Chp.28

We stand still in the darkness looking at the person. The night can't reveal his face but I'm guessing he's a man. He's right across us from the street and even though I can't see his eyes, I know they're on us. It makes me skip a beat.

"Who is he?" Sophie whispers, wide-eyed.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" I respond, quietly, still looking at the man.

We both have the same thought in our minds, judging by the look on Sophie's face.

Is it…the killer? Did he just hear everything we said? And if he did, and if he really is the killer, then what's gonna happen next?

I gather some guts and yell, "Can I help you?"

The figure doesn't move. Keeps on looking at us. And I hate how I can't find his eyes to stare back. It's just creepy. Pure and utter creepy in this eerie night.

"You need to go." I tell Sophie.

She looks at me like I told her to walk up to this stranger. "Are you kidding me? What about you?" Her voice is low so only we both are able to hear it.

"Your house is a few blocks away. You can manage." I reply, calmly.

"And how are you going to go home exactly?" She says.

I shrug, "Like I always did. Walk."

She shakes her head, as if not believing she's having this conversation, "Yeah but you didn't have a stalker with you those times."

I scoff, "I've got a phone. If I see him following me, I'll obviously call for help."

She bites her lips, not convinced at all, "But can you guarantee help will come a minute after you call?"

I get what she means. Even if I do call. It'll take, what, like, twenty minutes for them to arrive. So I decide to go with Plan B.

I take out my phone and shout towards the person, still standing in the same position. Ah, man. I'm really getting pissed now.

"Hey, buddy!" I shout.

"What are you doing?" Sophie squirms.

I don't answer, still looking at the man, "If you don't want to get a hella kicking from the police,I suggest you might as well leave us alone!"

I'm using Sophie's trick. That day when she stopped us from fighting by threatening Ander. I just hope it works.

"If you don't go, then I swear I'll call em!" I take out the number from my speed-dial, "Counting to five now!"

"Or you can tell us who the hell you are and why are you following us!" Sophie shouts.

And the night is so empty that our voices are echoing right back to us.

"Alright, I'm done with this. One….!" I start counting.

"Do it fast." Sophie whispers, "I swear he's freaking me out."

"Two… Three…"

But he's not moving at all.

And I don't think it's working.

Shit.

And then, out of nowhere, he starts laughing. It's a low and deep chuckle. The only thing I know is that his laugh isn't a friendly one. The hairs on my neck stand as I hear it. Dark. He's laughing darkly. Sophie squirms, taking a step behind. But I'm frozen when he slowly start walking towards us.

And I don't think I've ever been this scared in my entire life.

"We need to run." Sophie whispers, trembling. "Now."

I nod towards the road which leads to her house. "You go."

"What?" She exclaims, "You're coming with me, Lukas. You can't just risk yourself."

"No. I… I can't come with you." I say.

"Why not?" She frowns, impatiently, already quivering.

But I can't come with her. I can't…

I want to know if he's the one. If he's the one who did this to me.Did it to her. Was he the one who killed my sister? Was he the one to knock me unconscious? Did he create this mess? Is he the one who made me suffer? 'Cause if what I'm saying is right then I swear I'll…

"If he really is the one who killed Jesse, then I want to see who it is." I muster.

"But-" She tries to protest but I cut her off, saying sharply as I see he's approaching faster than before.

"Sophie, go, now!" I yell.

She gives me one last glance of regret, before setting off. That takes a little bit of burden off my shoulders. But it's not over yet.

The lack figure pauses in surprise when he sees Sophie run off and all I can think is, please don't go after her. Please don't.

He turns his head back at me, standing in the middle of the road. I realize he doesn't even want her. He wants us to be alone.

And I can't take it. I just can't with all the anger rising in my blood.

"It's you isn't it? You're the one who started this whole shit!"

And he doesn't answer, making me more raged.

"Why don't you show yourself, huh? Or are you too afraid?"

But I feel like I'm the one hesitating. Like I'm the one who's scared.

This is my chance.

And he's just standing there again. But this time waiting for me to come up to him.

And I can only see red as I fume and boil, blood chasing.

And I take my first step-

And I swear he's smirking even though I can't see him-

That only makes me more furious-

And I'm about to jump on him and throw him down-

And I walk faster-

He's getting closer and closer-

There's a honk from a car, its light burning my eyes. I turn towards it, covering my eyes with my hand. I face the person again, because with the light I can easily see his face. But…

He's gone.

Whoever he was, he's gone.

And it's just me and the driver who made it happen.

*******************

"What the hell!" I say when I see who the driver is. I'm shocked.

"Exactly: What the hell!" She shouts, from the open window of the driver seat, "What the hell were you doing?! You were so close to him, did you even realize that or are you just plain stupid?"

But I'm still stunned. What's she doing driving a car without a license?

I frown at Sophie, the curt comment slightly offending,

"I almost had him you know." I mutter, as she gets out of the car, the headlights still on.

She sneers, clearly angry at me, "No you didn't, Lukas! You were just running after him like an idiot! What were you gonna do when you reached him anyway?"

I open my mouth to retort but then my eyes wide open I think,

What was I gonna do?

"See!" She exclaims, "Even you don't have an answer! For all we knew, he probably had a weapon with him or something. But there you were, acting like a hero, trying to do I-don't-know-what."

"I'm sorry, alright?" I raise my hands in an amending gesture, "I was just mad about all that happened and I didn't think what I was doing…"

"Obviously." She folds her arms, "If I didn't show up-"

"How did you learn to drive anyway?" Either I'm stalling or I'm just curious. Not sure.

She looks sheepishly at the car, her mood finally settling, "I have a learner's permit. I'm just a beginner though."

I'm impressed, "But aren't you supposed to drive with a chaperone?"

"Didn't have time to do that since I knew you were gonna do something stupid!" She snaps.

I shrug.

We're quiet.

And all I'm thinking is how the person disappeared like that. I look at the place he was standing, shown by the light.

"Hey, uh, I'm wondering, you now."

"What?" She asks,

"Did you see the person? The man? I mean you must have."

She frowns, "About that…"

That gets me really interested.

"Yeah?"

"He had a scarf wrapped around his face and a hood above his head."

That disappointed me as I stomp at the ground in exasperation. We were so close.

"And Lukas?"

I look at her again.

"I'm not sure if he was a man at all."

Neither one of us speaks, our minds deep in the ocean of confusion.

"What do you mean?"

She shrugs, casually, as if we're just having a talk over whether apples are better than bananas.

"I think…I think he was a…a kid."

Whoa. What?

My eyes widen, "Are you sure?"

She bites her lips, "Yeah…"

I look at where she's looking. And we're both thinking how we got ourselves in to this.

"This is just getting weirder and weirder." I mutter.

She doesn't say anything. But nods.

"I'll meet you with Josh at the café, down the road." I finally say.

"What ?" She says, clearly shocked with the sudden change of conversation.

"You just get Alexa and Ander there. At three in the afternoon."

She smiles, widely and I think she forgot what kind of a situation this is.

"Should I take that as a yes?"

"Looks like I don't have a choice." I sigh.