Chapter 4—Trouble Brewing

That day three months ago had just started, but there were more surprises in store for me. It wasn’t enough that I was functioning on very little sleep, but life decided to throw in meeting an old friend, now to-be-called acquaintance, who left me with more baffling questions including a mysterious locket that he supposedly found, my best friend lying to me about a relationship that she had five years ago and decided to casually mention, and an overwhelming feeling that I have never encountered before. Along with this foreign feeling, I have been on an emotional rollercoaster from waking up and being afraid to becoming aggravated, having a panic attack, then feeling hurt and betrayal, and then falling in love and it diminishing in a matter of seconds. All of this had really taken a toll on my nerves, and I felt like I was fried. But everything I had experienced thus far couldn’t compare to what happened next.

After Ruth and I finished talking we remained in my bedroom away from my parents. I did not connect very well with my family, which is not a big surprise for a 20-year-old, but it could be seen as confusing since I have seen into their minds. It may seem like I would understand them better and have a certain insight into their decisions and who they are as people, but there are things that children aren’t supposed to know nor hear from their parents. Even though some of the things are only thought of and never uttered aloud, I try to forgive them, but it is hard to forget. Ruth doesn’t get along with her parents nor my own either, so staying in my room is like a sanctuary away from all parental units.

My mother worked as a secretary at a doctor’s office and my father is a mechanic, owning a shop. I had one sibling, an older brother named Andrew, but no one has really heard nor seen him in over a year. He definitely did not get along with my mother because their personalities were on opposite sides of the spectrum. She was more of a sneaky person when it came to serious matters, trying to bury the evidence and problems under the rug. It always seemed like she was trying to hide something even if it was a minor flaw. But in other situations, she was loud and kind of a bulldozer. She was also notorious for her constant mood swings. Andrew was nothing like this; always staying cool, calm, and collective. He would also stop situations from getting out of hand and resolved issues before there were any problems. I always loved Andrew because he wore his heart on his sleeve.

The last time I spoke to Andrew was the night he moved out. He was upset because he didn’t want to leave me behind, but he had no other choice. I could have gone, and he insisted on it, but I was nineteen at the time and I didn’t want to move away from everything familiar to me, including Ruth. It’s hard for someone like me to find a friend; not to mention one that would believe me about my ability and after understanding that I wasn’t lying, would still be my friend. When I told Andrew that I didn’t want to move away from my best friend, my little comfy space, he didn’t quite understand and still wanted me to come but knew that there was no way of persuading me otherwise. He felt extremely guilty for leaving me behind, but it was my choice.

My brother and I had always got along to a certain extent. When we were younger, we would constantly fight like brothers and sisters always do, but as we got older, we learned to get along better and showed great care for one another. Family was always very important to him, but my mom forced him into the position of leaving. My father was a home-body and didn’t really say anything to anyone nor seemed to have an opinion about anything, to be honest. If it wasn’t for my ability, I would hardly know him at all.

I did not have a difficult family life or anything sad, scarring, or hostile. What I am saying is that I do not come from a very nurturing environment. It is like living with acquaintances all your life.

My bedroom wasn’t very big, but it was spacious enough. There was room for my full-sized bed, a dresser, a bookcase, and a TV stand with a television and a gaming console resting upon it. My favorite color is purple, so my parents allowed me to paint the walls a light purple color with a matching comforter set for my bed. My oak dresser was positioned in front of the window that looked out into the front yard. The matching oak bookcase rests beside the door to the hallway and was held more books than the shelves would allow. I always enjoyed reading and playing video games because they took me away from the world I live in. My room was decorated with artwork and some photos I had taken of Ruth and me.

At about three-thirty in the afternoon, Ruth and I decided to leave my house and go look around at our favorite shops before stopping for something to eat. While in town, we were looking at books when my phone started to ring. As I searched my purse for my phone, I noticed something shiny lying beside it. Ignoring my phone’s blatant cry for attention, I grabbed the shiny object.

“How did this get into my purse?” I murmured mostly to myself as I stared at the white-gold locket.

“You stuck it in there before we left the house,” Ruth replied while grabbing a book to read its summary.

“I don’t remember doing that.”

