The Ghost Town

Chapter One

TW: Mentions of bullying, fainting
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Tia Kofi was alone.

She was fed up with the way people treated her. Every single fucking day, she would get insulted by the school bullies. Left by herself. Every time during lunch break she would hide underneath the goddamn stairs, all by her fucking self.

The stairs were the only place she found solace in. Cold, empty, an echo that pierced her eardrums with every step that she took. She was alone, but she'd rather be alone than with anyone at the school she went to. And there was no changing her mind about that.

Everyday, insults were hurled at her from all directions. The few friends she had couldn't be considered friends, really. They didn't stand up for her. They left her by herself. And when Tia needed all them the most, they left. Leaving her behind in the dust.

Tia was completely alone.

She didn't exactly mind being alone. But she secretly hated it. She had a wall up. She couldn't trust anyone if she tried. She didn't want to be hurt again. She hated feeling hurt and she hated feeling alone. She'd give anything to not feel alone, but she always felt alone.

Her only friend was her beloved stuffed zebra. She called them, Ziggy. Ziggy was a small plushie. They had a green bow tie and a blue bow on their tail. Tia loved playing dress up with the stuffed zebra and she knew that Ziggy liked her too.

But a stuffed animal can only do so much. While it helped to have something to make her feel less lonely, it was still only just a stuffed animal. And she had been ruthlessly bullied for it. All because she had brought her stuffed zebra to school with her.

She couldn't handle it anymore. Every day was a struggle. And the schoolwork was ruthless and she was always too afraid to ask for help. Scared of being laughed at. Scared of not knowing. Scared of the teachers yelling at her for no good reason. And her job wasn't much better.

Her boss was a mean and callous person. They made Tia do everything. From cleaning, tending to customers, stocking the shop and making sure all the employees were there on time. It was too much pressure. Tia couldn't handle all the stress and neither could her slowly deteriorating mental health.

So she made a plan.

She had decided to run away. Run far, far away. Run fast and far and don't look back no matter what. Stay as far away from people as possible. She didn't want to be found by anyone. She's been alone her whole life.

And she doesn't need anyone now.

She knew she would need to sustain herself at least for a little while. That's why she saved up all her paychecks from her work. She worked part time at a supermarket. So she collected all the funds she had from working there and cashed in all the checks she had.

She couldn't just put it in her pocket. And she had other things she wanted to take with her. That's when it hit her. Her school bag. She could put everything in there. And it had a hidden pocket on the top where she could keep all of her money.

So she got her backpack and stuffed her prized possessions in it. Her phone and her headphones. Her electronics and their chargers. Her wallet and her favorite clothes. Her favorite blanket. And perhaps the most important item of all, her beloved stuffed zebra, who had always been by her side, Ziggy.

She wrote a small letter, telling her family not to look for her, that she'd be fine on her own. She doubted that they'd care very much. No one cared about her. Not even her own family. But she didn't care. She was all too familiar with how that felt.

At first, it was fine. She had enough money to hop around motels, and had enough to buy food. She wasn't sure where she was going. But if she kept walking, she'd end up somewhere, she was sure of it. So that's what she did. Kept on walking.