Enigma

by Leslie Drennan

  I knew Avan would do everything in his power to keep me out of harm’s way, but it did not stop me from being scared. What could this person want? I had kept my apartment a secret. How could anyone besides my friends at Spirits, the judge, and my accountant know where I had gone? It made no sense of how word could have spread so fast that I was no longer at Lena’s anymore. I had even graduated and left behind the popular-girl rumor mill! High school was the gossip central of Oceanview! Also, it was summer; most people were either on vacation or spending all their time oiled up on a beach! What was so interesting about me that someone had to follow me and harass me?

  Just as the question had popped in my head, I considered a possible answer. Ian Bentley. It had been months since I heard from him. Since Lena had come back from the movie shoot, I had not even heard his name. He had stopped all of the nonsensical texting and over-the-top voice messages on my phone. I also stopped receiving any more threatening notes. Ian was looking better and better as the prime suspect, but what could he possibly gain from all this?

  If Ian Bentley wanted to scare me it did not require having to dress up or leave notes—all he had to do was show his face. I could barely stand it when I heard the name Ian randomly out in public. In stores I would catch myself hiding behind shelves, scouting out the area before coming back out into view just to make sure no one was talking to the same Ian. The memory of our only date plagued me day in and day out.

  Reading my mind again, Avan tensed every muscle in his body like a tiger getting ready to pounce on an unsuspecting victim. I could tell he was ready to stalk the darkened streets and alleyways until he found Ian and gave him a lesson he would never forget. Debating on calling the police to report this person as a stalker, I weighed my options. Sure I lived in a very secure building, but this individual knew how to find me; there was no way I could just stay in the top of Angel Towers behind a locked door for the rest of my life!

  At least if I called the police and had them come fill out a report, then it would be on file if something ever did happen, and they would know better than to think I was just missing by choice. The bad thing was that until I knew who it was, filing for a restraining order was pointless. I pinned it on Ian Bentley because he seemed like the most likely suspect, but I had no concrete evidence. The other key thing in this situation is that I was actually the only person who had ever seen this guy. The first thing the police would ask was why I decided not to call the very first time I received a note on my car.

  I knew they were going to want answers to questions that I simply did not have good answers to. Seeing as how once again I was stuck at a fork in the road with insufficient evidence, I opted not to get the police involved. I remembered Detective O’Donoly telling me three years ago that I could always call him, but I just felt like he would think I was suffering from PTSD. The last thing I needed to do was give a detective an open invitation to my peculiar life. Grabbing Avan’s hand, I pulled him back on to the couch with me, where he cuddled me close the rest of the night in his rock, solid arms where not even the dark feeling could penetrate his protective embrace.

  Even sitting here with Avan I was plagued with the thought of how I felt when I looked out the window and saw the figure under the lamppost. Pulling away from Avan, I suddenly felt the need to go downstairs and check everything out. I knew Avan had told me no one could enter Angel Towers unless they lived here or had special clearance from Bob, but I wanted to see for myself if this person was lurking about, waiting for me in the shadows.

  I knew I was surrounded by people who would do anything in their power to ensure that no harm would ever come to me, so why did I still feel like I needed to go and check out the area where the figure had been? I could not make sense of any of this in my mind, but nothing could stop me from going to make sure everything was all right. After several minutes of insistent whining and begging, Avan agreed to check things out, but I was to follow rather than lead and not take any chances that could lead to something happening to me.

  Opening the door, Avan looked up and down the hallway before walking out the door. Once he was in the hallway, he went up and down each direction before coming to the decision that it was safe and no one was there. I waited for him to pop his head back inside the door to tell me the coast was clear before I followed behind him down the hall to the elevator. Pushing the button, I could tell Avan was not one bit crazy about going downstairs to look for the person who was invading my life and privacy. The sound of the elevator made him take a defensive stance as he braced himself to take on anything that might be inside the elevator.

  As the doors came open and slid apart, it was clear no one was inside, but before getting in, Avan insisted on checking the ceiling tiles and the door to be certain it was completely safe. Walking inside, we pressed the buttons, closed the doors, and headed to the ground floor as Avan looked over his shoulder, instructing me again to let him lead the way. I knew why he was being so over protective. After all, I was oblivious to which way the creep had gone and being the wee hours of the morning, there were not many people who would notice if anything went wrong. In fact, I was not even sure anyone could hear us from the parking garage at all.

  The elevator doors slid open as we made our way out into the large, empty lobby. The furniture was in the same place and clearly untouched. The front doors appeared as though they had been unused since last evening, and everything seemed to be silent with no detection of anyone being remotely close. Avan walked to the plate-glass windows that lined the lobby and took a look outside, noting every detail of what he saw mentally. I was sure all he saw were the same things I did when I looked out of them. A pitch-black sky was just outside the window that looked down on a sleeping world.

  A lamppost next to the street cast a halo of light around the bulb and shone down onto the sidewalk and grass. I knew there were flowers and trees decorating the outside of the building, but it was too dark to distinguish them. From this angle all they resembled were dark eerie shadows that sent chills down my spine. The hair on my neck and arms rose as I thought of the stalker camouflaged in their protection, waiting for me to come looking for him so he could strike.

