“LETTERS”

n written in future tense. So why don you stop lying to my face and tell me what is going on. ”

There was silence after these words. We both looked at each other. Ashley waited for me to say something while I processed her words.

”You have been going through my stuff? ” I asked with disbelief in my voice.

”Of course. ” Teenager answered like it had been the most obvious thing in the world. ”Otherwise you wouldn have told me. If I had not come to the truth myself, you would continue to lie to me. ”

In my mind, I admitted that the girl was right. I gave up and decided there was no point in lying any longer. I walked over to the bed and sat next to Ashley.

”It started the day, actually the night before Tommys accident. I wouldn have noticed it or thought I was imagining it if it hadn been for the events of the next day. Long story short, at night I saw a hooded figure outside the window. And the next morning I saw a letter on my bed. The envelope wasn addressed or anything. And inside was this message about Tommy. I ignored it thinking it was some kind of joke. But then an accident happened. ” I paused the story to take a deep breath. ”Then came the second letter about Lisa. Thats why I followed her. Unfortunately, she had an accident anyway, but she didn die as it was in the letter, so I managed to do something. ” There was a moment of silence after my confession. After a minute, Ashley spoke first.

”So you
e telling me that some weird guy was standing in your garden in the middle of the night, probably broke into your house and gave you some **ed up letters and you thought that it was okay and you didn tell anyone? You decided that running around the city and jumping in front of cars is smarter than talking to someone? ”

”No one would believe me if I told them. They would think Im crazy. ”

”I would believe it. You are my friend and I will always support you. ” Ashleys firm tone and gaze made me feel stupid for keeping the messages a secret.

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We agreed that if I got another letter, I was going to call Ashley, even in the middle of the night. The same applies to seeing the stalker outside the window. After our time together, we had a movie night and watched Harry Potter. We asked Beth if she wanted to join us but she declined saying she doesn like magic and things that don exist.

Ashley and I managed to see parts one and two. We thought about watching the prisoner of azkaban, but it got dark outside the window and the teenager said that she was going home. We said our goodbyes and I walked the blonde to the door. We hugged and I closed the door behind her. I went upstairs to the bathroom. I took off my clothes and got up in the hot shower relaxing after a hard day. When I came out of the shower, I put on gray kitty pajamas. I combed my hair and brushed my teeth and then went to bed.

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I woke up in the middle of the night. It must have been around four because it was still dark outside the window. I reluctantly got out of bed and went to the bathroom to use the toilet. After I finished, I went to the sink to wash my hands. I heard the sound of running water and felt cold on my fingers. After turning off the tap, I took a towel to wipe off the remaining water from my hands. Suddenly I heard a creak behind me. My heart sank in my chest and I turned my head sharply. ”Beth? ” I whispered feeling like a stupid girl from a horror movie that is asking who is there before getting murdered.

”Please tell me its you. ” I added even more quietly. Last events made me paranoid and I remembered the feeling I had when i saw that man outside of the window the few nights before.

I walked over to the half-open door, pushed it with my hand that was shaking with fear, and stepped out of the bathroom. There was no one in the corridor. I made my way to my room and cautiously peeked inside through the half-open door. I breathed a sigh of relief when the room also turned out to be empty. However, anxiety returned when on my bed, lying on my pillow, I saw the outline of a white object. Even without getting closer, I knew it was an envelope. I walked over to my desk, opened a drawer, and grabbed the big black scissors I used to cut various papers for school. I went back to the hallway, keeping the scissors at the ready position in case I had to use them as a weapon against a burglar. I walked slowly down the stairs, my heart beating faster with each step I took. There was no one downstairs in the dining room either, but when I looked to my right, I saw the outline of a silhouette into the living room. The cloudless, starry night and the moonlight coming through the glass patio doors made it possible to see the hooded figure. The man had his back to me and he was opening the door with intention to go out onto the terrace. I rounded the corner and slowly entered the living room. I kept the scissors at face level the entire time, pointing at the man in case I had to stab a stranger.

I moved closer, not taking my eyes off the hooded figure. Suddenly I felt my knee hit something hard. I fell over the footstool and the scissors that fall to the ground made an extra noise. ”Shit ” I whispered. Lying on the ground, I looked up and saw a figure froze in the doorway. His head was turned in my direction, but despite the fact that he was looking at me, his face remained in the shadow of his hood. We stared at each other for a few seconds, then the hooded man ran away. In the blink of an eye, I got up from the floor and set off in pursuit of the burglar. The boy jumped over the fence separating our property from the forest and continued running. I reached the wooden obstacle, put my hands on to of it and pulled myself up.

When I was at the top, I swung one leg over and then the other. I fell to the ground and I almost twisted my ankle. I didn worry about that cause it didn hurt that much. And I really wanted to catch this stranger.

Once I got to the other side of the fence, I ran as fast as I could. I cursed in my head when I realized that I left my weapon on the floor in the living room. But I wasn going to give up the chase, even if it meant the boy could hurt me. After a few meters the man was within my sight, and after a dozen more I was right behind the fugitive. I mentally thanked Beth for her cheerleading practice and demending workouts, which kept me in such good shape. The burglar tried to lose me by maneuvering through the trees, but I was agile and didn let him gain a single extra foot advantage.

Just when I thought I had him, the boy pushed the branch so that it hit me in the face. It hurt and for a moment I had dark spots before my eyes.

”Asshole! ” I shouted at the runaway. He thought he had won, but I had the upper hand. I grew up in this place. I remembered that when it was warm me and Ashley and Beth used to come to this forest after school. We walked, played or had picnics in this place. In short, I knew this place like the back of my hand. I ran to the right and found a path. I was hoping the burglar would keep going straight and get to the place that Ashley called the stone gorge. It was a place where the only way was between big stones. And the path I was just running was a shortcut to this place. When I got to the exit of the stone ravine, I saw that the boy was walking with his head lowered between the stones.

I picked up a rather large stick from the ground. It wasn as sharp as scissors, but I hoped it would be good for a weapon. I waited for him to get close to me, then I lunged at him, knocking us both over to the ground. Finally, lying on top of the criminal, I could pull the hood off his head and see his face for the first time. The boy was maybe two years older than me. He had black hair and chocolate eyes. Surprise was written all over his face, and I was sure the boy wasn expecting to be caught. After a moment he groaned and spoke.

”God, I hate my job. ”