Stalker

Chapter 1

Xander and Aria's mom were driving their way to their moms boyfriends house. Their dad recently committed suicide after finding out that their mom was dating this new person, and now they're driving to his house. The affair between mom and her boyfriend was about 2 months long before dad found out. The boyfriends name is Joseph. He has a long history of drug abuse, sexual assault charges, and mental health. This was Xander's first time meeting Joseph. Aria has seen him before, but Xander was always too scared to go over to his house. While they were on their way to Joseph's house, all Xander really did was listen to his favorite artists and sleep. Joseph was two-ish hours away from where they all three lived.

When they got there, Joseph was already standing outside. Xander looked back down at his phone. Supposedly, they were all staying for a few nights. Xander put his earbuds on when he got into the house, sat down on the couch, and turned his music all the way up. However, Aria, Joseph, and his mom all went into his bedroom. They were in there for about half an hour until Joseph came out into the livingroom and sat down next to me. Xander tried pretending he didn't see him sit down. Joseph then tapped him on the shoulder, then pulled his earbuds out. "Bro, the fuck you want?" Xander said with an attitude. Xander quickly stood up, and went to the bedroom he was gonna sleep in for the next few days. Joseph scoffed, and went back into the bedroom with Aria and their mom. "Moody teenage boys. Am I right?" Said Joseph. "Xander has some.. issues, I guess? He like, just got out of the mental hospital." Aria got quieter. "He tried killing himself after finding out our father killed himself." Joseph looked down. "Oh, uhm-.. sorry for your loss."
A few hours pass. Aria was sleeping on the couch, Joseph and mom were probably having sex in his bedroom, and Xander was laying down in the bedroom that Aria insisted that he should sleep in. As Xander came to think of it, he felt like there was someone in the room with him almost watching him. The door was closed, the window was locked, but he just had this strange feeling in himself. He just couldn't pinpoint what it might be. He fell asleep for three-ish hours, and woke up to Joseph just- standing there at the end of the bed. Xander stood up fast, and they both just started staring at each other. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Xander said in a quiet, but shaky voice. Joseph just, stood there. All you could hear was breathing. Xander took his phone, and turned on his flashlight to shine it at Joseph. Xander made a plan in his head. He was gonna quickly pick up his shoes, run and open the door, and leave out the front door. So, that's exactly what he did. He picked up his shoes, and bolted to the front door. When he was outside, he ran as fast as he could. His phone was at about sixty percent, so he thought it should last him at least until morning. It was about midnight while he was outside. As he was walking, he found $4.68 in his hoodie pocket. He went to the closest gas station, and bought a cheap energy drink. Nobody asked what he was up to because he looks way older than he actually is. He started walking more, and shortly later made it to the city. He sat down on the first bench he found, and soon laid down and fell asleep. He was asleep until an officer woke him up. "Everything okay, sir?" "Yeah, just trying to sleep. I'm fine." "Okay, if you say so." The officer walked away. Xander woke up to 13 missed calls from his mom, and numerous texts from her and Aria. Since he wasn't considered a missing person yet, he chugged the other half of his energy drink, even though it was flat, and continued to walk around the city. He had $3.06 left, so he bought himself a small bag of chips that were about 50 cents at a small family-owned store.

A few minutes pass, and the thought crossed his mind that if mom calls the police, they'll be able to track his phone, and find him. So he texted his last goodbyes to his friends and girlfriend, and smashed his phone on the sidewalk. He recieved a lot of funny stares. He took the photo of his girlfriend out of his phone case, and walked away. He decided to avoid people and large crowds, and walked down a long road. He felt all the suicidal thoughts rush in his mind, and decided to roll up his sleeves to look at all his scars. Flashbacks from his last suicide attempt came back, and he started crying. Xander never cries.

He stood on a bridge over a long river, and just stared at it. Tomorrow was Xander's birthday. "It's just another year to endure. Ill be okay.." He quietly said to himself. He found his almost empty vape in his back pocket, and used it until it ran out. An officer drove by, and asked what his name was, and what he was doing looking at a river from the bridge at 7 in the morning. "Yes officer, my name is Marcus. It is gorgeous out this morning, and thought i'd admire the river." Xander said. He thought he handled that pretty well. However, the officer didn't listen. "Well, i'm gonna take you into the station for questioning." The officer said from his window. Xander's body filled with panic. He stood there for seconds that felt like minutes, took his girlfriends photo out of his pocket, held it in his hand, and quickly climbed over the concrete bridge wall and jumped into the river. The drop was long.