Tyna reluctantly went home the next morning after breakfast and some prompting from Elira, who reminded Tyna that she had a Psychology test to study for. Sandra had left not long after Tyna to run some errands, so Elira had the house to herself. She reclined on the couch for a while but after finding nothing to watch, gave up and decided to go for a flight, her wings were beginning to cramp from lack of usage. She pulled on a jacket and boots- remembering to also wear a hat and gloves this time- before leaving her house and heading for the bus stop.
Elira kept herself occupied by people-watching as she sat and waited for the bus. There were about six other people waiting, a few crazy people in spandex jogging down the sidewalk, and several people out walking their dogs. No one was in the park and only a handful of people were walking, most of them were smart and had cars to travel around in.
As Elira waited, she got the same uneasy feeling as the day before. Her blood ran cold when she spotted a large figure leaning against the building across the street from where she sat. The figure seemed to notice her staring and looked up; their face was in shadow from the same hat they had been sporting yesterday, but two glowing yellow eyes locked onto hers, sending a shiver down her spine that was not from the cold.
The bus pulled up to the stop and everyone piled in. Elira watched out the window as they passed where the figure had been standing, but it was gone. Sighing in relief, Elira sunk down into the bus seat and willed her heart rate to slow. She was second guessing her decision to go out alone, especially to the woods outside town where she had planned on flying. She knew she was probably being paranoid, thinking anyone would be following her, but she was still completely freaked out.
Against her better judgment, Elira got off the bus and walked outside of town where the small forest resided. A quick glance around revealed no ominous figures, so Elira stripped off her jacket and let her wings unfold, hiking her shirt up as they stretched. Elira took a deep breath of the brisk winter air before launching herself up into the sky and then leveling out, allowing her wings to expand their full six feet, each wing about three feet long. Luckily, her wings could fold up tightly, allowing her to hide them under her clothes.
Elira spread her arms- one hand still holding her coat- and closed her eyes as she soared through the sky, loving the freedom. Flying was amazing, though this time of year it got to be quite cold. Tyna begged Elira to take her flying all the time, which Elira happily obliged. Although Tyna was slightly bigger than Elira, she was light, allowing Elira to carry her with ease, though the added support of wings helped too.
When Elira's exposed upper body began to tingle from the cold, she decided it was probably time to head home. She landed at the edge of the forest and dropped lightly to her feet, tucking her wings back into place and adjusting her shirt before sliding her coat on and heading back into town. The flight had cleared Elira's head and put her in a good mood, which instantly soured when she got to the bus stop and spotted the figure across the street. Its hat was down, concealing its eyes, and Elira wondered if she had just imagined them glowing earlier; human eyes didn't glow, and he had to be human.
Elira crammed herself into the mob of people waiting for the bus, hoping it would keep her from being seen. The bus came and Elira was herded onto the bus with the rest of the crowd. She took a seat but forced herself not to look out the window. When she got off the bus at the next stop, she quickly glanced around to find the figure against a tree at the edge of the park. Not wanting them to see where she lived, Elira took a detour around the block before circling back to her road. To her great relief, the figure was nowhere to be seen, so Elira hustled to her house, locking the door behind her.
As soon as her outdoor gear was off, Elira went around and made sure all the windows were locked and the curtains drawn. After finishing, she went up to her room and peeked out her window. What she saw made her blood run cold; the figure was leaning on the building across the street from her house. It looked up at her with those glowing yellow eyes again and it took every ounce of Elira's self-control not to scream. She ran to her door and locked it before returning to the window to find the figure still there looking up at her. Elira began to shake and prayed that Sandra was going to be home soon.
~~~
Elira spent the next two hours trying to read, but every noise made her jump and she had to keep going to her window to see if the figure was still there; it always was. By the time Sandra got home Elira was so happy to see her that she nearly cried. She ran downstairs and into Sandra's arms.
"I'm so happy you're home" Elira said against Sandra's shoulder.
"Are you alright sweetheart? You seem rather jumpy, and you don't look too great. Are you coming down with something?" Sandra asked, placing a hand against Elira's forehead. "You're freezing."
"I'm alright" Elira said, though she wasn't sure if that was completely true. She wasn't sick anyway.
"If you say so, I think you should relax though. How about you get into bed and I'll bring you up some hot cocoa?" Elira nodded and made her way up to her room. She checked her window again to find the spot across the street empty- which made her sigh in relief- before she crawled into bed. Sandra brought up hot cocoa shortly after and Elira drank it while Sandra told her about a woman who had fainted at the pharmacy.
"I hope she's alright" Elira said, setting her empty mug on the bedside table.
"She woke up before they loaded her into the ambulance; it was more for precaution than anything else. She wasn't that old even, maybe in her fifties. It's scary to think that that could be me sometime in the near future."
