SICKO

01|| The caged little bird.

DOVE

"Want to catch a ride with me?" My friend and co-worker, Sierra asks as we step out of the bar we work at.

I inhale the evening air, letting it cleanse me from the inside out. "You live in the opposite direction, remember?"

"I ain't forgot," She says, worry crosses her features and she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. "I just don't like the idea of you walking by yourself at night."

"Ive done it before, Si. Plus, Its not like I can just sleep in your dorm room."

She laughs with a shrug. "You could actually. Sometimes some of my friends do."

"Hookups dont classify as friends." I chuckle.

Another lift of her shoulders, "They can, Friends with benefits."

"I swear you have had more sex then I have ever thought about having."

"What can I say? The men and woman love momma."

A laugh slips past my lips. "Go on!" I nudge her playfully "I'll be okay, its not my first time walking home alone."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

"Wouldn't or couldn't?

"Both." I laugh "Id end up completley broke without this job."

She smiles at me, the expression shaky on her beautiful face. I give her a wink, and add an small wave of my fingers.

Then, I shove my hands into my jacket, grabbing onto the pepper spray I have in my left pocket and the small knife I have in the right pocket pouch. The feel of it in my palm gives me the courage to face the walk back to my place.

I lift my chin and square my shoulders. I tighten my grip on the canister and handle before heading in the direction of my apartment.

I sigh, the sound loud now that noises of downtown New York are beginning to die down. But my awareness of everything going on around me begins to increase. The buildings that tower over me cast shadows, the street lights dim against the dark of the night.

My instincts flare as I get closer to the bad neighborhood my apartment is located in. A flash of alarm spreads through my body but I don't stop walking. It takes every bit of self control I have to keep from running. I tighten my grip around the items in my pocket. My heart begins to race in my chest, I can hear the beating from it in my ear drums, my fear strikes again and an icy feeling fills my veins.

I feel as if they are a presence near, like I have felt so many times before. My defenses rise and the small baby hairs on my neck lifts as I fist my hands tighter around the items in my jacket that I have my hands wrapped around to the point it hurts to keep from lifting my hand to the area on my neck to rid the unwanted feeling.

I spin around, my gaze frantically zipping from one corner to the other, searching every shadow and dark place in the vicinity. Finding nothing and no one, I laugh and shake my head as I turn back around though no less scared or frantic. If anything, spotting some one or something, would lessen the tension I feel from the not knowing.