Narcissus

Chapter Eight

A/N - It's Christmas dayyyyyy! I finished this chapter yesterday (be warned, it's a long one) but spent as much time as I could today re reading it and correcting any mistakes I was able to find whenever I had the time. I had family over today so it proved difficult, I'm just glad I bother to proof  read because at one point instead of writing 'She tucked her hair behind her ear' I wrote 'She tucked her ear behind her hair' lol. Anyways, Merry Christmas lads, and on with the story!

above pic is elise

--

It was pitch black outside, and I shivered as I walked down the road, with no plan to actually go anywhere - I just knew I had been sat in my bed, feeling so alone and exhausted but with an extreme urge to just do something, anything. Go somewhere, take my mind off of everything that was whirling around in my head.

The night was cold and unforgiving, and even in my puffer coat I still trembled. I hadn't walked far before I began to feel the horrible sense that someone was watching me. It crept up on me, suddenly overtaking me and filling me with dread. Crossing the road, I looked left and right, managing to sneak a glance behind me. I spotted a man walking at a fast pace, but couldn't make much of him out in the darkness. Turning corner after corner, he stayed behind me, gradually getting closer. I broke into a jog, and so did he. There was no doubt he was definitely following me, so I broke into a sprint. Rapid footfalls echoed around the empty streets, and I could feel him drawing closer, and closer. Navigating the streets I had grown up in was easy, but loosing him was not.

The man was relentless in his pursuit, and I felt the terror paralyse me as I willed my body to go faster, to get away from him. Eventually, however, I began to slow, unable to keep the fast pace I had set. He finally got me, grabbing my shoulder and forcibly pulling me around to face him, a face I did not recognise. He grabbed my collar, and I began to wrestle clumsily with him, terrified as I fought for my life. My back was pressed against someone's garden fence, and I shook with fear as my fist connected with his jaw, a sickening crack echoing in the vacant street. The knife appeared before I had a chance to react, silver glinting in the moonlight as it led a wicked dance towards my face, blood dripping into my eye and impairing my vision. A beige coat flashed before my eyes as a foot connected with my stomach and I fell into a bush. The man dropped his knife, having somehow managed to cut his hand in the shuffle, cradling it as he limped away.

I lay there for longer than I realised at the time, before I thought I should leave in case he came back. As I stood up to leave, I decided on a whim to scoop up his knife. It had a small drop of my blood on it, and I wiped it on the inside of my jacket before turning and ducking into an alley way. Everything hurt, including my feet, but despite that I broke into a run, trainers slapping on the pavement as tears mixed with blood and my hair whipped around my face viciously, wind picking up as I ran down street after street. It wasn't long before I had slowed to a walk and I realised I had no clue where I was. The moon gave me no light, as the trees whispering on either side of the country lane crowded above, forcing me to blindly make my way along. I wasn't entirely sure how things had gone downhill so quickly in such a short space of time.

"Emma?" the sound of that voice, that horrible, wonderful, gut-wrenching, husky voice was enough to bring me out of my panicked trance. Looking up, I saw a slim figure standing on the doorstep of a large, beautiful house I had come to recognise.

"Hi." I croaked, not sure how I had managed to get here without realising. I knew the way, of course, but it was still quite a distance from my house.

"What are you doing here?" she sounded completely dumbfounded.

"I-I'm not entirely sure." I called out, still a safe distance from Mrs Elderflower behind her front-garden gate. The moment I realised I had completely, utterly fucked up in coming here was when she nodded, turned and left, going back into her house and shutting the door on me. I felt even more isolated than before, something I hadn't thought possible.