Torn

II

Chapter Song: Easier than Lying - Halsey

Nina

With my eyes closed I waited for the impact that never hit. Instead, a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me onto the sidewalk, catching me in a tight hug. It was Emma.

She pulled away and grabbed my face. "What were you thinking? Are you okay? You could have died!" She asked, out of breath. Her eyes, full of worry and with a glimpse of disappointment, pierced through my soul.

No, no, no! She probably saw the whole thing so now she knew; she knew how much I wanted to disappear and how far I was willing to go. There was nowhere to hide, now the question was what she would do.

"I'm sorry, I don't- I was walking, and I felt- I thought..." Still in shock, I couldn't think of any good excuses.

She took my hand. "It's okay, let's go to the station so you can calm down." I nodded.

I had a bit of time to come up with something believable, I didn't want her questions to catch me by surprise and make everything worse. The best thing I could do was put some distance and get away as soon as possible.

"Here." She handed me a glass of water once we were at her desk.

"Thanks."

"How are you feeling?" She seemed nervous; I couldn't understand why. "Is there something I can-"

"I'm fine, don't worry." I said quickly. "I'll be more careful."

The sad look on her face when I cut her off made me regret acting this away. But I was just trying to protect myself, she'd seen enough already. She understood and went straight to filling the report.

"Okay, all done. I'll let you know when we find anything relevant."

"Thanks." I got ready to leave.

"No problem, so guess I'll see you around?" I wonder if she knew that she looked like a puppy in a shelter when she asked.

"Guess I'll see you around." Seriously? Hadn't we made up our mind?

"Nina, wait."

"Yeah?"

"Just be careful, okay?" I couldn't understand at the time why she cared so much when we barely knew each other. It was hard to keep the distant act together.

I was about to answer when another cop rushed in. "Emma, can you help me with-" We both stared at her. "Sorry, I didn't know you were still busy." Her eyes turned to me, and she looked me up and down unimpressed. "You're the victim from the stalker case, aren't you?"

A stalker huh? Deep down I knew it already, there was no other reason for someone to go through all that trouble other than a sick obsession. But I didn't want anyone to confirm it out loud.

"Haley!" Again, that overly worried look. In contrast, the other cop looked quite proud of her tactless comment. "Nina I'm sorry, It's still too early to-"

"It's okay, it's pretty obvious that man's a stalker, isn't it?"

"It's too early to be sure."

"Don't do that Emma, it's really cruel to get her hopes up like that." She looked at me again, with sharp eyes like a predator. "Better to know what's coming your way, don't you think?"

This attitude was unexpected, more so after being wrapped in Emma's kind care. Lucky for me, this was the cutthroat demeanour I knew how to deal with.

"I do. Thanks for the heads up, let me give some advice in return. Next time you're trying to taunt someone be smarter with it; that way you might get the reaction you're expecting."