Second Story: In The Nick of Time

Chapter 4

19 September 2021

"Gosh, I wish I'd brought along my sunscreen."

The weather was unnaturally and unbearably hot for an autumn day. The sweltering afternoon heat was slowly getting to the girl and eroding her willpower. Her only protection against the harsh sunlight was her straw hat and her sunglasses. The poor girl was having second thoughts about the entire stalking business, but her thoughts were cut off when she saw the girl from 'H-A' School coming out of a fancy Italian restaurant. The girl was walking hand in hand with a boy, presumably her boyfriend.

The date itself went smoothly with no incident. However, Mai had spotted a rather suspicious grey sedan parked near the places the couple went to during their date. Her intuition told her that she should note down the licence plate and the features of the car.

"20X-XXXX," wrote down the amateur sleuth. "It's not a Hanoi licence plate (5)... so from a nearby province."

When the Sun began to set, and the sky had been dyed with a warm orange hue, the sudden chilly breeze blowing through the streets reminded the couple that it was soon time to wrap up their date and return home. The princess believed earnestly that she just needed to follow that girl for another hour, and her first job would soon be done.

"I wonder what time the culprit actually did it. At this rate, the day would be over soon and I'll move onto the next person," wondered Mai aloud.

Now she was hiding behind a corner of a wall while watching the girl walking alone in a deserted street late at night. The boy had said goodbye at the entrance of a Metro station and gone back on his own. In the daytime, the street would be filled with hustle and bustle of a typical large city; but at night, the path was shrouded in unpleasant darkness, only weakly illuminated by cheap yellow light bulbs of the neglected streetlamps.

Mai wished there were a way to break this oppressive silence. However, the tranquil was soon broken when she spotted a suspicious figure wearing a trench coat and black gloves slowly approaching the girl from behind out of an alley ahead of Mai, on the other side of the street.

"That person doesn't seem to notice me," Mai noted.

Unfortunately, it was too dark for the princess to see the face of the stranger clearly. But it seemed that they were carrying something in their left hand.

"Is that what I think it is?!"

It was a stun gun. She had seen one before in her sister's closet.

The stranger was getting dangerously close to the girl. Mai instantly sprang to her feet and tried to make a run for it, hoping that she would make it in time.

"Watch out! Pervert!" hollered the princess.

"Huh?" exclaimed the girl as she turned around and saw the stranger, armed with a stun gun, staggering towards her. Immediately she screamed for help and desperately tried to get away from the attacker.

"Bloody hell, it's 11 pm! What is all this ruckus all about?"

"Did someone say 'pervert'? Mom, call the police!"

"Go get the sticks, we'll go after the lowlife!"

Fortunately, the neighbours had heard the girls' calls for help and some people had already run onto the street, failing to notice the stranger. He became flustered and quickly ran into a dark alley. Mai realised that she was likewise not spotted by anyone yet either and also stealthily slithered away into the darkness. The Civilian Patrol and two patrolling policemen quickly showed up at the scene and interrogated the crying girl about the entire ordeal.