She didn’t respond to my statement but kept her face buried in a book whose contents must’ve been interesting.

I placed the necklace back in my purse, not giving it another thought, looked at my phone to see that my mother had called, then walked toward Ruth. “We need to leave soon…I’m starting to get a headache from this crowd.”

“Ok, I’m starting to get hungry anyway,” she replied, putting the book down.

We started dressing in our coats and gloves and scarves as we walked outside and down the street. It started snowing as we walked together to our favorite restaurant, Buddy’s. Ruth and I have been eating at the diner since we were fourteen. The owner seemed to have been in love with the 1950s because the whole diner was filled with 50s styled furniture and decorations. Normally bright colors throw me off which naturally makes me stay out of places with a lot of them, but the baby blue walls complimented everything else found within. The pictures that were framed on the walls were of celebrities and old clippings of advertisements and signs from the decade. From that era, you could find autographed pictures of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, John Wayne, and more. Lining the walls were also movie posters that starred most of the actors and actresses previously named.

The black and white checkered floor rested shiny metal tables in the center of the room paired with matching shiny metal chairs. Booths were resting against the walls for large parties to sit at. The bar was positioned to the left side of the diner from the entrance. At the bar stood a line of metal bar stools for those who were eating alone or wants a quick coffee and a chat with the waitresses.

There was a jukebox that stood by the wall next to restrooms that played 50s music the whole time the diner was open. The waitresses wore baby blue dresses that almost covered their knees in length. The men wore white button-down t-shirts and white slacks. Everything that the restaurant served was delicious and served fresh from the kitchen. They served everything from sandwiches to pizza or burgers and fries to steaks, hotdogs, and baked potatoes, including homemade milkshakes, sundaes, pies, cookies, and more.

When Ruth and I first walked in, we wiped our feet on the rug at the entrance door and proceeded to look around. There were very few people inside at the moment as it wasn’t properly supper-time yet. A small group of teenagers was sitting at a booth next to one of the windows in the back. Three people were sitting at the bar enjoying their meals and sipping coffee making small talk with one another and the waiters and waitresses that passed by. We brushed the snow off our jackets and moved to a table in the center of the diner, placing our coats, scarves, and gloves on the back of our chairs.

One of the waitresses walked up to us and asked us if we wanted our usual meal, to which we responded yes, and she politely shuffled off to place our order in the kitchen.

While we were getting settled, someone walked through the entrance door. Ruth kept looking at someone behind me and darting her eyes around like she was trying to avoid eye contact with the person or keep from having them notice her. Her cheeks started to turn red around the third or fourth time she peered back in that direction. She became visibly nervous as I watched her.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, getting ready to turn to look.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Ruth responded, looking down at her hands.

I shrugged my shoulders and didn’t worry about it. Hopefully, it isn’t Asher, I thought to myself. Then I realized my ability had been blocked once again today. Maybe he is here…I became worried for my friend, but another rush of emotions started to overcome me. I felt as though I was safe, but my heart started to race, and my face became flushed. Butterflies were flapping their wings frantically in my stomach, almost causing an anxious-nauseated feeling. The atmosphere of the restaurant had completely changed around me.

After recovering my senses, I saw a puzzled look on my friend’s face. I began, expecting her to tell me that Asher was standing behind me. “Ruth, what’s the matter?” Her true answer shocked me.

“There is a very hot guy sitting behind you,” she whispered.

“Really?” I answered with surprise in my voice. “Why don’t you go say hi to him then?” I began to tease.

“I couldn’t!” she gushed, adding, “It doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused by her answer.

“I don’t know exactly,” she began slowly. “I just don’t think that he is for me.” A smirk spread across her face before she added, “He seems to be infatuated with the back of your head.”

At the end of her remark, the waitress served us our cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes then walked to another table to take their order. After she left, I decided not to question Ruth anymore about the subject. I also thought it best for me not to look at who was behind me, which took everything in me because I was curious as to who walked in behind us and caused the silent yet pleasant experience I am having. Ruth’s constant glances back and forth also did not help my curiosity because it made me want to look even more. The suspense was killing me, but I was too nervous to look.