"You're still young Sandra, you have a lot of life left in you" Elira prompted. Sandra smiled and stroked her hair.
"You're such a sweetheart, but it's getting late and I've had an eventful day" Sandra said as she stood from her perch at the end of Elira's bed. Elira debated on whether or not to tell Sandra about the figure that seemed to be following her, but decided against it, not wanting to worry her over something that probably was nothing. "Sweat dreams my angel" Sandra said, placing a kiss on Elira's forehead.
"Sweat dreams" Elira replied. Sandra shut off the light as she left like she used to do when Elira was a child. Elira felt like a child, she wanted to crawl into bed with Sandra, but she knew that would only worry her, so Elira just hunkered down low with her blankets over her head and attempted to forget the dark figure until she finally fell into a fitful sleep.
She ran as fast as she could, but the ground stung her bare feet and the pounding behind her only grew louder, gaining on her. She forced herself to go faster, but her lungs felt like they were about to explode, and her legs were getting weak. Blood pumped in her ears so loud, she had stopped hearing the pounding steps behind her. Her chest heaved and tears welled up in her eyes. A large hand clamped over her shoulder and she screamed before the hand moved to her throat. The grip was tight and only getting tighter, cutting off the air trying to get into her lungs. Her vision became spotted, but she could see two yellow eyes glaring at her from a shadowed face, and a final scream tore out of her.
Elira bolted upright in her bed, panting and covered in a cold sweat, causing her to shiver. She stripped off her clothes and hopped in the shower, standing in the boiling water until her skin turned red. She had had nightmares in the past, but none had ever felt that real. Elira touched her neck where she could still feel the hand cutting off her air.
After the shower, Elira slid on gray sweats, a long sleeve shirt and fuzzy socks. She pulled her hair up into a big messy bun and descended the steps to the kitchen, where she poured herself a bowl of dry cereal and a glass of orange juice. When she finished eating, she washed and put away her dishes. A note on the fridge said Sandra would be gone for the day, leaving Elira home alone. She glanced out the window and found no figure, but she still didn't want to be alone, so she called Tyna and asked if she wanted to come over. Tyna agreed and Elira sat on the couch watching cartoons until she arrived.
"Any plans for today, or are we just chilling here?" Tyna asked as she plopped onto the couch next to Elira.
"I thought we could rent a movie, that new horror one you wanted to see is on pay-per-view."
"Sounds great! I'll make popcorn while you get the movie set up."
"Alright" Elira agreed. She set up the movie and ten minutes later the girls were snuggled on the couch eating popcorn and watching a man get stabbed in the stomach by his possessed daughter. The first bowl of popcorn only lasted half the movie, so they paused and made a second before finishing it.
"Well that was nice" Tyna exclaimed.
You enjoy horror way too much" Elira said. Tyna shrugged and began flipping through channels before stopping on one she thought looked interesting. It was about a woman being stalked by a man who eventually abducted her and kept her locked in his basement. "That's so creepy" Elira said. "What would you do if someone ever stalked you?"
Threaten their lives if they didn't leave me alone. If that didn't work, I'd stab them in the eye and cut off their dick." Elira could see Tyna doing just that and for a minute she wanted to tell Tyna all about the person following her, but she didn't want to worry her friend or put her in any danger, so she kept her mouth shut. She got up from the couch and carried the empty popcorn bowl to the kitchen to wash instead.
When Elira walked back into the living room she found Tyna by the front window. "Why are all the curtains closed? It's actually sunny outside" Tyna said, opening them to let the sunlight in. Elira couldn't enjoy the sun though, because through the window she could see across the street where the figure stood, staring right at the house. "You alright Elira? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Yeah, I'm fine Elira lied.
"If you say so" Tyna said before closing the curtains again and plopping on the couch. "What should we watch now?"
"Let's watch some cartoons" Elira said, flipping through channels until she came to one that looked innocent and stalker free. She hoped the children's show would distract her, but no such luck. After a while Tyna said she had to go home and help her mom make dinner. She invited Elira but she politely declined, not wanting to go outside and risk seeing the figure, or having them know where Tyna lived.
Elira escorted Tyna to the door where the girls hugged before parting ways. Shortly after she left, Sandra called. "Hey Elira, there's a huge snow storm here and they shut down all the roads, so I won't be able to make it home. There are leftovers in the fridge that you can have for dinner" Sandra said. Elira thought she was going to cry, but she held back the tears and told Sandra to be safe and she'd see her when she got home. Too terrified to eat, Elira checked to make sure the house was locked up before going to her room and hiding under the covers with the light on. It took her a while, but she eventually fell asleep, hoping she wouldn't have any more nightmares.