[12]

"Want a sandwich? I made some for Chloe, but she said she'd get something from the diner with her friends," my aunt asks, nodding at the pile of toasts with ham and salad in between, which are sitting on one of the kitchen counters.

I nod at her, while throwing on on my sweat jacket. It's Friday afternoon. I just finished my homework and decided to take a walk and go to one of the parks in town to have some time for myself. Also, I would love to take some pictures again. I haven't done it for quite some time, now.

She packs up three of the sandwiches in a small brown bag and hands it to me. I thank her and stuff it into my backpack, before I give her a peck on the cheek and walk out the door.

I inhale the warm summer breeze, which will probably be one of the last ones that I'll get this summer. It's a comfortable warmth accompanied by cold breezes of wind, here and then.

At night it's quite cold, though.

The sun is at its highest point, slowly going on its journey back into its hiding place, where no-one can see it. The sky is as clear as ever, no clouds obscuring the sight of its breathtaking beauty. I sigh, the corners of my lips lifting up a bit, but not reaching my eyes.

I wonder if they ever will again. A smile reaching my eyes; it sounds so easy, yet it's so far from that - from being easy. The last time I had full-on smiled, with my teeth sticking out in between my lips, the corners of my lips so high up, that it almost looked like it reached my cheekbones, and with happiness glistening in my eyes, was too long ago to even remember.

It was when I had still thought of the world as a wonderland with rainbows and cookies waiting for me at every corner. A fantasy that reality - my reality - couldn't be farther away from.

I shake my head and walk further into the direction of the town, out of the woods, the crunching of branches and leaves underneath my sneakers filling my ears.

When a bird suddenly chimes above my head, I jump and stumble over my own legs. I feel my feet lose contact to the ground, giving in to gravity. I pull my hands up to my chest in an attempt to make the impact of my body connecting with the ground less painful.

It didn't help, though.

I land on the floor, hands first, knees following. I squeeze my eyes shut, my heart bumping loudly in my chest. A stinging pain erupts in the palms of my hands, an itchy one in my knees and an agonizing one in my shoulder. Great, my shoulder had just recovered from the bruises.

I groan in what I guess is exhaustion mixed with pain and frustration. I carefully roll over, so that my ass is on the ground. I bend my knees and dust off the leaves that got stuck on my pants, before I do the same with my palms. On the fabric that is covering my knees, has formed a stain of dirt and blood. I try to pull up my pants, wanting to see how bad it is.

When they're pulled up, hanging around my thighs, I see small scratches littered all over my knees, blood leaking out of it, but not oozing. It's just a small injury, nothing that could stop me from having my walk today.

So, I pull my pants back down and stand up with the help of one of the many trees surrounding me, before I stretch out my limbs, hissing once again at the pain, although I'm not quite sure which one it was. My palms are the least painful, only itching a bit when I ball my hands. My knees on the other hand are preventing me from walking normally and force me to carefully limb my way through the forest. But my shoulder is the real problem.

Due to the force of the impact, the bone in my shoulder feels slightly off. Not broken, but not normal either. I think it's just because my shoulder gets so easily injured due to all the hits and bruises it already had to recover from.

Anyway, I cautiously walk farther down the road, anticipating to feel my camera in my hands, its cold material cooling down my skin, and to hear the clicking when the light goes off, indicating that another picture was placed on its flash card. It's my calm place, you could say. It's what takes my mind off of everything else, away from the nightmares, away from the memories, away from everything that should not be in my life.

When I suddenly hear the sound of car engines roaring, my eyes light up. Excitement sparks up in the pit of my stomach, making me forget about the injuries that I got due to my clumsiness and a bird's chirping. My feet start taking faster steps on their own accord, my mind wandering off to all the beautiful things that I could capture with my camera.

The sounds of kids running around, laughing loudly, and dogs barking with excitement fill my ears; and the smell of grass and nature floods my nostrils.

I inhale it, enjoying every minute of this walk, knowing that this feeling of excitement and calmness won't last long. I quickly slide off my backpack and zip it open, before I eagerly pull out the small digital camera.

It's the last thing my mother bought me before. . . Well, anyway, I fell in love with it the minute I first had it in my hands. It may be small and its quality isn't the best, but it's better than anything else I ever got in my life.

I take in my surroundings, wondering what would make a good picture. I spot a squirrel not too far away on a tree, nibbling on a nut. A small smile blossoms on my face and I put the camera in front of my eye, its metallic smell invading my nose. The squirrel seems double as big, as just seconds ago, through the lens of the camera. Before it can move away, my fingers press down on a button on the top of the camera, and the clicking of it, indicates that a picture was, indeed, taken.

Its head perks up at the sound, dropping the nut. I quickly take another picture, capturing the squirrel looking straight into the camera. Then, it runs off and jumps from tree to tree, as if it were a feather, flying and being carried around by the wind.

I let out a soft chuckle, following the animal with my eyes as far as I can, before it disappears into a thicket of leaves.

I turn my head, my eyes looking for another thing deemed beautiful enough to be captured. I see a playground a few meters away from me with only a few kids playing on it. Their parents are sitting on benches nearby.

