Liv walks into the library carrying a stack of books. She waves to Susan and Beth, the two old ladies that run the library. Susan and Beth wave back from their positions at the front desk. Liv has gotten to know almost all of the people that work there and of course they know her too. Secretly Susan and Beth are her favorites. She places her books down in the return bin, next to the doors she entered from, then walks to the teen section. Liv stands in the maze of shelves searching for a new stack of books to read. She feels the vibration of her phone and reaches into her jacket pocket to check it. It reads-
Mom: It’s time to come home now.
She decides now to check out any books today but she knew that she would be back tomorrow. She waves to her favorite librarians Beth and Susan as she leaves. As she walks out of the sliding glass doors of the library the cold air hits her like an icy wall. Liv shivers wishing she had brought a bigger jacket. Why is it so cold tonight? The sun only just going down! It was cold, a lot colder than usual. Liv pulls her pink jacket closer to her an rubs her hands up and down her arms to try to warm herself up.
As Liv gets to the end of the library parking lot and starts down the sidewalk she sees a man next to a parked car on the side of the road. The faint glow from the street lamp makes it look like there is some kind of halo around his head. He appears to be wearing a black trench coat and looks to be in his late forties. He has salt and pepper hair and round glasses, that look too small face, perched on his nose. he has a crazed look on his face and his eyes are bloodshot and red. Suddenly he bends down and peers into the window of the car. I wonder what he is looking at Liv ponders. They make eye contact for just a second but that was enough to make Liv’s skin crawl.
By now Liv is almost directly across from this mysterious man. Just then the light above her flickers. Stares down at her feet and keeps walking hoping that he won’t notice her. Liv lifts her head to sneak a peak at the stranger and finds him watching her every movement. He watches her carefully, studying each step she takes. He draws his eyebrows together and presses his lips into a line as if he is thinking deeply about something. Don’t talk to me. Don’t talk to me. Don’t talk to me. Don’t talk to me. she chants over and over again in her head.
Suddenly she hears a voice cold enough to make her stop dead in her tracks, “Hey!”
“Hey,” the man calls in a gruff sounding voice. Liv jumps and starts walking slightly faster now. He tries to flag her down by waving over to her. He starts towards her, looking both ways before crossing the road. Liv tries to stay calm and assures herself she is in no danger but she can’t help but feel panicked. She doesn’t stop or look back she just keeps her head down and continues walking. Maybe if I don’t acknowledge him he will stop and go away Liv thinks to herself. Her heart rate speeds up and it wasn’t just because she was speed-walking.
“Hey, you, girl, come here!” he yells, his voice scratchy and croaky.
“Uh, no… I… uh… I-I have t-t-to go.” Liv stammers remembering when she was little and everyone told her not to talk to strangers. She looks around for anyone to help her but realizes she is all alone. The usually lively street was now a ghost town. Finally she thinks as she sees the front of her neighborhood. She speeds up and is now running at full force. She sneaks a peak at the man chasing her and finds him only a couple yards away and coming closer. Liv tries to speed up but her legs are already weak and won’t do her bidding. Her breath is coming faster and more ragged. She is exhausted and sweaty. Abruptly her foot catches on the cracked and uneven sidewalk and sends her tumbling down. She catches her self on her hands and knees. She assesses her body looking for injuries from the fall and finds scratches on her palms, which are now clammy and sticky. Terrified she tries to get up and continue to run but finds herself paralyzed. A pit forms in her stomach, someone is watching her. Goosebumps form on Liv’s arms and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
Liv can hear the man approaching her. His boots are heavy on the concrete. She hears the thudding of his shoes as he nears. Then the footsteps stop and all that’s left is her erratic heart throbbing. Liv finally gets the courage to turn and look at him. She finds him less than a yard away. He slowly reaches his hand into a pocket in his trench coat. Liv just stares wide-eyed. Oh God. It’s a gun. He’s going to pull out a gun and kill me. Right here in the street. I’m going to die.Liv is pulled out of her thoughts as he starts to pull back his hand. A little sigh of relief slips past her lips when she sees his hand is empty but her relief quickly vanishes when she realizes he could still kill her with his bare hands. She scrabbles back as he starts to reach for her and opens her mouth to scream for help. before she could make any sound his hand clamps over her mouth. More thoughts about the ways he could kills started to seep into her mind. Tears start to leak out of the corners of her eyes and she closes her eyes. I don’t want to die today. You can’t hear me but I love you Mom.
“Calm down.” the strange guy says in a hushed voice. As he moves his hand from her face the knot in Liv’s chest releases. She is relieved she isn’t being smothered and dragged away to be killed but also very confused. The man looks at Liv’s puzzled expression and continues in the same hushed voice. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to know if I could borrow your phone to make a call. My car broke down-” he gestures behind him “- and there isn’t anyone else around to ask. My phone isn’t working either. That’s why I ran after you, I needed your phone. Please? I really need to get home to my family.”
“Oh,” was all Liv could say.
“I’m really, truly, sorry.” the man said looking at her with desperate pleading eyes.
“Um, okay.” Liv says as she gives him her phone.
The man dials a number and talks to the person on the other end about getting picked up but Liv was so caught up in her thoughts that she really didn’t even hear him. She wondered about what she would tell her mom. She’s probably really worried right now since I’m not home yet Liv thinks.
“Thank you so much.” The man hands back her phone with a grateful smile.
“You’re welcome.” Liv turns and starts towards her house.
When she reaches her she turns to looks back where she left the man but finds him nowhere to be found. Well that was a quick pick-up she thinks as she put the key in and turns it. The lock clicks and she pushes the door open.
“Mom, I’m home.” Liv shrugs off her jacket and heads to the kitchen for water. She grabs a bottle from the fridge and takes a swig.
“Mom?” Liv waits for a reply but nothing comes. A shadow steps out of Liv’s room.
“Mom, guess what just happened.” Nothing. Liv looks at the figure. Slowly she realized that that was not her mom. It was the man from the street. Before she could even open her mouth to say anything she was grabbed from behind and a cloth was shoved in her mouth. She tried to scream but it was muffled and quiet. The shadow figure neared Liv and took out something from behind his back. She could make out the shape of some kind of material bag. Liv tried to break free but the person holding her was just too strong. She started crying. The stranger from the road came up right to her face and smiled at her. It was a very eerie and sinister smile. He pulled the bag over her head and started pushing out of the house and towards a car. Once he wrestled her into the car he slammed the door and drove off.
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