
I could tell he wasn’t expecting me to talk back, he was a bit taken aback but quickly regained his smug look. “Oh yeah? Well, mind your own business. Just do your little job and scan our items, little princess.”
“Princess?! How dare you-“
He quickly cut me off. “Customers always right, eh?You don’t expect me to take you serious with those kid bandaids you’ve got on, right? You should watch your mouth, you could seriously get hurt. More hurt than your little booboos on your hand.”
He was starting to raise his voice at me, and his expression started to darken like he was already planning what to do to me.
But I won’t let myself get intimidated by this asshole.“Are you threatening me?!” I said, trying to hold my head high but it was hard with these three men staring at me.
“So? What if I am? Find yourself something safe to do.” He let out a mocking chuckle, like he had won the argument.
‘Oh hell no.’ Before I knew it, words were flooding out of my mouth.
“You know what you should find? Your way back to the aisle with hygiene products. You should definitely consider buying more bath products, because these few things won’t get the disgusting smell of cheese and rotten eggs off of you. Not to mention, your yellow ass teeth. I wouldn’t go barking around with your stinky breath. Maybe invest into some toothpaste and a toothbrush.”
And this time I was the one with the smug look on my face.
Ohhh, he hated that. His expression shifted to anger. “You really don’t know when to quit, huh? You little bit-“ It seemed like he wanted to jump over the counter and strangle me but he got cut off by Toby dragging him away from the counter.
“Alright, that’s my cue. It’s time for us to go, before Tim does something he shouldn’t.”
Toby was dragging him out of the store, while Tim was still yelling cuss words at me.
Sigh. What a nuisance. Here I thought that my shift would go on to be calm and chill.
Now it’s just me and … Brian. He just continued staring at me with that slight smirk.
“Okay… well…” This is awkward. I just proceeded with scanning the items. Brian was staring at me doing so the whole time.
After I’m done, I told him the total. “Okay, your total will be $30.79. Is that cash or card?” But instead of saying anything… he just kept staring. “Uhm… your total is… $30.79…?” I said, a bit unsure this time because the way he was staring at me, it felt like I was the one that owed him money.
After what felt like eternity, he slowly reached down into his pocket. ‘Oh dear god, he’s taking out a knife. I knew it. I’m gonna get robbed and killed… by a fucking crackhead.’ But when he took his hands out, there wasn’t a weapon.
Just some balled up dollar bills. ‘Oh thank god.’ I let out a sigh of relief and at that Brian just let out a quiet chuckle. I looked at him in embarrassment. ‘Can he read my thoughts or something?’
He placed the balled up dollar bills on the counter for me to count. ‘Augh, I hate it when customers do that. Can’t you straighten your cash before handing it to me? What a drag.’
As I started straightening and counting the bills. Brian started packing all the snacks and drinks they bought.
I suddenly stopped in my tracks. One of the $10 bills had a suspicious red stain on it. What the fuck?
Did they rob someone or something?
I remembered Toby’s words from earlier. ‘“It’s not your money anyway.”’ I froze up in fear. I didn’t know what to do.
‘Please don’t be blood. Please don’t be blood.’ I started panicking. ‘My life has ended.’
I gathered up the courage to ask.
“Uhm what is that red stain- Oh…”
As I looked up to face Brian again, he was already gone. ‘What kind of The Last of Us stealth type shit is he on?’ Is he physically incapable of making sounds?
I saw the van pulling out of the parking lot and driving away. ‘What a bunch of weirdos.’
He gave me too much money anyway. Guess the change is my tip for the inconvenience they caused.
I decided to just ignore the - no pun intended - blood money and put it in the register asap.
‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ I decided to pretend nothing ever happened. It’s above my pay grade to care about these things.
My attention was turned back to my phone. I’ve gotten multiple notifications from the group chat.
‘Did bro get sniped while texting?’, ‘Oh hell nah, did I manifest that?’, ‘Ref, do something 😭’, ‘Wya bro?’, ‘Y/N???? WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU???’, ‘Stop. I’m actually worried now.’
