Beast Behind the Mask

Chapter 9

Hey Guys! I'm so sorry for the late update but I'm really busy, preparing for my Exams. But a BIG THANK YOU to all you people for reading this story and sticking with it despite the slow updates. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

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CHAPTER 9

He was avoiding me. It had been four days and I never saw him once. After Hunter had stormed out, I couldn't bare all the stares and the tension in the air and had decided to go for a walk. After returning I had  tried to talk to Hunter but he was nowhere to be found. Jace had informed me that he had gone out on business and would return late at night. Mom had seeked me out to try to discuss the issue, but she had been so happy with her friends for the past few days that I couldn't burden her with my problems. 

Now I was perched on the stairs, at the side of a dingy building that was 30ft or so away from the Diner. I could make out the small, barely there light bulb of my work place shining from afar, as I sat there, waiting for Jace. Since Hunter couldn't bare to see me, Jace was on my duty again. But he was very late. It was almost 8pm. The sky had darkened and there was a slight chill to the night air. 

I was afraid. Even though I wasn't completely alone, there were two cars in the parking lot in front of me. A couple of teenage girls, dressed rather provocatively, walked out of the main entrance of the building got in their car and drove away. Oh well, at least one car wa- ah heck! who was I trying to fool, I was alone and frightened out of my wits. It was dark, and I was scared of the dark. Very very scared. I could feel the panic building, but I was not going to let it consume me. I tried to assert myself that I was a grown woman. I was done waiting. I was going to be independent and find my own way back. But I didn't know the way. I decided to pluck some courage and stand up, walk through the dark road and ask Sam for help. She might not be able to get me home but she would let me use her phone so I could call Mom. I would've called her myself but my phone was dead. I never charged it that much anyway. With Mom with me, and Abby, my only friend, on vacation somewhere without networks or wi-fi, I didn't have anyone calling me. So it would always either be lying around in my bedroom or with a dead battery. Right now, latter was the case. I started to get up but the little light bulb above my head fluctuated and went out. It was completely dark now. Oh God! Just breathe. Inhale. Exhale. How hard could it be? It was hard. I tried to, but i just couldn't exhale. I couldn't stand up. I was paralyzed with fear. I was hyperventilating. I could feel the hysteria, the panic building, about to clutch me in their terrifying claws. My vision was getting blurred. I could feel the tears running down my face, but I couldn't even move my hands to wipe them. I was in a fatal position, my knees curled to my chest and my face pressed to them. I was shivering. It wasn't overly cold, and I was wearing my hoodie, but still my limbs trembled. 

Where was Jace? And Hunter? Didn't he care that I was not home? I know he was angry but.....I wasn't that unimportant that he couldn't be bothered to check on me...was I? I willed the tears to stop, my eyes hurt and I knew they were red and swollen, but they just kept on coming. A sob broke free and I immediately covered my mouth with both hands. It was so dark. The building was completely out of lights as well as the parking lot. And it was empty. So so empty. 

I tried to remember happy moments. Something funny. Anything to calm myself down. Like how once, when I was little, Mom had baked cookies. She had put them in the oven and then completely forgot about them. It wasn't until the smoke had filled the house that she had realized what had happened. Or the time in sophomore year, when Abby went out on a blind date, and the guy turned out to be her cousin. Or the time in freshmen year, when Abby had wanted to  attend a wedding and instead of saying to her boyfriend, 'I want someone to get married this weekend.' she had announced, 'I want to get married this weekend.' And it wasn't until he recommended her to the guidance counsellor that she had realized what she had actually said.