Haunted by the Past (Original)

Chapter 10

In the end we didn't leave for the supermarket for another three hours. Eli spent that time trying all he could to capture even a partial to identify my stalker with, but there wasn't a single shot on camera that could be used to identify him. All we knew was my stalker definitely didn't follow me past Penn Station. They went upstairs and disappeared into the streets of New York City, which I thought was strange for someone hell bent on kidnapping me. Did he really expect me to go home any time soon?

To say Eli was pissed would be an understatement. He said absolutely nothing, but rage was written all over his face. He truly thought he had him. However, I wasn't sure what he was angry about more - the fact that he couldn't identify the Triple-6 or he wasn't the dominant one in his playing field.

Before going out though, he showered and shaved, which was a surprise to me. He claimed he cleaned up to be less suspicious, but I couldn't help but feel it was an attempt to look his best for me on our first, very romantic outing to the, wait for it, ALDI. While doing him some good, showering unfortunately did not wash away his exhaustion or malnourishment. Being a thorn in his side would have to include getting him some sleep and proper nutrients. Until then, he looked like a dead man walking.

Once he was ready, Eli led me through the building to the garage where there was indeed a car with a dusty sheet draped over it, which explained why I didn't notice it before. It looked like the car hadn't been driven for some time. He removed the sheet in one swift movement and revealed his old black Civic hatchback, the same one he used to drive six years ago. Strangely I felt disappointed that it wasn't something more impressive than his old Civic, but he did love the car so I shouldn't have expected anything more. Getting into the passenger side felt very nostalgic, almost exactly as a I remember it, only with more mess in the back. While I marveled at the interior, Eli drove off, closing the garage door behind us using an app on his phone.

The ride to the ALDI was uneventful as I quickly lost myself to my thoughts. I replayed every conversation I had with Gabe in my head from the very first time we met in the hall, to me spilling the beans on my past, to him telling me about his history. How much of what he said was real? Was he even gay or was that a lie to get me to lower my guard around him? I felt like such an idiot thinking anything in my life could be normal; I wanted to bury my head in the sand. By the time Eli pulled up to the ALDI I had resigned myself to living as a hermit in the future, fulfilling my destiny to become the village's crazy old lady. To top it off, I'd need to adopt some cats.

Before exiting the car, we both pulled up our hoods. I glanced at Eli and had to swallow a laugh because with his face mask he looked like he was about to rob the place and somehow that was meant to be less suspicious.

"Could you at least smile at people?" I teased.

He ignored me.

Walking into the ALDI the first thing that caught my eye was the fruit and vegetable section. In the face of eating boxed cereal and instant noodles for an eternity, the sight of mass produce was simply heavenly. I picked up an apple and sniffed it. It had absolutely no smell and was probably just as tasteless, but that was besides the point.

"Look! An ap-ple!" I exclaimed. "I hear people would eat these to get all sorts of nutrition out of them! Can you imagine?"

Eli glared at me. He didn't think it was funny.

Cleaning supplies were at the top of the list. I wasn't going to live the last days of my life amongst hordes of countless E. Coli variants. Next, basic cooking supplies because I would get Eli to eat a proper meal again if it was the last thing I did. Then I proceeded to fill the cart with food not entirely made of starch. Eli stared in amazement.