About halfway through our meal, the waitress walked to the table where the “hot” guy was sitting behind me and asked what he would like to order. The man spoke, but I did not hear what he said because my heart felt like it sprung from my chest as the sound of his voice sent chills down my spine. My eyes widened and I became speechless as I thought, This cannot be real. Horror nor fear had caused my immobility, but shock and wonderment had. Ruth noticed the sudden change and became concerned.

“Sarai? Are you feeling alright?” Concern colored her voice as her expression changed to match her voice.

“Yeah…” I stated sheepishly.

“Are you sure?” she questioned while looking at me skeptically.

“I’ll tell you about it later.” I figured that I could at least catch a glimpse of the guy to dismiss my hypothesis on who was sitting behind me.

Ruth leaned over the table after a few minutes and started speaking quietly. “Don’t you want to take a look at the guy?”

“Of course I do.”

“You better hurry, then. I think he might leave soon.”

Taking her advice, I “nonchalantly” dropped my napkin on the floor and leaned over in my chair to pick it up and decided to take a glance over at the guy. When I saw his face, my heart felt like it had dropped. His blue-yellow rimmed pupil eyes followed my movements as a smirk spread across his face, knowing that I did this on purpose to look at him. I knew that he had to have been watching us the whole time. Looking at Ruth earnestly, I began. “We need to leave.”

“Why? Do you know him?” Ruth questioned in confusion as I hurriedly grabbed for my things.

“No, no, no, no, no, no…I cannot process this right now.” I threw some money on the table and started grabbing my belongings off the back of my chair.

“Sarai, calm down and wait for me!” Ruth replied sternly, grabbing her things as well.

After grabbing our stuff, I made sure to not make any eye contact with the man as we walked out. I knew if I did then I wouldn’t be able to convince myself that my imagination was messing with me again. As I walked, I could feel his eyes following me to the exit.

Once Ruth and I were outside, I began to walk at a fast pace that Ruth found difficult to keep up with. She started to demand answers from me. “Sarai! Slow down! What’s wrong? Wait!”

I did not want to slow down or stop or talk about what had just happened. There was doubt deep inside me that what I saw and heard was not real, but the majority of me knew that it was true.

“Sarai!” Ruth raised her voice and grabbed my arm to slow me down. “Who was that?”

I stopped in my tracks and taking a deep breath I started. “Last night, I had a dream with what looked to be that guy in it…The features that they both possess are uncanny.” My head started to hurt trying to process all of this. “I had the same old nightmare with the shadow man following and taunting me, but last night, he saved me from him. I had actually forgotten all about it until I saw him,” I explained.

“That is unusual, and I would normally say that maybe it was only a coincidence,” Ruth began, trying to somewhat make me feel better, which was not helping, “but I don’t think that coincidences happen with you very often…No offense.”

“I figured as much…” I replied in defeat.

“Maybe…Maybe we should go back and ask him about it?” she proposed with eagerness coloring her voice. I knew she wanted to talk to him because she thought he was hot, but the entire thing terrified me. If he is real…Then that would make the shadow man real too.

We started to walk again since I wanted to get as far away from this situation as possible. “And what would I say exactly? ‘Hey, I had a dream about you last night, and you saved me from an evil shadow man.’ Do you know how crazy that sounds?”

“You’re probably right, but it’d be worth a shot.” She giggled a little before adding, “It almost sounds like a pick-up line, so it would probably at least get you a date.”

I didn’t smile nor laugh at Ruth’s remark. There was still something completely wrong with this whole situation. I looked into the faces of the passersby and could not hear what they were thinking. I could still feel his eyes watching me. We were being followed. “Ruth, was that guy in the diner watching us the whole time we were eating?”

“He was mostly staring at the back of your head. Sometimes he would glance at me, but he was mostly focused on you the whole time.”

“I have a confession to make. At first, when I noticed you were staring behind me, I thought you might’ve seen Asher because when that guy walked in, the restaurant became dead to me. I couldn’t hear anyone.”

Ruth stared intriguingly at me for a few seconds. “Perhaps we should go ask him about this stuff then Sarai. There’s definitely something going on here.”

“We don’t need to go back,” I replied. “He’s been following us since we left the diner.”

