I reached over and plucked my phone from the nightstand. I needed to see what time it was because I had to get to work by four at the latest. If I got out of bed now I'd only be a couple of minutes late. So I rolled out of bed, stretched, and shimmied on some clothes that smelled only a little like old pizza.
The place I work at is, Used Before Books. It's a little shop that sells, well, used before books. I'd like it if they could pay just a little more, but they do sell secondhand books and not a lot of people in this small non-touristy town like books. Let alone the used-before kind. So, I'm stuck with pizza dinners pretty much every night. The only nights I don't eat pizza, I'm out with Leo, my girlfriend, at the nearest fast food restaurant because she, too, works at Used Before Books.
I'm walking to U.B.B. and I feel like I'm being watched. I turn my head slightly to the right and see only the people walking by. I pass it off as my crazy imagination. I keep walking and the feeling doesn't go away, it only gets stronger. I turn around quickly and scan everybody as fast as possible. The only thing that seems suspicious is this man in a dark gray hoodie facing the opposite direction. He looks like he just turned around and started lighting a cigarette; his back facing the light breeze.
I turn back around and decide to jog the rest of the way to work. Now it feels as if someone is chasing me. I can hear them on my footsteps, breathing heavily. I turn down a side alley to wait for them to pass, but nothing comes. I step tentatively out and start back towards U.B.B.
When I reach the store-front my phone says 4:30. Only thirty minutes late. I guess with all the stopping it wasted quite a bit of time. As I step inside, the little bell above the door chimes my arrival and Leo steps out from one of the small aisles. She gives me a nod and goes back behind the wall of books. I decide she doesn't care that I'm late, so I go behind the counter to put my apron on and see if anyone has bought a book. As I pull up a stool to the cash register and push one of the ancient keys, these black snakes start spilling out of the money drawer. I swallow a gasp and jerk back. My hand shaking. My eyes wild and looking around, but when I search for what it was, I see nothing but an empty cash register.
I take a second to collect myself, trying to calm my shaking hands. I didn't see snakes coming out of a cash register and I didn't feel a man chasing me down a road. I don't know what's happening to me, but I know I don't like it.
The rest of my work day went along okay. I talked to Leo and saw strange bug creatures. Went on break and felt the eyes of birds follow me down the street. Saw people come into the store that weren't really there and had a long conversation with Leo about how I'm not crazy.
When I finally got to go home I was followed by the gray hooded man and his little rodent henchmen. At every other block I stopped and looked around trying to see if anyone else could see the things I could see. Of corse the few people who were on the street were silently minding there own business. So, I did the same and started back towards my home.
When I get to my small apartment on the east side of town, I drop my keys on the side table and lock the door. When I get to the living room all the windows are cracked and a light breeze blows throughout the room. This for some reason unsettles me and I quickly shut the windows and close the blinds, making the room dark. I leave it this way and head to the kitchen to make myself a small snack. I get out a few slices of bread, the jar of peanut butter that is probably way past its expiration date, and a knife that might be clean. I spread the peanut butter on the bread and make a sandwich. I grab a Coke from the fridge and head for my room. When I get to my door I nudge it open with my foot and head towards my desk chair. I drop into it and take a huge bite of my sandwich. I open my Coke, take a sip, and lean back in the chair.
Right when I'm relaxing and no evil monsters are creeping into my thoughts, I hear a loud knocking. I startle as I sit up, nearly spilling my Coke everywhere. I set my half eaten sandwich and my Coke on the desk and stand up. The sound is getting louder and I hear something calling my name. I start going toward my living room, the heart of this tiny place. The knock, louder still, sounds as if it's coming from everywhere. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, it might even be coming from inside me. I head to the kitchen and grab the biggest knife I own. It's the only way I can think of to protect myself. The knocking must be coming from somewhere. I check the windows, but it isn't from there. The only other possible place is the front door. I start toward it, the 'thump thump' guiding my feet. As I unlock the door I raise the knife to gaurd myself. When I swing the door open I thrust the knife out, projecting myself with all of my weight. When I see who it is I am glad I did it. Hunched over the blade is a limp figure in a gray hoodie. It isn't until the figure falls to the ground that I see the face. Right there in a pool of red is my Leonora.
My eyes jerk open as I wake up. If I knew I would have dreamt about that I wouldn't have fallen asleep. The image of Leo's pale face looking at me. It's too much to think of. Her hand as it reached for me. My hands covered in blood. Her blood. Maybe it was telling me something. Maybe I need to see someone for these crazy dreams. Maybe I need to spend more time with my boyfriend. Maybe I should look for the man in the gray hoodie. Maybe I really am going crazy. Maybe I already was.
