When I climbed out of bed my world spun. "Oh God." I mumbled as I stumbled to the bathroom. Needless to says I puked my guts out. It didn't do any favours for my headache, but everything else felt 10x better. I had a shower to wash off the stench of alcohol, then brushed my teeth three times. The whole time I was trying to remember last night. I got flashes of memories, then a terrifying one almost knocked me over. I was watching Koda... And he was biting someone. What the fuck. I strained my memory, trying my best to remember what actually happened. All I could get was him walking me home and tucking me into bed.
'Ella, if I tell you what I am, you'd never talk to me again' played through my mind. There really is something off about him. I pushed it out of my mind for now, I was starving and needed to eat. Weekend breakfasts were always choka, heaps of bacon and other goodness. Which was just what I needed. I shovelled the food in, getting me a weird look from my family. "How was your night Hun?" My mum asked, it took me a bit to disappear my mouthful so I could speak. "It was okay." I smiled as I shovelled more food in. "Make any new friends?" She pried. I slowly nodded, I guess you could say Koda is some kind of friend.
"Oh lovely. Who are they?" She dug for more info. "Just someone that was there." I said, not wanting to go into detail. She realised she wouldn't get more and dropped it. "Did you want a lift to work?" She changed the subject. "Nah, I'll just walk." I said as I finished my food. I then went upstairs and got ready for work. Today I had my shift at the animal shelter, it doesn't pay much but I enjoy looking after all the animals. It was about a half hour walk there, flat ground the whole way so it wasn't a strenuous walk. My head was still pounding, but it was slowly going away. I was almost at work when I felt like I was getting followed. I glanced behind me, there was a tall mysterious man in a hoodie. I couldn't make out his face.
I picked up my pace, glancing behind me, he did too. Freaking out I turned down the next street. He did too. "Shit, shit, shit." I muttered to myself. I just kept up the pace, if I can get to work, I'll be safe. I could see it in the distance, so I just ran. I could hear the person following me running to. I literally through myself into the front door of work and stumbled inside. My manager was just standing there shocked. I was trying to catch my breath as she rushed over to me. "Are you okay?" She asked as I stood up straight. I glanced behind me, the creepy person was just standing across the street, staring into the shop. "H-he was following me." I said staring at him, she followed my gaze.
"You're kidding?" She said as she looked back at me, I just shook my head. "He was following me, I started running here and he was chasing after me. "We should call the cops." She blurted out and she grabbed her phone. "It's fine. I'm sure it's nothing." I said as I looked back to the street... He was gone. "Look, he's gone now. It's fine." I tried to stop her from calling the cops, but she wouldn't listen. Within 10 minutes the cops were here... They took my statement and asked for a description of the person, which I couldn't give because I never seen his face. They watched our security cameras and were sure he was chasing me. They said they'll have a cop down the street for a bit to see if he comes back, and I can't leave here alone.
After that we went about our day as normal. We were pretty sketch each time someone came in, that went on all day. Then the last person I expected to see walked in. "Koda?" I asked with disbelief. "Hey beautiful?" He said sounding as shocked as me. "What are you doing here?" I asked as I picked up the puppy I had been playing with. The main thing I love about this job, showering the animals with love. "I'm here to look at animals? What are you doing here?" He asked as he walked over to pet the puppy. "I work here..." I said sceptically. "Oh wow. That's really cool!" He smiled. There was that charm again, the need to be near him. What's the deal with that?
"What's wrong?" He asked, looking concerned. I just shook it off. "Oh nothing. Any animal in particular you wanted to look at?" I asked, trying to actually do my job. "I was thinking about adopting a dog." He smiled. I put the puppy away then lead him to the area where we keep the older dogs. "Hey Hun, the cops are leaving now. Have you talked to your family for a ride home?" My manager popped her head into the room, not realising anyone else was here. "Oh, sorry." She said awkwardly. "Oh it's fine. This is Koda, he's a friend. And no I haven't yet. But I will." I said, she nodded then left. I turned to look at Koda and he just looked concerned.