Their messages made me giggle. I started texting. ‘Yo chat, you’ll never believe this gang’
—
6 AM. My shift is finally over. Luckily, the remainder went relatively smooth and there were barely any customers.
I did all the finishing paperwork, clocked out and closed up the store. When I stepped outside it was actually really chilly. “I should’ve brought a jacket.” I should’ve thought ahead.
But my apartment isn’t far from here, so I’ll just have to hurry up. I didn’t bother getting my headphones out, it was quite nice listening to the morning birds anyway.
I’m so exhausted, I couldn’t wait to crawl into bed and never wake up again. ‘Night shifts are not for the weak… but the pay is so damn good.’
I arrived at my apartment building. But before I entered, I got this intense fear in my gut. I froze up. ‘Is someone watching me?’ I look behind me, and there’s no one there.
“I’m probably just sleep deprived and super paranoid because of those weirdos from yesterday.” I shook the feeling of paranoia off and went inside.
“Fuck. I forgot the elevator is out of order.” I cursed.
‘Four flights of stairs. God, just fuck me already.’
While I was walking up the stairs, I could’ve sworn I heard footsteps behind me. I stop for a second and listened… but there was no sound anymore, the footsteps are gone.
‘Am I going crazy?’ I thought to myself. It must be the lack of sleep and hunger. I continued walking up the stairs, but this time a little faster than before.
“Oh my fucking god… goddamn…” I was completely out of breath after walking up the devil-stairs, but I did finally reach my apartment.
I unlocked the door, dropped my handbag on the floor and b-lined to my room. I took my clothes off, wiped my makeup away, and I didn’t even bother to clean myself up.
I just dove straight into my bed and passed out of exhaustion.
—
There was a noise. It was so loud, that it has woken me up from my sleep. I woke up and looked at the time. 12 pm… I only slept for 5 and half hours.
‘Whatever woke me up, has a death wish.’ And right then, there was another sound. ‘It’s coming from the kitchen…’
I got up, and slowly walked to my bedroom door, carefully, as to make no noise.
At this point, any kind of drowsiness has left my body and was replaced with adrenaline.
I pressed my ear against the door and tried to listen for any additional noise.
And few seconds later, there it was. ‘Someone has broken in. Someone’s in my home. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I-‘
From my peripheral vision, I saw a potential self-defense weapon. ‘My baseball bat.’ I quickly grabbed it and held in front of my chest.
I stood there for a moment, gathering up courage, and slowly opened my bedroom door, so I don’t alert any intruders.
I clutched my bat tighter as I tiptoed down the hallway, towards the kitchen.
My heart was pounding in my ears. ‘Please floor don’t creak. Please. Please. Pl-“
The fucking floor creaked. ‘What comedic timing you have. If I get out of here alive, I’m changing the floor tiles to marble, you motherfucker.’
My thoughts were interrupted, by yet again another sound in the kitchen, but this time, they were more sudden, too many at the same time.
They probably realized I was there and quickly made a move for it.
This time I was sprinting, hoping I can still catch the intruder in time.
I got into the kitchen, and of course there was no one. ‘Thank god. For a moment, I thought those weirdos were here to get their lick back.’
Everything seemed to be just like I left it yesterday. Except the window was wide open. ‘Did I leave it open? No… I could’ve sworn it was closed when I got home.’
After all, I lived on the 4th floor.
There’s absolutely no way, that anyone could just climb through the window. It’s way too far up.
‘But if it wasn’t those weirdos from yesterday, then what made that noi-‘ Boy. If my thoughts get interrupted one more time.
“OH, GOD DAMN IT!” I screeched out. There was a fucking bird on my counter. Not just any bird, a…
‘A RAVEN!!!!’ I gasped.
I absolutely love ravens. Any birds for that matter, but ravens were just - the best birds out there.
