The Owl

Arrival

Most of the plane ride was in silence, between the crunching of potato chip bags and the binging of someone clicking the light for the flight attenders. The stranger was asleep beside me his position barley changed but when he did move his hair fell into his face which he quickly brushed away from his nose. For a few hours I fell in and out of sleep catching bits and pieces of sleep but not much, I knew I was going to have bags under my eyes.

The bumps of the turbulence when landing woke me up for the last time, I looked over to see a flight attendant moving quickly down the aisle, her blond bob and clack of heels came to a stop at the front of the coach hull as she picked up the voice over phone and dialed in a few numbers. Her voice puffed over the intercom when she spoke, "We have arrived in Fortworth Georgia, it's a lovely 78 degrees out, so no jackets required," she flashed a dainty smile. "I hope you have enjoyed your flight, please unfasten your seatbelt, collect your luggage, and have a nice day." with that she hung up the phone and stepped to the side as people got up and moved to get their belongings.

The stranger was already up at his time and I don't know who looked more tired, him or me. "Well that was a good nap," he yawned as he stretched out his arms above his head, his white mussels stretching the white V-neck that hugged his chest. Don't be awkward, I thought to myself. "Um excuse me," he through a sleepy smile my way and my chest tightened, why was I feeling this way? "Yes?" he said as he stood up and so did I.

"I never got your name," he stood in front of the first seat and unlocked his overhead. "David Archer" with that he pulled out his carry on and mine too. "Here you go," I grabbed the handle of my black bag and smiled at him. As we made our way off of the plane I could help the feeling of being watched, sure in a crowd of people coming off of a recently full plane maybe I was being glanced at, but I couldn't shake this feeling of eyes boring into the back of my skull. Every time I turned around there was no one in particular who would give me that feeling.

Beside me the stranger that I now knew as David was making long strides to the baggage cart to collect the rest of his things. He was tall, about 5'9 or 6'0 feet. He looked as if he was gliding across the marble floor weaving his way through the crowd of people, his dark eyes sweeping back and forth over the plaza. Once and a while he would look back at me to see if I was still there, and I was with my black suite case in tow. Why was I following him? I had to meet my dad at the entrance didn't I? I stopped to pull out my phone David stopped about a yard in front of me but didn't turn around. I tapped on the screen to call my dad and a raspy voice answered after three rings "Hello?"

"Hi dad, it's Mel" there was a short pause "Hey Mel what sup" what did he mean what sup? "Um I'm in Georgia at the airport, I just got off the plane. Where are you?" there was a longer pause. "What are you doing here?" "Mom sent me she told me that you sent for me, that you guys talked about it last night, she bought me a ticket and now I'm here...didn't you know that?" I looked up to see if David was still there and he wasn't, guess he got the message and went about his way. "Oh, sorry Mel I just woke up. I forgot you were coming today, my bad. Um I'll be there shortly." "No dad it's okay I'll just get a taxi no big deal. What's the address?" As he gave me the address and I put it into the notes on my iPhone I go that burning sensation in the back of my neck again. When I hung up and spun around David was there propped up on my bag waiting. "Oh shit," I took in a deep breath and covered my chest "Did I scare you?" he chuckled deep making me blush. "Kinda yeah, do you always follow girls from the airport to just scare the crap out of?" my voice rising, he was staring to piss me off why wouldn't he just go away already? "No I usually don't fly, not around this time anyway." his eyes glimmered with an underlined meaning I didn't understand. "What is that even supposed to mean? What do you want anyway?" I added rudeness to my voice hoping he would get the message and back off.

"Let me give you a ride home, I overheard you talking to your dad sorry for ease dropping but I wouldn't like leaving you out here by yourself in a town you don't know." He grabbed my suit case and dragged it behind him not even waiting for my answer "Wait! I'm getting a taxi, and I don't take rides from strangers." I smirked and crossed my arms across my chest, stopping a turning with that rueful smile playing on his lips "Everyone is a stranger to you here Mel, and you don't know how strange it really gets in FortWorth." With that he turned and glided towards the double doors. I followed of course, this guy didn't get a hint.

He walked out to a black 2016 Nissan already loaded with his own bags in the back seat. "I never agreed to getting into a car with you, you can't just-David?" he was looking pass me into to the plaza with a look that could kill. His eyes a solid black all the way and peering from underneath his lashes. Suddenly I got that burning sensation again, this time stronger on the back of my neck and vibrating my skull. I managed to look up behind me a black figure was standing in front of the doors like a floating black cloak that was casting a dark glow around it. I tried to scream but as soon as I blinked it was gone I looked back at David terrified, "GET. IN. THE. CAR. NOW" He forced his voice out between clenched teeth. I quickly scrambled to get into the front seat beside me there was a click of a seat belt. "Where the fuck did you come from, and what the hell was that!" he didn't even look at me he threw the car into reverse and drove back up through the gates of the airport.

"You passed out, you're seeing things. Just take deep breaths -" "I DID NOT PASS OUT" I stressed from my seat "I saw something and so did you and you're not going to sit there and tell me that I didn't." He pursed his lips while rubbing his chin. "Your right, you did see something let's talk about it later." I huffed but he threw me a look that was saying that was the end of the conversation. I looked ahead in silence for the rest of the ride... Until I realized...I never told him my address...