Chapter 22

     Chapter 22: Someone is following me

    Lyric Spencer POV

    Ever since that incident, I hadn’t bumped into or contacted Gavin Hawkins, nor had I heard from my uncle. I guessed he was in hiding for whatever we did to Alessio. Alessio had been in a coma since the incident, and his men were after my uncle.

    Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if Gavin was alright. He might have had the wrong motives, but he still saved my life.

    During my break, I stood at the café, sharing a cupcake and fruit juice with one of my coworkers when Iris walked in. She was with a guy I had never seen in town before. They took a seat near the window and were chatty. Could he be her new boyfriend?

    Well, it didn’t matter what she did with her life.

    Once again, I thought about asking her about Gavin, so I went over to their table.

    “Hi, Lyric!” she waved at me, while the guy next to her tipped his chin in greeting. “We’ve already ordered, sorry,” she said, gesturing to the table.

    I took out my notepad and wrote, “I heard that Alessio is in the hospital. Is Gavin safe?” I handed it to her. I watched her expression turn serious as she read it. She replied, “He’s fine. Thank you for asking.”

    I nodded, placing the pen on top of my ear. As I turned to leave, I heard her say, “I’m truly sorry about what happened last time. It was never meant to hurt you or anything. I just meant—”

    I cut her off by raising my arm. I didn’t want to spend my break listening to any of those stories. If Gavin was so sorry, he would have contacted me already. I might not have a phone, but there were other ways.

    After work, I couldn’t find a bus at the station, so I decided to walk home. It was a long and thoughtful distance to trek. It seemed like a clear day until the rain started to pour; luckily, I had brought my umbrella.

    I raised it over my head and rushed home. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a figure, and my heart sank.

    What if it was Alessio’s men?

    I increased my speed, my breathing catching up with me.

    A week passed, but one thing I noticed was the mysterious figure following me every night when I came back from work. I had to tell my best friend.

    ###

    “How long have you been noticing it?”

    I invited Wren to the restaurant so we could talk about what I had been experiencing over the past few days.

    “A week now,” I replied.

    “A week?” Wren shouted, her voice so loud I felt my eardrums throb. “And you didn’t say anything?”

    I fell silent at that question. I was afraid of dragging her into this. However, today I was scared of going home alone with that man tailing my every move. If it continued, my family might wake up to my disappearance.

    My uncle wasn’t back yet, which made it even scarier.

    “We need to tell the cops,” Wren insisted.

    The cops? My pupils widened at her suggestion, and I waved both my hands to signal a refusal.

    “I don’t want the cops involved when we’re dealing with people like this. They might only target me.”

    “Then what do you want me to do? Our houses are in separate directions. How am I going to keep you safe?”

    The pain in her voice didn’t go unnoticed. I wiped a lone tear from her face; Wren hardly ever cried. This year has been too painful to watch.

    I regretted telling her.

    “I worry about you,” she confessed, her voice breaking.

    In an instant, I wrapped my arms around her neck, trying to reassure her that I would be fine. That night, Wren accompanied me home, and she was later picked up by her stepbrother.

    ###

    The next day, Wren got sick. It was the flu.

    That meant there was no one to walk me home as usual. Taking a long breath, I held my backpack close to my chest as I got off the bus. It was another day of giving paino classes to Keith. We had classes three times a week and the pay was going to be good. Meaning, his mom would start paying me after a two weeks of free classes.

    The bus dropped me off on my street, so I had to walk the rest of the way to my house. My home was located at the end of town.

    As I walked, I couldn’t shake the thoughts of being attacked or killed on this road. Alessio had every reason to end my life; my friend, my classmate, had almost ended his.

    I had never seen that side of Gavin before; after all, I didn’t really know him.

    My ears perked up the second I started to hear footsteps behind me. My throat felt scratchy, as if preparing for a scream, knowing that nothing but air would come out. I tried to look sideways to get a glimpse of how close the figure was.

    The person was near, so I ran. I ran without looking back. I kept on running because my life depended on it.

    When I reached the turn to my house, I swirled and tripped, falling onto the ground. I could still hear the footsteps. When I turned to look at the mysterious man, it was dark, as there wasn’t a single streetlight in my area.

    My breath caught in my chest. I forced myself to get up and began limping toward my house. It was no longer far. I needed to get inside.

    But the man was getting closer. My steps came to a halt when I noticed another person on a bike, wearing a helmet, in front of my house.

    Did they come together?

    What was I going to do?

    My family. I couldn’t let them get hurt.

    Gathering courage, I began to run toward the man on the bike. Due to the sound of my footsteps, he turned to look at me. I came to a stop, my stomach flipping.

    The door of my house opened, and my aunt walked out carrying a tray. My eyes darted between them. I needed to save her.

    Swirling around, I turned to see the man who had been following me. His steps had slowed, but he was still coming.

    While the man in front of me began approaching, I attempted to run away, but I tripped and fell onto my butt. The man at the door stopped near me, crouched down, and took off his helmet.