The Man

Chapter 6

"No please don't! I need her to stay!" Cried Hailey.

"You do not interact with the fully alive. Understood?"

She shook her head. "I will not let you do this to my daughter!" She protested, crossing her arms.

"Don't worry, your precious Jessica will be safe. Hailey, you are her mom. She wants to join you. Invite her over for supper." The man joked, teasing Jessica's mom.

The man vanished for a split second. He came back with a wide grin placed upon his face, and a chain in his hands. He placed a knot on the chain, tying it around a pole. He tied another knot around the chain and placed it around Haileys neck.

"This is your punishment for interacting with Jessica." The man said, placing a cloth around her face so she couldn't breathe or see.

*****

"Who can I trust?" Jessica whispered, going through a mental list of her friends and family, people she knew.

She decided she needed to tell somebody about the events occuring.

She was at a restaurant for her dinner. She had found her keys in her pocket and when she was done eating, she was going to go back to the gas station to get her car.

"No no no! I can't tell anybody! If I tell somebody then the man will for sure go after me! Plus nobody will believe me!" She looked up from her plate of food to see some people were staring at her.

Great no people think I'm crazy, she thought to herself.

A woman started to walk towards her. "I hope you don't work at a mental hospital, or you'll make me go there." She whispered to herself.

Once the woman approached her she held out her hand for Jessica to shake. Jessica politely shook it and introduced herself.

"My names Jessica, nice to meet you."

"Hello darlin'! My names Ana." She said, her accent southern accent showing slightly.

"Hi." Jessica replied.

"Have you mentioned something about a man chasing you?" She asked Jessica.

Jessica immediately shook her head. "No." She lied.

"Oh, my mistake!" The older woman corrected herself.

Ana turned and walked away.

"Wait!" Jessica called after her, making Ana turn around. "What if I was?"