Prologue

~Abella 

“I can’t explain it. I just feel watched.”

My good friend lies upon my bed, flipping through a magazine, sipping out of her wine glass. She doesn’t even look at me, too fascinated by the smiling models with perfect straight teeth and sharp cut abs, as pixualted as they might be upon her page. You can’t help but love Samantha. 

“Maybe you have a secret admirer,” she offers, draining the rest of her glass. Alcohol is banned in the Harmony Pack, the fine being caught with it is steep. Consequently, we drink at the privacy of home. Well, Sam drinks. I don’t like what it does to me. 

“I’m being serious Sam. I feel like I walk home from work and someone is following me,” I tell her firmly. It’s been bothering me a lot recently, to the point I’ve been considering going to the authority about it.

“I think you’re just paranoid.”

She isn’t just dismissing me, there’s a reason for her thinking that. The Harmony Pack keeps immaculately to its namesake. Crime here is non existent, aside from the petty crimes like smuggling alcohol that often gets revealed to authorities in ways people question but get no answer to. This place is simply perfect. 

Part of me thinks Sam only comes over every night to drink her wine in my home, since I live in a small apartment complex. No one really investigates us.I like it thought, since I don’t have many other friends. 

“Let’s be realistic here. Maybe someone you work with thinks you’re cute and is following you home to see where you live,” she offers. “That’s if you’re not going crazy.”

I roll my eyes at her. 

“Considering the fact that the only people I work with at the Post Office is my manager and the mailman, who are both over seventy years old, I doubt that’s the case,” I remind her, leaning back against my deck chair. She shrugs her shoulders, raising her eyebrow at em, suggesting clearly that age doesn’t matter. I shiver. 

“Anyways, it’s curfew in twenty minutes and I have to get home,” Sam says in one breath, folding the magazine up before tucking it under her arm. “Will you walk me to the end of the street again?”

It’s been a trend of ours since she started coming to my house to visit. I don’t particularly like it, but it makes her happy. “I hope one day soon you get over this.”

“I’d keep dreaming love.”

With linked arms, Sam and I walk down the street which is brightly lit by warm street lights above us. There is no reason to be fearful, even at night. Especially on a colder one like tonight, where everyone is inside, right before curfew. However, that feeling of being watched haunts me as I say goodbye to Sam. 

“Be safe,” I murmur, giving her a fleeting hug. She looks at me strangely, making a comment about how I’m paranoid and over thinking, before she walks off, dark blonde hair swaying down her back with every step. 

Taking a deep breath, I turn around and start my walk back. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up, making me shiver. 

And then, the street lamp right above me flickers off. 

Without thinking, I quicken my step, fumbling with the keys in my hand. I see someone approaching, which is strange but not rare. They wear dark trousers, but their top is a green shirt which is in no way intimidating. He’s just going to walk past me and not even acknowledge me. Sam is right, I am paranoid. 

He does, however, stop right in front of me. He’s a young looking kid with shaggy blonde hair and warm brown eyes. Regardless, I’m skeptical, warily trying to move around him until he speaks to me. 

“Hi, sorry, I don’t mean to just jump out at you like this, but I thought I would come say something to you since we live in the same building,” he says. 

I bristle.

“Did you just move in?” I ask. I’ve never seen him before that I know of, and it sure is a strange way to greet your neighbour by approaching them in the street at night. He looks rather friendly and easygoing, however, with how I’ve been feeling lately, I don’t want to take any chances. 

“No, I’ve been there forever,” he tells me, grinning widely. My jaw clenches, as I try to pair him to where he might be living. Regardless, I can’t find a place for him, so I begin to take steps past him warily. 

“I’m sorry, I know everyone who lives in the building, and I don’t think you do,” I say, trying to turn and walk away. 

He takes one more look at me, and lunges. 

I scream, dodging out of his grasp, his fingertips barely touching me before I take off into a run down the street. Thankfully, I reach the door to my apartment before he does. Fumbling with my keys, I attempt to shove them in the door, trying to get my way back in. Looking over my shoulder, I see him running at me, that warm expression gone. 

“Please, come on,” I beg, as the key slips from the lock. I’m going to die. He’s going to capture me and drag me into his car, and no one will ever see me again. I should never  have ignored my gut feeling. 

Finally, the door opens, and I dive inside, slamming the door shut behind me. Behind the glass, the stranger suddenly appears, banging loudly against the door. 

They are trying to break the glass…

Stumbling back a few steps, I look into his crazed eyes, wondering how long he was stalking me for. Just before I was about to turn away, someone else appears at the door, dressed in all black, a hood pulled over their head so I couldn’t see their face. Both are here to kill me. Both are going to get in here before I can get help. 

It seems I’m proved wrong though, as the hooded man grabs the back of the boys shirt, and rips him away from window, throwing him onto the pavement behind him.

I don’t stick around to see what happened to either of them. I turn around, running for the elevator. Not even looking back, I move up to my floor, entering my apartment to lock it safely behind me. 

What just happened?

Checking my lock again, I close all my curtains and turn all my lights off. Settling into a chair in the back of my room, I contemplate what to do next. I’m for sure going to call the authority after I sift through my mind at what just went on. All I know is that I got attacked by someone who may have been stalking me for awhile. 

And most importantly, someone saved me…