Violet Nights

Chapter 15

Thursday, 6:32pm--

With another day of high school past him, Keith was utterly drained of any energy he had gained that morning before he left. His car broke down for the first time on his way home so he had to call someone to come pick it up for him while he walked all the way home. Damn, was it freezing cold. It got dark fairly quickly now and the breeze of nighttime air was bittersweet and brisk, blowing his long, black hair around slightly. It brushed against his face as he walked the slightly narrow sidewalk. It was only this day that he realized how far his apartment complex really was from the school. Even from the gas station, it was still a pretty long walk, especially for a boy who barely knew the definition of physical education. 

7:00pm--

Keith glanced at his phone right as it hit 7:00 on the dot. He sighed and kept walking, feeling his legs become a little tired. He hesitated before keeping his pace. But he stopped again when he thought he heard another pair of feet behind him. Was someone following him? Or was he just being paranoid? He decided not to look and kept walking. He had a knife in his pocket. Even if someone /was/ following him, he had means of self defense. 

7:15pm--

No matter how many times Keith stopped to check for footsteps, he kept hearing them. He tried being optimistic and mistook them for toads croaking in the rain tunnels. He had been looking ahead the whole time. The one time he looked down, he thought he saw the shadow of another person and quickly turned around to see--

nothing but a street light casting the shadow of a trash can. 

Keith sighed and turned around again. He was slightly more paranoid when the crickets stopped singing and all of the night time frogs went silent. He stopped and listened to make sure that he wasn't going insane. The silence was bugging him to death. Every so often there would be the call of an owl or the rustle of raccoons fighting in the bushes. But other than that, there was silence.

7:30pm--

Keith knew he had to be nearing his complex when he saw the familiar sign in the distance. He sighed in relief and began walking a bit faster. Sure enough, another pair of feet were scattering behind him. He knew for sure now that he was definitely being followed. His mind hit the panic button as his legs began carrying him as fast as they could across the rough concrete. He passed the sign, making it look more like a blur in his eyes. He didn't dare look back as he could hear the steps getting closer. He sped up, his calves burning and stinging, trying to yell at him to tell him to take a break. But his mind screamed back at them to keep going because he was in danger. His heart pounded faster and faster with every step he took. He almost swore that he had a couple of mini heart attacks of stress while he was running. 

He raced up the second floor of his apartment complex and fiddled with the keys in his hands. For some reason, his hands didn't want to behave like hands at the moment and grew clumsy and damp with sweat. He could hear the familiar tapping of feet riding the staircase and frantically glanced behind him and back at his keys. He finally got the key in the hole and unlocked the door, pushing it open and slamming it shut again, locking all of the three locks on it and sinking down to the floor in relief. He thought of calling the front desk to tell them to call the police, but he was so out of breath that he decided against it. He would call them in the morning. There was no way whoever that was that was chasing him could get in the apartment.