Tap tap tap. 

I groan and snuggle deeper into my pillow. Was it time to get up and go to the church?

Tap tap tap. 

I toss my head to the other side, in denial. I could do five more minutes and still get up to shower and eat. Five more minutes.

Tap tap tap.

"Five more minutes, mom!" I yell, sitting up to meet a pair of familiar, old eyes. It was all a dream. Mom was not there at all, neither was my room for that matter. I was in the backseat of my car, snuggling up the blanket I kept in the trunk and cradling my phone. Mrs.Lean was leaning down and looking into my backseat window, tapping on the glass with a worried expression. I run a hand through my hair and unlock the door where my head was.

"Is there a reason why I drive by and notice you parked in the abandoned animal shelter?" She sternly asks, eyeing me up and down. I stick my hands in my jeans pocket and shrug my shoulder, trying my best not to look at her. She must feel like crap after I ran out yesterday, I knew should be disappointed that I did not stand my ground.

"Well, you sure gave me a scare, I'll tell you that. Had me looking the whole town for you, "She continues, setting her bag on the trunk if my car and leaning into my headlight.

"I went back. There was someone in my driveway, "I hear her loud gasp and then warm arms around me. I hold my breath for a minute before relaxing into her hug. She smelled like pages and tea, just like her personality; old and warm.

"I can not believe you went back there, it was not time yet," I peel off of her and look down at her.

"My time?" I ask in a puzzled voice and she raises an eyebrow at me.

"You were not ready to go back there yet! You even scared yourself to believe there was a person there! It was probably your own shadow and now you're sleeping in your car. This will not due, not for my acacia, "I narrow my eyes at her for a moment. A sliver of doubt runs through me like a needle in my bloodstream. What was she getting at, exactly?

"No, it wasn't. I saw someone, so did my best friend. I even saw them waving at me, it could not have been a hiker or anything like that." I think I have a stalker, "I say, relieved to finally say what I had been thinking. Mrs.Lean cackles and lays a hand on my shoulder to steady herself from the back-breaking laugh. My eyes stayed narrowed.

"A stalker? My dear, this town has about 60 or so people and you think someone is stalking you? "She continues to laugh. What happened to my sweet librarian? The one who believed me? The one who comforted me?

"I'm not joking, I thought you of all people would believe me," I coldly say and rip my shoulder from her. Her laughing stops and is replaced with a maleficent frown for a second before returning to her natural face.

"Now, do not have that tone, Acacia. Alright, say someone is stalking you? That does not mean you sleep in a car at an abandoned shelter. Do not you think that's worse than a possible stalker? Living in a car for the rest of your life? "I stare at her, in confusion. My mind was sold on the idea that I had a stalker, I was in trouble, but here she was. A woman I had grown to trust in a shorter amount of time than anyone in my life that was trying to tell me I was wrong. My head started to feel like a drum once again, being beat like it was at a rock concert.

"N-no. I don't want to do that. But I can not go back there. I will not go back there, not after what I saw, "Mrs.Lean nods her head and loosely wraps an arm around my shoulder.

"I still have room for one more."

//

I take another small bite from my sandwich and scroll down the last few posts on my timeline. Mrs.Lean left to open the library and told me to stay at her apartment for the rest of the day so I could "rejuvenate" from my experience. I knew she did not believe me, but she was respecting what I told her at the very least. I was grateful she was letting me continue to stay with her, but not so grateful that all she had was tuna.

I set the other half of the sandwich down and push it away from me. I set my phone down flat so I could rub my temples and try to get rid of a headache that hammered my head like Thor's hammer. God, all I wanted was some peace and I couldn't get it in my own mind. 

Why did I even come out here? Was it because I hated my parents? The fact that every family member pushed me away after they died? Hell, even my one and only aunt pushed me away and she only used me to get the money from my parents. To think of it, that was the last time I saw her. The day she took their money and told me to have a nice life in the hell-hole.

My phone buzzes, drawing me from my thoughts. I look down to see an incoming message from Mare's boyfriend, Kane. It was odd, because he rarely texted people, let alone texted me. We only ever talked on the phone about Mare.

What happened between you and Mare this time?

Would you believe me if I said it was aliens?

So funny, i forgot to laugh 

But seriously, he has not talked to me all day.

He called me last night, yelling at me that you were in trouble.

His parents said he left last night and did not come back.

Please answer me.

I read and reread the text over four times. Mare would not just leave like that, he was smarter than that. He would not come all the way over here just because he saw a person behind me. There's no way in hell he would do that without telling me or Kane.

