Lights Out

Chapter 1

Since the beginning of time, people have been following people. Some people do it for the sake of escaping their own life. Some people do it for the love of hunt. All in all, stalking someone can be satisfying, fun and sometimes.
If and when things get out of control, this simple act of stalking turns into crazy obsession. The person being stalked can suffer psychologically from the traumatic experiences. Some are unfortunate enough to endure PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.

Tara Khanna was a moderately famous actress with beautiful hazel eyes, long jet black luscious hair, and a toned body. Due to her work and determination, she managed to prove herself as a strong individual. She was also a role model to many women who strove to be independent and strong like her. She was an extremely carefree twenty-two year old girl, with goals and ambitions. She was infinitely lucky to have the love and support of her friends and family, no matter what she did.

It was one of her normal nights. At eleven o’clock, Tara was leaving her gym to go home and retire for the day. Being thrifty and health conscious, she decided walk back to her apartment. For some reason, Tara felt a strange feeling settle over her. It was a chilling night. She would turn and look around at every corner. Being an actor, Tara was used to people following her, but there was something strange about that night. She could feel a pair of eyes on her from the second the she left her gym. Despite numerous efforts she could not spot any physical presence. What was normally a fifteen minute walk, would feel like an hour.
Just as she was on the threshold of her building, the dark outline of a slender woman caught her eye in the dimly lit street. She didn’t dare hide herself standing under the street light, face right at her. It was hard to make out her facial features from what seemed like scars and a couple stitches along her eye. A chill ran up her spine, her mouth dried up and her heartbeat increased tremendously.
It was as if the eyes of the anonymous female had played a trick on Tara, and she could not look away. She was brought out of her agitated state, by the watchman of her apartment complex. She turned around to see the old man’s eyes filled with concern. “Is there something wrong, madam?” the man enquired. She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts, and left without another word.
That night was the most restless Tara had ever experienced. She must have turned over a thousand times trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, but to no avail. Hours of meditation and yoga later, Tara felt a little at ease, but soon the picture of the lady under the street lamp popped in her head, and refused to leave. Tara woke up next morning with tired and heavy eyes. The events of last night still not forgotten. Just a simple image of a human under a light had disturbed Tara on new levels. She zoned out every time she looked at lights directly.  Being a light sleeper, she woke up at the slightest disturbance.

She knew that the right thing to do would be to tell someone, but she could not bring herself to do it. A pressing thought in the back of her mind, raised doubts in her head, saying it was all just a part of her imagination that had arisen from her love for horror books and movies.
Everybody noticed the trivial changes in her, but she shot down their worries by blaming her work and the stress that accompanied it. The next few weeks went by uneventfully, and Tara was convinced she had imagined the whole scene. Soon, she had forgotten all about it.
But it seemed that life was desperate to prove her wrong, and calamity struck her again on the night of her birthday. Tara lay peacefully in her bed at three in the morning. All her friends had left an hour back, after celebrating her birthday at the stroke of midnight. Tara had just ended her video call with her family back in Indore. She was jubilant, and felt that everything had been perfect about that night. It was the most spectacular party she had ever thrown, with her friends from outside as well as inside the modelling and acting industry. She was determined to get her beauty sleep before going on about her day.
With her eyes heavy and mind foggy, Tara lay in her bed staring up at the neon stars on her ceiling, when she thought she heard the soft sound of footsteps outside her bedroom window. She ignored it thinking she imagined it due to her lack of sleep.
Suddenly, she was woken up because of a strange feeling. She had heard the sound of something making contact with the floor. Hard. She was awake and alert now. All previous plans of getting her beauty sleep, forgotten in the blink of an eye. She grabbed the antique vase kept on her nightstand, ready to be hurled if need be.