The Soul Devourer

IV:

Three days had passed since the fire incident, three days since I had last seen Xavier. His appearances made no sense, unless he was the one causing the harm befalling me. Which also was highly improbable. I had never seen him before, why would he harm me? But more importantly, why would he save me? Again and again? Risking his life in the process?

After he gave me my phone back, I had stayed awake the entire night, thoughts churning like clockwork in my mind. I had assumed he had hacked into my phone to get my address but the passcode had been intact. It didn't look hacked, though I wasn't sure I would know the difference.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as there was a knock on my bedroom door. Sarah poked her head in, and scanned the state of my room. I was lying on my bed, books strewn about and a pile of clothes discarded on the study chair.

She sat on the edge of the bed, sighing. "It's been three days since you've gone out. The incident must have been traumatizing... do you want to talk about it? Is that why you are holed up in your room?"

I considered explaining my situation, the strange boy, the fate I kept escaping-barely. Instead, I shook my head. "No, I'm just a bit unwell. Have a headache."

She shot me a smile, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, then how about we go to the ice cream parlor?"

She knew ice cream was a weakness of mine, and she was just trying to cheer me up so I stood up, grabbing a shirt from my closet. I locked myself in the bathroom, changing into navy blue jeans and a loose, black full sleeved shirt. I tied my hair into a braid and got out, where Sarah was tapping away on her phone. "I asked Ann and Sabrina to come. You don't mind, do you? I think Annie's become fascinated with you since you saved those people."

I chuckled, walking out the door with Sarah following behind me. "No, I like them. They're nice." I replied.

As I slid into the passenger seat in Sarah's car, my phone vibrated, alerting me to a new message. It was from an unknown number and only a single word flashed in bold on the screen: CAREFUL.

I gulped, and considered typing a response before thinking the better of it and locking my phone. I'm always careful, no?

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I certainly wasn't careful with the amount of ice cream I ate, listening to Sabrina and Sarah argue over the best flavor. I noticed the parlor emptying, and watched a crowd gather outside. "What's happening?", Sabrina called out to the cashier.

His eyes kept darting to the backdoor of the building, his lips trembling. "W-we've closed e-early for today. You should l-leave now. So-sorry.", he stammered out.

I felt a shiver run down my spine, at how pale the cashier's face was. He looked terrified. The rest of the group was equally creeped out, and Sarah snatched her handbag from the seat next to hers and started walking towards the door. As we all started to pile out, the cashier called to me. "Ma'am, I need you to f-fill this card ple-please. To let us know how our service is. It will only take a mo-moment."

Sabrina and Sarah were already out, walking towards her parked car. Annie stopped beside me, "Go, I'll wait for you."

A janitor with a cap hung low over his head opened the door for her. "Ma'am, with all due respect, can you wait for your friend outside? I really need to clean. We have some guests arriving here shortly. They're going to publish a newspaper on us, so we're really terrified of losing our jobs." He said smoothly, raising his steel grey eyes to Annie's. He was young, hardly over twenty.

Annie looked at me for confirmation and I nodded at her before making my way to the cashier. The bell above the door jingled as it shut behind her. I reached him and saw that he was visibly trembling, small whimpers escaping his mouth. That's when I realized, he wasn't terrified for his job, but for his life.