Are you sure he is not at Marilyn's? 

She has not seen him since last week, remember?

She touched his last project and broke it, he would not go to hers.

He needs his medications and no one but you knows what happened.

Please tell me where he is.

Ace?

Ace!

As I type, my phone brightness starts to die. I look over at the battery percentage and see it was less than 3%.

"Fuck," I mutter and type as fast as I can before it died. I knew for a fact Mrs.Lean did not have a charger and I did not have the energy to drive to the convenience store to buy one. Hell, as a matter of fact, I could not even remember where I sat my keys when I crashed on Mrs.Lean's couch this morning.

He saw someone behind me when we were vcing last night. 

You don't think he'd be that stupid to drive here?

What the fuck, Ace!

Of course, he would, he loves you more than he loves me!course he would, he loves you more than he loves me!

Send me the fucking address, right now

I'm coming over there

Before I could send him the address, my phone dies and I'm met with a black screen reflecting back a sad girl. I needed a charger, I needed one now. I look around for my car keys; digging into the couch cushions, taking everything from my backpack pocket, even looking through Mrs.Lean's personal magazines to see if they fell in there. Nothing. I throw myself on the couch and feel tears prick my eyes. This was stupid, where could they be? I needed them, I needed them before Mare will potentially kill himself. He needed his medications and I was going to be the one who killed my best friend.

I look over at my dead phone on the table and let the tears roll down my cheeks. That's when my eyes catch my name on the old fashioned fridge. I get up and go over to see a note with my name written on the top, a cartoon bear in the corner of the 'e'.

Acacia, I took your car keys so you can relax all day long and locked the door so you would feel safer! :) I'll be back late tonight after a librarian's meeting at the town-hall, feel free to make yourself anything from the fridge.

-Love, Kerra

//

". . . Find out who murdered Donna Mcfry after the break! "The announcer says, holding his mic impossibly close to his face. It was after eleven and Mrs.Lean had not returned from the meeting.

I tried everything to get out, but she really wanted me to stay inside. Her apartment only had three windows, one large one where the front door was, a small one in the bathroom and a small one in her room. Each was painted over and would not budge, even with me trying the pry it with a knife. The door was not to have a twisting deadbolt like most doors, either. It was one of those older fashioned types that could only open with a key. Just my fucking luck. So, I decided to watch tv, the only electronic device she just so happened to have. No home-phone, no radio, no clocks. Just a tv.

My eyes were starting to droop. I usually stayed up later than eleven, but I guess I used all my energy trying to get out of this mess of an apartment. I rest my jaw on my fist and let out a loud yawn. It rang throughout the apartment, disturbing the silence where there was not anything on the tv. It was so impossibly peaceful in the house, but it was also a little. . . too eery. It was too silent.

"Everyday words can be jumbled together to create nightmare inducing trauma. Welcome to the lost tapes of the sociopathic serial killer, Alexander Filan. This episode, we are going to undercover the exact reason Filan murdered over 57 women before ending his own life 17 years ago- "

"Oh god, if I looked like that, I'd murder people too," I whisper, pulling the blanket closer to me. His face was all scared up and his eyes were dead. Just as I reach for the remote to turn the volume up, a creak sounds right next to me.

"You need to learn some respect for the dead, sweetheart." I feel a sharp prick in my arm and wince at the pain. I throw my blanket at the person in the room and run to the door. What the fuck? How did someone get in here? The door was locked, there's no way. . . Oh, god. They were here all day. There was only one room that I did not thoroughly check and it was the only room anyone could have stayed in.

"A blanket? You're going to have to do better than that to keep me away from you, "I could tell the voice was masculine this time. Not overly deep, and soothing like smooth peanut butter. My vision was starting to blur from whatever he injected me with.

"Try to struggle, by all means. That little bit of opiod etorphine will kick in soon and do all the work for me, "He makes no moves to try and capture me, in fact, his voice sounded amused. I could feel my movements slowing down, my thoughts slowly coming to me in intervals. The window, I could break the window. Someone would surely hear the glass shattering. I stumble to the kitchen, grabbing the same chair I was sitting in earlier and throw it at the window. Hands wrap around my wrists and I'm thrown down on the floor, my side barely feeling the pain from the numbess growing in me. 

"I'm hurt! Are you trying to make me mad, are you trying to get away from me ? This just will not do, "With those words, my eyes flutter shut and the last thing I remember is the feeling of rough hands gripping my thighs.