They are smart, mischievous, emotionally intelligent and they can form lifelong bonds. Oh, I always wanted a raven, ever since… FOREVER.
“I guess, I must’ve really left the window open then. Hello little guy. Were you the one that made all that noise?”
The raven of course didn’t respond and just stared at me. It’s head titled to the side, as if it’s analyzing me.
“Are you hungry? Do you want some food?” And as if it’s understood the word food, the raven started cawing at me. “Aw, you must be so hungry little guy.” I went over to my fridge, to grab the second half of my store bought sandwich.
‘Luckily it came in a two-pack hehe. And ravens are carnivores, so this should be good enough.’
I opened the fridge and saw that my sandwich was nowhere to be found.
Not even the packaging was there anymore. ‘What the…’ Okay, this is getting weird. Or weirder. I grabbed one of my cheese sticks instead.
“Sorry buddy, cheese is all that’s on the menu today. I’ll have to go grocery shopping. Maybe come back tomorrow, when I have more food to offer, hm?” I speak to the raven as if it can understand me.
Which I wouldn’t doubt, ravens are, like I said, extremely intelligent.
It continued staring at me, trying to figure out what I’m going to do next. I unwrapped the cheese stick threw it in front of its feet, because I don’t want to alert and scare it. I won’t let my moment to bond with a wild raven get ruined, nuh uh.
It quickly, without hesitation, picked the offering up with its beak. The raven looked back at me, we held eye contact for a moment and then it flew straight out my window.
“Byebye little guy!! Come back tomorrow for dinner, okay?” I yelled after it.
Hm. Come to think of it… the raven didn’t seem skeptical at all. It wasn’t skittish of the food I threw towards it, it was more like, it knew what was about to come.
Does or did it have a previous owner?
Whatever it is, I hope the little guy will come to visit again soon.
I closed up the window, and turned around only to be confronted with the moving boxes, I still have yet to unpack. I won’t be going to be able to sleep anymore anyway, so might as well…
—
After 3 hours of unpacking, organizing and back pains, I was finally done through with my last box.
All of my kitchen supplies are in their drawers, neatly put together, the rest of my clothes were in my closet and the best part, my books about paranormality have arrived! Oh, how I missed my babies.
I’ve always been hyper-fixated on it, and it’s a great interest of mine. I used to go around school, rambling about it to anyone I met, which wasn’t very popular among the other students.
Apart of my rambling, was also, that I 100% believed in the paranormal. People went around, saying I was an evil satanist and did rituals to summon demons.
It sucked, but I still do believe in it, 100%. These bitches don’t even know what they were talking about, their ignorance isn’t going to stop me.
I was in my room, organizing my last books into my shelf, when suddenly my stomach started growling and hurting.
I realized, I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday. There has been so much happening the last few days, I didn’t even notice.
‘There’s nothing to eat… I have to go grocery shopping.’ I looked into the mirror, to see, if my outfit is alright to go outside with.
I’m still wearing my sleep clothes, sweatpants and a black tank top.
‘This is good enough.’ Without further ado, I put on some sandals, put on a jacket and grabbed my handbag.
I left my apartment, locked my door and walked down the stairs.
As I exited the building, I was immediately met with wind blowing right at me. Conveniently, the grocery store isn’t far from here, so I decided to walk there.
On my way, I got this feeling of anxiety again like yesterday.
This feeling as if I’m being watched or followed. I turned around, and saw no one but normal pedestrians.
It doesn’t seem like I’m being followed. But why do I keep getting this pit in my stomach?
—
At the grocery store, I was just grabbing whatever seemed appetizing to me. Which was almost everything.
I guess, it’s true to not go shopping while you’re hungry. I was in the ice cream aisle, looking for flavor that piqued my appetite.
When I did find one, [favorite ice cream] flavor, I reached for a package. But it looked like, someone else had the same idea.
As I reached for it, my hand and another persons hand collided and touched each other.
