Offended

Chapter V

The next day, Monika was sitting at the dining table, quietly eating breakfast. Her mom sat down next to her; she was looking at something on her phone.

"So, any plans for today?" – she asked her daughter.

Monika looked at her and then back at her breakfast, shifting in her chair.

"Yeah, actually...umm" – the girl went silent for a moment, - "I'm going to visit grandmas grave after breakfast. And at around 7 pm. I'm meeting up with my friend"

"Oh, ok, well then. Make sure to get back at around 1 pm. from the graveyard, ok? It is still dangerous out there, even in the middle of the day" – her mom warned her.

Monika only nodded and finished her breakfast. She went up the stairs to her bedroom to take her phone, which was charging near her bed. When she unplugged her phone and put it in her back pocket, she glanced over at her bedroom window. On the window sill laid a rose. Monika didn't remember any of her family members buying roses or guests bringing roses this week. The fact that somebody might have broken into the house, scared Monika out of her mind. The girl carefully took the rose, trying to not prick herself on the thorns. She went down the stairs to tell her mom, but she was nowhere to be found. On the fridge she saw a little sticky note saying:

Sorry, I left so early and without saying goodbye, somebody called from work and it was an emergency.

Mom xx

Monika was quite surprised and decided to call her mom and tell her what happened. After a few minutes with no response, she just left a text message instead. She thought about calling the cops, but what could they do? There was no other sign of somebody breaking in, there was almost no point. Monika went out of the house and placed the rose next to the doorstep and out of sight. She decided to keep the rose as evidence of the break in. After she did that, Monika started to walk towards the graveyard which was a few kilometers away.

As Monika walked, she couldn't shake off this uneasy feeling, as if somebody was following her, watching her, but every time she turned around, nobody was there.

~

Monika was currently standing near her grandmother's grave. Looking down at it with a sad expression. Her grandmother had died 3 years ago when Monika was only 13. Even though it happened quite a long time ago, every time Monika comes to visit her grave, she can feel a slight ping of pain in her heart. We humans can't really get over dead loved ones, even if they have died long ago.

The brown-haired girl looked away from her grandmother's tombstone, trying her hardest not to cry. As she stared of into the distance, Monika saw a faint figure making its way towards the graveyard. The figure was tall, really tall, almost 8 feet. It seemed to be wearing a black trench coat, black pants and a fedora, just like the man she saw yesterday at the café. Monika was confused and dumbfounded, it's probably just a coincidence, but it doesn't feel like it. Monika started to fidget with the pepper spray she had in her pocket. The girl looked down at the grave, now more scared than sad. She hoped that, maybe the man will just walk past and not notice or recognize her.

Monika kept looking at the ground. She could hear footsteps coming her way. The footsteps became louder and louder as seconds ticked by, but then they slowly ceased and everything was silent. Monika stayed quiet, listening intensely for any kind of sound.

"Who are you visiting?" – asked a voice.

The girl jumped at the sudden noise. She looked towards the direction of the voice. There stood the man she saw walking towards the graveyard. He had his fedora tipped to hide his face.

"Umm...my grandma" – Monika finally answered.

The girl took the pepper spray in her hands, but still kept it hidden in her pocket. Monika thought it was the end of their conversation, but then the man spoke again.

"I'm guessing you come here often?"

"Oh umm...how did you know?" – the girl asked.

The stranger pointed at the flowers that were on the grave.

"There are a lot of flowers here, almost all of them are new"

Monika examined the grave. It was true, since her grandmother had died, the girl would come to her grave every other day.

"Yeah, I do come here often" – the girl responded, quietly.

"That's strange" – the man said, glancing over at the brown-haired girl, - "I go through this graveyard every day and this is the only time I have seen you here"

Monika only stayed silent. She had tightened her grip on the pepper spray in her pocket.

After not getting a response, the man let out a dark chuckle.

"Well then, it was nice talking to you, Monika Valentine"

The girl froze. She never said her full name to the man. How did he know? Monika turned around to speak to the mysterious stranger, but...he was gone. When she looked down at her feet, the girl saw a red rose laying on the ground. Frightened she started running home. Whoever that man was, he was certainly not human.

~

Offenderman doesn't belong to me. All of the credit goes to his creator. Only the story belongs to me.