Chapter Thirty-One: Stranger In The Alley

Chapter Thirty-One: Stranger In The Alley


Ember had never felt more violated in all her life. Mr Lou had not even laid a finger on her and yet somehow, he had managed to make her feel pain like she’d never felt before.

Her head still throbbed from the aftermath of Mr Lou frying her brain. 

She dashed out of the Academy with unshed tears stinging her eyes. She was in a daze with her thoughts racing and her head spinning. All of a sudden, the four walls of the Academy felt like being back in the dungeon, only this time the dungeon was now a lake of fire in her head.

Without paying much mind to all the stares she was getting, she hurried out of the Academy. All she needed was to get back home and crawl into the comfort of her bed.

Ember couldn’t bring herself to believe that she had just swore to keep Cathy’s existence secret. She knew she had somehow managed to let Cathy down yet again. 

The thoughts clawed at her insides and the more she tried to force them out of her mind, the more they rushed in.

After fifteen painful minutes, Ember was finally home. She pushed the door to her house open and sauntered in. Her mom sat on a couch, reading a book and her head whipped up as soon as Ember walked in.

“Hey, Em! You came back quite early today”, Mrs Doyle observed. Ember sniffed, trying to hide her face from her mother. It was an unsuccessful attempt because Mrs Doyle had already caught the redness in Ember’s eyes.

She sprung up to her feet and was soon beside Ember. She questioned her, with worry written all over her face. “Have you been crying? What happened?”

Ember turned away from her mother. “I don’t want to talk about it, mom”. She said, even if all she really wanted was to talk about it.

“You can’t tell me that, Ember. You came back home early and it’s obvious that you have been crying”. Mrs Doyle said as she took Ember’s hands in hers. “Have they been giving you trouble in school?”

She withdrew her hands from her mom’s, the tears now flowing down her cheeks. “Just let it go, mom. I said I don’t want to talk about it”, she snapped and walked away, leaving Mrs Doyle standing there in astonishment.

Ember landed on her bed with a thud, clutching her head in her hands. She felt like a waste of space and it hurt her to think that anywhere she went a whirl of trouble followed her like houseflies.

The overwhelming pain that she felt had dulled and was now merely a pang in her head. 

In order to drown out her thoughts and her anger, she threw herself onto her bed and allowed the comfort it brought to take over her.

Some Hours Later...

The chirps of crickets and the sound of an owl hooting in the distance woke Ember up. She jerked up, adjusting her eyes to the darkness of her room.

“Oh shit!”, Ember whispered to herself. How long had she been passed out? How had she even fallen asleep? 

She whipped her head around, sensing that something was off about the state of her room. Suddenly, she caught sight of her window, which was wide open.

How had that happened? She never left her windows ajar because the breeze that came in through the windows brought with it a biting cold.

Her body tensed up as the feeling of not being alone in her room intensified. She reached for the light switch and clicked it on, scanning the room with her eyes.

Nothing was there.

She walked quietly to her closet door and pushed it open.

Nothing.

She tip-toed to the large curtain which served as an entrance to her bathroom and pulled it wide open. She peeked inside cautiously, glancing left, right and left again.

Still, nothing.

Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her and there was no one there. Her earlier encounter with Mr Lou was definitely messing with her head.

She cast the dark thoughts aside and sauntered over to the window so that she could close it. Just as she looked down, she spotted a figure in the distance. It looked like someone was walking away briskly.

Another round of panic seized her and before she could stop herself, her legs were in motion. She dashed out of her room rapidly.

So she hadn’t been imagining things and somehow had actually been in her room. Who the hell could that possibly be and most importantly, how had they gotten in her room?

As she hurriedly made her way out of the house, Mrs Doyle who was still in her position on the couch, shot up to her feet.

“Ember, what’s happening?”, she asked in a hysterical tone.

“Mom, please not now. We’ll get to talk later”, she murmured breathlessly and without waiting for a reply, was out of the door.

“Ember! Ember!” Mrs Doyle’s terrified voice called after her.

Ember’s feet seemed to develop wings as she ran towards where she’d seen the figure. She wheeled around, whipping her head from one side to the other.

“Hello?”, she called out, her voice crackling with fear. She paused, scared to even breathe just in case something showed up.

The area was eerily quiet with no other noise but the sound of her own gasping breaths. The tingling sensation of being watched trickled through her body and her skin crawled.

She whipped her head around and around, yet there was nothing in her line of sight. Had she imagined the figure she’d seen? Maybe her mind was working on overdrive, conjuring up images that were unreal.

As if summoned by her thoughts, the figure appeared, striding quickly into a nearby alley. A wave of goosebumps prickled her skin, but she forced her feet to move forward.

Taking really long strides, she soon found herself at the entrance of the alley. She stopped abruptly as it dawned on her that the alley had multiple entrances and exits. This was a challenge because now, she couldn’t tell which of the entrances the person had gone through.

“Hello!”, she called out. “Who is there?"

She half expected the voice to call back to her but her expectations were squashed when her question was met with nothing but silence.

By now, she was already questioning her decision to run after the figure. It was a stupid thing which she had done: running after a stranger who was hell bent on remaining in the shadows.

Just then, a thought occurred to her and she activated her supernatural sight and hearing. Everything came to her in a hue of sharp red and she could hear the sounds coming from a distance.

“Whoever you are, you cannot hide from me”, she said, trying to sound braver than she felt. “Show yourself”

Her voice was shrill and crisp in the quietness of the night. The only light that guided her came from the street lamps in the distance.

She padded silently through the empty alleyways, her eyes scanning the area for any sign of life. She met a dead end, and then turned a corner sharply.

This maze run which she found herself in was tiring. After the long day she’d had, all she wanted to do was lay in bed and sulk, not chase a strange figure all through an empty alley.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice that she had collided with the person, until she looked up and her eyes fell on his piercing gaze.

Ember bit back a scream and dangled backwards, stopping herself from tipping over. 

His eyes were just as she remembered, cold, hard and yet welcoming in a strange way. His black hair fell over his face, adding to his over all mysterious appearance and Ember’s breath caught in her throat.

“It’s you”, she whispered, her voice unsteady with terror.