Ability, Unleashing Power

Independent

Chapter 3 – Independent

Tomorrow. Eleven o'clock. Café Belle.

That's what he said, right?

It was the next morning and "Tomorrow" had become today. I stood pacing my room, thinking about what was about to happen and weighing up the consequences. I knew it was common sense that you don't run off with strangers who call you in the middle of the night, especially when you've just turned 16 but, I couldn't help to think that this was different.

11 o'clock. I mused to myself. This seems like an okay time to meet with someone. It's during the daytime and it's not like I'm meeting this person in an alleyway by the train tracks... Plus, Café Belle is in the centre of a really public space and nothing bad ever happens in this neighbourhood...

I stopped pacing and stood dead, in the center of my room. It soon became very clear to me and very apparent that this man – this person, knew where I lived.

Café Belle was a ten-minute walk from my house. It wasn't a chained restaurant – as far as I knew- and it was one I used to visit very often.

I frowned, flopping down on my bed and remembered how I still hadn't solved the mystery as to how the envelope containing my dad's picture, had appeared on my desk. How it had appeared in my house.

Everything wasn't adding up and it was too strange and too fishy to work out a reasonable explanation. But I knew I needed one.

Grabbing my hoodie and not thinking of the danger or how ridiculous what I was doing seemed, I jogged lightly down the stairs before realizing that Kathy was awake, due to the noise of the kettle bubbling in the kitchen and the sound of slippers echoing through the shut door. Crap.

"TJ is that you?" I heard her ask quietly from the kitchen. If she opened that door, there would be a lot of questions to answer.

Looks like it was only me who slept until 3 in the afternoon.

As quickly and quietly as I could, I slipped out of the front door -I'd deal with her wrath later – and trudged out of my drive, down the road.

I carried my backpack with me, with essentials like my phone, camera, a bottle of water and wallet in them. I also carried a pack of bubble gum in my jeans pocket, right beside my swiss army knife. For 'just in cases'.

I quickly neared the small town of my area, taking a short cut through the park.

It was then I felt eyes were on me.

I couldn't describe the feeling, but it was as if I knew someone was watching me and I started to consider whether this was actually a good idea.

Barely peering over my shoulder, I started to speed up my pace and grip on to the enclosed knife in my pocket. I now heard footsteps matching my speed and felt a shadow approaching behind. I broke into a slight run, trying to quieten my breath to hear the approaching footsteps behind and focusing only on the gate in the close distance that neared to the town. If I made it there ...I'd be safe. The soft conversations and heavy sounds of car engines coming from the other side of the gate were only a glimmer away. I was almost by the end of the park until right before my eyes I was overtaken by -

A woman, in sports gear, jogging.

Oh.

I wasn't being stalked or chased, I was just blocking a jogger's path.

I let out the breath I wasn't aware I was holding as she continued to jog, before I exited the park gate, taking a straight left towards the café.