  Convinced that there was no one in front of the building Avan, signaled for me to follow him toward the entrance to the parking garage. When we walked out of the building I felt a sudden change. Inside Angel Towers I always felt calm, collected, and safe. At the moment I left the doorway of the building I felt vulnerable again. I could definitely tell that whatever protection Angel Towers provided, once you left the safe haven created by its walls, you were a sitting duck for whatever or whoever may be after you! I just wanted to run back inside and get back into my apartment behind closed doors, safe from the entire world where nothing could touch me. However, I was the one who came up with this idea so, there was no way I could be the loser that wimps out and runs the other direction, especially after nagging Avan into agreeing with my idiotic plan to be a CSI! I had to keep my composure and suck it up!

  Walking through the covered walkway leading into the parking garage, a dark uncomfortable feeling surrounded me; I felt I was being watched. The goose bumps rose all along my skin, making me feel as if the temperature dropped at least fifteen degrees with no warning. I stopped walking, and Avan sensed I was feeling something as he turned and made eye contact. Within seconds he went from over-protective boyfriend mode to attack-dog mode.

  Grabbing my hand tightly, he pulled me close behind him, blocking me from whatever we might encounter as we ventured farther from the doorway of Angel Towers. My heart went from its steady beat inside my chest to threatening to explode right through the skin it was pulsing so hard and rapid. A wind whipped by, chilling us to the bone without warning and making me shiver—another red flag that something was wrong.

  Reaching the entrance of the parking garage, Avan kept me close by him. I neither saw nor heard anything, but Avan must have sensed it somehow. Instantly his head turned to the right as he focused on
a row of cars across the garage. The way he reacted reminded me of an animal that had just felt the small, almost undetectable tremors within the earth before an earthquake took place. Giving me the signal to stay quiet and follow him, I nodded and fell into his footsteps. Careful not to touch any of the cars for fear of setting off the alarms, we moved silently between the rows as we edged closer to where Avan had sensed movement.

  The closer we inched our way forward, the more nervous I became. It was clear we were heading straight toward my parked car. I was still clutching Avan’s hand in mine, and I could feel my palm becoming sweaty as a stress reaction; I hoped he dismissed thoughts that I was gross and disgusting. If he noticed at all, it seemed not to bother him one bit. I knew that was the last thing on his mind as we were only a few feet from my car where he was focusing all of his attention.

  Remembering how my senses had seemed to heighten a few months ago, I wondered if I could make them do whatever they had done that morning again. I had never given much thought to it since that day; I assumed it had been something going on with my head. I focused my eyes on my car, and instantly they responded. I could focus on every fleck of paint that shined in the dim light of the garage. I zoomed out, taking a good look, but I noticed nothing out of the ordinary from where we were standing. I zoomed out more until I returned to normal sight deciding to see if I could manipulate my hearing. I listened hard until I could hear birds outside in the trees, a mouse in the alley behind the building, and then I noticed it.

  As I concentrated on the car, I could hear the two sounds as plainly as if I were peeking around the back end of my car. I could hear a nervous heartbeat and shallow breathing, as if whoever it was couldn’t decide if they should run or stay; they were hoping we would leave, convinced nothing was out of the ordinary. I heard their weight shift behind the car as Avan reacted by tensing like a lion low to the ground and concentrating on its prey before going in for the kill. What was beyond my understanding was why he reacted. I was heightening my senses to be able to hear these small sounds, so how in the world had he heard them? To anyone else the garage would seem totally empty.

  Faster than I could realize what happened, Avan took off running toward my car as the mysterious man dressed in black ran for the exit. Avan whispered back at me to get in the car and lock the doors. How did he know I would hear him if he whispered? The sound of their shoes slamming against the concrete floor reverberated inside my head as I backed up against a cold concrete pillar in between rows of parked cars. This was getting stranger by the second.

  I knew why he would want to prevent the man from knowing what he had instructed me to do, but I had never told him about the weird sensory thing I could do. I had never told anyone! I had no understanding of it myself. For all I knew I was just the freak down the street who thought she had magic powers! I tried my hardest to forget it had ever happened over the past few months, so I never had to deal with my oddity. How in the world would I have explained that to anyone?

  Keeping my eyes on them, it blew my mind how fast both Avan and the man were running! What was more noticeable was how neither of them seemed to be laboring for breath. It was as though they were both used to running like this on a daily basis. I knew Avan worked out in the gym at our apartment building, but watching him run after the intruder, both of them resembled cross-country runners who had done intense cardio training for years. I had no idea Avan was that fast!

  The space between them remained, never getting any smaller, even though they were running so fast. Within a few minutes, they darted out the entrance of the garage, hurdling the arm of the guard preventing those who were required to pay or failed to have a parking pass from pulling their car inside.

