When Darkness Falls

F O U R

I woke up the next morning to a thunderstorm. The thunder was so loud that it woke me up. I checked the time to see that it was almost eight and I wanted to cry. I never wake up this early.

I drug myself out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. I took a quick shower to wash myself and stepped out when I became a little more alive.

I dressed into a pair of jeans and a fitted crop top that showed off my midriff. I left my hair down but decided to straighten it since I had nothing better to do.

"Ana?" I heard from behind my bedroom door. Aunt Shelley knocked a few times and then opened the door.

I turned to look at her from the bathroom. I sprayed some hairspray into my hair to keep its form. The humidity or rain would definitely ruin it eventually.

"I need to go into town. You wanna come with?" She asked.

"Yeah. I need to shop for summer clothes. Maybe put in a few applications for a job." I explained. She smiled at me.

"I'll be in the car then." She spoke and disappeared. I clipped a silver locket around my neck. I fit my parents into it so I could have them with me everywhere I go. I spritzed a few squirts of perfume and tied my converse. I ran down the steps and out the front door. Aunt Shelley sat in the running car and I quickly ran into the rain, covering my head with a jacket that I had thrown over me.

I sighed as I sat inside the car and threw the jacket in the backseat. She pulled out of the driveway and down the street, towards the town.

Aunt Shelley walked into the grocery store and I walked towards the end of the plaza to a clothing store. A bell jingled as I stepped inside the store. It seemed to be empty. There was a younger girl behind the counter. She seemed to be my age or younger and she had a fake smile apparent on her face. There were a few women scattered as they searched the clothing racks. Some pop song played throughout the store.

I walked towards a table that had stacks of shorts. I picked a few high waisted ones and a few regular ones.

I held them on my arm as I found a few shirts that I liked.

"Can I help you with anything?" I turned to find the teenager from behind the counter, behind me. Her fake smile was bigger than ever. She blinked a few times as she awaited my answered.

"I'm good. Thanks." I said as I turned back to what I was looking at.

"I've never seen you around here before. Are you new?" She wondered. I sighed to myself and turned back to her.

"Yeah. I just moved here." I said.

"Do you go to Lexington high?" She asked.

She was just full of questions, wasn't she?

"Uh no. I graduated not too long ago from a high school in New York." I explained to her. She nodded and whipped her blonde hair behind her shoulder.

"Oh well that's nice. Maybe we could hang out sometime.." She trailed off.

I smiled." Yeah. Maybe."

She seemed friendly and it was nice that she wanted to be friends with someone she didn't even know.

I paid for my clothes and headed next door to a diner that was small and quaint. It was definitely old fashioned.

I stepped into the cool air with my bag of clothes in hand and smiled as I stopped in front of the hostess." How may I help you?" She asked politely.

"Could I speak to your manager today?" I wondered. She nodded and led me to the back counter.

"Mel!" She yelled out. After a few minutes of waiting, an older woman walked closer. She was about sixty years old with grey hair and matching grey eyes.

"How may I help you, honey?" She asked.

"Do you think I could put in an application? Or-" she quickly cut me off.

"Do you have any experience with work?" She questioned and I shook my head.

"Are you good with people?" She asked and I nodded." I used to babysit" I said. I didn't really know if that counted.

She smiled." I see potential in you. Let's have you start Wednesday."

I laughed nervously." Thank you so much." She disappeared and retuned five minutes later with a black t-shirt. It had the diners logo on it and I stuffed it into my shopping bag.

I shook her hand and we said our goodbyes.

I walked outside feeling excited. Aunt Shelley stood outside of the grocery store. I skipped over to her. The rain seemed to have stopped.

"Are you finished?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. I'm starving." I spoke. She laughed.

"Let's go down the road to a really nice restaurant. It's my favorite." She exclaimed.

We hopped into her car and she drove down the road towards a lonely standing restaurant. It was fairly large. It looked nice.

We got inside and it was empty. There was a couple in a corner booth but that was it. We seated ourselves in a booth next to a window.

"Ready to eat?" Aunt Shelley asked. I nodded and grabbed the menu from the table.

*   *   *

I quickly jumped out of bed. Sweat poured off of me and I breathed out heavily as I tried catching my breath. My hair stuck to me and I quickly brushed it off of me. I must've had a nightmare. I couldn't remember it clearly though.

I looked around my room and stopped when my blood turned cold. In the corner of my room I spotted a pair of deep red eyes peering at me. I felt my heart pound in my chest. I quickly turned to switch on my bedside lamp but when I turned back, I found that I was alone.

I got out of bed and found my bedroom window wide open. I looked out of it but nothing was there. I shut it and locked it.

Maybe I'm just imagining things.

I headed down the stairs and grabbed a glass to fill it with some cold juice from the fridge. I gulped it down and leaned against the counter as I stared out of the window. It showed the front porch and the road. It was dark and empty.

I squinted my eyes. It seemed as if something was in the road. Something looked as if it needed help.

I pulled on my UGGs that I wore around the house. They matched perfectly with my boy shorts that didn't show underneath my oversized t-shirt that laid mid-thigh. I looked like a mess.

I opened the front door and stepped outside. It was quiet except for the bugs that chirped during the night.

I walked closer to the road and tried to get a closer look at what was lying in the middle of the road.

I looked down both sides of the road and then bent down to the injured animal. It was a small deer. It looked scared and I felt terrible.

I couldn't do anything to help it. It was bleeding pretty badly and I knew it would die soon. It looked as if some kind of animal attacked it.

I stood up and gasped when headlights came straight for me. I closed my eyes waiting impact. I felt something grab my body and I was thrown through the air with it.

I slowly opened my eyes. I looked up to see a body wrapped around me. Their breathing was heavy. I looked up to see a pair of caramel eyes.

"Justin?" I said breathlessly.

[a/n: hey so second update for the day(: writing this at 2am...sweg....anyways see you soon.
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xoxo- K Y L I E     ]