At first, I was flustered but soon turned to the person and apologized. “Oh, I’m sorry S-… Sir?”
As I turned to the person, I immediately recognized him. It was one of the men from yesterday.
“Oh, don’t worry about it… princess.” His head was jerking to the side.
He said it in a joking manner, but still with a hint of mockery behind it. He still had the same clothes on from yesterday.
And the same mouthguard too… I wondered why he wears it in the first place. ‘Is he wearing it as a mask? Is he mysophobic?’
“Toby… wasn’t it?” I said, I try to sound enthusiastic about our coincidental meeting. Toby picked up on it though, and even when I couldn’t see his face, I could tell his face contorted into a mischievous expression.
His tics giving him a sense of unpredictability.
“Woah! Right on the money with that one, Mouse!” He said, sarcastically. This time, his shoulder was twitching to the back.
“My name is not Mouse.” I argued, which only made him smile even wider. Yeah, I couldn’t see it. But anyone could tell he was enjoying this right now.
“Oh, are you sure? What’s your name then?” He asked. “It’s Y/N, thank you very much.” I answered him.
‘Did I just give him my government name? I folded under zero presssure. Y/N, you IDIOT.’
“Oh Y/N then… hmm… Y/N… that’s a pretty name. But, I’d rather stick with Mouse.” He insisted.
‘I have a feeling he gets off of annoying and teasing people.’
“Do whatever you want.” I rolled my eyes at him.
“Aye, what’s with the attitude? I don’t think that’s how you thank someone who saved your ass.
If I hadn’t stepped in, Tim would’ve beat you hospital ready.” He said, in a low tone.
He didn’t seem offended, but more just pointed out the obvious.
His body still twitching and his neck involuntary jerking off to the sides.
But unfortunately, he was right. He did save me from that crazy bastard yesterday… I didn’t even know how to fight, so I don’t know what I would’ve done in that situation. Definitely would’ve gotten my ass beat.
A blush creeped its way on my cheeks. I looked away from him, flustered and a bit embarrassed. “T-thank you… Toby.” I said, quietly.
Toby’s expression changed to surprise, like he didn’t expect those words to come out. He stood there, staring at me, unmoving. Even his tics seemed to stop for a second.
After a few seconds, he regained his mischievous glint in his face. “Oh, you’re welcome… but it seems like you owe me now. Heh.” He giggled after saying that sentence. “What do you mean, I ‘owe you’?”
I double checked. ‘This better be a joke.’
“I didn’t force you to save me, you know?” I snapped back at him. “Well, it was either that or let you get beat up. That would’ve been a shame… you’re awfully pretty. Even in your pajamas.” He said, with a light twitch of his head.
The compliment was unexpected, so my already red face turned even redder. I wasn’t used to people complimenting my looks. It rarely ever happened and when they did, it was a joke most of the time.
But apart of me wonders, how genuine he was being. It wouldn’t come to a shock that he only said that to tease me. “Asshole.” I blurted out and took my cart.
As I was walking away from him, I heard him giggle behind me and shortly following after footsteps catching up to me.
“Okay. Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll stop teasing you Mouse.” He said, but his tone was unserious. “You did, again. Just now.” I responded, pointing out that pet name again.
“Ohhh, come on. That’s a none negotiable, Mouse.” He said, this time making sure to enunciate Mouse, slowly without any stutters.
I wanted to say something back, something mean or anything insulting. But then, I remembered the blood on the dollars from yesterday.
It’s better to not piss them off, I think. I decided to just let him have his way for now, for now. ‘This is going to be a long shopping trip.’
I let out a big sigh, which only seemed to fuel Toby, to continue even further.
—
With shopping bags in my hands, and a snickering Toby right behind me, I left the store with groceries that should last me about 2 weeks. I also bought bird food for the little raven, incase it comes to visit again.
Suddenly, Toby jumped right in front of me. Startling me so much, almost dropping my shopping bags.
