A Trip Down Memory Lane

Chapter Four: Knight in the Dark

Libraries are not really my thing. But I admit I enjoyed my first moments in the school's library.

It's almost 7:30 in evening and I just arrived in the nearest bus stop in Cherry Hills. But as soon as I got off the bus, I noticed that my way home was too dark! Damn, streetlights here were not fully maintained. Working streetlights are from away from each other. Some of it are blinking rapidly, just like in some horror movies.

The ambience is too creepy thanks to the weird noises I heard from those "night insects" and dogs. Moments later, I decided to test my courage.

Slowly but surely, I am making progress. This is better than standing there waiting for nobody. My heart is beating fast and I am sweating a lot. I tried to visualize this as one of the "settings" in a horror film where I starred. But... this is the real deal. I am all alone.

Unfortunately, there's a stray dog behind me, ready to kill. Its eyes were locked on me and it was barking non-stop.

I don't know what to do. Automatically, I ran as fast as I could away from the dog. But I have no match to its speed and any moment it can strike me down.

Luckily, I saw a guy and called him for help. Due to the excess adrenaline rush, I hit him hard to the ground that made his' handheld belongings scattered to the ground.

He looked pissed the moment he saw me. Surprisingly, he grabbed me to his back and I saw the dog in front of us.

"Don't. Move." He whispered to me. "Avoid eye contact."

The dog is still there, growling. "Shoo!" the guy shouted with a deep tone. He then grabbed his empty water bottle and threw it in the different direction trying to distract the dog, but it completely ignored it.

After a few seconds, the dog sprung at us. The guy threw me away and he barely dodged it. The dog jumped again towards him and he quickly grabbed something to his pocket, sprayed something that stunned the dog momentarily and ran away.

"Are you okay?" he asked to me.

"Ah. Yes... Thank you." I'm still shaking to what happened. What if I do not meet this guy. What will happen to me?

"You should not walk alone here at night. It's very dangerous. As much as possible have some company with you."

"Okay.. I'm very sorry." And I helped him get his belongings on the ground.

"It's okay. Are you sure you're okay? I'll walk you home."

"Woah no. I'm okay. I already caused trouble to you. I'll be fine now."

"Ohh.. Okay. If you say so. ... I'll go to this direction", he pointed to the right. "Be careful, okay?"

"Yes. Thank you very much."

Finally, I reached home. Aunt Susan was worried about me and I explained what happened especially that horrific moment.

As soon as I got in bed, I still remember that moment and I realized that I don't ask his name. Well.. if he lives here beyond the neighbourhood, there's a high chance that we will meet again.

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The next day, I arrived in the room early. As much as possible, I don't want to be late for my class. I also want to take this as a chance to know my classmates better.

I was talking to some of my girl classmates when a familiar figure entered the room. He looks so familiar, but I don't know how when I saw him. He sat on the seat that's right next to me.