~Eunhee~

I didn’t understand.

I didn’t get anything at all.

All the text in front of me made no sense, and it was driving me crazy.

I was sitting at a secluded table at the furthest corner of the library, next to a large window, letting late afternoon sun warm me. I had a large text book propped open in front of me, opened on page 267.

I had been studying almost all day. The library was silent and almost totally empty. It was almost time for me to leave.

I slumped into my chair, my head tilted back. I sighed, watching the dust particles float above me.

I had no idea what I was doing, I was tired and confused. The only thing I was sure of was that I was failing and making a fool out of myself.

I sat up and sighed, stretching and then yawning, not realizing how tired I had become. I stuffed a few stray pens and pencils back into my small pencil case and shoved everything into my book bag before standing up, picking up the text book and walking towards the front desk.

A middle aged woman was standing behind the counter, and she smiled kindly at me once I reached her, and I placed the text book down in front of her so I could borrow it out.

 “You want to borrow this?” she asked, lifting it up, her frail wrist looked almost at breaking point.

I nodded and smiled.

She quickly scanned the barcode and I handed her my library card. “It’s lucky you came at the time you did, I was going to close up in ten minutes or so”

I laughed slightly. “I was surprised at how late it had gotten and I realized I had to walk back home so I decided to pack up”

She looked up at me, her expression slightly worried. “Are you sure it’s safe for you to walk back? A young lady like you could easily be caught up in a…” She paused for a moment, as she tried to think of a word to use “… difficult situation”

I shrugged and smiled slightly. “I’m sure I’ll be fine… it’s not far, and I’ve walked plenty of times before”

 She seemed to accept my words, but she continued to frown worriedly, a slight cease between her brows. “It gets dark very quickly this time of the year, so don’t get side tracked, Ok dear?”  She looked up at me, her eyes almost pleading.

I almost laughed. She seemed so worried for me, like what a mother would be like.

I smiled. “Thank you, I will. Don’t worry about me”

She finally seemed to stop worrying, and she handed my text book and smiled at me. I thanked her and walked towards the large front doors.

“Be careful” she called as I walked through them, and I turned and grinned, waving before running quickly down the stairs, shoving the text book into my book bag and adjusting the strap over my shoulder.

I began to trudge home, it was absolutely freezing, and I realized just how quickly it got dark.

I wrapped my scarf around my neck tighter, and shrunk down into my darkly coloured jacket, stuffing my hands into my pockets. Thank god I had a beanie.

Soon the sun disappeared totally and the street lights flickered on dimly. I shivered and watched my breaths turn white in front of me. I sighed. If only I had money to spare on a bus ticket. I almost regretted not catching the bus, I could have, but I was trying to save as much as possible.

I continued to walk in silence, my shoes making soft sounds as I walked. I closed my eyes briefly and concentrated on the noise of my footsteps.

Why were there two sets of footsteps…?

I froze, and stood still, my whole body turned cold.

I hadn’t imagined it. I knew I hadn’t. I heard the other set of footstep perfectly, almost directly behind me.

I shook my head, realizing that I as over reacting. I was on a footpath; it was only natural for someone else to be walking too. I felt stupid, and turned, ready to apologize to the stranger who was probably standing behind me, wondering why I had suddenly frozen right in front of them.

But there was no one there.

In fact, there was no one else at all walking on the street. The shops were closed and the windows and door of all the nearby buildings closed tightly to keep out the cold. It felt like the place had been deserted.

I gulped, instantly paranoid again.

I turned slowly and began to walk again, straining my ears for any sounds. At first there was nothing, but I heard it again.

The soft sound of footsteps.  Softly padding along behind me, like a predator stalking its prey.

I decided to cross the road.

I jaywalked across the deserted road, and from the corner of my eye, I saw the flickering of a figure, silently following me.

Someone was following me.

There was some one behind me, following me.

It seemed to take a while for me to absorb it. But when it did, I was instantly terrified.

I began to walk faster, it wasn’t far till I got back to my apartment, I just had to keep moving. Maybe I was just being overly paranoid. I looked over my shoulder, and there was no one there. I sighed and slowed down a little, I had just imagined it. I was tired and imagining things. I glanced over to the other side of the road.

My heart nearly stopped in my chest.

Someone was standing further back, watching me. They were wearing a black hoodie; their hands were stuffed into the pockets. They were wearing black jeans and black converse. All black, blending into the dark. I couldn’t see their face.

How had they gotten there so fast?

I continued to watch them, like a trapped animal, frozen in fear. Suddenly the person took a step forward, and my body seemed to become unfrozen.

I ran.

My heart was hammering in my chest; I was in a cold sweat. Were they following me? I didn’t know, and I didn’t really want to find out. I just ran. I ran all the way back to my apartment, I ran to the elevator, jumping at every sound and waited till the doors slid open, jumping in and pressing the 5^th floor button over and over again until the doors slid shut and the elevator shot upwards, I didn’t even stop running until I reached my room, fumbling for my keys and tumbling into my room, locking the door behind me, leaning against the door in the dark and panting, my heart still beating hard.

I sunk down, wrapping my arms around my legs, burying my head into my knees.

I felt so stupid, I had been overreacting. I could feel myself turning red from shame. I had just fled like a lunatic, from a person who hadn’t even shown any signs of hostility towards me. Like the over reacting idiot I was, I had run all the way back to my apartment, not even thinking clearly about what was going on, just panicking.

I felt so stupid, and the more I thought about it, the dumber I felt. I continued to sit on my cold floor for several minutes until finally got up, my body aching from the cold, stumbling my way into my shower, stripping and getting in, the hot water numbing my skin.

I got out, feeling even more exhausted. I still felt like a total idiot, and I got into my pyjamas and crawled into my bed, still kicking myself internally for acting like a totally deranged and paranoid person for no reason.

I drifted to sleep, my last thoughts being ‘I hope that person doesn’t see me again and recognize me, I’ll forever be remembered as the crazy girl that suddenly ran away from an innocent person on the street’

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Hello everyone, here is the next chapter! ^^

This was a easy chapter to write, but Im always paranoid that my writing is bad :/ sorry if its ...

I hope you enjoy~ 

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Byee~