Deadly

Stuck Between A Gun And A Hard Place

            Calamity rolled onto her side as she watched the sun creep up slowly into view through her curtains, it had been a few days since she first locked eyes with the boy from homeroom, and she hadn't been sleeping to well since. Her dreams were full of nightmares and flashes of bloody cobblestone when she was sleeping and when she managed to close her eyes longer than a second, she could see his face all over again. She rolled onto her back and reached up, gripping the cross that laid against her collar bones while forcing herself to swallow down the fear that was rising in her chest just at the thought of even remotely trying to sleep again.

She laid there until her alarm rung in her ears, sharply reaching over and knocking it off the nightstand to silence it. She reached her shaking hand up to her hair and brushed it from her face, a few hairs clinging to her face as dried sweat glued them to her face. She let her hand linger in that spot for a moment before pushing herself up and forcing herself out of bed, walking down the hall after grabbing her hoodie off the floor and pulling it over her arms.

The house somehow felt colder than it should have been, before walking into the bathroom she peeked her head into the door frame and looking out into the hall. She knew there was no way the boy was in the house with her, but she felt as if he was somehow stalking her through the walls, she had no idea if he had managed to follow her home after their first encounter, but she didn't want to think to much on the idea.

She turned on the faucet and rinsed her face down with cold water, scrubbing at the dried sweat she continued to wake up in since she met him. Her hands scrambled for a towel as she quickly dried her face, snapping her eyelids open as quickly as she could muster before turning around quickly to look at the empty doorway to her left before turning back to the mirror and staring at her own reflection for a long moment. Her mind was whirling with visions from the night before, quick flashes in her brain of the night terrors that had been accumulating since she ran home.

"That's it, I have to get out of this house. I can't just stand here and go crazy anymore." She whispered to herself, somehow it made her feel slightly saner to hear her own voice over the static in her head. She walked quickly back into her room, sitting on her bed before ripping her phone off the charger. She found herself squinting as the bright light from the screen hit her bloodshot eyes, reaching up with her left hand and rubbing one of her eyes as she did an internet search for 'Grimstone Public Library'. She lowered her hand away from her face before clicking the screen and pulling up directions to the library, turning her screen off and rustling under her bed for a laptop carrying case. She shoved her laptop into the bag before throwing it over her shoulder and sloppily applying makeup in her vanity mirror. As she threw down the dirty sponges, she snatched up her headphones and walked downstairs, peeking into the dining room then out a front window near the door.

"No need to tell Lance I'm leaving I guess." She reached down, keeping her eyes locked on the street, fishing in a small bowl of her house keys and school lanyard. She backed away from the curtain, letting it fall shut before she reached for the doorknob with shaking fingers. She found herself squeezing her eyes shut before throwing the door open and throwing her hands up as if her body expected to be grabbed the moment her body was exposed to the front porch. Calamity held the pose for a moment before slowly opening her eyes and looking around, surveying the area before she started walking out.

She locked the door and started down the driveway before reopening the directions to the library, maybe getting lost in music and a research paper would numb her mind for a while. That's what she found herself hoping for at the very least, it would only be a matter of time before if she could say for certain the work would drown out the noise in her head.

She paused and looked up at the more modern building the directions led her to, maybe a five-minute walk in total. She stared at the wall that made up the front of the building, it was mostly just giant glass panes that allowed the building to take in a large amount of natural light. She was able to see most of the inside through the windows but even though she knew she wasn't seeing the boy that haunted her, she still felt uneasy about being so exposed and knowing he could find her if he tried hard enough. She forced it down and went inside, maybe she would be safer inside since it was a public place rather than a private residence where if he did find her, she couldn't immediately call for help.