  Avan had told me to stay in the car with the doors locked, but I had to see what was going on. I hated to think that Avan was exhausting himself as he chased after my phantom of the night. I jogged toward the entrance and looked around into the street. There was no trace of either of them in the street lamps. I wondered what had happed to them or where they could have gone. It was as if they disappeared into thin air. I strained my ears as much as I could, and still all I could hear was silence in the dead of night. I needed to know Avan was all right. If something happened to him, I knew I would never be able to live with myself. It would be my fault.

  Whoever this person was, it was clear they wanted me, not Avan. He had gotten involved in all this crazy mess because of me, and now he had put himself in harm’s way in order to protect me! How far would this person go to get to me? Would he be willing to kill to get to me? What if this could be the one who killed my parents and framed it to look like a murder/suicide? Would he be willing to kill Avan to get to me? All his notes were written in third person, so was he working with someone else or a group of people? What if they expected Avan to get involved to protect me and they had set this whole thing up? He could have run after the creep right into a trap and they could have taken him, or worse! I had to find Avan and know he was okay. There was no other option. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have to deal with all this and he certainly wouldn’t be in danger.

  Concluding that I had to find Avan, I decided to go against what he had instructed me to do, and I walked past the car toward the opposite end of the garage. I made my way to the door that led to the passage leading into Angel Towers to look on that side in case he was hurt on the side street somewhere. Stepping onto the sidewalk, I looked up and down both directions, but Avan was nowhere in sight. Considering the intruder couldn’t get in Angel Towers anyway, it was unlikely that they would have come in this direction. I wasn’t sure why I had chosen to look here first. Maybe I knew that I had the reassurance of making my way into the building if danger presented itself.

  Convinced I was alone, I walked beside the garage and around the corner to the front, keeping a watchful eye as I passed in front of the guard. I still saw no sign of either Avan or the man in black. I listened carefully, not even hearing the sound of footsteps. My hearing was so heightened I should have been able to hear their footsteps from yards away with the night being so silent! Where could they have gone so fast? Just then I heard someone’s feet hit the ground at the same time, as though they’d jumped off of something and landed on the concrete. The only thing was the sound that came from the alley on the opposite end of the garage.

  Peering around the corner of the garage into the alley, I just knew I would find Avan there, but even with my heightened sight, my vision was sketchy back here. The lighting in the alley was fairly nonexistent lit only by was the moon as there were no lampposts, no lights by back entrances to the businesses, no nothing. In the moonlight I could see slick spots of what I assumed was some kind of nasty mixture of liquids from Dumpsters, oil from leaky cars, and leftover puddles of rain. I jumped as I saw something move to my right but realized it was a rat running from an alley cat. The cat looked emaciated and matted, as though it had seen its fair share of fights defending its territory.

  Dumpsters lined the alley, along with cardboard boxes strung here and there. The brick on the back of the buildings had graffiti that I couldn’t make out in the dim light. I fought against my gag reflex as the smell of rotting garbage and dead mice crept into my nose, making my eyes water. Just standing in the entry of the alley, I felt as if a film of filth covered my skin; it made my clothes smell like the corroding nastiness that surrounded me. I could not believe anything this disgusting could be located anywhere near Angel Towers! Steam was coming up through storm drains along the alley, which made it difficult to see.

  The smell of sewage came in waves from a manhole that was missing its lid. I had no desire to set foot in this alley, but I had heard shoes on the pavement and I knew Avan had to be back here somewhere. Weighing the fact that he had not come out yet, I was sure he had to be injured and was probably sitting next to one of these grimy, disgusting walls. I imagined his clothes soaking up the essence of rotting food, dead animals, human excrement, and other unmentionable filt
h. I had to find him and help him. I owed it to him to face a little discomfort after what all he had done for me.

  I started into the repulsive alley, taking one small step at a time whispering Avan’s name. Every time I opened my mouth to say his name I nearly threw up. I had smelled some pretty gross things in Sharon’s house before but this kind of filth was almost its own art form. This was a whole new level of nasty. Making my way through a blast of steam, I tripped, which caused me to lose my balance. By the grace of God I was able to steady myself before falling onto the ground, which was covered in a shiny liquid that made the soles of my shoes stick as I walked. Suddenly a new repulsive scent caught my nose; it made me instantly bend over and retch. Standing up after losing all stomach contents and adding to the disgust in the alley with my own personal touch, I assessed where the smell could have come from.

  Looking down, it was obvious I had tripped over what appeared to be a soiled adult diaper that had gotten its contents all over my shoe. I had to fight the urge of being sick again as I tried to scrape my shoe against the brick wall in a failed attempt to rake off the excrement. I swallowed hard, reminding myself this was a small price to pay compared to what Avan had done for me. I forced myself to pull it together as I made my way deeper into the alley that only seemed to get darker the farther I went.

  I made my way about halfway down the alley when I heard a shuffling sound behind me. I turned around, but no one was there.

  “Who’s there?” I asked in a voice that was much more unsure and nervous than I meant for it to be as it shook.

  “Matalyn, calm down. I’m not here to hurt you,” a low voice said.