“Jesus… what’s your problem?” I said to him in an annoyed tone.
He only giggled even more at that. “Aww, did I scare the little Mouse?” He said with a fake empathetic smile. “I can help you carry your bags, if you want.” He offered. ‘And show you where I live? Hell no.’
“No, thanks. I’m good.” I put on a fake smile and strutted away as fast as possible. “I’m sure we’ll meet again soon, Mouse!” He shouted after me.
‘He’s so cute but also kinda creepy.’ He hasn’t done anything wrong really.
He actually seemed like a nice guy, but the way he looked at me the whole time.
Predatory. Analyzing. It was creepy, to put it mildly.
On my way home, and who could’ve guessed, I got the feeling of being watched again. This time, I didn’t look back and just quickened up my pace.
When I was almost home, I heard those footsteps again. I still didn’t look back. The footsteps got closer. I still didn’t look back.
The footsteps were so close now, I was sure whoever was following me could just grab and take me away.
I finally turned around, and spoiler alert, nothing. Again. At this point, I thought I’m going crazy.
Paranoia. Stress. Feeling of being watched. Footsteps that belong to no one. Silhouettes, from the corner of my eyes.
This wasn’t normal.
After questioning my sanity, I just made my way back home. ‘I’m too hungry and sleep deprived for this.’
—
At home, I was in my kitchen cooking some vegetables. I was planning to make Com Chien, which is a fried rice with vegetables from Vietnam.
‘Asian food is the best…~’ The smell of the food made me drool. I couldn’t wait to sit down and eat this.
I opened one of my drawers to grab one of my cooking utensils, but I looked in it I saw that one of my spatulas is missing.
‘Weird. I organized this place just today. It couldn’t have walked off or just disappeared.’ I searched the other drawers… it was gone.
Completely vanished. “Maybe I left it in one of the boxes… I will have to check later.” I murmured to myself.
All these weird things were happening to me lately. “Maybe I’ve got something about it in my books…” I had the tendency to always talk to myself.
I’ve heard once it’s a sign of loneliness, which does make sense. I never had friends or a friend group before.
I only have Aubrey and Marun, they are my online friends. So, I’m pretty much alone all of the time. “I should really get a pet or something…”
Which reminded me of the raven I met today. “I really hope the little guy will come back.” …
“Should I give it a name? But what… Corvus? Hmm… what if it already has an owner? That would suck ass.” I said to myself, as I was plating my food.
I picked up my plate, sat down and started eating. Once I put the food in my mouth, I actually felt how hungry I was the whole time.
To my realization, I actually haven’t eaten anything for almost 24 hours, because it was 6:47 pm by the time I was eating.
Fortunately, I had the next 2 days off work, so I could just use the time to rest and maybe explore the town a bit.
After I was filled, I got up and put my dirty dishes in the sink. ‘This is future Me’s problem…’ I went to the cupboards and fridge to grab ingredients for a sandwich.
I decided to make one for the little raven, in case it comes to visit over night. When I made the sandwich, I wrapped it in foil and put it on the windowsill in the kitchen.
I opened up the window and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. I was going to go to bed early, to catch up on some much needed sleep.
—
I headed straight to bed after my shower. I didn’t bother drying my hair completely off, I was too tired and too impatient.
As I was getting ready for bed, I noticed that some of my books were knocked off my shelf and on the floor. ‘Huh?’ Was the only thing I could muster at that point. ‘What the fuck? I remember that I put all of my books in my shelves before I left.’
“Maybe I knocked them over while I was in a rush.” I told myself. I needed any type of excuse for the weird things that have been happening lately.
I grabbed some random shorts and an oversized shirt, slipped them on and jumped right in my bed.
Cuddled up in my blanket and plushies, it didn’t take long for me to finally fall asleep.
—
The next morning, I woke up at around 10 am. I slowly got up, but didn’t get out of bed yet.
For 5 minutes, give or take, I was just staring at the wall, the drowsiness slowly leaving my body.
