MALUM

Chapter 8

Slowing down to a slow jog and eventually stopping to look behind him, Kyle stood on the sidewalk in front of his apartment building. He was almost shaking from the adrenaline and pure fear that had been pumping through his veins. Looking forward again, he was met with a familiar face that he had seen before in his building. Ava stood before him, Looking at him like a madman for running like he was in the first place. Kyle didn't know Ava, nor had he ever spoken a single word to her, but the sight of her standing there was both a blessing and a curse to him. He often saw Ava when he took his sick mother out for her evening stroll. However, he didn't know where his mother was. Not that Ava would have asked him about it, but the guilty mind toyed with Kyle. He was creating all sorts of awful imaginary scenarios and events. I could ask her if she's seen her? I mean, what could hurt asking her? Kyle thought as he stood in place, trying to calm himself down. That was when Ava had broken the awkward silence.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a concerned expression—an expression that she wasn't too shy to show.
"Who? Me? Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. Just catching my breath." He said as he could hear his heart beating in his eardrums.
"Do you often go for a run wearing an army jacket like that?" Ava asked awkwardly. This hadn't even occurred to Kyle, who was still wearing the jacket the strange man had given him.
"It's, well, you know what? Nevermind. Yeah, I'm fine," Kyle said as he struggled and stammered to find his way out of the conversation. He wasn't keen on explaining what he had witnessed. He walked past Ava, almost as if she weren't there, until she responded.
"Oh, geez. I'm sorry if I said something wrong..." Ava said as she turned around to look at him. Kyle stopped dead in his tracks. Immediately, he felt even worse, almost as if he wanted to hurl. He turned around and faced Ava.
"you didn't say anything wrong. I'm just trying to find someone,"," he said vaguely.
"Jesus, you too?" Ava said, even more concerned.
"Why? You missing someone too?"
"God no. There was just a woman back there looking for her husband, that is all." Ava said.

Turning halfway around to glance behind where the older woman was sitting on the bench, Kyle saw nothing but the old, withered wood. The bench had been empty, and the woman was nowhere to be seen—almost as if she had vanished into thin air. This made Kyle puzzled and confused.

"You mean the old plank bench sitting there?" Kyle said jokingly, Making Ava lean to her left to look around Kyle. Sure enough, nothing had been there. She must have gotten up and left right as I walked off, Ava thought to herself as her face turned red in embarrassment. She felt like a mad woman who had just escaped the looney bin.
"She must have gone back inside. I swear she was just there," Ava said, almost laughing to herself. This made Kyle chuckle a bit.
"I think I know who you're talking about. I talked to her earlier." Kyle said with a smirk as he nodded his head.
"It seems like everyone is going mad in this city," Ava said jokingly, trying not to feel any more awkward than she already did.
"Seems so. Anyways, I need to get going." Kyle said.
"Wait, you never told me who you're looking for," Ava said sheepishly. He was making Kyle's heart drop into his stomach. He sighed and hung his head. There was no other option for him not to tell her.
"My mom... I think she got out of the apartment." Kyle said.

Immediately, alarm bells had gone off in Ava's brain like a broken alarm clock. The woman she had seen in her nightmare was the same older woman she had seen before with Kyle. A dream was just a dream, and Ava knew that all too well. But the irony seemed so off-putting to her that she couldn't even describe it or put it into words. The revelation hit her like a hurricane, almost putting Ava in a stupor as she heard him say it. With all of that being said, however, what would Ava be able to tell? What could she even say? "Yeah, I saw your mother last night in my nightmare"? The thought almost made Ava chuckle, sounding like a bad joke she would say in high school. But she genuinely was at a loss for words.

"That's awful. Do you know how long she's been gone for?" Ava said, managing to find the words in her brain.
"No. I don't even know where to look, to be honest." Kyle said as he hung his head in shame.
"Maybe we should call the police," Ava suggested. She was making Kyle look up almost immediately.
"She's very sick. I'm afraid to call. I can't lose my mom, and if I go to jail, then she's fucked." He said, tears starting to form in his eyes.
"If she's sick, though, won't it be better than something bad happening?" Ava asked.
"I know she's here. I can find her. If I don't find her in an hour, I'll call the police." Kyle lied. He regrets ever mentioning it to her in the first place. Ava stood in silence, unsure if he was telling the truth.
"That's okay if you say so. We can swap numbers if you want. That way, if I see her, I can call you," Ava suggested, worried he'd take it the wrong way.
"That's a great idea. My name's Kyle, by the way."
"Ava, nice to meet you," Ava said awkwardly, even more worried that he had taken the phone number exchange the wrong way. 

They both swapped phones and added each other's numbers and info before swapping back. Ava, being the awkward introvert that she was, wasn't sure of how to handle the situation. So she just followed Kyle's lead, which worked out surprisingly well. The exchange was pretty painless as once they had finished, they said their short farewells alongside Ava, reassuring Kyle that she would "call if she saw her." Little did they know that would be the last time either would lay eyes on Kyle's mother again. Ava continued her walk through the silent, snow-ridden streets as Kyle returned to his apartment. Unaware of the strange events that would happen later that night.