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Unfair and Dangerous

The pale crescent moon shone like a silver claw in the night sky. The occasional barking of a faraway dog broke the silence of the night. I kept running as fast as possible, the shadows loomed suspiciously behind me. Fear was no more an illusion like a child's nightmare. It twisted in my gut slowly and felt like a knife.

'Fear breeds fear' I reminded myself and pause panting to look behind. There was nothing I noticed, it was completely dark. The road was empty.
My heart froze and my stomach turned icy as I heard some footsteps. I observed that goosebumps had crept all over my arms. The creepy feeling that someone was following me left a bitter taste in the back of my mouth that I couldn't get rid off.

The sound of the footsteps grew louder and the pace quickened gradually. I wanted to run again but was paralyzed to the spot, the menacing aura held me in a tight grip.
He grabbed my arm,his breath was warm against my right ear.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?" I screamed out of fear which sounded like a whimper.

The excited alien face of that man had a creepy sinister smile surfacing his lips as his arm slipped around my waist.

For a moment he simply gazed into my eyes as I struggled to free myself from his strong grip.

"Let me go. Please let me go", I cried out loud.

I felt as if a hand reached into my stomach and grabbed my intestines. I wanted to vomit but couldn't.

Laughing the man asked,"Why are you so scared my love?"

Startled as hell, I stood still like a rock.

"You have been stalking me for a week now. What do you want? Please let me go", was all I could utter.

He was at least five feet eight inches tall, with jet black hair, shiny black eyes. He was not very muscular but had a trim built, had a dark skin tone. His smile wasn't friendly but dangerous. He had put on clothes of the darkest shades of blue and black. He was around thirty to thirty-five years old.

He wasn't flabby or puny, rather sturdy enough to chase me I thought and instant fear crept up in my mind. There was no point screaming and asking for help, there was no one to help me on the street.

Sensing my fear, he took a few steps back and whispered, "I won't harm you. I'll take you home Shreya", his voice was husky.

"You...you know my name?" I asked with dread.

"I know a lot more about you", he said calmly.

This seemed to be the most dreadful experience of my life. I was trapped. What would he do with me? Where did he want to take me? Why was he stalking me for so long?

My mouth ran dry and my hands were trembling in an odd rhythm.

"Shreya. Please come with me. I'll take you home", he said grabbing my wrist.

He led me to his car with immense force, as I struggled fiercely, somewhat madly. I cried...wept... begged him to let me free, but all in vain.

I was shoved inside his car, beside the driver's seat. He tied me up tight to the seat.

Negative thoughts and feelings crept up in my mind. I prayed for strength and wisdom. I made it a mental note to carefully mark the roads and be alert for any chance of escape.

He drove swiftly, I was amazed to see he was actually taking me home.
The car was parked before my house after ten minutes. 

"Shreya. This was only a glimpse of what may happen to you, if you are not careful.

You might be confident that you can handle any kind of situation you face, but now do you realize the dangers you put yourself into.

By the time you call up someone and help reaches you, it might be too late."

"I am Abhik your elder brother's friend. Fortunately, the path you take to return home after work and I take are same.

I have been following you for the last seven days, wanting to give you a lift home without scaring you but each and every day, you try to run away. 

When you heard my car's honking the very first day, you hid behind bushes and trees so I had to park it at a distance and walk.

Walking for about half an hour alone in that dark street isn't something a girl, your age should do",he said untying me.

"Then why did you tie me up? And why did you have to grab me by my waist?" I yelled at him.

"Shouldn't you be thanking me, for giving you a safe ride?

I should thank you too, for keeping your mouth shut and not screaming for help till we reached here", he retorted back.

Not knowing whether to be mad at him or thank my fate, I slowly climbed out of the car. I did not want to admit before him that I had been scared stiff as hell and my brain had almost stopped functioning.

Handing me his business card, he said," Ma'am here's my number, call me up when you are done with your work and I'll be happy to pick you up.

I won't scare you again I promise. This was your brother's idea and he is to be blamed for what happened today.

He wanted me to instill fear in your mind".

Happy that nothing of the sort, my mind had cooked up happened and I was safe and sound, I thanked him and invited him for a cup of tea.

"Inviting a stalker isn't a good idea Ma'am", he teased me before leaving.

I wanted to pull out all of my brother's hair, he had yet again turned me into a source of mockery before his friend. But then I realized, he was a protective brother, and made me realize that taking the other route and travelling by public transport may be time taking but was obviously a better option than taking this shortcut.
Though it seemed unfair that I couldn't even walk back home alone for half an hour, it was extremely dangerous, as no one knew what could be awaiting for me.

Author's note:

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