2. Those Red Eyes i

~ It started as a regular day.

Regular in the sense that Penny went to work pretending as if all was well. Jumping at every random sound, looking over her shoulders, being paranoid that everyone who glanced in her direction was watching her. That was her regular day now. One cloaked by a sense of dread with a healthy dose of paranoia, however, justified. 

The seriousness of her situation didn't hit home until one night she came out of the business complex where her office was located, and there was no Lochlan. She had stood just inside the glass doors, waiting for him, thinking that he had been late, but he never showed. That left Penny to decide between braving the streets alone or staying at her office. She chose the latter. She had a change of clothes there. None would be the wiser. With him gone, she brought a change of clothes with her every day in case she had to stay late.

Until he was gone, Penny hadn't realized how safe she felt with him. How cared for he made her feel. She had taken all that for granted. The worst thing for her was realizing that she didn't want to be alone anymore. Or, more accurately, she didn't want to be without him. She had grown to like him being around. Lochlan was easy to talk to; he didn't make her feel weird about being different. He just left her to be exactly as she was, and he seemed to like her—maybe. 

Not that it mattered now. He was gone. She was alone. Penny chided the voice that said, and she was frightened. Frightened didn't seem like the right word to use when her system was constantly in a state of silent panic.

Distracted by her supernatural dilemma, she had fallen back on her work, to the delight of Caitlin Crashaw. This minor victory for the other woman, however, was short-lived. Spending more time at work than she did at home, since sleep now evaded her, all Penny did was work. 

Her office was safer than home, in any case. Security guards patrolled the hallways, and they had grown accustomed to her being there late most nights. One even brought her dinner one night. A blessing, as she had forgotten to eat—again. She had been on a slow track back to some semblance of 'normal' when it all took a turn for the worst.

Now she was sitting in the woods, her body numb to the cold drops of rain that drizzled down on her head. Tears streamed down her face, but she didn't make a sound. She couldn't. Her throat was raw from the screaming, her body heavy from her grief. There was nothing left inside of her. She saw nothing but the ghastly images playing over and over inside her head. Her regular day had turned into a complete and utter nightmare. One where she had gotten people killed.

April 19 - 9:16am

Pencil in her mouth, Penny sat working. She had been there all night, and she had gotten most of her work already out of the way before the first body came through the door. She was feeling good. Tired, and drawn thin, but still good. She felt - in control. During the night, she had drifted off to sleep face down in the papers on her desk. 

With her mind in a state of constant panic, she was happy with the four hours of solid sleep she had gotten. It was a small victory, but one nonetheless. Nothing haunted her in her dreams. Not last night. Penny woke up feeling as if she was going to be ok. As if she could make it through.

Maybe distance from Lochlan and her supernatural dilemma was all she needed. Time to absorb everything, and put the pieces in their rightful places. Since the night in the parking lot, it had been quiet. As it had been for weeks before the parking lot incident. Penny tried not to think about that. Though she tried to focus on the positives of her situation, there was always that nagging voice that reminded her life was never sure. Bad things happened, and they always seemed to follow her. Death followed her. That thought always caused a shiver to run down her spine.

Only the present—now—mattered. All the rest would overwhelm, and shut her down if she let them in. For now, she would focus on her job and finding her center again. One foot before the other.

Her head snapped up when she heard the blaring of the fire alarm. Still, it took a few seconds for it to register. Penny was up and out of her office, bag over her shoulder, before she realized she was barefoot. Running back into her office, she quickly stepped into her shoes, snatching up her phone on her way out. Penny hadn't noticed she had left it behind. In her rush to get out of her office again, she bumped a hip on the corner of her file cabinet. She knew there would be a bruise.

Her company, Write Tech, was on the eleventh floor of the east tower of the massive business complex. It shared the floor with two other smaller offices, both of which had been vacant for months. Everyone present was making their way towards the stairwell, as per fire and other emergency regulations. Using elevators was ill-advised, which was why she stopped and looked behind her when she heard the ding.

The door slid open and as it got wider; she saw the men inside. Though they were dressed like firefighters, they didn't look the part. Alarm bells of her own screeched in her ears as she immediately dropped to the floor, out of sight, clutching her bag to her chest. That nagging little voice of dread in her head said, I told you so.

Caitlin came out of her office to find Penny just like that; eyes wide, clutching onto her bag. The woman stopped her retreat to the stairwell, looking down at Penny, her brow raised like—this crazy girl.

"What are you doing down there? We need to get out of the building." Adjusting the stack of files balanced on her arm, she walked away. Through the open door, Penny could hear retreating footsteps going down the stairwell. There was only one other floor above them. Then the roof.

With her position compromised, Penny quickly crawled away to hide under another desk. Fumbling with her phone, Penny dialed the only number she knew she could. It rang straight to voicemail. She tried again, and it did the same. Third try, still no answer. Penny cursed in a whisper. Why did she think he would answer her call after their last conversation? Lochlan had stormed off, leaving her in that alley, and she hadn't seen or heard from him since. Now, when his words seemed to ring true, he was all she had, and he wasn't answering. She called him again - no answer.

Fingers trembling as her chest got tighter, and she was finding it harder to breathe, Penny sent him a message. At the office, surrounded. Need help. I'm sorry. Please hurry. He could ignore her call, but she doubted he could ignore the message - if he bothered to read it. Penny closed her eyes in a silent plea.

Her surroundings were only delaying the inevitable. They knew she was here. They could smell her, smell her fear, and hear the thundering of her heart in her chest. It was only a matter of time before one of them dragged her out by the ankle. No one would hear her scream for help, and neither would she want them to. Whoever came to help would only put their lives in mortal danger. 

Stubborn, stubborn. If she had only listened.

That was her last lament before a fist torpedoed through the cubicle wall to the left side of her head.