Short stories

The Stalker

I sat in my room, analyzing whatever had been happening in the past month. Every time I stepped out of the house, I would find a mysterious woman tailing me. No matter whether it was the local coffee shop that I often frequented with my friends, or my school lane, the woman was ever-present. Thankfully though, the one place that the woman never tailed me to, was my home. I had told her friends about the woman multiple times but it seemed as though the woman had been a master at staying hidden since none of my friends had been able to catch the woman red-handed. I had also tried to tell my parents about the woman but when I had described the woman to them, they had called off the search and refused to talk about it again.

The woman did not talk to me, neither did she try to approach me. She would stay in a corner quietly, silently looking at me. The woman was tall, brown eyed with a tan complexion and appeared to be in her early twenties. Her hair had been bleached and besides the frantic look in her eyes every time I caught her looking at me, she appeared as though she belonged to an affluent household. All in all, the woman didn't fit the description of an average stalker, which made me wonder as to why the woman had been following me.

"Mom, I'm home!" I called out, kicking off her shoes before jumping into bed.

"Hi honey," said my mother, walking into the room to hand me my daily pills, "how was school?"

My parents were really insistent on nutrition since and made me take vitamin supplements every day. They tasted really bitter and I hated the taste of them but I wasn't exempted from having to take the pills once a day on a daily basis.

"Not these pills again, mama!" I grumbled, "none of my friends take vitamin supplements at my age."

"None of your friends have parents who are doctors!" my mother spat angrily. Then calming down a little, she reasoned, "You need to have your pills, honey, they will keep you healthy. You have an upcoming quiz competition; you require all the vitamins that you can get right now."

Begrudgingly, I swallowed the pill as my mother heaved a sigh of relief. This was another common occurrence with my mom. Every time I refused to take the vitamins, she would get extremely angry and scold me, only to calm down a moment later to persuade me again.

Now, this seems like a good time for some background details. Hi, my name is Maya Prescott and I'm the only child of Jeffery and Anna Prescott. While my father is a psychiatrist by profession, my mother is a housewife. I loved my parents a lot and they adore me to bits. The three of us live in a small house on Mulberry Avenue. My parents often have whispered conversations about the woman but they would end it as soon as I entered the room. I had once caught the tail of their conversation:

"I think we should talk to her about the woman," I had heard my dad say which was shut down by my mother saying, "No, Jeff, she's too young to know the truth."

"So, they do know who the woman is," I thought, taking it upon myself to find out the truth that my parents were so determined to keep from me.

I went to sleep that night, thinking of the woman who had been following me for almost a month now. When I woke up the next morning, I was determined to talk to the woman and ask her why she had been following me every day. I got ready and left for college early in order to stop at the coffee shop where I would often see the woman. However, to my dismay, the woman did not show up that day. Disappointed, I walked to college. I would follow the same routine every day, leaving early to stop at the coffee shop in hopes of seeing the woman. However, all I got was disappointment. By now, I had become so obsessed with getting my answers from the woman that I no longer cared for anything else. I skipped meals, my sleeping schedule was all messed up and I had even stopped taking the vitamins that my mother had urged me to.

After almost an entire week of failed attempts however, I was finally able to cross paths with the woman at the coffee shop. With my desire to seek the truth clouding my judgement, I walked up to the table where the woman sat and said, "Hi, mind if I talk to you? I am Maya."

The woman looked a bit taken aback but gave me a smile regardless, telling me to sit down before saying, "Hello Maya, my name is Tala Summers, nice to meet you."

Not being one to make small talk, I dove straight to the point, "I noticed you following me around for the past month so I was wondering if there was something that you wanted to talk to me about. I'm really bad with faces so forgive me if we were previously acquainted."

"Don't worry about it," replied Tala, laughing a little, "I recently moved here so I don't really know anyone. I noticed you here a couple of times and you seemed cool. So, I wanted to ask you if we could hang out. But I never had the courage to approach you."

I heaved a sigh of relief. That was definitely not the kind of response that I had in mind but I was relieved that things had not grown serious. "Sure," I replied, "I would love to be your friend."

Over the days, Tala and I became such close friends that I had stopped hanging out with my other friends. Every spare minute that I could find, I would spend it with Tala. They would meet at the library, at the park, at the shopping mall and would practically spend the entire day together. Our bond was so close that sometimes I felt as though I had known her my whole life. The best thing about Tala was that she always knew what was up with me.

For instance, when I had told her about my argument with mom, she had replied in a cool tone, "I know." When I asked her how she did, she cryptically replied, "This is you, Maya. I know everything about you."

One day, I came home with Tala to find my mother sitting in the living room, looking through my childhood photo albums. I had practically begged her to meet my parents and she had finally agreed.

Sitting down beside my mother, I said, "Mom, I want you to meet my new friend, Tala."

On hearing the name, my mother stiffened a little.

"Stay away from her, Maya," she warned before leaving the room.

I opened my mouth to protest but my anger turned to shock when I saw a picture in the album.

"That's you, Tala!" I exclaimed, pointing at the woman in the photograph, "and that's my three-year-old-self hugging you. But-but how's that possible? You're just a couple of years older than me and you swore we'd never met before! Tala, what's happening?"

Tala remained motionless as she sat on the couch. I got up, determined to seek the truth. Dad had said that he wanted me to know what was going on so I decided to go to his office to ask him about it.

"Dad," I said, upon reaching him, "can you be honest with me if I ask you something?"

"Sure, dear," he replied, "what's wrong?"

"Dad," I asked, "how do you know the woman in this photograph?"

"Honey," he replied with an exhausted sigh, "have a seat."

The woman in the photo is Tala Summers. She was your mom's best friend who passed away fifteen years ago in a car accident."

"But how's that possible, dad?" I inquired, "she's here, standing at the door of your office right now."

"Tala and you were exceptionally close and you were distraught by her death. I don't usually do this but your mom didn't want you to consult another professional so I had to be in charge of your case," he said softly.

"Here," he said, opening a document on his computer, "take a look for yourself." showing me a document stating-

"Name of the patient: Maya Prescott

Age: 19

Diagnosis: Schizophrenia

Treatment mode: Biomedical therapy 

Drugs prescribed: Clozapine

Dosage: 1 X daily"

I turned around to look at the door only to find Tala fading into nothing, her words reverberating in my ears,

"This is you, Maya. I know everything about you."

A/N: What do you think of this story? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading this story. I love you guys :)