Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
Skylar wished that light-heartedness had followed her home. Instead, someone else was doing that, and no matter how quickly she walked, she couldn’t lose him.
Larry walked down the opposite side of the street with a grey hoodie covering his head, trying his hardest to stick to the shadows and away from her, so as to not be noticed. But she knew he was there, following her to find out where she lived.
She had her magic – she knew she was safe – but it still sent her heart racing that this creep just wouldn’t take no for an answer.
He’d once been a customer until he’d trapped her inside her café one night because he wouldn’t let her leave until she agreed to go for a drink with him. It’d been so awkward as he’d tried to compliment her, eventually sitting right next to her and placing his hand on her thigh.
She’d bolted the first chance she’d gotten and then put a life ban on him from entering her café. He’d become angry when she’d told him to leave her establishment, throwing a giant hissy fit until Hank had intervened and scared him off.
That was almost two months ago, and he’d been lingering on and off at closing time since then.
Whenever he did, Malcom would walk her home, or Hank would drive her.
He’d managed to stay hidden this time, and must have waited until she was alone to follow her down the backstreets of Newtown, heading towards Stanmore.
I don’t want to use my magic. She didn’t want to out herself and have to deal with the consequences. She clutched her keys, and the knife clipped to them that Kaylee had insisted she carry. I don’t want to stab him either.
It was gory, and she didn’t want to be investigated for assault – or possible murder. The police would probably raid her house, and she had some questionable stuff in it.
When the end of her street came into view, Skylar didn’t know what to do. I can’t go home. She wouldn’t let him find out where she lived and haunt her, but she didn’t want to be on the dark streets with him much longer. What if he just grabs me?
Her three-inch flatform boots felt like lead on her feet, weighing her down. She’d never outrun him in them. She’d no doubt trip over, like in one of those silly, dramatic scenes in horror movies that always had her screaming at the TV from the idiocy of the main character’s actions.
When she reached the corner, she looked behind her.
It was a reckless move, especially when he halted in a bright streetlight and she made it known she knew he was there. He stormed forward, doubling his speed, and Skylar panicked as she turned around the corner.
She stopped, steadied herself against the wall, and fumbled with the zipper of her boots with trembling hands. The moment they were off, she abandoned them as she ran.
“Hey!” Larry shouted from down the street when he saw her sprinting. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk!”
The sounds of quickening footfalls in pursuit echoed in the empty, dark street, and she sprinted faster. She looked over her shoulder to see he was holding her shoes and gaining on her.
Wind whipped around her face as her pulse thrummed in her ears, and she tried to ignore how her socks did little to protect her feet. She stepped on a rock, pain lancing through her left sole, and her leg wobbled before she righted herself.
He was nearly upon her when he let out a yell, followed by a thud, and she refused to look back when whatever happened allowed her to put some space between them.
“Get off me!” he yelled. “Ow! Ow! What the fuck?!”
Skylar turned a corner, and then mentally apologised to whoever owned the house when she jumped over someone’s front yard retaining wall to hide in the bushes. She sat down and covered her mouth to soften her frantic pants as she waited for him to come find her.
His yelling was muted by the fact that he was some distance away and on another street, and tears formed because she was so freaked out her body needed an outlet. Despite the fact that she knew she could protect herself, it didn’t stop her from being scared.
Then everything went quiet except for how loud her heart was beating. She wished it would calm down, otherwise it’d give away her hiding spot.
With her backside on bark chips, all of which poked into her soft cheeks, she brought her knees together and pressed them up against her chest to be as small as possible. She continued to cover her mouth, her breaths wheezing as she nearly hyperventilated.
She jumped when she heard scraping along the ground coming towards her. It didn’t sound like footsteps, but she was too worried to truly believe that, nor was she brave enough to stick her head out to check.
Please don’t let there be any spiders, she thought, clenching her eyes shut.
Mr Tentacles, in scary form number two, entered her mind. Would he have protected her in this situation? She wanted to believe so.
At least he would have been frightening enough to scare the piss out of the creep. He wouldn’t even need to do anything. Larry would only need to look upon him and lose his shit in fright.
As the seconds ticked by, she found picturing him huddling around her protectively made her feel... safer. Calmer. Her heart settled, even when the scraping came closer until it was right next to the wall she was hidden behind.
She flinched when a thud sounded above on the concrete barrier, only for rustling to come next when something fell through the bushes. Many leaves and sticks broke off.
One of her boots landed in front of her, followed by the second, then a little black ferret with bat wings landed on top of it. Its horn limbs were elongated, and the ends glowed bright red along with its three tail tendrils.
The light coming from it reflected the crimson smeared across its maw, and its glowing red eyes looked up at her expectantly.
She knew, just knew, that it had attacked Larry to save her.
Skylar sobbed as she picked it up and wrapped her arms around it to hug it to her chest.
“Thank you,” she cried into its warm fur as she sniffled. “Thank you so much.”
It squeaked, and it was the first time she’d ever heard it make an audible noise that wasn’t its claws tapping against the ground. It was also the first time she’d seen it without her monocle, as if it had revealed itself to her to let her know she was safe.
It’d even been kind and smart enough to bring her boots.
For a long while, Skylar sat in the bushes of some random’s house. She waited for her fear to ebb and her tears to stop before letting the creature go.
She stared at it as it stared back while standing on top of the thick sole of her boot. Then it opened its maw, revealing all its razor-sharp fangs, and used its horn limbs to point towards its mouth multiple times.
“Are you demanding a reward?” she asked with a hoarse voice.
It poked towards its mouth more hastily, and she figured that was a yes.
She laughed while wiping her cheek with a shaking hand. “Okay. I’ll give you some food.”
Hearing the streets were quiet, she poked her head up and double-checked. There was no one there, and she eventually crawled back over the fence with her boots in hand. She refused to don them, even with her protective companion who followed beside her, hugging them to her chest instead.
As much as she found this situation alarming, and that she was being protected by a weird rodent that scuttled next to her footfalls, a thought came to mind.
Despite everything, the first and only person she’d thought about in this fucked-up situation for help was... Mr Tentacles.
She was afraid of what that meant for her.
Why did she get this overwhelming sense that she was doomed for life because of it... because of him?
Not once did Oliver enter her thoughts.