ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜰᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ ᴡʜᴇɴ [ᴇɴ- ᴘᴏʟʏ]

Chapter 4

"You got me scattered in pieces.

Shining like satrs and screaming.

Lighting me up like Venus.

But then you disappear and make me wait."

The bus jerked to a stop, and most of the people standing jerked alpng with it. A few toppled over, being helped up by the rest.

The driver started screaming at the person who apparently had jumped in front of the bus. I was prepared to have that person yell back in anger. So I was surprised when the bus went on its way in a few seconds.

Strange. I thought.

I looked out of the window and saw a man crossing over to the side. He had a black cap and a black mask on. Walking in a hurry. I shrugged it off and went back to listening to my music.

I sang along to Heart wants what it wants and enjoyed the scenery. Which, of course, consisted only of traffic and huge buildings. Within a few minutes, I got down, smiled wide, seeing my favorite place. The bookstore.

I jogged in and was immediately greeted with the pleasant new arrivals of stationary, house décor and a huge glass case of confectionary. I hummed to the tune of Blossom by enhypen and walked upstairs to the book section. I absolutely loved the smell of books. Thinking about how I once had my nose stuffed in Tanmai's new book, I went to the young adult section to browse through the latest arrivals. My excitement was skyrocketing with each hot collection that I passed.

I spent the next half an hour browsing and reading through my favorite series. But then I noticed the same guy from before in front of the store through the huge glass wall. He was just standing there looking around. I brushed it off, thinking he was looking for someone. But then, after a few moments, two men came up to him. And they did not look like friends at all. The black mask guy had a black hoodie and black jeans on. The other two had old shirts buttoned only halfway up with faces that would make me walk the other way if I was alone in front of them. I slowly closed the book in my hand and placed it back on the shelf. I could not read the expression on the guy's face due to his mask and cap. Even though I did not know them, something was off about the situation down there. Now I knew I should not be nosy this way but as soon as I saw the black mask take a few steps back and the other two to the front, by body moved on it's own and within a few seconds I was rushing downstairs pushing past people in my way. Some of them were annoyed, and some of them were paying no mind. When I got outside, I could see no one. They were gone.

*******************************************

He was really afraid. He did not know what these two people were saying, and he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He was now walking down the road trying to get away, but they were right behind him. Saying something he did not understand. If he turned around to speak to them, he'll draw more attention than he was right now. Because the people around were already turning back to see the commotion. And among these people, what if someone recognized him? He pushed that thought out of his mind and concentrated on losing them in the crowd.

Just when he thought they were gone, he felt someone pull on his hoodie. He jerked back and saw one of those men holding his hood. Shit. He cursed to himself. When he was about to get angry at them for assaulting him, he heard another voice.

"Hey dude, I was looking for you!"

The three, including a few bystanders, turned to the source of the voice. A girl with short hair and glasses, dressed in a graphic tee and jeans jogging to them. She straight up stood a few feet beside him and spoke to the men in some other language while trying to be subtle with her glare directed towards them. After a brief exchange of words, the men left them alone. She looked at the larger crowd of bystanders for a few seconds and then muttered something.

Then, all of a sudden, she looked at him with a huge smile.

"Let's go. We've already wasted enough time." Saying this, she walked in the opposite direction. And walked behind her in almost a robotic manner. Praying to God with his everything to let this be over soon.