[NEILANI]
The evening had been quite uneventful as usual since he had left, and honestly, she loved it that way. She hadn't missed him one bit, because she knew if she did, he would suddenly show up.
He was like a shameless bad omen and as she walked back home, she was silently praying that he wasn't existent. He had taken so much from her, that the sight of him would without a doubt repulse her. He had got her into spaces where her insanity had reeked, like a dead body hidden in the sewers. He was bad. He was terrible, and he was her greatest nightmare even when he was probably away.
'He can’t be back. He doesn’t even like this place,’ she had told herself three days ago, when her paranoia had begun creeping in. It had overtaken her senses and her fear was driving her nuts. Neilani Fraker tried to convince herself it was all in her head, but then why would her anxiety graciously make a show, barely three days ago?
It wasn't like there was something that she was looking forward to, right? Maybe she was hoping for too much, but that was all she could afford, in a world that treated her like she didn't exist. she wasn't an outcast, but to some extent, she was an outcast. It was a complicated experience that only she could explain in words that couldn't be spoken out loud.
'Relax Neilani,’ her subconscious kept nagging her when she felt a shudder down her spine for the third time since she had left the restaurant after dinner. The evening had somehow grown darker, and she was trying to hurry and find her way home.
Granted, she lived in a peaceful neighborhood, but what if it was all so peaceful just because the culprits of the crime were never found, or even if their victims never got the chance to speak up? Well, she was clearly overthinking again, but what else could she do when she was using the damned shortcut back home, which also happened to be a scary dark alley?
'Positive thoughts, Neilani,’ she convinced herself with every step that she made deeper into the alley. She was already herself for watching one too many horror movies because right now, she would easily be a victim and no one would ever find her.
"Eek!” she let out a sound when she stumbled on a stone that had innocently been laying on the ground.
Neilani was scared for some reason, and it wasn’t because of the alley.
She was scared that her past was coming back to her, but that was another far-fetched reality that she needed to work through. And so for the next five minutes, the young girl walked through the dark alley, her fears and paranoia driving her nuts, but her courage, or whatever was left of it, was trying to see her through it.
"Hey bunny, do you miss me?” A familiar voice interrupted her oh-so-worried walk and if the dark could talk, Neilani Fraker was a messy mess. She let out a toe-curling scream that echoed back towards her, convincing her that she had finally gone insane.
Her heartbeats were erratic and her palms were suddenly so sweaty. She felt like she was living in a certain kind of hell, one that she couldn't get out of. Her anxiety attacks had also figured it was time to make a show, just when she was at her weakest.
Gripping her backpack harder, and with her eyes closed, legs shaking like she had found herself in the notable wrong turn movies, Neilani was determined to find her way home.
"It’s just your mind again, Neilani. It's nothing serious, okay? Deep breaths and we can go peacefully,” Neilani mumbled as she walked in the direction of home. She needed to be sure that she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating.
He couldn't be back.
He just couldn't.
There was no way he would come and the first time he showed up, was in a damned dark alley? That was insane. Super insane.
"Aww, so you’ve been thinking of me, how sweet!” the voice said and this time, Neilani decided to make a run for it. Today, she wasn't going to die. Her subconscious could have haunted her in some other ways, but it chose the worst of ways.
"Nu-uh-uh. You’re not running away from me. Running calls for punishment, my little bunny,” the voice said as a hand gripped her backpack, making the poor girl stumble, and fall in one of the muddy patches in the alley.