5
I’d had enough. No matter where I went, they were there. The black car with the annoyingly attractive blonde Vepar was waiting for me outside of my loft apartment every morning as I left as well as waiting at a host of other places. He never tried to talk to me again, but I could feel his gaze following me as I walked from behind those tinted windows. The black-haired, blue eyed devil was always popping up to eat at the cafe I was now working at or showing up at the gym when I was working out, or basically anywhere else I happened to find myself. I couldn’t go to the botanical gardens anymore because without fail the brown haired Vepar would be there ready with more riddles for me. None of them ever answered my questions about their true intentions. They haunted my days and my nights as my dreams were filled with dark specters that followed my every move and refused to let me go. My dreams would always end with my parents’ screams, begging me to help them.
Exhaustion rattled through me, like I was one of those zombies from those movies that I hated but Cherry always insisted on watching.
I couldn’t take it anymore. Three weeks followed by stalkers had left me with no choice.
I had to get away.
I couldn’t function like this anymore, or I’d go crazy. I needed a second to myself so I could sort out my thoughts on what to do next.
That night I packed up a small bag filled with a few clothes as well as the money that the blue-eyed Vepar had left at the cafe along with the little bits I had been able to save the last few weeks at the busy cafe.
For a moment, I let myself feel the tinge of regret that came from leaving the first job I had ever liked. Just in these few weeks I’d already made friends and more money than I had in a few months of working at the diner. Jack and Mr. Kinley had fast become some of my favorite people who I’d ever met, and I would miss talking to them. Hopefully they didn’t worry too much about me when I abruptly disappeared. Jack knew something had been going on by the way I ignored the Vepar who came into the cafe every day, going so far as to switch sections when he was sat at my tables.
Opening the window to the fire escape, I steeled myself for what lay ahead. Creeping down the stairs I kept my eyes out for any of them to appear. They seemed to know all of my habits down to what I ate every day and what I wore. It was reasonable to believe that they probably knew I used the fire escape most days because of my landlord. All I could hope was that me leaving in the middle of the night wouldn’t be anticipated by them and they wouldn’t be around.
I got to the ground without incident. Peering around the corner I looked at the street to see if anyone was around. I gasped when I spied the sleek, black town car, waiting across the street. Did he sleep in the car? Fear sliced across my consciousness as the full reality of the situation struck me.
This was beyond liking someone, this was an obsession.
I backed away from the street, convinced he couldn’t have seen me peeking around the building, and I headed down another route. I was going to try Cherry’s first. Cherry had been “busy” since my birthday with the guy she had met at the Vepar club. And like usual when she met a new guy, I hadn’t seen or heard from her since then.
But she was my best friend. She would take a break from her little love bubble to help me out. She had to.
It took me twice as long to get to her apartment as usual since I had to take the long way, but I was thrilled when I managed to make it to her place without being stopped. About halfway through my trip it had started raining, but as I stood outside Cherry’s place, I didn’t care that I looked like a drowned rat, I was just happy that I was going to be safe.
I knocked on the door. Music played from inside along with the sound of people laughing. Was she having a party? A party that she didn’t invite me to? Hurt filled my stomach, but I continued to knock on the door. Answer, Answer, Answer, I chanted in my head as the minutes passed and no one answered. I had no intention of returning home tonight so this had to work. What I craved more than anything was to feel safe for a little while, to laugh with my friend, and have her tell me things would be okay.
Finally, I just tried the door, and to my surprise it was unlocked. Cherry had always been lax about her security even though every human understood to lock their door since the Vepar invasion. You never knew who might be waiting outside and wanting to get in…
I walked into the entryway of her apartment where she had framed photos of the night sky; one pebbled with stars, another of the Milky Way. So many gorgeous images that didn’t really fit with Cherry’s style. Cherry had no clue about the constellations, nor was she even interested in anything universe related. She had once told me the pieces were conversation starters for when she brought a guy home to make herself look intelligent. While I loved reading about the wonders of the world and beyond, it was just another thing that made me wonder how Cherry and I had ended up staying such close friends over the years.
I knew the answer of course to why we’d become friends… after They came to Earth and my parents vanished, I questioned what I had left to fight for after losing everything. The city of New York fell into chaos, everyone stealing and ransacking homes in their panic over the invasion. I found myself trapped in a grocery store one day, while outside, an angry mob of frightened people attacked anyone in their path. They were burning down the stores. And there, in the candy aisle I found Cherry, hiding amid the licorice, crying. I took her hand and together we found a way out through the rear of the store. Guess we’d stuck together ever since out of the pure terror we’d shared. She once told me she’d be my sister and stay by my side always. And I’d been clinging onto that hope ever since, making excuses for all of her shortcomings because I didn’t want to be alone. But lately it’d been harder to ignore everything, and I’d found myself questioning her behavior.
Just thinking about those chaotic times sent a chill racing down my spine.
It’s the end of the world, everyone had screamed. Panic spread like wildfire across the world, lasting months.
Soon after, the Vepar had broadcasted their rules for our behavior and how everyone who broke them would be punished. No stealing. No killing. Return to our normal lives or else, they insisted. No one knew what the consequences entailed, but when more and more of us went missing, it didn’t take long for people to catch on that those who disappeared never came back. Order returned fast to our lives; order born of fear. And then the other rules came into force about females registering regularly, for us to exercise daily, and so on. No explanations, just orders of what to do next like we were being prepared for something big.
I shook my head at the direction my thoughts had taken and took a step forward in Cherry’s apartment through the hazy air. There was a thick cloud of smoke that assaulted my senses and it grew thicker as I moved deeper into the apartment, making me cough. There were people everywhere in her living room dancing and drinking. So many people spilled out onto her balcony, overlooking the city. The dance music thumped so loud that it seemed to pound the inside of my skull.
Cherry was sitting on a guy’s lap on the couch in her living room, a contraband cigarette in her hand. I noticed that the man she was rubbing herself all over was not the one she’d said she spent the week with or one that I recognized from the club. It was another man she must have picked up. He was tall and lanky with short hair and was pretty ordinary looking. Very unlike the usual dates she picked - all muscles and gorgeous. I just stared at her for a second not believing that while I was having the worst few weeks of my life, she apparently had been partying it up with a crowd of strangers that I had never seen before.
“Cherry,” I finally yelled, straining to be heard over the music and the loudness of the party guests.
She looked up at me after I had called out her name a few times. It had to be my imagination but when she first looked up at me it almost looked as if she was annoyed to see me. The expression faded so fast that I couldn’t be sure what I had just seen.
“Ella,” she said, in the fakest voice I had ever heard from her.
“Can I talk to you?” I asked, letting the desperation I was feeling leak into my voice. She stood slowly, whispering something into her guy’s ear, a man that upon closer inspection looked extremely greasy and disgusting. I couldn’t imagine where she’d picked him up at.
I started walking towards Cherry’s bedroom, looking back every few seconds to make sure she was still following me. There were people everywhere and they all seemed to be closely acquainted with my best friend. One guy we passed even managed to stop Cherry and stick his tongue down her throat before she could follow me again.
I gave a little screech when I walked into her bedroom and there was the guy Cherry had picked up at the Vepar club, balls deep in another girl on Cherry’s bed of all places. I expected Cherry to look annoyed, but she just laughed when she saw them. “I need you to move the party somewhere else, baby,” she cooed at the couple who seemed to be even more enthusiastically going at it with an audience watching them.
Looking up at Cherry, the creep grinned and pulled out of the girl, not having any problem with the fact that he was butt naked in front of Cherry and me. He took the girl’s hand and pulled her out of the room, both still naked, shooting a cheeky grin at Cherry as he passed us.