My parents weren't home after school, so I called Easton over. I was afraid to be alone. I was terrified that it would come and get me when I was most vulnerable, and I wasn't ready to go just yet.
A knock on my door catches my attention and I run downstairs to answer it. I open the door and see Easton, a smile forming on my face. "That was quick," I say as I let him in.
"I got my homework done in class so my mom let me come over sooner." I nod my head and watch as he takes his shoes off. I make my way upstairs, looking over my shoulder to make sure he was following.
We sit down on my bed and begin to relax. "Did it try to get you at school?" Easton asks. I nod my head, recalling the event. I also thought back to the guy that was staring at me. He definitely had ill-intent towards me with the expression he had.
"I think I have a stalker," I say. Easton looks at me with furrowed brows. "What?" I nod my head. "Yeah. There was this guy staring at me all day."
"Maybe he likes you." I roll my eyes, although joking about it made me feel better. "Whatever," I say with a smile.
I look out my window as a car passes. "My parents won't be home until late tonight. My dad has dinner with some guy he works for," I say.
"Cool." I bite back a response. I hated when he responded like that. It just triggered me for no reason—it's such a dry response.
I close the curtains and look back at him. "If you knew you only had 24 hours left to live, what's one thing you would want to do?"
He was about to answer when he stops himself. A skeptical look washes over his face as he looks at me. "Why do you ask?" I look down at my lap without a response and begin fumbling with my thumbs.
He sighs. "You're not going to die, Hannah. Stop saying that!" I snap my gaze at him. "Yes, I am, Easton! And you know it! You just don't want to admit it."
Silence fills the room as we stare at each other. Eventually, I look away, regretting letting myself yell like that. He didn't deserve that kind of treatment. I just wish he understood what was actually happening; the situation I'm in.
"How about we just watch a movie," I suggest. I reach over for the tv remote and press the power switch. "It'll help distract me."
"Okay," Easton says. He scoots back so that he could lay his head on my pillows and relax as I turn on a movie. We debated on which movie to watch before settling with Halloween.
I wasn't sure how long into the movie it was when I blinked and everything suddenly changed. I was taken aback by the sudden change and sit up. "Easton?" I call out, looking around, but he was gone.
I hear a sound from downstairs, startling me. I get up, assuming it was Easton, and check it out. I slowly walk down the stairs, careful to not cause any creaking of the old wooden stairs.
The first thing I could see as I came down the stairs was the living room. No one was there, so I looked in the kitchen, thinking Easton may have gotten a snack. There was no sign of him anywhere in there, either.
I began to get nervous. He wouldn't just leave me like that. He would've said something. I look around the empty house. It was freezing. Goosebumps formed on my arms and a foggy breath could be seen every time I exhaled.
A black fog emerged from the corners of the walls, closing in quite quickly. It was almost suffocating. I knew exactly what the fog was, and I wasn't going to take it. I rush outside to find help from a neighbor.
As soon as I exit the front door, a hand clasps around my throat and pulls me back. I let out a scream. A hand covers my mouth to muffle my voice. I felt tears brim at my eyes as the fog crept up to my throat.
A cold blade is pressed against my throat, hitching my breath. I tried to turn my head to look at my attacker, but the blade was quickly swiped across my throat, leaving a gash behind with blood pooling out of it immediately.
I grab at the wound and try to stop the bleeding as the person lets me go. I collapse to my knees as I began to choke on my own blood. The panic only caused the bleeding to quicken, my conscious swiftly fading away. The last thing I could see before the dark fog covered my line of sight was a pair of shoes walking away, leaving me there to die as if it was nothing.
