Stalker

Chapter 2

Skylar is about to scream, so I cover her mouth. I grab her hand and sprint back to the house, which is a couple blocks away. When we reach her front porch, she starts shaking and sobbing. I give her a hug and just hold her for a while.

When she calms down a bit, we head inside. Mrs. Morgan is doing the dishes with the news on in the background. We sneak into our shared bedroom to avoid questions.

I grab two sodas out of the mini fridge in the corner of the room, hand one to Skylar, and sit down on the bed.

It's only about 10:30 in the morning, but I start the evening lockdown procedure. Lock the windows, barricade the door, the usual.

"Kayla? Do you ever think about what happened to your brother Liam?" asks Skylar. All I know is that he's my brother who's a few years older than me, and Stalker took him when I was 3. I'm 17 now, and have almost no memory of him.

"I try not to. Besides, it's kind of hard to miss someone you can't really remember," I answer truthfully.

"I don't understand why Stalker wants to ruin our lives. They kidnap innocent human beings, all with lives and families. It's just not fair. What'd we ever do to them?" says Skylar.

I'm not really sure what to say, so I just nod my head. I hate seeing my best friend so sad. She's like a sister to me. I despise Stalker for making her feel this way.

"I know what'll make you feel better," I say with a devilish grin. I run over to the mini fridge, and grab two bottles of whipped cream, chocolate syrup, cherries, strawberries, caramel, sprinkles, and 3 flavors of ice cream. "We're making sundaes."

After we finish our treat, we get into our pajamas. It's not even noon, but we're not going anywhere anyway. We decide to have a movie marathon to keep our minds off of things. Sure, we're used to hearing gunshots and screams, but we've never had to witness it before.

By the end of the 6th movie, we're both half asleep anyway. She walks to her bed, and I go to mine.

About 10 minutes later, I hear violent rattling at the window. I know that it's Stalker, trying to get in. I hold my breath, waiting for it to stop. I glance over at Skylar, to see that she is cuddling her pillow with tears in her eyes.

Eventually, the noise stops. I hear footsteps walk away. Sometimes, I wish that I could find the head of Stalker. He's the guy in charge. If I get rid of him, I get rid of everybody. No more Stalker. No more fear or worry, no more danger every night.

I think about what Skylar said earlier about how we never hurt Stalker. Why do they kidnap us? Is there a reason for them to be so cruel? I have no clue, I just wish they'd stop.

I look over and see that Skylar is asleep. I know that I won't be able to sleep for a while now, despite how tired I am. I sneak downstairs to get a glass of water.

As I let the glass fill up, I hear a desperate cry of help outside. It sounds as though it came from a young boy, about 9 or 10 years old. I want to break down and scream, "Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!" but I know to remain quiet. I chug my glass of water, run to the bedroom, and jump under the covers.
**********
The next morning, I have school. Nobody actually goes to school, simply because a building full of children is an easy target for Stalker. Everybody's homeschooled.

Skylar's still sleeping, so I shake her awake. "Time to wake up, sleeping beauty," I joke.

"Go away, blueberry head," Skylar groans and throws her pillow at me. I just laugh. The hair dye didn't all come out in the shower like promised, so I have blue hair now. It's a bit faded, but still blue.