“Uh…One vanilla latte, please,” I said quietly to the cashier at the little Starbucks stand inside the mall.
“Sure thing.”
While the man made my latte, I silently watched the passing by-standards. I kept a good watch out for him. He was nowhere in sight, so I took a slow breath in and exhaled noisily. I had no intention of seeing him here today.
“Here you go, miss.” The cashier smiled at me politely as he handed me my drink.
“Thank you.” I returned the smile, but I wasn’t quite sure if it had reached my eyes. I was scared. Scared that he would show up. I couldn’t take it if I saw him again.
After paying, I turned around to head by towards Barnes & Nobel where my boyfriend would be waiting for me. I figured that the mall would be a safe place for us to go since no one would think to attack me in a public area.
Suddenly, when I was just a few stores away from my destination, the man in the ski mask appeared and started to saunter towards me.
My breath caught in my throat and I choked back a sob. What does he want? I then remembered what my mom had taught me when I was young; when you’re in an emergency in a public area, scream “fire”. But, I couldn’t find my voice. Run!
I ran towards the store, but my feet couldn’t move fast enough. The man in the ski mask was fast and he was very strong, strong enough to take me down, but I wouldn’t give him a chance.
There was so many people all of a sudden, and I could barely see where I was going. I just pushed my way through all the people as I gasped for air and stumbled over my own feet. If he caught me, there was nothing I could do to save myself.
Where was the store? It was just here. Something wasn’t right…Where was the guy in the ski mask? He was just behind me a second ago.
You think you can get away, the deep voice echoed in my head, but the words didn’t belong to me. It felt as if someone had put them there for only me to hear.
Distinctively, I covered my ears with my palms. “What do you want?” I spoke the words aloud as my voice cracked in a sob.
You, of course. I’ve been watching you. I’ve been following you. You can’t hide anymore. It’s a curse. Something that’s going to follow you until the day you die. You can’t escape me. You can’t even try. Cursed. Forever.
My ears rang as I listened to the words he put in my head. Cursed? What did that mean? “Get out of my head!”
I won’t ever get out of your head. I’m here to stay. Now, listen to me. Listen to the sound of my voice. You must complete all tasks I tell you to do. You must do them, and you must not tell anyone else about me. Do you understand?
“NO! No, I don’t understand! You have the wrong person! Get out of my head!”
Some people started turning to look at me. They all threw me shots of concern and some of them got frightened and ran. What was going on? Why was this happening to me? Why me? So many questions filled my mind, but they still couldn’t drown out the voice of the man.
I ran. Ran for the store. I remembered where it was and how to get there. When I got into the store, I ran straight into my boyfriend’s arms.
“He’s here.” My voice sounded hoarse after running so hard, and it was muffled while my face was buried in his shirt. “He’s here. He’s coming for me. What am I going to do? I can hear him. It’s like he’s putting words in my head. I’m so scared.” Hot, wet tears were rushing down my cheeks as I sobbed heavily into the curve of my boyfriend’s neck.
That’s when he realized it. That’s when I realized it. There was something wrong with me. I was hearing voices in my head and hallucinating. It had to be true, because it’s not like anyone else had ever seen the man in the ski mask. It was all in my head the whole time.
I pulled back to look into my boyfriend’s eyes. “Get me out of here. Take me to the doctor’s. Please. I need to get away from here.”
We were out of there as quick as it took for me to run in there. My boyfriend didn’t seem any different as we drove to the hospital. He kept his eyes forward, careful not to say too much. It made it easier for me to think through what was going on.
There must be a glitch or something in my brain. Something that gives me my hallucinations and puts that strange voice in my head. Maybe it’s schizophrenia, I’ve heard of people getting that quite often. And it is treatable. But didn’t it run through families most of the time? Though, none of the people in my family are schizophrenic; not that I know of. Then what could it possibly be?
When I got out of the car, the frigid wind bit at my cheeks, soaked with frightened tears. We walked up to the hospital, hand-in-hand. Our bodies were close enough that I could feel the heat of his body pressing against me. I soon realized that this might be the end for us. Be the end for me and my beloved boyfriend, love, and best friend. How could I go through this without him? I need him to help me get through this; I need us to do this together.