When I did get out of bed, my first stop was the kitchen. I wanted to check out if the raven came by and took the sandwich with it.
And much to my delight, the sandwich wasn’t there anymore.
Which means the raven did pay me another visit!
‘If I keep this up, I might actually form a bond with the little guy!’
I was really happy that the raven has taken in interest in me, I was already about the next meal I would make it.
Speaking of meals, I should probably eat breakfast. I got out a box of cereal and milk. I put both in a bowl, sat down on my couch and turned on the TV.
As I switching between the channels, I came across the local news channel. I was about to skip it but something caught my attention.
“‘Breaking news! A middle aged man was found dead in his home yesterday, in [town and area]. The police has stated that it was a murder and the victim died whilst defending himself. Paramedics confirmed that both of his kidneys were removed and it is speculated that this victim is related to a case that happened a month ago, where a man suffered a car crash and had his kidneys removed aswell. The reason why is still unknown.’”
My breath hitched and my heart stopped beating for a second. ‘So there is a serial killer in our town… Mr. John was right. Oh my fucking god, this is crazy. What am I even supposed to do?! I don’t fucking know bro.’
My plans to explore the town had to be rescheduled, I wasn’t going to go out with a serial killer on the loose.
I decided to stay home and watch movies the whole day, to distract myself from the potential danger I might have to face. “Augh, just why did I have to move to this town?!” I wailed regretfully.
My cereal was left untouched. I did not have an appetite after such news. I opened up Netflix on my TV, and searched for any kind of movie to watch.
While on my search, I stumbled upon documentaries about old serial killers.
I know I wanted to distract myself, but since I already can’t get this out of my head… I might as well. Who knows? Maybe the information might be useful in the future.
—
The whole day, I spent watching documentaries about serial killers. And no. It did not help me in anyway. It only made me more paranoid.
It was around dinner time, but honestly after watching those documentaries and listening to those horrible things they did to their victims…
I didn’t have the stomach to eat anything big anymore. I did eat some snacks through out the day, so that’s something.
But when I went to the pantry to get them, I had a feeling that I bought more than what was left. ‘I thought I bought more than this… oh well.’
I went to the kitchen and make the laziest and smallest dinner I could think of… leftovers from yesterday. I went to the fridge to grab my leftover Cho Chiem but when I opened it… the container with my leftovers was empty.
At this point, I was freaking out. First my missing kitchen utensils, my stuff was knocked over and now someone raided my fridge? And the “missing” snacks, were probably apart of that too. But how? How could someone break in?
After I calmed down a bit, I tried searching for a logical explanation.
“It has been a very difficult month, I’m probably just very stressed and paranoid because of all the murders that happened lately. My spatula isn’t missing, I’ll probably find it in a random drawer soon. My books were knocked over because I was in a rush. My fridge wasn’t touched by anyone else but me. I probably ate those leftovers and just forgot about it. That must be it.”
Any excuse at all. Just anything, except I’m going crazy. I can’t. I’m not. I’m not going crazy. I’m fine. Everything is fine.
My panic attack was interrupted by a knocking on my kitchen window. It was the raven from yesterday. Oh, how I needed this right now.
I opened up the window, and the raven jumped inside. It started cawing at me, and was stretching its head towards me.
Its neck started doing this weird wavy movements. “I think that means you’re happy to see me.” It cawed at me again, in I guess, agreement perhaps?
I giggled at the silly little creature. “Are you hungry? Sorry, I haven’t prepared any dinner yet.” Somehow, all of my worries started to disappear, once the little guy came to visit.
I went to one of my cupboards and took out the bird food I bought for the raven. I grabbed a handful of it, and reached my hand out to the raven.
First it analyzed the food, inspecting it for what it is. Not long after, it cawed at me again. “Do you not like regular bird food?” The little raven just stared me.
“I guess you need some real food, huh?” This time it cawed again, and its neck did the wavy motion.