Then, I look up at the sky, the blue slowly growing darker and the sun fading more and more into the background. An orange color has spread across it, with purple and red mixed into it.

My lips part slightly in awe and my camera instantly goes to my eye again. I take a picture, the clicking once again filling my ears. "Beautiful," I whisper softly before I turn around and look for other things to take a picture of.

As my eyes wander around the park, they suddenly halt at a figure leaning against a tree, a cigarette resting between its lips. I squint my eyes, trying to make out a face, but the hood over the person's head prevents me from seeing more than their lips and nose.

I avert my gaze. It's probably nothing. Just some teen trying to scare anyone, or just taking a walk.

Suddenly my phone buzzes in my pocket, snapping me out of my thoughts. I pull it out and see that I got a message from my aunt.

Something important came up. Will be back at midnight, don't wait for me. I can't reach Chloe though, so please tell her when she comes home.

Have a good day, sweetie.

- 5:34 PM

I reply instantly, assuring her that I will tell Chloe. When the message is sent, I glance at the upper left corner of the phone's screen to see that it's about a quarter to 6 PM. I bite down on my lip, contemplating whether or not I should go back home already. I originally wanted to take more pictures and enjoy the nature a bit longer, but I don't want Chloe to worry her butt off when she comes home.

Nicole probably won't pick up her phone if it is something really important that she has to take care of, which would only add to Chloe's worry. I sigh, running my hand through my hair in frustration.

But in the end, I decide to pack up my camera and make my way home. While doing so, I feel the strange person's eyes boring into my skull, leaving me squirming slightly at the intensity of it. My heartbeat quickens as I swing my backpack over my shoulder and all but storm out of the park.

On my way home, the feeling that someone is following me nags me at the back of my mind. Goosebumps are sprawled all over my skin and my eyes wander around frantically. The sky grew another shade darker and stars already started showing theirselves as they swim in a pool of darkness.

When I suddenly hear a clattering sound behind me, my head snaps to the source of it. It's an alley, embraced by darkness. A trash can is lying on the ground, its insides spilled all over the floor. The smell of it penetrates my nostrils, making me want to gag.

I quickly turn around again, only to walk right into a hard chest. A pained yelp leaves my mouth, but before my butt can connect with the floor, two arms wrap around my waist and hold me tightly. I shiver at the contact, the warm hands lying on the small of my back, intertwined with each other.

My eyes find their way up to the person's face, but a hood is obscuring my sight of it. I feel my eyes widen. The guy from the park.

Feeling uncomfortable with the close proximity and his hands on my waist, I try to wiggle myself out of his grip only to have him tighten his hold on me. I let out a shaky breath and look at his face once again.

"W-who are you. . .?" I ask, frightened by the sense of familiarity that has my chest tighten painfully. Do I know him?

"You know me," he whispers huskily, making my heart skip a beat.

Riku.

A strange feeling erupts in the pit of my stomach as I stare at his face more intently, finally recognizing the stranger's features as ones that I'm familiar with.

"W-what do you want?" My voice is a soft whisper, the fear subsiding slightly as curiosity overweighs it. He goes quiet for a moment, and his steady heartbeat fills my ears.

"Why don't you run away like the others?" His voice is low, and confused.

His words weren't supposed for me to hear, but I did anyways.

"What?" I squeak out.

His features instantly harden. Something snaps in his jaw and his hands now take a hold of my waist instead of just resting on my back. His fingers dig into my skin and I bite my lip to prevent a yelp from slipping off my tongue. When he pulls me closer, his face inches away from mine, his hot breath caresses my nose, sending a shiver down my spine.

"Why won't you just stay the fuck away from me? You're making this whole shit so damn complicated!" Venom laces his voice and I flinch at the roughness of it. It reminds me of-. . . of him. It reminds me of him.

"Sorry." It escaped my mouth before I could stop it, silencing the aggravated guy whose hands are slowly starting to press bruises into my hips. I don't know why I'm apologizing since I don't even know why he's so upset. But every time my- he beat me, he wanted me to apologize, beg him to stop, then the punishment would turn into a slap, instead of another whipping session.

"What?" he says, his grip around me loosening up, even if it's only a slight bit.

I raise my eyes from his chest up to his face, gazing into his eyes. The hood had fallen down earlier. His eyes are as dark as ever with the night engulfing us, yet there's a glimmer in them that shines in the moonlight.

"I'm sorry," I repeat, hoping to not aggravate him further.

A frown forms on his forehead as he narrows his eyes at me. I fidget with my thumbs which are resting on his chest and try to calm down my erratically beating heart.

A moment later, he lets go of me. The heat from his body vanishes and the coldness embraces me. I shiver slightly and wrap my arms around myself in an attempt to keep me warm.

"Damnit," he curses under his breath, before he pulls the hood back over his head and turns around. With fast and long strides he disappears into the darkness.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey there,

it's been about a week since the last update, I think. Sorry about that, I had to rewrite the chapter a few times because I was unsure of how to write it, lmao.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and have a great day/night or whatever!

Stay safe!

❤

- L I S A