In My Skin

CH 38 || Late-Night Run

Four envelopes sat atop my kitchen table, all sporting the same simple design you could buy in any store. One had arrived yesterday and the other two the days before. I found the last one today, stuck between my door frame when I'd come home from grabbing groceries. I'd been gone for barely an hour.

I clenched my hands, snatched them up, and dumped them into the box with the rest of them. I had stopped opening them. What was the point? They were just letters. They couldn't hurt me. Maybe this would resolve itself on its own when whoever did this realized that I didn't care.

I flopped back onto the couch. Jules and Sam wanted to game tonight. But before that, I had to finish my homework, do laundry, and clean the apartment.

Seconds crawled by, stretching into minutes, then an hour. I remained motionless, staring straight ahead. A heavy weight settled on my chest. I missed Angie's happy chatter. With her and Sofia gone, the apartment felt empty somehow.

Should I read the letters anyways? No. That would only make it worse. More real.

My throat tightened. Was my apartment always this small, or were the walls shrinking, closing in on me—

I jumped to my feet. I had to do something—anything—to get out of my head.

Moving on autopilot, I changed, grabbed my running shoes, and headed out. Twenty minutes later, I jogged along a narrow path that snaked through Forest Park. The air was rich with the scent of rain and damp leaves. Small green buds adorned the trees, carrying the promise of spring.

It wasn't until my muscles started to ache and my head grew numb that I slowed to a walk, catching my breath. I knew I was pushing myself too hard, but I didn't care. For once, my mind was blissfully empty.

As the light faded, the colors of the forest blended into a murky gray. The sun had long since dipped behind the horizon, and the air grew colder by the second. A few rustles and the hoot of an owl were the only sounds. I picked up my pace. It was definitely time to go home.

Flickers of light peaked through the darkening undergrowth. A clearing opened up ahead. The lamps along the winding trails cast a faint yellow glow among the grass.

A crunch followed by a low squeak made me stop dead in my tracks. I spun around. The path, now shrouded in the swirling shadows of nearby trees, seemed to darken even further.

Cold sweat ran down my back. Was somebody there?

I tried to peer through the thickening darkness. A small movement caught my attention. If I squinted my eyes hard then...it looked like a person stood on the edge of the trail I'd come from. Or an oddly shaped tree.

My neck prickled. Yep, time to head home.

I fell back into a run trying to ignore the feeling of someone chasing me. A glance over my shoulder every now and then confirmed that I was getting paranoid. There was nobody there.

Finally, large apartment complexes rose up in front of me. The quiet hum of streetlights illuminated the sidewalks. Not a single person was in sight. I leaned against a lamp post, wheezing. On second thought, I should ask Suz to come with me next time.

I glanced back and sucked in a breath.

A person lingered on the outskirts of the park, partly hidden in the shade of a large willow tree. They hadn't been there a minute ago. I'd just passed that tree.

I waited for them to move, to keep going, but the person stood still as a statue, staring at me.

Pictures of letters, written threats, and dark corridors flashed through my mind. This was weird. I edged backward before I whirled around and bolted down the street. A familiar street sign caught my eye. Killian's apartment was close by. Should I really bother him? Because I was scared of some random stranger? It wasn't like he did anything. He just stared.