Chapter 12: Followed

He laughed some more, sending my heart into a spiral. "Not really. I told you that I would protect you." I felt so embarrassed at how he risked his life for me just because he thought I had a good soul. "Thank you," I said, genuinely. "But uh, should we call someone? He's still on the ground back there." I nervously turned to look behind us and Levy shrugged. "I was planning on leaving him for the vultures." I gasped. "You're just going to leave him to die there?" He shook his head. "No. The Vultures. They're a gang around here. They usually take in poor creeps and turn them into new members, which is weird, since that isn't what vultures normally do with road kill. They should think of a better name." I laughed a little. "I'm sure glad you wanted to come along." He smiled down at me and a river of emotions rushed through my veins. "Me too," he said, softly.

The next day I daydreamed throughout my entire shift at work. All I could think about was Levy and how gentlemanly he was the night before. He walked me back to my apartment and ensured I didn't need anything else before saying goodnight. I still couldn't believe he was strong enough to break someone's entire arm with the flick of a wrist, but it sure added to his attractiveness. I imagined that last night was a date, and hoped we would have many more like them. I started a habit of calling him after I got home every day and he would come upstairs to talk in person just as he did the first time. I was still nervous around him, but I enjoyed his company. We covered a lot in our conversations, but I never really learned anything more about him. 

He was only interested in talking about me, and when I told him something he agreed with, he made it known. However, I felt like just spending an hour or two a night with him wasn't going to get him to open up to me. I needed to go on an actual date with him if I wanted to find out who the heck he was. The only problem with that was that asking him out was the scariest thing I could possibly think of. The very thought of it made my throat close up. I couldn't get rejected now, after the progress I had made with him. If he only thought of me as a friend and I asked him out, he wouldn't speak to me again. I couldn't handle such a thing, but being in the friend zone was just as torturous. 

Because of my fear, I decided that I should wait to ask him out. Life was starting to get better and I wasn't going to blow it now. Life was getting better at home, but on the street, it was getting creepier. That guy with the watchful eyes continued to take more and more steps toward me every time I walked by. I searched as to whether there would be a safer route to take home but the safest one would take an extra half an hour. Even if the route was safer, being outside in the dark for longer meant more danger nevertheless. 

I tried walking on the other side of the street so that he might not notice me, but he did the same thing and took a few more steps toward me than last time. This was getting scarier by the minute. One day after work I had decided that enough was enough. Even though this guy hadn't really done anything to me, his taunting was getting out of control. I was planning on telling Levy about what was happening and if he thought my worry was justified. All I had to do was walk past the meth head one more time and I would be free of this. The amount of fear that rose inside me to that thought was unreasonably high.

I had a bad feeling and I tried to calm myself down as I approached the alleyway. I felt something different in the air and I tried to convince myself that it was just the stress of getting past him one more time. All I had to do was walk by like I always did. Why would anything be different tonight? He isn't that close to getting to the stairs to my apartment yet. There's no way he'd make it there tonight with his routine of adding a few more steps. What was I so scared about? There was only a whole scene dedicated to this... Oh shit! 

I didn't bother looking down the alley as I quickly speed-walked by. I hoped to get this over with without having to see those crazy eyes lock onto me. For a moment I thought I had made it passed when an unfamiliar voice stopped me. "Hey, you." The voice was very raspy and sickening. I should've kept walking but my automatic response was to look behind me and search for the voice. I froze to see the man with the wide eyes standing behind me, shaking furiously. "Girly..." My heart sank into my feet. This psycho did know I was a girl. How was that possible? 

Suddenly, without warning, he started sprinting toward me and quickly closed the gap between us. My heart started to pound out of my chest and I ran as fast as I could toward my apartment. I didn't know where else to run. I hoped that he would stop chasing me once I reached the steps, but he went inside the building after me. I couldn't find it in me to scream. I was too scared for that. My body was focused on surviving and the only way to do that was to run faster than him. I had some advantages since I was smaller and more agile, but the speed at which he ran was shocking. 

I jumped around people in the halls while he crashed through them. I ran up each flight of stairs as fast as I could, but he was still hot on my tail. My eyes filled with tears as I forced my legs to keep going. I saw my apartment ahead and pushed past the crowds in the halls from the nightly parties. I got through them before the man and unlocked the door to my apartment as fast as possible. I slammed the door behind me and locked every lock on the door. For a moment there was relief. I stood in the main room, shaking wildly. Before I could relax, a huge bang made me jump. The bang happened again on the other side of the door, and that same voice followed. "Let me in, girly, girly, girly!" 

Tears streamed down my face as the psycho continued trying to break through the door. I knew that the strong locks weren't going to do anything for a door that had gone through years of termites and water damage. That door was going to break into pieces if he continued banging into it with as much force as he had been. Out of panic, I ran to the bathroom and locked myself inside. The door to the bathroom was even weaker than the front door so I didn't feel at all safe behind it. I sat down in the bathtub with my knees to my chest as I tightly held my gun in my hands.