Complications

The Dread

Clessa looked down at her shoes. Her green converses looked tired.
"Did you know that the capital of New Zealand is actually-."
"No more," interrupted Clessa, "My brain is fried!"
Simon smirked. But not a rude smirk, more of a smirk of accomplishment. Although Simon was not arrogant, he enjoyed spitting out facts here and there.
"Alright I'll stop."
Clessa giggled and spun around in her chair. She loved the way that he was so dorky, yet she hated the way he could ALWAYS outsmarted her. But, Clessa knew that it made Simon feel smart, which made him happy, which made Clessa happy.
"Alright. What should we do now?"
"We could play Dungeons and Dragons. Really LOVE that game."
"How about we play something that would not damage my social reputation," teased Clessa.
Simon grinned and picked up the game off of his shelf. Clessa stare down at it in disgust. It's not that Clessa hated the game, but whenever she made a wrong move, it made her feel stupid.
She looked over at Simon. He was so happy over a box. A box that held a board game. His hair swept magically up and spiked perfectly. The corners of Clessa's mouth started twitching into a smile.
"Earth to Clessa!"
Clessa snapped into reality. Simon had been talking to her for two minutes before she even realized it.
"Sorry, what are we doing?"
Clessa's mind had gone foggy. She suddenly had no idea where she was and what she and Simon were doing.
"My mind just totally....blanked."
Clessa blinked really fast, as though a way to try and regain memory. Nothing worked. It was as though something had come in and stole her memories.
"Where are we?"
"Stop playing," said Simon as he playfully punched her arm, "We are in my room about to play Dungeons and Dragons. And you are not getting out of it just because you have 'amnesia.'"
Clessa suddenly remembered everything. Almost as though she had never forgotten.
"Right. Sorry."
Simon gave her a quizzical look. He felt as though she was not lying, and had actually had memory loss.
"You weren't lying."
Clessa shook her head.
"I was looking at you, then I could not remember anything about where I was and what I was doing. A few minutes later the memories came back. Like they were never gone."
Simon, who had none everything, was stumped.
"This is not normal memory loss, for your memories came back. But all too soon."
"Maybe I should go home," said Clessa
Simon nodded.
"Will you walk me?"
Simon looked up at Clessa. Clessa looked vulnerable. Her eyes were tired, but full of life. She still had the same doe eyes as when he was five, and those were the same eyes gave Simon so many ideas. He always liked to think about how it would feel to be Clessa's brother, so close to her. Simon traveled back into the moment, and responded to Clessa.
"Of course. Do you want to take the subway?"
Clessa nodded. She felt really scared. More scared than she had ever felt before. It was felt like someone went into her mind, ripped out her memories, left some fog, and then brought them back in spite of guilt.
"Sure."
Simon grabbed Clessa's hand, as a way to steady her. They walked over to the door in silence.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah. There was never any pain physically, just...just..."
Clessa was lost for words.
"Mental."
"Yeah."
They walked in silence to the nearest subway station. The silence filled the space between them, and then devoured their need to talk.
But Simon decided to break the silence.
"Have you ever noticed something...well... that keeps showing up wherever you go?"
Clessa stopped walking and turned to face Simon.
"What do you mean?"
Simon stopped and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
"Do you promise to believe me and not tell anyone?"
Clessa looked even more serious than she ever had to before. She took a silent, deep breath, and got ready for anything. Big or small, she knew the problem meant a lot to Simon.
"I promise."
Simon sucked in a cold, November New York air. As he exhaled, he gathered all of of his strength and got ready to tell Clessa.
"Wherever I go, I see a man. This man watched me, and then leaves in a flash. I don't think anyone can see him. But he's been around a lot more lately. Like he is waiting for something to happen. Whenever I look for him at the second time, he is gone. I'm.....I'm scared Clessa."
Clessa opened her mouth to say something, but no words would come out that would say 'I understand your pain.' All she could do was lean into Simon and give him a hug.
But Simon was all wrong, you see. Because Clessa was actually the one being observed. Because Simon hung out with Clessa basically all day, he saw the man before Clessa ever did. Now, don't get me wrong, Simon is smart and observant, but he never figured out the man's true plan. Of course, Clessa never saw the man, but completely trusted Simon. She believed everything he said, and trusted that he was telling the truth.
"I believe you. And if this is really bothering you, the we must do something about it. Maybe he's a s-."
"Don't say it. I'm the most ordinary person in the world. I'm just worried that if the next time I see him, something bad might happen. What if he is evil? Or a serial killer?"
"Don't jump to conclusions. Maybe just coincidentally he showed up wherever you were."
"I don't think so. If it was for ten years straight, then coincidence is highly unlikely."
"Maybe he is from Yale. You know, like a scout."
Simon's lip curled up, into sort of a nervous smile.
"I bet your right. My dad just probably realized my intelligence at age five, and set out the people from Yale."
Clessa giggled, but Simon still felt nervous. Persuasive words never worked on Simon, and his palms were sweating.
"Thanks for being there. I really appreciate the way that you are there for me."
"You sound like a robot. And if the man ever shows up again, just tell me."
Simon smiled and looked over his shoulder. Nothing was there.
As he turned around, and if there was no one looking, out of the shadows came the man. He appeared into the streets, and followed after the two.
And in a voice so soft, he said, "Soon," and then treated lightly down the steps.