“What do you think of pasta?”
—
After eating dinner, me and the raven started playing together. Ravens enjoy play fighting with sticks, so we did just that. But the stick in this case, but just a regular chopstick. It did the job though.
It became clear to me that it wasn’t a wild but a domesticated raven. It was very trusting and playful, something you wouldn’t get so fast out of a wild animal. What happened to the owner?
I wondered if I was able to keep the raven as a companion. It would be nice and we get along really well. And it would help with the loneliness.
It was starting to get dark outside, and I thought it was probably time for the raven to go home. “It’s getting late little guy. Time to go home, hm?”
The raven didn’t respond. “Don’t you have to go home to your owner? Your family?” Again, the raven didn’t respond. Instead, it flew over to my couch and nestled itself in the couch cushions.
“Oh… you want to stay here for the night?” It didn’t say anything, but just looked me in the eyes. We started at each other for a moment, and it was clear to me that it wanted to stay.
“Alright! That’s great!” I was overjoyed. ‘I gained the trust of a raven. This is the happiest day of my life!!!!’ I screamed internally.
“Okay little guy, I will leave the window open for you though… Incase you do want to go, okay? Or need to go do your bird business, of course.” I was getting really tired myself, so I decided to also head to bed.
—
It was in the middle of the night, around 2 am maybe. I woke up because of a commotion in the kitchen. I got up from my bed, and suddenly I heard loud cawing and some annoyed grunts.
There was someone in my home. And even worse… there was someone attacking the raven!!!!!
I ran and grabbed my baseball bat and sprinted to the kitchen. At the scene of the crime, I saw the little raven cawing at and attacking someone with its claws and beak.
“Who the fuck are you? What are you doing in my home?!” I yelled. The intruder only let out annoyed grunts and tried to get the raven off of them.
“You stupid fucking bird, get off me!” They yelled. They were stuttering really hard over their words.
Through their voice, I could tell that it was a man. But also, the voice of that man was strangely familiar.
I turned on the kitchen lights, to uncover who it was. The light was bright and it hurt my eyes for a second.
After my eyes had adjusted to the light, I saw a man. He had a container of leftover pasta in his hand right hand. Brown hair. Green jacket. Blue hood. And a mouthguard.
The little raven calmed down after it saw me, and flew and landed on the counter. It looked between me and the intruder, as if waiting for something to happen.
The man in front of me was just staring at me for a bit. He was twitching around, his body doing involuntary movements.
I heard rattling, and to my demise, I saw that the rattling came from two hatchets that were attached at his belt.
I knew exactly who that man was.
“Toby?! What the fuck?!” I yelled at him. My baseball bat still in attack position.
“Woah, calm down Mouse. You wouldn’t want to hurt yourself.” He said, shockingly calm for the situation we were in. I knew why. He also knew it.
He was in complete control in this situation.
He was a lot taller than me, probably stronger too.
But the main reasons were evident at this belt. One of his hatches looked completely new and the one worn down. Like he used it before.
Probably did too. If we were to fight, he would win. No chance for me. But I wouldn’t go down without inflicting some type of wounds on him either.
“Who says I can’t hurt you instead?” I snapped back, trying my best to not look intimidated by him. But, my grip on my baseball was shaky and unsure. I didn’t hide shit from him.
“You can try, but I won’t feel it. Others have tried as well but failed.” He said smugly, slowly stepping towards me.
“What do you mean by that?” And right as I said that, I noticed the pool of blood on the floor. I looked up to his waist and saw a big stab wound. It was really big.
“W-wait, are you saying you can’t feel that stab wound? How can you not feel that?” I say in shock.
“Oh, well-“ He started but suddenly his movements came to a halt, even his twitching and ticking stopped. He stared blank into space and…
Collapsed.
He collapsed on the kitchen floor, as more blood was gushing out of his wound.
…
“Oh my fucking god. Someone died on my kitchen floor.”
—
End of chapter 1.