Noir (Tom Holland)

Two

      "Are you okay, Andi?" Katy looked at me with concern. She waved a hand in front of me, disconnecting me from my own little world. Looking up at her I said, "Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Thanks though." Katy narrowed her eyes before she pulled a chair up in front of my desk and sat down. "Something's bothering you," she said. "I don't know what you're talking about." I broke eye contact and focused on my computer screen and started to compose an email.

"You're are the worst fucking liar I ever met, do you know that?" she rolled her eyes before standing up and walking out of the room. "Watch your language!" I jokingly scolded, "This is a kindergarten classroom!" " And yet I only see one child," she shot back, folding her arms, "You need to talk to me if something's bothering you. I'm your best friend for a reason."

By now, a couple of the kids started coming in and putting their book bags in their respective hooks. I stood up and walked from my desk, helping the kids as they came along. "I know and I love you for it," I told Katy, "But trust me, I'm fine. Just a little more exhausted than usual." Katy stayed silent as I greeted the kids for a minute or two. "Okay, I'll accept this as an answer this time, just because you're being a better teacher than I am and I need to attend to my kids." With that, she left, leaving me with my students.

Lilah's mom called and told me that she was out for the week with the flu. To say I wasn't upset would have been a lie. I love that girl as if she were my own daughter. In fact, she made me consider kids, but the rest of her class gave me a reality check.

I couldn't stop thinking about the murder, no matter how many times I suppressed it. In moments of silence it would come back, so I made sure to not stop talking. However, it came to an end when naptime came around, leaving me to my own devices for distraction. For the first ten minutes I played an online game, but as I got used to the movements on the keyboard, I was able to do it mindlessly, allowing my thoughts to roam. I then decided to come up with more lesson plans, but as the year was coming to an end, there was nothing for me to do. To be curt, I was well and truly fucked when it came to not thinking. I hadn't realized I dozed off until Jerome, a student, knocked on my forehead, telling me to wake up. My eyelids fluttered open and I apologized to the class, but they blew it off and laughed, like I knew they would. 

The end of school day came around as if it were in no hurry and I wanted to chastise it like no other. My feet hurt and I still had another block and a half before I would be at my apartment. I waved goodbye to Katy as I opened the doors to the school and left them, becoming immediately drenched in the spring warmth.

My apartment wasn't in the nicest complex, but it was the fanciest that my income could afford. The neighbors were sketchy but they were friendly and they gave strangely useful advice. When I had first moved in, my landlord had told me, "Don't ever let these city frogs swallow your fly." It took me about year to understand what he meant, and to be honest I am still a tad baffled.

Opening the door to my home, I felt the immediate rush of euphoria as I walked to the sofa and laid down on it, closing my eyes and soaking in the thoughts I had from today. I thought of how atrocious the school's lunch is and how I needed to learn how to draw a perfect circle. I thought of brown hair and a darkened alleyway. I thought of the gun pressed to my forehead and I thought of the trigger being pulled. All I could think of was the murder. And it scared the shit out of me.

This man obviously had some power under his belt, and if he weren't powerful he knew someone who was. He knew what I looked like and he knew that I knew what he looked like. The last thing I saw was him make a call on his phone. For all I know it was a call to place a hit on me. I couldn't help but think of a new scenario for each time I replayed the scene in my mind over and over. My stomach was in knots and my mind hurt.

Opening my cupboard, I took out some Nyquil and took a dose, hoping to fall asleep without my mind running. Soon, the over the counter drug hit my system and I was immediately drowsy. Not bother to take a shower or my shoes off, I crawled into bed with hopes that I would never see the tall man again. Unfortunately, I figured that wouldn't be the case.

Walking into the grocery store at seven thirty in the morning was comparable to walking in a forest during the apocalypse. The low humming of the freezers and the scarce echoes of footprints gave the store a haunting aesthetic that I was too exhausted to care for. I thought once I was pulled into REM my subconscious would treat me to good or even weird dreams and not replay the murder over and over. When my alarm clock transitioned from 1:59 to 2:00, I had had it with the anxiety and decided to drown myself out with infomercials and yoga.

I strolled through the fruit section lazily, picking up some bananas and apples, not even bothering to bag them up. A grocer walked by and told me good morning and I reciprocated the action as I left the fruit aisle and started strolling to the back where the produce was.

The store lights flickered on and off for a few seconds, grabbing my attention. It went in a rhythm: on off pause on off on off pause. My awakened mind started take hold of me and I felt the worry inject itself into my veins. The pre-existing knot in my stomach became stronger and I couldn't help but wonder, what if the flickering was a warning?

I decided to ignore the produce section altogether and headed back to the fruit section to put what I had garnered back. "I can come back another time," I muttered to myself right as I heard footsteps behind me. I wanted to vomit, I was so scared and for what reason? What if I was panicking for no reason at all? What if my brain was so utterly fucked up that the scenarios I first imagined were now becoming hallucinations? Feeling myself begin to hyperventilate, I rushed away from the fruit, deserting my cart and ran to the nearest bathroom.

Opening the door, I sat down in the corner near the baby changing section and closed my eyes, shouting at myself mentally for letting me take things out of proportion. Out loud, I began to sing to myself weakly, trying to calm my nerves. I opened my eyes and held out my hand, watching as it shook violently. "Stop it!" I hissed and I hit it with my other hand repeatedly. "Stop being such a pussy!" I told myself, "You're overthinking. Bad shit happens all the time here."

"You're right, but I'm afraid this is a tad worse," a voice spoke from in front of me. My body went still, not even my hand shook anymore. I knew that voice, and I was afraid of it. I knew what face the voice belonged to and I knew the man. With every fibre of my being, I looked up and confirmed my suspicions, seeing the tall man before me, gun pointed at my face, black clothed bag in his other hand.

"I'm not going to tell," I whispered, staring straight into the barrel of the gun. The man gave a lopsided smile and chuckled, "I know you won't, or else I would've left you slumped over, drowning in your blood." Fuck, I said to myself, I don't want to drown in my own blood. "Then why are you here?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly. I was awestruck at my body's capability to remain calm despite this probably being the scariest situation I had ever been in. It made me wonder what the fuck was going on with me  when I was actually safe and not in the presence of the tall man.

The man threw the black bag at me and I caught, turning it over and examining it. "It's bag, not a condom," he said, "Put it on." "It seems a little noticeable, don't you think?" I asked. He rolled his eyes and shook the gun up and down, motioning for me to put it on, "Don't critique my kidnapping skills, I know what the fuck I'm doing." I didn't like how the gun shook, so quickly I put the bag on, watching as the cloth covered my vision. Though I was familiar with this store and could probably walk in it with my eyes closed, I felt I was in an unfamiliar place. I stood and tripped over my feet, suddenly not knowing where the floor was. The man grabbed my arm and I jolted, causing him to hold me harder. "I'm hoping you're not a runner," he said, pressing the barrel of the gun against my waist, "I'm not one for mess."

"Wouldn't dream of it," I said quietly to myself as I was guided across the store with no vision. He chuckled and took the gun off my waist, "Good, but I'm still going to have to take some precautions." With that, he slammed the butt of the gun down on my head and I remember my eyes closing and my knees buckling, nothing more. 

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~Not Edited~