Ruth spun around on her heel to see if we were being followed, then turned back around walking beside me. “How do you know? I can’t see anyone.”

“Because I still don’t have my telepathy.”

“What do we do?” she asked nervously.

“We go to the park and wait for him to show up. Obviously, he wants to talk or have some type of interaction, so he will eventually come up to me,” I stated with dread.

For the rest of the walk to the park, we remained silent. It was now six o’clock in the evening and the bitter cold winter air nipped at our skin. We sat at a bench, trying to ignore the shivers from our cold bodies. Snow was still falling, and ice began to form on the sidewalks. As we remain seated, people were looking at us like we were lunatics and kept walking. After waiting for no less than half an hour, we couldn’t ignore the cold any longer.

“Sarai, I don’t know how much longer I can wait. I cannot feel my nose, fingers, or toes!” Ruth stated through chattering teeth.

“Alright,” I stated while still sitting on the bench. “Why don’t you go get us some coffee or hot chocolate across the street and warm up?”

“What about you?” she replied.

“I won’t be too far behind you,” I stated. I had a feeling that he wouldn’t show himself if Ruth stayed by my side.

Ruth didn’t wait for any other explanation as to why I wasn’t going with her and hurried across the street.

I sat waiting for my hero to show his face for ten minutes. The snow started to become denser when I finally decided that he wasn’t going to show up at all, or rather, I wasn’t going to wait in the weather any longer.

“You’re going to catch pneumonia sitting out in this weather, my love.”

My stomach felt like it dropped, causing me to feel nauseated for a split second as my eyes widened, I snapped my head toward the sound of his voice. I jumped to my feet and studied his face. His shoulder-length black hair was mostly covered by a beanie and his eyes, those beautiful unique eyes, were the same as in my dream. He was smiling, exposing his white teeth that looked too perfect.

“How…” I stammered, completely dumbfounded by his presence.

“How can I be here?” he finished my question for me. “I’ve always existed, Sarai. The only reason you haven’t seen me before last night was because I was trying to find you.”

“How have you found me? What do you want? Why doesn’t my telepathy work when you’re around? Why are you here? Is that shadow man real also?” All of these questions just spilled from my mouth.

“Whoa, calm down my love!” he said, stepping a little closer to me. “We have plenty of time to talk about everything.” He started smiling again and placed his hand on my cheek, stroking it with his thumb.

I usually do not let people, including my family nor Ruth, touch me in any way, except for my arms, but something in the pit of my stomach told me that I could trust him. My heart started to race from his touch, and my stomach felt like there were butterflies fiercely flapping their wings as he stared deeply into my eyes. Staring back into his, I could see a longing in them; a desire that I could not quite fully understand just yet. I know I had felt this feeling before, earlier today; this felt the same way Ruth had for Asher.

We didn’t say another word to one another; we just stood there staring into each other’s eyes. Time seemed to have stood still in that very moment. We must have looked like two statues covered in snow in the park. It was the most nerve-racking yet peaceful feeling I have ever felt simultaneously.

His eyes suddenly darted toward the coffee shop where Ruth was, and then he whispered in my ear, “I’ll meet you at your place tonight. Just yourself, alright?”

“How do you know where I live?” I asked, but he only smiled in return. Before parting, he kissed me on the cheek. My face became hot, and I knew I was blushing as I watched him walk away until he was consumed by the darkness around him.

Ruth walked up to me without my notice, which made me jump. “Did he ever show up?” Her voice cut through my thoughts.

“Yeah.”

“What did he say?” she asked excitedly.

“Nothing really…”

Her face contorted into confusion. “Seriously…? Well, he did tell you his name at least?”

“Not just now…But in my dream, he said that his name was Rory…” I paused for a minute, thinking of everything that had just occurred. “I think I’m going to head home.”

“Alright…do you want me to come with you?”

“No…I kind of want to be alone and maybe catch up on some sleep.”

“Ok.” She gave me a quick hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow after work then.”

I know I could’ve told Ruth what my real reason was for why I didn’t want her to come over, and she would’ve completely understood…maybe. But I didn’t feel like explaining everything to her at this point in time.