My Darling

Chapter 2

After Mrs.Chen led me up to the apartment she gave me a small tour. 

"If there is anything wrong, Ms. Wayne, I'm right down the hall." She says pointing down the hall from which we came.

"Thank you very much, Mrs.Chen"

She smiles at me and then leaves, closing the door on her way out.

My mattress and additional furniture were already there since I shipped them here about two weeks ago. Which should have been a dead giveaway that this was where the apartment was. I rub between my temples feeling a dull ache settling in. I've got to get my head together.

I brought up one of my pillows and a throw blanket from the trailer. I'm going to try to get some sleep. I fall face-first into the mattress with a soft thud. I'll unpack the remainder of my stuff tomorrow.

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I shoot up from my mattress in a cold sweat, panting strangely. I look around myself, quickly surveying my surroundings only to find blank space.

Just great, a nightmare on my first night in my new home.

I've been having nightmares since I was in high school but when my dad died it was like they increased tenfold. Trying to go to sleep was physically impossible almost like my body knew what was to come. 

Now I'm wide awake, my skin feels sticky and I can feel the heat from my tears streaming down my face. Knowing full well I'm not going to sleep anytime soon I think to do something productive like...well, I could do some cleaning. I get out of bed slowly, still slightly drowsy from sleep only to look around and realize... I forgot all of my stuff was still in the car.

I don't want to willingly put myself in danger but I also don't want to sit and stare at a blank white wall for hours. I peek out my window that overlooks the boulevard first to make sure it doesn't look too sketchy outside, which it doesn't. It's fairly lit up, and the bodega across the street has its lights on inside. I descend the stairs, as quickly and quietly as I can, taking my phone, a taser that I was gifted by my father (which he named Sparky for comedic reasons), the keys to my car, and the keys to the front door so I don't set off any alarms.

I unlock the front door judging the surrounding area before I do. When I walk across the street I make sure to look both ways even though the night is dead. "You can never be too careful, sweetie. There's loonies everywhere!" I smile softly, recalling what my mother said to me and my dad before we went out on our last daddy-daughter date. It made me laugh hysterically at my dad's face when he looked at my mom and yelled " LOOK EMERY IT'S A LOONY!" before he ran full sprint to the car. My dad was a well-built, athletically fit man. He used to run marathons for charities. Before he was taken I thought there wasn't a single thing in this world that could outrun my dad. Seems like someone could...

I feel more tears stinging my skin against the cool night air. I miss him so much.

I unlock my car and gather most of the supplies that I'll need. I'll get the rest when there is more daylight. I lock up the car and start to make my way back inside. In my peripheral, about fifty feet to my left, I see a short man five six maybe five-seven walking down the sidewalk towards Mrs.Chen's Bakery. He's got dark hair and his posture is slouched with his hands roughly shoved in his pockets. I speed up my pace, key in hand, so we won't cross paths.

Which I think he sees because it appears to me that he speeds up too. Oh no, not today buddy.
I get to the door as fast as I can practically dropping the stuff on the floor and lock the door at record speed. The tiny man then proceeds to walk right past, only glancing at me, like his only goal was to scare the hell out of me and boom mission accomplished. Was it his mission?